Organised by Central Department Store and Talad Design, the market bring together more than 2,000 of the best eateries from all over the country to tempt your palate with authentic Thai food. The market also features rare traditional Thai performances and retro outdoor film screenings for the public to enjoy free of charge every day.

The food festival is divided into three zones.

The Thai street food Market Zone: This is designed for food lovers and features both savoury and sweet dishes from all over the country. Highlights include chef Day’s German pork knuckle, Manee Meenom’s toast with toppings, Khao Chae Mae Lek Sakidjai’s khao chae from Tha Yang, Phayung Hoi Thod’s deep fried oyster omelette and traditional phad thai from Kwan Riam Market.

The Riverside Lifestyle Zone offers cool Thai products such as Obasan shirts from Amphawa Market, Phuket pearls, health pillows and blankets, among others.

The Outdoor Film Screening Zone is a great place to kick back and enjoy old films free of charge, such as “Terminator 3”, “Phi Mak Phra Khanong”, “Charlies’ Angels”, “My Girl”, “First Love”, “Armageddon”, “Sudkate Salateped”, “Now You See Me”, and “BTS Love Story”. They’re shown daily from 6.30 to 11.00pm.

There are a range of traditional Thai performances too including the Thai drum dance, Yae Khai Mod Daeng dance, Phraewa Kalasin, Lao Krathop Mai, Perng Mang Battle, Mini Khon, children’s Angkalung performance plus music and modern art performances

Perched on the eighth floor of the Fairway Hotel in the city’s historic port area and central business district, Botanik usually draws groups of up to 12 guests, enabling it to maintain the highest culinary standards and retain the diverse social ambience of the venue.

But larger groups can be accommodated upon request.

“Since we opened last August, we’ve experienced high demand from guests seeking a unique destination for their corporate or social gatherings,” says Cantaloupe Hotels Group founder and chief executive Dimitri Jayasuriya.

“Our stunning roof-top setting, stylish interior design and creative menus have proven extremely popular. We’re getting more and more inquiries from home and abroad. Many area businesses are choosing Botanik for their lunches and evening functions, including those seeking to impress visiting foreign clients.

Botanik has a new executive-lunch menu. Chef Rishi Naleendra – Sri Lanka’s only Michelin-star chef – has developed a delectable two-course menu that allows guests to choose from a sumptuous selection of starters and main courses.

Botanik’s expert mixologists have meanwhile devised a new gin-cocktail menu, ideal for afterwork get-togethers and evening drinks. The gins include premium labels such as Broker’s, Hendrick’s and Tanqueray No 10.

For guests seeking an evening of entertainment, there’s “Botanik Live”, an open-mic night that serves as a platform for young artists to show their talents. And every Thursday the acoustic band the Drift provides the perfect musical backdrop to any occasion.

Cantaloupe and Co conceived Botanik as a contemporary yet rustic venue that showcases fresh produce and seasonal menus. With indoor and outdoor areas, Botanik comprises three interwoven venues – the Bistro, Rooftop Terrace and the Veranda.

Email reservation@botanik.lk.

Each one of Dynasty’s authentic group set menus features appetisers, soup, rice or noodles and some of the chef’s signature seafood and meat mains, not forgetting dessert.

Recommended dishes include sauteed conch shell Sichuan style, Braised abalone with sea cucumber and shiitake mushrooms in a brown sauce, roasted duck Peking style, deepfried shrimp with mayonnaise and sesame seeds, fried egg noodle topped with shredded chicken and steamed bamboo fish with light soya sauce..

Prices start at just Bt7,300plus for the “Sard” set for 10, and  go up to Bt45,200plus for the ultraluxurious “Starred Diamond” set.

Book a table at (02) 100 6255 or find out more at http://www.CentaraHotelsResorts.com/centaragrand/cgcw/restaurant/dynasty.

Fei Ya, specialising in Chinese cuisine, has an all-you-can-eat Dim-Sum Lunch Buffet for Bt1,588-plus. If you prefer a set menu, there’s a family-sized eight-course feast at both lunch and dinner for Bt9,888.

The Lunar New Year is no less welcome at Flavors, where the international brunch and dinner buffet brim with special dishes, including hot and sour soup and Hokkien noodles. The brunch costs Bt2,400-plus, dinner Bt2,100.

Meanwhile on February 16 in the Lobby, there’ll be traditional lion and dragon dances.

Make reservations at (02) 125 5000.

Located on the 24th floor of Centara Grand at CentralWorld, Dynasty restaurant offers these special noodles in a variety of different ways – with a range of meats, vegetables and Chinese delicacies all available, such as the La Mian Noodles with “Charsiew” Charcoal Roasted BBQ Lacquered Pork or signature Maine lobster with La Mian topped with Shangai Sauce’.

Prices per dish start from Bt265-plus and all these a la carte selections are available for lunch and dinner.

Book your table by calling (02) 100 6255 or email: diningcgcw@chr.co.th

On February 14, Trader Vic’s creates a four-course Sparkling Valentine Dinner serving oysters in three ways, seared scallops and smoked duck breast with foie gras. Romance sparkles with a choice of settings and bubbles. This special course is priced at Bt7,999 per couple with a bottle of sparkling wine and Bt9,999 including a bottle of Billecart Champagne in a private pergola on the outdoor deck.

The hotel also offers private Dining by Design with a choice of two settings – a private riverside terrace or a Thai sala in the tropical garden. Lovers will feast on a sumptuous five-course dinner of oyster caviar, beef medallions and lobster, paired with a bottle Moet Chandon Champagne. The private dinner costs Bt29,999 per couple and includes a beautiful rose bouquet.

Toast the passions of Italy with bubbles as Brio stimulates your taste buds with a four-course sequence of authentic Italian creations, including a gourmet Lamb cutlet or Red mullet fillet special and a luscious strawberry gelato with white chocolate foam and chilli sprinkle served tableside. The romantic meal is Bt4,999 per couple with a glass of sparkling wine and Bt6,999 with a bottle of sparkling wine.

The Riverside Terrace, meanwhile, has a Valentine Buffet and Cultural Show. Diners can enjoy several seafood delights and international cuisines while the dramatic Thai cultural show and fireworks illuminate the River of Kings. The buffet is priced at Bt1,800 with a glass of sparkling wine.

Or simply saunter along the River of Kings with the Manohra Cruises Valentine Journey and sample a five-course Thai fine dining menu, including slow cooked massaman lamb shank and Phuket lobster with tamarind sauce. A dinner cruise is priced at Bt12,000 per couple with a bottle of Billecart Champagne.

Book your table at (02) 476 0022 extension 1416 or email riversidedining@anantara.com.

For the first time, The St. Regis Bangkok presents five exclusive poolside tables only, set for the ultimate Valentine’s evening, with six exquisite courses, divine wine pairings, and the ultimate romantic backdrop of the setting sun and the twinkling Bangkok city lights in the night’s sky. The menu includes hot smoked salmon trout and caviar sauce, an entire platter of oysters, creamy champagne porcini soup, tender Australian Wagyu and foie gras or butter-poached Boston lobster, and an embracing Valrhona hot chocolate souffle, followed by local artisanal cheeses and a tipple of cognac. This sensational event is limited to just five couples only and priced at Bt15,000 per couple, including drinks pairing. Advance reservation is necessary.

Viu restaurant is renowned for its legendary buffets and Valentine’s Day is no exception. Guests can make eyes over an epic buffet to remember. This delectable culinary journey includes the finest spread to browse at will, plus selected premium alacarte mains and enticing alaminute orders, delivered to your table. Savoury highlights featured are numerous, but include baked salmon en-croute, roasted scallops, Boston lobster and tenderloin beef wellington, as well as Australian lamb cutlets and prosciutto-wrapped chicken, glazed duck leg confit, house-made crab pasta and a gourmet truffle mac’2 n cheese. This epic romance buffet is priced at Bt2,300 per person, including a glass of prosecco each, as the sun goes down and illuminations across the city sparkle into view.

At Jojo restaurant, Chef Stefano prepares a sensually seductive, 5-course gourmet Italian set dinner for two, in a creative journey of love, through authentic, contemporary Italian cuisine. Feel the love in every bite, as guests enjoy the likes of succulent Hokkaido scallops, followed by a rich porcini mushroom cream. Salivate over Canadian lobster ravioli, and choose between Argentinian tenderloin and roasted snowfish; then finish with a sweet creme brulepasta and Sicilian blood orange.

This passionate menu is priced at Bt7,500 per couple, but guests are invited to succumb to further temptation with an optional couple’s wine pairing at Bt3,500 for two.

Book your table at (02) 207 7777, email fb.bangkok@stregis.com or visit http://www.stregisbangkok.com. Connect withThe St. Regis Bangkok on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

WHEN IT comes to the spicy burn of Thai food, Hung Sen, a popular restaurant newly relocated to Saladang Soi 1, hits just the right notes. Judging by the number of families and office workers from the neighbourhood stopping in for a quick lunch or dinner, the place is a gourmet magnet.

People who are very fond of noodles established Hung Sen, as the name suggests. “Hung” refers to cooking rice and “sen” means noodles, and in Chaozhou Chinese, “hungsen” also means noodles.

The relocated Hung Sen has a modern ambience to complement its creative approach to classic Thai dishes.

Hung Sen the restaurant is a known quantity in Bangkok, operating in its original location at CentralWorld for seven years. Though relocated, it offers the same dishes with the same winning qualities.

“The lease on the old place elapsed, so we decided to move here, and we hope our loyal customers keep coming,” say co-founder Alisa Sudasna. “We guarantee the taste is the same, and the menu has even been improved.”

The two-floor restaurant has a hip, modern style with high ceilings, their dark blue trim contrasting with the white furniture, lush green potted plants and orange brick wall decorated with tantalising photos of the dishes available. Hung Sen can accommodate up to 50 diners in cosy surroundings.

With a menu mainly about noodles, Alisa and her partner Saovaluk Siwapornchai have gone for a street style in creative recipes, high-quality ingredients and attention to detail.

Pork Tom Yum Noodles

“With noodles, the soup is very important,” says Alisa. “We cook seven to 10 kilograms of pork at a time, letting it simmer for many hours to flavour the stock. In spicy dishes like tom yum, we use palm sugar and get the sour taste from tamarind instead of vinegar.”

Sukhothai Rice Noodles with Kurobuta Pork (Bt120) is a recipe from Alisa’s grandmother, the dish delightfully sweet and (slightly) sour and scented with lime. It features the Kurobuta pork tenderloin, ground pork, pork crackling and a parboiled egg.

In Chicken Stir-Fry with Rice Noodles (Bt70), the noodles form a soft outer frame for the meat.

Chicken Khao Soi (Bt115) is yellow-curry noodle soup rich spiced and with large chunks of thigh meat.

Khao Soi Chicken

“This is one of our best-selling noodle dishes,” says Alisa. “It has an authentic northern Lanna taste. I’ve sampled chicken khao soi all over the North and this is the best recipe. We make our own chilli paste too, using fried Karen chillies and nuts, but that means you have to be careful because it’s very hot!”

For devotees of prawns, Tom Yum Kung Noodles (Bt185) and the Pad Tai (Bt125) both contain large river prawns and boast intense flavouring along with soft noodles.

Non-noodle dishes include Stir-fried Garlic Chives Spring Rolls (Bt80). The frying, as opposed to the usual steaming, makes them extra crispy and golden brown.

There are about 20 different kinds of spicy papaya salad on the menu. One highlight has to be Tum Luang Prabang (Bt80), whose unbeatable ingredients are pickled-fish sauce and shrimp paste. The papaya is also thin-sliced rather than chopped, so it has both a different look and different texture.

Garlic Chives Spring Rolls

On the rice menu is Khao Kra Prow Sam Mhoo (Bt100), featuring stir-fried basil, minced pork, bacon and pork crackling served with clear soup.

“We offer new and different dishes every month,” Alisa says. “Having grown up with my grandmother, I realise now that a lot of traditional

Thai dishes have been forgotten. But we serve them here.

“One of my favourites is mieng kham pla, with chopped lime, shallots, ginger, roasted coconut, dried shrimp and peanuts, all eaten with chaplu leaves and sweet and sour chilli sauce. I add a little twist by adding a single bite of deep-fried fish.

“Another favourite is tom som pla krapong, the sweet and sour soup with snapper fish. I use palm sugar, tamarind and spices to balance the aroma and flavour.”

The Mieng Kham Pla costs Bt180 and the Tom Som Pla Krapong Bt255.

Hung Sen also does catering and can deliver lunch boxes. Look it up on UberEats, Honest Bee or Line Man.

CLASSY SPOT FOR CLASSICS

>> Hung Sen is on Saladang Soi 1 near the U Chu Liang Building, where there’s free parking for up to 90 minutes.

>> It’s open weekdays from 11am to 9.30pm and weekends from 11.30.

>> Book a table at (02) 2337455 or Facebook.com/hungsen.noodle.

From February 21 to 25, Kazuo will be offering a special sushi and sashimi menu and buffet lunch at Bt1,800-plus weekdays and Bt2,500-plus at weekends. on Saturday and Sunday. For dinner, he will present extraordinary 5-course menus at Bt3,200-plus and 7-course degustation menus at Bt3,900.

A renowned master of the super-refined Kyoto style of Japanese cuisine known as ‘Kyo-ryori’, Kazuo is committed to serving authentic Japanese delicacies.

His cuisine reflects the seasons and tells cultural tales. His mouth-watering soups are symbolic of his cooking style: composed, delicate and illustrative. He believes the taste and aroma of a soup characterises one’s culinary style and defines a restaurant’s personality.

Book your table at (02) 659 9000 extension 7390 or email mobkk-restaurants@mohg.com.

Its coffee beans have a unique aroma, balanced acidity, and low caffeine content, and it is accredited as a World Class Speciality Coffee through various certifications, including USDA Organic, EU Organic Farming, EU Geographical Indication, and the Specialty Coffee Association that have guaranteed its premium quality.

With the concept “From Earth to Cup”, the brand is driven by Phitsanuchai Kaewphichai, co-founder and business adviser, who uses his wine production knowledge to make the brand different from the others on a market.

The process starts with selecting excellent coffee varieties and follows on through planting, selective hand picking to wet fermentation to generate the unique flavour.

“Coffee growers choose to harvest red, ripe coffee cherries through selective hand picking. Freshly harvested coffee cherries will be placed in water tanks to sort out unripe, overripe, and inferior cherries. Then, they will start pulping cherries immediately within the first 24 hours in order to maintain quality and freshness,” Phitsanuchai said.

“After that they will start the 7-8-4 process which means seven days of natural sun drying after the fermentation process, eight months of storing dry beans in clean ventilated sacks under a high altitude weather controlled warehouse, and four rounds of bean sorting – a sifter, high speed electronic sorter, ensure optimal grading, and final stage of hand sorting. After these processes, the coffee beans will be ready for roasting and further distribution.”

With such a delicate and meticulous production process, coffee lovers can ensure that they will get the finest delicious brew in the final cup. Doi Chaang Coffee is also a pride of Hill Tribes Thai coffee growers as their coffee is the first Thai Arabica coffee to find a place on the world coffee map and is equivalent to other famous coffee countries.

“Unlike Brazil and Colombia, Thailand is not really known for its coffee. Previously, people did not believe that Thailand could grow premium Arabica coffee. That scepticism then became our challenge since we know that Baan Doi Chang is one of the prime areas in the world for growing high quality Arabica coffee,” Phitsanuchai added.

“Today, Doi Chaang Coffee has become one of the world’s finest coffees made from the village of Doi Chang, Thailand. We sell both domestically and to international market, which includes Canada, USA, England, Romania, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Lao, Cambodia, and Myanmar.”

Find out more at DoiChaangCoffee.co.th.