Bangkok

Khun-Yah Cuisine: Wat Traimit’s Real Hidden Treasure

It’s said that the massive gold Buddha statue at Bangkok temple Wat Traimit was once hidden away – its value concealed from an approaching army under a thick layer of plaster. It was only when workers were relocating it in the 1950s that the statue fell and the plaster exterior cracked, revealing a core of solid gold. If Wat Traimit has another hidden treasure, we’d argue that it’s Khun-Yah Cuisine. Enter one of Bangkok’s most visited temples and wind through tour buses and rows of tourists, guides, and Buddhist monks to the eastern edge of the compound; keep your eyes peeled, and you’ll see an almost garage-like space and a sign. This is Khun-Yah Cuisine.

Bangkok

Ban Wannakovit: Bangkok’s Culinary Time Capsule

Walk down a narrow, unmarked lane in Ko Ratanakosin, the artificial island that’s the birthplace of Bangkok, and keep your eyes peeled for a wooden, gingerbread-style mansion not far from the Democracy Monument – there is no sign here. If the gate is open, Ban Wannakovit is in operation. Walk past a traditional Thai spirit house to the front porch, which is lined with a few tables, or continue inside the house, where dining tables mingle with family portraits, antique furniture, and other heirlooms. If there’s any homier dining experience in Bangkok, we haven’t found it.

Lisbon

Recipe: Canalha’s Razor Clam Rice with Deep-Fried Hake

“This is the best time for bivalves,” says Portuguese chef João Rodrigues. It’s late February, and we’re speaking in the dining room of Canalha, his award-winning Lisbon restaurant. “Usually you think of bivalves as something you eat in summer, but you shouldn’t. During the months with no letter R, you shouldn't eat them.” We had asked the chef to share a seasonal dish, but since proper spring produce hadn’t yet quite arrived, he suggested razor clam rice served with deep-fried hake – a fish related to cod, although with a more delicate flavor – creating a dish that takes advantage of those plump, non-summer bivalves.

Lisbon

Saving Lisbon’s Classic Steakhouses

The story goes that in the early 19th century, an Italian immigrant, António Marrare, arrived in Lisbon and opened four eateries, essentially introducing the concept of the contemporary restaurant to the city. These venues – all of which bore his name – would have an impact on Lisbon’s culinary scene that exists until today, as would the steak dish he invented, which was also – perhaps unsurprisingly – named after himself. Marrare’s last restaurant closed in 1866, but a century later Lisbon restaurateurs, nostalgic for that era of dining, opened restaurants that paid homage to Marrare. Those that exist today include Snob Bar, opened in 1964, Café de São Bento, in 1982, and Café do Paço, in 2009.

Bangkok

Bangkok State of the Stomach

Look at Bangkok through the lens of Instagram, a travel article, or a listings website, and these days the city’s restaurant scene can appear to be all about Michelin stars. The brand swept into the city in 2017, and in a short time, chefs and diners alike became obsessed with collecting its celestial accolades. At press time, 35 Bangkok restaurants can claim at least one Michelin star – in 2024, one restaurant earned three – and the company continues to have a massive impact on the city’s dining scene. Yet look at Bangkok from ground level, and you’ll see a very different picture. The curry shacks, noodle stalls, legacy restaurants, and street vendors that have shaped the city’s dining scene for decades continue to put out some of the best value, casual, unselfconscious, full-flavored, delicious food on earth, all while blissfully unaware of a French tire manufacturer’s rating system. Michelin may have grabbed peoples’ attention, but this has added to, rather than taken away from, Bangkok’s food scene.

Lisbon

Uaipi: Cassava Café

We’re in a small café in Lisbon’s Madragoa neighborhood, and all of the disparate dishes loading down the table in front of us – small bread-like balls, a dish that resembles a small crepe, granola studded with flakes of grains, a pudding-like dessert – have one ingredient in common: cassava. “Cassava is known as the Queen of Brazil,” says Laila Ferreira Soares. “Everyone eats it, it’s always present.” Laila, a native of Brazil, along with her partner, Gregory Busson, a Frenchman, are the pair behind Uaipi, a new café/market in Lisbon with a focus on this particular ingredient.

Bangkok

Pad Thai and Beyond: Nine of Our Favorite Meals in Bangkok

The vast majority of the food in Bangkok is, without a doubt, Thai. But peek under the hood and you’ll find ingredients, cooking techniques, and dishes that can be traced back to places far beyond Thailand. Influences brought by Chinese immigrants – namely Hokkien, Hakka, and Teochew people – have done the most to shape food in Bangkok. Immigration from the Muslim world has also had a massive impact on the city’s cuisine. And even contact with Europeans has come to shape Thai food. The result of all this is the fascinating, delicious jumble of ingredients, cooking techniques, dishes, and influences that today we recognize as Thai food.