Penang Humble Hawkers

This will rank as a real highlight of my trip to Malaysia. Samuel is a young, passionate chef, determined to help those he meets experience the best of the country's cooking. He taught me to cook five dishes, and I've come away with recipes, ideas and confidence. He teaches in his 28th floor apartment, which is an experience in itself as you gaze over the city, and he introduces you to a vibrant, hectic Chinese-style market early in the morning – an experience most travellers/tourists would probably never get…or if they did, they'd feel like voyeurs rather than participants. When it's all over, he delivers you safely back to your hotel, tired and happy. I can't think of a better way of getting inside the culture, and the price is so reasonable. It's an intense session, but very cool – and you get to eat the food you've cooked. I really recommend.

My wife and I are an older couple and we completed a cooking class with Chef Samuel two days ago which we enjoyed very much. The cuisine for Chef Samuel changes daily and for our class, we cooked southern Chinese food which was complex, spicy and delicious. While not a private class, we were the only two people on the day and Chef Samuel was attentative to our needs and with his very good English, could answer any of our many questions. His email communications with us before and after our class was fantastic and it included a number of recommendations for locations for different foods in Penang. We learned so much and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We would both highly recommend a class with Chef Samuel as an enjoyable and informative experiece that was also good value for the price.

Outstanding private cooking class experience, informative, interactive and fully enjoyable. Chef Samuel has a deep knowledge of Malaysian food culture and a great enthusiasm to share with its guests. Perfectly organized and punctual, you can chose which dish you want to learn from his many delicious recipes.

My husband and I did a private course with Chef Samuel – I'd already done one with friends and enjoyed it so much I wanted to go back! We chose to cook the curry mee, roti canai with dal, nyonya fish stew and curry chicken. The wet market visit is great and very informative – we asked about how to identify the freshest produce and Chef Samuel was happy to talk us through this. We learnt lots – from basic knife skills to how to make and fry a curry paste properly. Lots of professional cooking tips, tips on how to substitute ingredients when back home in the UK and you get the recipes to make notes on and take home. The Roti Canai flipping was fun, although it's going to take a lot of practice to master! Chef Samuel is very friendly and he even demonstrated how to make an extra dish for the kids, which they loved. I'd highly recommend booking this private course and will definitely be making the dishes when we get home!