Your Perfect Travel Itinerary To Bangkok: The City Where The Stomach Never Sleeps

After more than a decade since my last trip to Bangkok, the city felt different. Yes, tuk-tuks still darted around the streets and food carts appeared at every turn, but it felt like Bangkok had grown up in the culinary world. It now boasts more than 20 one-Michelin-starred eateries, a handful of two-star and even a three-star restaurant from famed Thai chef Supaksorn "Ice" Jongsiri, who runs the hugely popular Sorn eatery.

But it's not just high-end restaurants. Bangkok caters to all tastes and wallets from the world's highest Nobu restaurant to cheap and tasty pad kra pao at the bustling Chatuchak market. This diversity helps make Bangkok one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. But for this trip the buzzword was 'luxury' - from the hotels I stayed in, the food I ate, to the beauty treatments I indulged in.

Bangkok is a sprawling metropolis that is home to around 11 million people. It may be an urban jungle and a playground for partygoers and fun-lovers, but there's a softer, more relaxed side to the city. Green, walkable and very safe, especially if you happen to be staying in the embassy district of Lumphini and Wireless Road. For my first two days in the capital, I stayed at the St Regis, one of the luxury brands within the Bonvoy Marriott group. I was constantly reminded of its flora and fauna as I looked out of my 18th-floor room onto the Royal Bangkok Sports Club golf course and tree-lined embassies. The view gets even better if you are invited to the penthouse suite owned by William Heinecke, the founder of Minor Hotels, the company that owns and operates the St. Regis brand in Thailand.

Foodie heaven

People come to Thailand for the beaches, the food and the warm reception. Some come for the food, and fill themselves with national dishes like pad Thai, green curry and tom yum goong. Tourists probably don't venture outside of these when they come to Thailand, but the country has so many more dishes to sample. Some traditional Thai dishes, vast and flavourful, were considered more complicated to cook than others and have fallen out of fashion.

Thankfully, the good people over at the Athenee hotel (more on this hotel later) have been reviving some of these older forgotten recipes at The House of Smooth Curry. Yum som-o goong mae nam is a delicious char-grilled river prawn with pomelo, grated coconut, fried shallots, chilli flakes and lime dressing. Over time, Thais took shortcuts on some of the ingredients, or didn't have time to fully prepare them and they gradually disappeared. The Athenee is trying to bring them back. It's also trying to teach guests how to cook and I found myself aproned up and chopping away during a Thai mango salad cookery class. There's something very satisfying about making your own food and then getting to eat it. A mango salad is the perfect start to any Thai meal, the same way that mango sticky rice is the ideal way to end one. It's a desert that never loses its appeal and relevance.

The Athenee hotel, nestled along the leafy Wireless Road, occupies the former Kandhavas Palace, once the royal residence of Princess Valaya Alongkorn, daughter of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) of Thailand. He is one of the nation's most revered monarchs, known for modernising Thailand by introducing Western-style reforms. The palace was built in the early 20th century and is part of the Luxury Collection, a portfolio of high-end hotels operated by Marriott International. The Athenee is also home to The Silk Road, a refined take on traditional Cantonese cuisine, blending time-honoured recipes with contemporary flair. From flaming Peking duck with imperial caviar to stir-fried tiger prawns, few things can beat a Chinese banquet.

Summer's here

Bangkok likes to mix things up, Asian fusion and Western dishes with local ingredients are also popular alongside traditional Thai fares. Back at the St Regis, I got to sample the Mediterranean dinner created by Chef Matteo Fontana at the VIU St Regis. The dining experience opened my eyes to just how productive Thailand is when it comes to growing its own food. We are not just talking exotic fruits like durian and mangosteen, but cherry tomatoes, caviar and seabass. Many of the top chefs in the luxury hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants are using local produce where they can.

Great food is one thing, and the summer menu at IGNIV on the ground floor of the Bangkok St Regis didn't disappoint, with an 18-course menu that you hope never stops. But it also provides a memorable dining experience that so many high-end restaurants lack. IGNIV means“nest” in Romansh (a language spoken in some parts of Switzerland), and the philosophy is all about sharing. Dishes are designed for the table to enjoy communally, making it an interactive, elegant yet relaxed Michelin-starred experience. The challenge with dishes like carabineros and wagyu short rib with salsa verde is that they are so good it's hard to share. One thing I didn't share was my box of treats from IGNIV's whimsical candy store featuring homemade pralines, jellies, and marshmallows.

Sky high

Bangkok was recently named the world's second-best food city by Time Out, beaten only by New Orleans. The more time I spent in the city, the more my stomach fell in love with it. There's also an abundance of rooftop bars and restaurants, which give another dimension to dining out in Bangkok. So up I headed to EA Rooftop at the Empire, a striking, six-floor culinary and lifestyle destination perched atop the Empire Tower in Bangkok's Sathorn district.

It includes Le Du Kaan by Chef Ton (modern Thai), K by Vicky Cheng (modern Chinese) and Sartoria by Paulo Airaudo (Italian) where I dined. Airaudo is a Michelin-starred chef originally from Argentina with Italian heritage using the finest seasonal ingredients from around the world. Every dish was a work of art, masterly created by a team of chefs you could witness up close in the open kitchen. The duck cappelletti was a standout dish, or was it the pigeon? Both deserved top billing. I finished with a trip upstairs to Nobu Bangkok, the world's highest and largest Nobu restaurant. While the main restaurant is on the 58th floor, its rooftop bar on the 60th offers stunning 360-degree views of Bangkok.

Health and wellness

To counter all the great food and expanding waistline, it was time to focus on my health and wellness. And what better place to visit than the Longevity Hub by Clinique. Originally founded in Switzerland, by Clinique La Prairie, it is a world-renowned longevity and wellness clinic known for pioneering cell therapy, nutritional science, and anti-aging innovations. The Bangkok location is the first longevity hub in Southeast Asia.

It caters to high-performance professionals, wellness-focused travellers, and anyone seeking preventive health, anti-aging, and longevity. You can choose some of the most advanced treatments available, from cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and red light therapy. After 30 minutes in a snug hyperbaric chamber I was feeling a little sleepy – in fact, people do enjoy a long blast of clean air to help get a good night's sleep. So I felt a Thai massage was in order. Both the St Regis massage experience and one at the Athenee's spa were two of the best 60 minutes I have ever enjoyed.

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