Blue Elephant Cooking School

Blue Elephant Cooking School

Blue Elephant Cooking School
4.5
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
About
Our Chefs from Blue Elephant are recognised around the world as the most emblematic icons of Thai cuisine. You will get the chance to learn by them sides! Use only the best ingredients A typical day will commence with a visit to the morning market. Accompanied by our instructor, you will learn to select and buy Thai ingredients for your own personal cooking. The class will be followed by a meal in our delightful restaurant sampling your own cooking as well as additional Thai dishes, if you wish to order.
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  • Katherine B
    Wallington, United Kingdom109 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great fun
    I had a brilliant morning at the cooking school. The group was greeted warmly and we were given cold towels while we waited. I really enjoyed the trip to the market with Paul where we bought a few extra ingredients but also bought different fruits to try later. Paul was informative and entertaining and the market was colourful with lots of different food items. It was pretty hot though. The cooking session was led by Molly. She explained things clearly and entertainingly. She allowed us to participate in her demonstration which was fun, before we were unleashed to our own devices. It was great preparing the meals, tasting them and then photographing them and comparing with what they should look like. Molly was patient with all of us giving advice when needed and encouraging our efforts. Our dishes were marked with a number to ensure that we ate the food that we had prepared. I know that I found the food tasty and hope to recreate a feast for my friends when I get back home. Would definitely recommend doing this.
    Khun Katerine, thank you very much for sharing your experience at our cooking school on Trip Advisor. The visit to the popular market organized by Chef Paul is a real opportunity for everyone to discover the best local products and ingredients to best enhance the dishes of Thai cuisine. Chef Molly loves to share her passion for "Heritage Thai Cuisine", the guide line of master Chef Nooror. You have lived it. Cooking school can also be a family experience. We welcome families with young teenagers. Future cooks? Our Chefs' mission is to increase the level of knowledge and practice of each student. From beginner to advanced, we welcome students of all levels. Like the school, the restaurant is open 7 days a week. "Would definitely recommend doing this" Khun Katerine thank you again for recommending us.
    Written 3 July 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited June 2023
    Travelled solo
    Written 1 July 2023
  • Diana S
    Hong Kong, China2 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Fun and productive cooking class with a DELICIOUS menu!
    My friend and I were lucky to have the afternoon cooking class all to ourselves with Chef Paul. Highly recommend it! We were shown a recipe set of 4 savory dishes and 1 dessert, and we loved that the flavors went beyond your typical Thai dishes (perhaps because the focus was on southern Thai tastes). Every part of the class (including the ingredient prep and cleaning) was organized so smoothly, and Chef Paul was awesome. He was patient with all our questions and tailored our personal tastes into the dishes we cooked. The ~3.5 hour class went by quickly, and we felt so accomplished after seeing our final dishes laid out in our table. Most importantly, the food was so delicious! We will definitely come back again (as they told us that their menus change on the regular).
    thank you very much for sharing your experience at our cooking school Chef Paul,loves to share his passion for "Heritage Thai Cuisine", the guide line of master Chef Nooror. You have lived it. Cooking school can also be a family experience. We welcome families with young teenagers. Future cooks? Our Chefs' mission is to increase the level of knowledge and practice of each student. From beginner to advanced, we welcome students of all levels. Like the school, the restaurant is open 7 days a week. Thank you again for recommending us.
    Written 13 October 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 7 October 2023
  • Marcdxb
    Fort Lauderdale, Florida72 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Amazing experience !!!!
    We Had a half day cooking course with a total of 5 dishes. Chef Paul was great and as it was just the 2 of us it, so it really was a private lesson. Chef Paul is very knowledgeable and was very good explaining all the different ingredients and spices. We joked a lot and had a great time what made also a fun experience. Definitely well worth going. All the ingredients were top notch. You get all the recipes in written format as well and then you get to eat it all in their beautiful restaurant Not to be missed
    “Chef Paul was great” Dear Marco, You had a half day cooking course with a total of 5 dishes. Master Chef Nooror has chosen Chefs from her team who like to make known the different ingredients and spices. You found the half day fun and informative. The morning class also offers a visit to the local market with the Chefs. To promote the Thai Cuisine heritage guideline the Master Chef uses ingredients that you consider to be of “top notch” quality We will be happy to see you again "Not to be missed". Every day the choice of dishes to prepare is different.
    Written 28 October 2023
    This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 24 October 2023
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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles73 reviews
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KGB777
Singapore, Singapore41,727 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2018 • Solo
Walked past here on the way from the core old town district to Chinpracha house, which is located next to this one. You can walk in from the road to get a look at the building and the grounds. I didn't actually check out the cooking school itself but the building is quite nice and might be worth a look if you're already in the area.
Written 2 February 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Alex Block
598 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2017
We absolutely love that place! Maison itself is gorgeous, cooking class, staff and teacher were amazing, food is so lovely! We’ve took another Thai food cooking class not long time ago where we’ve learned how to cook touristy dishes like Tom Yam, mango sticky rice and Pad Thai, but this cooking class at Blue Elephant is giving you oppurtunity to try and learn how to cook some traditional, not so touristy dishes. Great, highly reccomend! The restaurant itself is lovely too - well decorated, staff are friendly and service is on top! Thank you very much for having us!
Written 25 October 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kendric R
Los Angeles, CA102 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2017 • Couples
This cooking class was amazing!! I had to talk my wife into attending and now she boasts about how much fun it was. First, we were lucky in that the morning class was just the two of us. The trip to the market was enlightening and I learned a lot about the food and culture. The food we made was AMAZING! I can't recommend this class enough. It's not the cheapest class, but we definitely got our money's worth.
Written 20 June 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

KeokiHangLoose
New York City, New York, USA454 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2017 • Family
We opted for a Private Lesson, and ate at the Restaurant the evening prior, so had a basic idea of what we were in for. Originally, the plan was to go to the market to purchase our ingredients, but thankfully they were available when we arrived and didn't have to venture out on a very hot day. We prepared a traditional Thai meal (Lunch) with a dessert. It was supposed to feed our Family of 4, but didn't seem enough for "Americans". Our English speaking Instructor was friendly and helpful. We took a Taxi to and from the Westin.
Written 31 May 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sasha T
26 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2017 • Solo
First I should say that this have been my third cooking class on Phuket, I have been to a place with a stunning view Thai Cookery and to lovely cooking Kata with a chef Sally , who likes her job. Both are worth money and time. You get some cooking tricks, you are introduced to Thai ingredients and all the teachers speak English, and you eat your lovely dishes while you make them.
And the experience mentioned above has nothing to do with Blue Elephant cooking school Phuket.
You do not get any introduction.
You do not have any explanation of how a dish should be made, any! You just get the ingredients and follow the plan listed at the given recipe.
Your teacher can barely speak English, so it is really hard to get any information, you should use mainly your body language.
You do not get any understanding of Thai ingredients, you just get a paper where they are listed.
Most of the ingredients are pre-cooked, and you do not know how they were made.
The course finishes one hour earlier to the time indicated on the website.
And above that all, you eat all you have made at the end of the class, so you eat the food you have prepared 2 hours ago, and yes it is cold by that time.
BUT, there is always something good)
The building is beautiful.
You make curry from the scratch.
You get a bag with spices:)
Really I was totally disappointed by this class. But you shall probably like it if you have never been to any cooking classes before.
Written 22 January 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

zeroeight
Hong Kong, China60 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2017 • Family
Great setting, fantastic waiter, delicious food. This was a surprisingly blissful dining experience. Will definitely come back.
Written 3 January 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ash F
Phuket, Thailand11 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2016 • Friends
We hired a guide to show us the highlights of south Phuket. This was our first stop, we were able to walk inside and take pictures but it was 10:30am and not much was going on. It's a cool structure, but probably best to visit only if you want to participate in a cooking class or eat dinner.
Written 20 December 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JamieTravelsWell
Santa Clara, CA51 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2016 • Friends
I’ve used to be a huge fan of Blue Elephant having visited their Bangkok restaurant multiple times. The first two cooking classes were held in Bangkok, and were delightful. So much so, on my last visit to Phuket, my 2 friends and I decided to take another cooking class.

Unfortunately, the class was such a complete disappointment. Here are some of my thoughts:

1) Structure of the class was lackluster, ineffective, and different from Bangkok. There was no classroom instruction. We sat around the classroom to ‘cool down’ while the Chef (Molly) and the helper prepared the ingredients of the next dish. We were then asked to go directly to the cooking stations, and with some very brief instruction, began to cook. As we were cooking, the “instructions” were hand-fed to us by the Chef (ie. pour in the coconut cream now, turn off the fire now). Not only was there no opportunity to jot down our own notes (often the Chef will provide very useful tips not in the recipe), I felt we were simply executing commands as they were told to us, instead of understanding the cooking process. There was no opportunity to run through the printed recipe. Back at home, without Molly telling me what/when to do each step, I can barely cook the dish.

2) The Chef provided very little ‘value-add’ to the course, much less than other Chefs from other cooking classes. During my other classes in Bangkok, the Chef would provide very useful ‘industry tips’ (ie. how to fold kaffir lime leaf in half and tear out the stem, how to cut out the center of a chili). The Chef just told us what we needed to do (ie. ‘tear the kaffir lime leaf into pieces’), and we were left to figure out how best to remove the stem and tear. It felt like she was either less experienced, or couldn’t be bothered to explain further.

3) The ingredients were not explained much if at all. The raw green papaya was already peeled/grated and no explanations were given for the following:
a) what is a raw green papaya, what does it look like, and is it the same as a normal Malaysian/Hawaiian papaya,
b) where can you buy it and alternatives if it is unavailable,
c) tips on selecting the best papaya,
d) how was it prepared into strips and how much papaya was needed to make a portion.
Given that the papaya was the key ingredient in the dish, it’s absolutely ridiculous to have been provided none of the above.

It was not just the papaya – other examples of the lack of explanation were:
- How Tamarind juice can be made from dried tamarind (I learnt this in Bangkok)
- Differences between various rice noodles on the market (size, shape, dry/fresh), and which ones can be used to make pad thai
- Differences between the various dried shrimp available in the market
- What is a sweet turnip, what does it look like in it’s raw form
I have zero confidence in making any of these dishes, because I don’t know how to source half of the ingredients in their raw form.

4) For the price of the course, I expected to prepare more of the ingredients ourselves. This is especially true for the green curry. Although the Chef quickly demonstrated how the green curry paste was made, the rest of us used pre-packaged green curry paste. Given the paste is the key ingredient of the curry, it would have been nice to have made it from scratch ourselves (I’ve been to much cheaper classes where we made the paste ourselves).

5) It felt like there was a lack of staff for our cooking class. I only observed the Chef and one helper preparing our class of 7-8 students. This was probably why a lot of the cooking class time was spent with us in the classroom doing nothing, while they were preparing our next dishes.

6) Upon ending the class, she handed out the certificates (in a very rushed and disorderly fashion), very quickly said thanks, and disappeared. There was no further time for discussion with her, nor did she show up at our table later to ask us how our food was. This was not necessary, but would have been a nice courtesy. Not sure where she was so busy to rush off to.

Overall, the experience was incredibly disappointing, and I felt fell very short of the quality I had come to expect from Blue Elephant. I have little confidence to cook any of the dishes we learned. Given that the classes at Blue Elephant was on the expensive end, I felt the experience was incredibly poor value. Hope this review has helped!
Written 13 October 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

raksha_rao
Bengaluru, India47 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2016 • Friends
Nice ambience and beautiful architecture. Loved the whole concept of learning to cook delicious thai dishes from the chef and having those served for dinner. The chef was very sweet and everyone was so friendly. Must visit when you are in phuket.
Written 25 September 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

papey011
Phuket, Thailand52 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2016 • Business
The blue elephant cooking school good to come for learning here because before to the class room chef bring you to Maket and teach you for chose ingredients good in formation by chef Mon.
Written 20 September 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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BLUE ELEPHANT COOKING SCHOOL: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)