Grandma's Home Cooking Chiang Mai Review 2026: An Authentic Thai Class

Chiang Mai Cooking Class Recommendation: Grandma's Home Cooking (Without A/C? My Honest Review)

There are two main cooking schools in Chiang Mai. I spent quite some time comparing them, but their class structures and itineraries seemed pretty similar. In the end, I booked Grandma's Home Cooking because it had the most reviews, and let me tell you right off the bat—it was an absolute blast!

I chose the morning session of Grandma's Cooking Class (the outdoor, non-A/C option). The class wrapped up right after lunch, making it a perfect, action-packed half-day experience complete with a market tour, farm tour, and tons of cooking. Here is my honest review!

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Table of Contents

1️⃣ Grandma's Home Cooking Basic Info

2️⃣ Market Tour

3️⃣ Arriving at the Cooking School & Choosing the Menu

4️⃣ Farm Tour

5️⃣ Cooking Class (Tom Yum Goong, Pad Thai, Curry)

7️⃣ Summary & Review

Grandma's Home Cooking: Basic Information

📌 Grandma's Home Cooking Quick Facts

Category	Details
Class Time	Morning 09:00 AM – 2:00 PM (including hotel drop-off)
Inclusions	Market Tour + Farm Tour + Cooking 3 Dishes
How to Book	👉 Book with a discount here
Price	Approx. ~$31 (after discount)
Pickup	Hotel pickup at 9:00 AM (Old Town area)
Menu Options	Soup (Tom Yum), Pad Thai, Curry + Dessert + Thai Tea

(They even give you a free recipe book to take home!)

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Our guide picked us up right in our hotel lobby in the Old Town at 9:00 AM.

I highly recommend booking the morning session because the afternoons in Chiang Mai get incredibly hot. Plus, it serves as the perfect lunch plan!

The Market Tour

The very first stop of the day is a local market. Don't worry, you won't actually have to carry around the heavy groceries yourself.

Instead, it is a fun session where the chef introduces you to local Thai ingredients and essential cooking sauces. (Our chef's name was Max!)

We got about 10 minutes of free time to wander around, so we bought some mangosteens and other fresh seasonal fruits. It was unbelievably cheap—only 50 Baht (approx. ~$2) per kg!

The entire tour and class are conducted in English, but the guide speaks slowly and clearly, so there's absolutely no need to feel intimidated!

(This cooking class seems incredibly popular with Chinese travelers—almost everyone in the other groups was from China.)

Arriving at the Cooking School & Choosing Our Menu

After the market tour, we drove for about 10 minutes and arrived at Grandma's Home Cooking School.

The school is housed in a stunning traditional-style Thai building surrounded by a massive, beautiful garden. The moment we stepped in, I immediately understood why this place is so famous.

You can grab complimentary cold bottled water from the fridge whenever you want. After claiming our cooking stations, we got to choose our custom menu for the day:

✅ Soup (Tom Yum, etc.) — Shrimp / Chicken / Vegetable

✅ Curry — Green / Red / Khao Soy

✅ Pad Thai — Shrimp / Chicken / Vegetable

✅ Included Drink — Thai Milk Tea / Lemon Tea / Flower Tea

I chose chicken Tom Yum Goong, green curry, shrimp Pad Thai, and Thai milk tea. Once you check your choices on the list, they prep all the ingredients and bring them right to you.

*I absolutely loved that all we had to do was the actual cooking!

(The assistant staff take care of everything else, from washing the ingredients to doing the dishes!)

Farm Tour

The property has several gardens of all sizes. They actually grow and harvest their own herbs, eggs, limes, and other fresh ingredients right here at Grandma's Garden.

It was so much fun learning about each ingredient one by one and getting to smell the fresh aromas.

There's also a chicken coop on-site, and these chickens are strictly egg-layers, not for meat!

If you're feeling brave, they'll let you balance one on your hat for a photo. It's a little scary but definitely a must-try experience!

Cooking Class (Tom Yum Goong, Pad Thai, Curry)

When we returned to the kitchen after the farm tour, all of our ingredients were perfectly prepped and waiting for us.

And here are the Thai teas we ordered earlier!

The chef explained each ingredient at a relaxed pace and even demonstrated how to chop them. As long as you follow along step-by-step, anyone can easily whip these up!

1️⃣ Tom Yum Goong

I chose the chicken Tom Yum Goong, and my mom opted for the coconut soup.

I was amazed by how easy it was to cook, and the flavor tasted exactly like what you'd get at a restaurant! Once you finish cooking, you get to eat it right away. My mom and I had so much fun making them, and since we made different dishes, it was even better being able to share.

2️⃣ Pad Thai

Next up was making the shrimp Pad Thai!

You have to keep one hand on the wok at all times for safety, so make sure to be careful.

The chef showed us the entire process first, and then we followed along. It felt like we whipped it up in literally three minutes flat!

3️⃣ Thai Curry

To make the curry paste, you grind all the different ingredients together in a mortar and pestle. Then, you stir-fry it with a bit of coconut milk before pouring in the rest of the coconut milk to bring it to a boil.

To be honest, I was so incredibly full by this point that I almost couldn't eat another bite. My mom and I were having a blast cooking, but the portions were so generous that we kept telling each other we were too stuffed to eat anymore!

We enjoyed our final curry alongside our dessert, mango sticky rice! Since we got to make each dish step-by-step and eat them while they were still fresh and hot, everything tasted absolutely incredible.

The Verdict: Final Review

Thanks to this cooking class, our morning was incredibly well-spent! I loved the relaxed pace, which left plenty of time to snap tons of beautiful photos. I had never cooked Thai food before, so stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something brand new was such a blast!

There were so many fantastic photo spots, and the cooking school grounds were so spacious—perfect for taking a leisurely stroll and grabbing those classic vacation proof shots.

What I Loved Most (My Review)

✅ Step-by-step guidance starting from basic knife skills, so even total beginners are totally fine!

✅ Packed with fun activities, including a market tour + organic farm tour

✅ 4-course meal (Tom Yum, Pad Thai, Curry, and Mango Sticky Rice) = amazing value for money

✅ Super convenient with hotel pickup and drop-off included

✅ No pressure at all, as the instructor walks around to guide everyone individually

✅ Highly recommend the morning session (perfect since it's outdoors without AC)

If you’re traveling with your mom like I was, or just want to create some unforgettable memories in Chiang Mai, I highly recommend this! My mom absolutely loved it!

🔻 Book the Cooking Class

with a Special Discount Here 🔻

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