In Koh Samui we tried a unique dining experience called The Thai Experience. Our friends had heard about it somewhere and suggested we try it out, and lucky for us we were able to get last minute reservations (although I’m sure during peak season you probably need to plan further than a day in advance).

The Thai Experience is a dinner party of sorts, their website describes it as “a brand new dining concept that brings together the very best elements of a dinner party; fantastic food, delicious cocktails, fun and laughter with other guests and knowledgeable hosts.”. And that honestly is a pretty accurate description.

The evening is set up dinner party style. You sit at a big table with other guests, chat with everyone, eat awesome food, and drink delicious cocktails.

This is how an evening at The Thai Experience went

Cocktail Hour

Photo courtesy  of The Thai Experience 

• We were picked up from our hotel by The Thai Experience mini bus, they conveniently take care of your transportation.
• Upon arrival we were greeted by the hosts with a cocktail and a pin to put in the giant map on the wall for where we were from. It was a fun little way to get to know everyone.
• After taking our places at the table, and putting on our aprons and chef’s hats we got to try samples of three different cocktails and choose our favorite. My favorite was the spicy gin and tonic.
• We learned how to make each of the cocktails and then were tasked with making the favorite cocktail for the person next to us.

Food

Photo courtesy of The Thai Experience 

• The dinner is four courses including appetizers, street food, main course, and dessert.
• The dishes range from traditional Thai cuisine to Thai inspired.
• Food was served tapas style, several small dishes to sample and share. Each course had three to five different dishes to try.
• When you make reservations you give them any food allergies or preferences, but they do over it again before the food is served just to make sure. That way everyone gets to eat according to their preferences. A major plus for me was that nothing had peanuts in it, so my allergy did not prevent me from trying anything.
• Everything tasted amazing, there wasn’t one dish that I disliked.
• We also got to prepare little parts of the meal like sauces at the table.

Hosts

Photo courtesy of The Thai Experience 

• It’s a group of about 4 hosts running the dinner party, and they are both locals and expats.
• Everyone was extremely knowledgeable about both Koh Samui and Thailand as a whole.
• In between courses one of the host would give a little sort of lesson on Thai history or culture.
• They were always telling jokes and stories and keeping the conversation lively, and would throw in the occasional dirty joke which I always thought was hilarious.
• They we incredibly accommodating, Rob ended up having to take a work call in the middle of dinner, and they set him up in a quiet corner in the back and would take him food and drink as it got served up. Seriously, they went above and beyond to make a sort of weird situation work.

Overall Experience

• We had a great time, the food was great, the atmosphere was fun and relaxed, and everyone there, guests and hosts, were fun and friendly.
• It sort of reminded me of the first night a group tour or travel group has dinner together and you are just having fun and getting to know everyone.
• If you are in Koh Samui I would highly recommend giving it a try one night, it’s so much more than going out to a nice dinner, it really is an experience.