Award-winning restaurant makes the most of Thai flavors

A bite of Chiang Mai larp canape - minced guinea fowl amped up with mint, lemongrass, cumin and other spices - is just an example of the culinary journey of discovery one can expect at Nahm, one of the world's top-rated restaurants.

Chef David Thompson's version of chicken larp, a traditional Thai appetizer, did not taste spicy in the beginning, but as I chewed and swallowed it, the heat spread and intensified on my tongue. Then I could feel the comfortable sting on my toes and fingertips. Somehow, the burning feeling just disappeared, suddenly and completely, a few minutes later.

The restaurant, co-founded by celebrity chef and author Thompson, an Australian, is an eatery one simply cannot miss on a visit to Bangkok. The namesake restaurant in London founded in 2001 was the first Thai eatery to be awarded a Michelin star, although it closed in 2012. Thompson learned Thai cooking from an old woman whose family has been living in Bangkok for centuries, and got from her recipes from the Thai royal kitchens, I was told.