7 exciting, new culinary experiences in hotels across Asia that you’ll love

Asia is known for its diverse and vibrant culinary scene, with each country contributing its unique flavors and traditions. If you’re seeking something new and exciting, we’ve got you covered. We’ve compiled a list of seven fresh culinary experiences that you can enjoy in hotels across Asia.

This list includes a variety of experiences, from savoring a delightful dinner in celebration of Chiang Mai’s Loy Krathong Festival to indulging in a new kind of afternoon tea “stones” in Tokyo. Every experience is sure to satisfy your appetite and awaken your palate to the exceptional culinary possibilities that Asia has to offer.

Celebrate Chiang Mai’s Loy Krathong Festival with dinner

Dinner at Meliá Chiang Mai’s Mai Restaurant and Bar is an experience you won’t want to miss. Watch Thailand’s traditional Loy Krathong festival unfold before your eyes from the 21st-floor of the hotel and take in the picturesque views of Chiang Mai while enjoying a delicious four-course meal.

The menu begins with a delicious trio of appetizers, including Tom Yum soup seasoned with wild chili paste, prawns, and winter mushrooms.

The main course provides options such as baked salmon trout with green chili relish, wok-fried locally grown edible ferns and safflower rice, or slow-cooked tender pork ribs in Khao Soi curry sauce served with home-pickled vegetables, garbanzo beans, and potato.

Finish your dinner with an assortment of Thai desserts in a ‘Loy Kratong treasure basket.’

The dinner also includes a glass of red or white wine and a selection of fine teas or Spanish coffee.

Explore French gastronomy in Phnom Penh

Raffles Hotel Le Royal’s “Culinary Tour” at Le Phnom 1929 lets you savor French cuisine from celebrated gastronomic regions, including Brittany, Normandy, Alsace, and Paris.

Unique items worth mentioning off the new menu are the Galette Au Sarrasin “Complète,” made with egg, torchon ham, and comté cheese, as well as Far Breton, thick custard cream cooked with black prunes flambé with rum.

The “Culinary Tour” features three delicious dining experiences: The Regional Business Lunch, available from Monday to Friday, which is a 2-course or 3-course set menu starting at only USD 20; The Regional A La Carte menu, which features popular dishes starting at just USD 9 per dish; and last but not least, the fabulous Themed Sunday Brunch featuring an incredible weekend feast, starting at only USD 65. All of these culinary delights were designed by Raffles Hotel Le Royal’s new Executive Chef Martin Becquart.

Taste a variety of dining experiences in Cam Ranh

Alma, a thirty-hectare beachfront resort on Vietnam’s Cam Ranh peninsula, is the perfect place for everyone to find something at the Alma Food Court.

This spacious culinary hub has six different food outlets and can seat 312 guests, providing local and international dishes that will cheer anyone up.

If you’re looking to taste the local cuisine, try An Nam for some Vietnamese classics. If you’re in the mood for Japanese favorites, stop by Tokyo Express.

The Noodle House is perfect if you’re craving beef or chicken noodle soup.

Little New York is great if you want chicken cooked in a Henny Penny fryer.

French Bakery will satisfy your sweet tooth with pastries and desserts.

Espresso Bar is the perfect place to get coffee, tea, and freshly squeezed juice.

Experience new afternoon tea “stones” in Tokyo

To celebrate Palace Hotel Tokyo’s tenth anniversary, artist Akito Akagi—widely known as one of Japan’s top contemporary lacquerware artisans—has designed a new afternoon tea set. This celebratory set reflects the hotel’s ‘harmony with nature’ ethos and its appreciation for both tradition and innovation.

Launched this September, the design of the new afternoon tea presentation reflects a perfect balance between traditional aesthetics and contemporary style. Akagi’s representative work, “Stones,” was redesigned exclusively for the hotel.

Handcrafted in the artist’s studio, each stone of varying shape and size looks like it was naturally carved over time by a river. The stones are then polished with black or white lacquer to create a beautiful canvas for the equally artistic desserts and savories (which change with the season), all of which come with a selection of premium teas.

Indulge in an authentic Vietnamese home-cooked meal on Cam Ranh Peninsula

When it comes to cooking, nothing is as sacrosanct as a home-cooked meal. That’s why a half-dozen mothers of The Anam Cam Ranh’s staff will serve up an authentic slice of Vietnamese culture every Friday evening from December 2 this year.

Drawing on centuries-old recipes handed down the generations, the mother cooks serve up timeless Vietnamese classics, as if they were cooking for their own families.

The dishes include bò nướng lá lốt (grilled beef in betel leaf), bún bò Huế (Hue-style beef noodle soup) and bánh xèo (crispy Vietnamese pancake), and are complemented by plenty of fresh, zesty salads and other treats.

These mothers plate up fresh, healthy and delectable Vietnamese fare at cooking stations at the resort’s Lang Viet Restaurant that overlooks Long Beach.

Witness an enchanting fire dance at a Balinese feast

Every Tuesday and Friday evening, the neighboring village of Peliatan’s performers come to Tanah Gajah, a Resort by Hadiprana’s outdoor amphitheater, for a traditional Kecak dance. The mesmerizing chanting and dancing start at 7:00 p.m., involving anywhere from dozens to sometimes as many as 75 dancers.

With an air of the unexpected, the scene is set for those in attendance. Giant balls of fire? Yes. Chanting men in skirts with their bare chests showing? Of course. It’s all part and parcel of what makes this experience so memorable for guests: it transports them into another realm where they can forget about their troubles and just enjoy themselves.

The performance is followed by a three-course family-style Royal Balinese dinner at The Tempayan. Prices start from IDR 785,000++ and include a welcome drink to enjoy during the performance and dinner.

Delight in the diverse flavors of seafood on Ho Tram’s sandy shores

Thronged with locals haggling over the freshest catch of the day, Vietnam’s seafood markets are an icon unto themselves. It’s this eclectic market atmosphere that Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort brings to life as part of the “Ho Tram Seafood Market” experience on Breeza Beach Club’s vast outdoor terrace every Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

As the sun goes down to the right of the resort’s 500m of ocean frontage, large bamboo baskets brimming with fresh seafood such as crabs, squid, fish, shrimp, mussels, snails, clams, and scallops are assembled on bamboo stalls to a backdrop of live chill-out music.

You can choose to have your seafood grilled, wok-fried, or steamed, and select from various sauces and popular Vietnamese accompaniments. These include lime, chili, ginger, garlic, onion, coriander, and mint basil.

All images: credit to Balcony Media Group