Dubai's Thai dining scene gets a short but serious boost this autumn, as Pai Thai at Jumeirah Al Qasr hosts a two-night four-hands collaboration with Chef Nooror Somany Steppe, the founder behind Bangkok's celebrated Blue Elephant brand and a familiar face from MasterChef. Running Friday October 16 and Saturday October 17, 2026, the event pairs her with Chef Amara Mahayothee of Pai Thai for a set menu drawn from both kitchens.
Diners choose between a three-course menu at Dhs395 or a five-course version at Dhs695, with limited seats available each night. The lineup leans classic rather than gimmicky: a green mango and lobster salad (naam dokmai) built on ingredients from Chef Nooror's home province, an organic green chicken curry heavy on Thai sweet basil and kaffir lime, and a ribeye finished with Blue Elephant's Black Diamond garlic and a touch of truffle. The standout for food history fans is the jumbo river prawn tom yum, prepared in the traditional style served during the reign of King Rama V in the late 1800s.
There's a local twist too. Dessert is a mung bean and jasmine date cake, an Emirati-inspired homage that Chef Nooror created in memory of her late mother.
If eating isn't hands-on enough, the collaboration extends into the kitchen. On Saturday October 17 from 11am to 2.30pm, both chefs run a masterclass covering Thai classics such as yam som o (pomelo salad), chor muang (flower-shaped dumplings), gaeng phed goong (prawn curry) and khao niew ma muang — the mango sticky rice everyone pretends not to order twice. The class costs Dhs695 per person including a three-course lunch and soft drinks, or Dhs895 with wine pairings.
Why it matters: one-off chef collaborations like this rarely come with a masterclass attached, and Blue Elephant is one of the most respected names in royal-style Thai cooking. If you're in Dubai mid-October — or planning a trip around a food calendar — it's a genuinely rare chance to taste two generations of Thai culinary craft in one sitting. Book early; the seat count is small and events like this at Pai Thai's waterside Al Qasr setting tend to sell out.
