Taste of Thailand Food Festival

Overview

Two top-notch Thai chefs are joining forces for Sydney's inaugural Taste of Thailand Food Festival. Taking place at Café Mix, within the Shangri-La Hotel in The Rocks, from April 20-29, this decadent event features a cornucopia of flavours, colours and textures from Northern Thailand. Think tropical fruit, freshwater fish, fragrant spices, lush herbs and chefs who aren't afraid to experiment.

One such chef is Pawitra In-Eya, who hails from Shangri-La Hotel, Chiang Mai. The hotel group is flying the talented chef here specifically for the festival, to work alongside Aum, head chef at Darlinghurst's Moon, who's known for blending traditional Thai cooking with fine dining techniques.

Together, the chefs will create an epic buffet. Just some of the dishes to look out for are beef cheek khao soi , 72-hour braised ribs with tamarind glaze, steamed sea bass with chilli-lime sauce (pla neung manao) and black lip mussels in a spiced coconut broth.

After sampling these savoury delights, head to the dessert station. Here, you'll find everything from mango sticky rice to tab tim krob — a traditional Thai dessert made from water chestnuts and sweetened coconut milk — and desserts by pastry chef Anna Polyviou.

The Taste of Thailand buffet is open for dinner every night from 6pm to 9.30pm and for lunch on weekends from midday till 2.30pm. Usually it'll set you back $65 (for all-you-can-eat, mind you) but if you head in for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night it'll cost $85 — because you'll have access to the hotel's decadent seafood buffet, with fresh oysters, crab, lobster and much, much more. To make a booking, head here.

The festival is presented in partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Thai Airways International.