A family kitchen or a cooking class
We run three cooking days and they are not three versions of the same thing. One is a morning in a working family kitchen, cooking island dishes. Two are classes in resort kitchens, with a teacher and a timetable. This page sets them side by side so you can pick the one that fits.
Side by side
| Cooking with a local family | Roll & Brew | Pass It On Kitchen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where | A family kitchen at Cua Can | The class kitchen at a resort | A resort kitchen about 500 m from a local market |
| When | 08:30 - 14:00 | 09:00 - 12:00 or 16:00 - 19:00 | 16:00 - 19:00 / 19:30 |
| Group | Maximum 6, one group a day | Maximum 10 per session | Maximum 10 |
| From | USD 46 | USD 49 | USD 55 |
| Children | From about eight; under twelve half the shared rate | 6 - 11: USD 35, with an adult | 6 - 11: USD 39, with an adult |
| What you cook | Herring salad, clay pot fish, sour soup, banh xeo | Fresh rolls, banh cuon, pho cuon, egg coffee | Coconut jelly, kho quet or banh hoi, pho cuon, vegetable salad |
| Island dishes? | Yes - what the family eats | No - northern Vietnamese | Not the focus of the class |
| Market | Duong Dong market in the morning, you buy the ingredients | None | A local market in the late afternoon, about 500 m on foot |
| You eat | Lunch at the family table | Lunch or dinner, what you made | Dinner, what you made |
| Transfers | Hotel pickup in the standard zone included | Not included, quoted on request | Not included, quoted on request |
| Rain | Runs in the wet season | Indoors, unaffected | Market walk dropped in heavy rain |
Prices are per adult at the smallest price shown on each page. The family kitchen falls with group size; the two classes are a fixed price per person. Full tables are on each tour page and on the prices page.
The real difference: a family, or a class
Cooking with a local family is a morning in a working home kitchen at Cua Can. You shop the Duong Dong market with a list and the cash, cook four island dishes on the family's own stove, and eat them at their table. It takes one group a day, six people at most, and it is rustic: you share the stove and you learn by taste rather than by the gram.
The two classes are the opposite in useful ways. They run in resort kitchens on a set schedule, with a teacher whose job is teaching, for up to ten people. They are shorter, easier to fit around a beach day, easier with children, and they do not depend on a family's plans for the day. What they do not give you is a family home or the island's own dishes.
Neither is better in general. They answer different questions. If you want to understand how people on Phu Quoc cook and eat, take the family day. If you want a well-run, sociable few hours learning Vietnamese dishes you can make again at home, take a class.
Pick this one if
Cooking with a local family
You want island food - the herring salad and the clay pot fish are Phu Quoc dishes. You want the market with the ingredients bought by you. You are six or fewer, you have a whole morning, and a home kitchen appeals more than a tidy counter. See the day.
Roll & Brew
You want something short and indoors, in the morning or the late afternoon. You are travelling with children from six, or the weather has turned. You like the idea of learning to make rolls, including steamed banh cuon, and you are happy that none of it is island food. See the class.
Pass It On Kitchen
You want a market walk and a full dinner in one evening, and the coconut jelly handed from one class to the next sounds like your kind of thing. You accept that an afternoon market is quieter than a morning one. See the class.
Questions people actually ask us
We have children aged six and nine
Both classes take children from six with an adult, at USD 35 on Roll & Brew and USD 39 on Pass It On. The family kitchen day suits children from about eight, because of the hot oil and the caramel pot; younger children sit at the table rather than cook. For a six-year-old, a class is the easier choice.
We have one morning and want the most from it
The family day, if you can spare until about two in the afternoon and there is space - it takes one group a day and sells out first in December and January. If you need to be back by noon, the morning session of Roll & Brew.
It is raining
Roll & Brew is indoors and runs the same in any weather. Pass It On drops its market walk in heavy rain but the cooking and dinner go ahead.
We want to do two
A family morning and a class are different enough to do both, and the dishes do not overlap. The two classes overlap only in pho cuon, so doing both is possible but the family day plus one class gives more variety.
Food allergies
Tell us when you book, whichever day you choose. The family kitchen is seafood-heavy and cannot do a shellfish-free seafood menu. The classes need to know about allergies in advance too. All three have a vegetarian version.
What all three have in common
- You cook rather than watch. Every guest has their hands in the food on all three days.
- You eat what you made, sitting down, as a proper meal.
- You get the recipes, on the day or by email afterwards.
- Payment is in full at confirmation, as for every day on this site - see how to book.
For eating on the island beyond the kitchen, the eating guide covers the dishes particular to Phu Quoc and where people eat them, and the street food night walk is the evening version.
Questions travellers ask most
Which of the three is the most authentic?
If authentic means what islanders cook at home, the family kitchen at Cua Can. The classes are honest classes rather than home visits, and Roll & Brew teaches northern dishes, which we say on its page.
Do any of them include hotel pickup?
The family kitchen day includes pickup within the standard zone. For the two classes you make your own way to the class kitchen; a transfer can be arranged on request and is quoted when you book.
Which is best for a group of eight or ten?
One of the classes, which take up to ten. The family kitchen holds six at most and we will not squeeze in more.
Can we book a class at short notice?
Ask us: the classes run on a fixed schedule and space depends on what is already booked, so they are the more flexible option. The family kitchen needs more notice, because the family shops the evening before.
Read next
Tell us what you want out of the island
Dates, party size and the places you care about are enough to start. You get a draft route and an indicative price, not a brochure.