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Lots of restaurants are pitching for their "Royal Cuisine" these days with the design, staff outfit, food presentation and menu. Many of them are just another tourist trap. Well, what do commoners like me know? We read of course. There are plenty of books written by people who served the royal families in the old time, in various topics from the life in palace to recipe and domestic management... giving us some clues. So, in short, what is Royal Cuisine?
We call these food A-harn Chao Wang, meaning food for people living in the palace. Here are some of the few key characteristics of the A-harn Chao Wang based on my reading:
The following pretty and yummy dishes seem to be quite common in the restaurants that claim to be royal or traditional. Many of them are "old" food that is not easy to find anymore because it is not easy to make them at home, unless you have all day and a troop of helpers like they do in the royal kitchen -- yep according to the book the royal cooking team is huuuge.
But again, it is not about which dishes are being royal and which are not. All those Thai dishes we have every day could actually be royal, depending on its recipe and how they are prepared.
Now, where? One place can really give you the thrill is Thanying Restaurant in Pramuan Road, in Silom ~ Sathorn area. If you are in Phuket, the closest you can find is probably the Blue Elephant in Phuket Town.
Last but not least, there are actually plenty of restaurants that never pitch on their royal-ness, but do serve authentic Thai food following Chao Wang recipe. |
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