Chaophraya Thai Cooking School Review

AD - Invited. 

Last year Eldon Squares new grey's quarter opened which is home to a great range of dining options, one of these is Chaophraya Thai restaurant. Chaophraya is located on the top floor with wonderful views of the city below. 

I was invited along to Chaophraya to road test the newly launched cooking school, having attended the Thaikhun cooking school earlier in the year I kind of knew what to expect and was looking forward to seeing how the two compared as they are sister restaurants. 

We were greeted by head chef Poom who was an utter delight and really made the whole evening so enjoyable. After a welcome drink we were briefly talked through the evening and giving the choice of aprons or Thai jackets to cook in and were split into our pairs to create some traditional and popular Thai dishes. 

There was a cooking station set up in a little room away from the main restaurant with little cooking stoves and ingredients set out for us. First up we were giving the task of cooking Tom Yung Soup, I had never tried this before so I was keen to see what it was like. 

Poon talked us through and demonstrated each stage of the recipe for us and we then had to recreate the recipe ourselves in our pairs. This dish was simple to create and I could not believe how quick it was to cook too, it was bursting with flavour with just the right amount of heat to it.

Next up we learnt to cook Thai green curry and Pad Thai, both super popular Thai dishes. All of the ingredients were prepared for us and there was plenty of them, meaning we could add as much or as little spices and ingredients as we required to our dishes to suit our taste buds. First up we had to create a paste for the Thai green curry, something that the chefs at Chaophraya make fresh daily. 

Poon talked us through each step and encouraged us to taste the dishes as we went, so that we knew if we needed to add anything extra. Before we knew it we had created a very yummy Thai green curry.

Next up we got to work making Pad Thai, Poon created one first and invited us all to have a try before we made a start on making our own. This was such a super quick and easy dish to make when you know how. 

After creating our Thai green curry and Pad Thai we then retreated to our dining tables to enjoy our meal with a side of cooked rice that the kitchen had provided. The Thai green curry was lovely and creamy with lovely tender chunks of chicken in, the Pad Thai was also bursting with flavour. 

The whole evening took around three hours, but it went by really quickly and it was a fun and enjoyable evening. I hold my hands up and admit that I don't enjoy cooking and I am not a good cook but I still really enjoyed attending the cooking school. It was a laugh and it was nice to do something a bit different, it would be great for a work team building activity, date night or gift idea. The classes cost £69 per person and I would recommend going with a friend or relative as it makes the experience more enjoyable.