Celebrity chef Ian Kittichai has his hands in more than a dozen projects across Thailand, including regular appearances on the Iron Chef series, but Issaya Siamese Club is his flagship restaurant. Kittichai’s culinary education began at a young age when he would accompany his mother to a local market at 3am to help select quality ingredients for her curries. When he returned home from school, he would push a cart through the streets of Bangkok selling his mother’s homemade curry. Issaya is a 1920s villa with heaps of brightly pattern fabrics and colorful walls. Dishes of note include the banana blossom and palm heart salad and a massaman lamb shank, among others. The pastry chef is one of the best in the biz, and the jasmine flower panna cotta is incredible. Tip: The restaurant is lost in a maze of small lanes so ask your hotel to give clear directions to the cab driver.