The Vertical Divination

As competition stiffens amongst Bangkok’s high-end culinary offerings, Waldorf Astoria Bangkok relishes in gastronomy experiences that strip apart Lexington Avenue’s constrained eating habits with that of Thailand’s easy-going, welcoming and try-it-all culinary style.

- Manfred Lu

In a country where tropical rainforests are abundant, and cuisine has long been the foundation of its civilisations, immersing into Thailand’s culture starts by tasting it. Bangkok — the world’s most visited city — sees avenues flanked by contemporary shopping malls and enough Ayutthaya-era temples to appease even the most ardent traveller. Follow the aroma of Kaeng [curries], and one will discover the culinary treasures of Bangkok.

Thai cuisine has grown exponentially in the last decade thanks to years of food diplomacy, a government-led culinary diplomacy initiative, which enabled the expansion and cultivation of Thai restaurants in Thailand and worldwide. Right now, Thai food makes up a considerable 4% valuation of the global culinary tourism market, which also counts on its record-breaking tourist arrivals as part of its footways. Seeing that it has managed to establish itself as a culinary destination, a heave of new competition is on the rise among the most elite, high-end restaurants, who are having another look at what else the complex cuisine can offer.

Take Waldorf Astoria Bangkok, which offers serenity incarnate with its magnificent white-clad rooms and spell-bounding culinary experiences that crawl upward (quite literally) towards the skies. The hotel leads a variety of immersive food experiences within its 60-story magnolia petal-shaped skyscraper that also serves as one of Thailand’s tallest buildings. Aside from its André Fu designed spaces and rooms that win on all design-led forms, a little-known secret that has had guests returning lies in its immaculately refined culinary spaces.