Author: andrei

From food and travel book Down And Out In South East Asia I have just arrived in Thailand for a SE Asia food tour, and after one night in Bangkok,…

My Lonely Planet guide claims Kanchanaburi’s night market has the best hoi tod (fried mussels in batter) in the whole of Thailand. Even though the guide has a fairly comprehensive…

I have just got back from a rather mercurial evening involving delicious sea snails and the evil tuk tuk drivers who plague the streets of Chiang Mai. I’d headed out…

Last night I spent the evening working in a restaurant kitchen in Chiang Mai with my two new cheffing chums (let’s call them Dave and Si because they deserve their…

I have some sympathy with Jamie Oliver when he talks about Britain’s youngsters being work-shy, “wet” children who get their mothers to stick up for them. But what he says…

I am continually flabbergasted by what goes on in restaurants. I’ve seen and heard about things in kitchens that would never be accepted in any other trade. Sexual abuse, racism…

Whenever I go abroad I like to eat what the locals eat. It gives you a much truer reflection of a country’s cuisine and eating habits. Sometimes I go into…

I am writing this as I wait to board a plane back to Bangkok after spending eight days in Chiang Mai chatting to monks, visiting temples and narrowly avoiding becoming…

Yesterday I had a great day in Thailand’s Rayong Province – an area where tourists are thankfully as rare as nine baht notes. I travelled there with my ex-pat friend…

Imagine the confusion. It could happen to anyone. You pay millions to global rap star Jay-Z to perform at your celebrity-studded wedding and then an outdoor catering firm from Newcastle…