Cooking Thai by Benz - Thai Private Chef
Benz Martin is the chef of Cooking Thai by Benz, a private chef business in the Coachella Valley. With nearly 10 years as a private Thai dinner chef, she is known for her authentic cuisine. Featured in the LA Times as a Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation (MHKO) pioneer, Benz delivers fresh, flavorful Thai dishes.
Our Services
Authentic. Full of Flavor and Freshness. No Shortcuts—Ever!
Great taste is our passion, and we’re committed to delivering the best every time.
At Cooking Thai by Benz, our mission is to provide you with an array of delicious, unforgettable options. Chef Benz takes pride in preparing every dish using only the freshest, most authentic Thai ingredients.
We invite you to experience the memorable ‘taste of Thailand’ through one of our three service options below!
Private Thai Dinner Chef Services
Looking for a memorable evening with your very own private chef? We bring the authentic flavors of Thailand to your table with a dining experience that is exclusive, intimate, and interactive.
Whether it’s a family gathering, dinner party, or celebration, Chef Benz will create an extraordinary menu tailored to your event.
• Minimum party size: 8 guests
• Service areas: Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, Coachella, and Thermal
Reserve your date today for an unforgettable Thai dining experience!
Food Drop off/ Delivery services
Enjoy our delicious Thai dishes delivered straight to your door. Perfect for events or casual gatherings, our menu items are available in half, full pan quantities, or upon your request.
• Minimum party size: 10 guests for our delivery service; 25 guests for cocktail parties
• Note: Thai fruit carving arrangements are available exclusively for in-house cooking services
Give us a call for a customized quote and let us take care of the food while you enjoy your event!
Delicious Thai food straight from our MHKO certified home kitchen via www.cookconnect.com
At Cooking Thai by Benz, we’re honored to share the flavors of Thailand with our community. Whether it’s a private dining experience, a catered event, or a weeknight meal from our home kitchen, we promise food that’s always fresh, flavorful, and unforgettable.
Experience the convenience of curbside pickup with our 5-star-rated food made fresh in our certified home kitchen.
We post our weekly menus every Sunday on CookConnect for pickup on Wednesday or Thursday. You can also order directly via the CookConnect app.
Location: La Quinta Cove
How to order: Choose your favorites, place your order, and pick it up at your convenience.
Let’s make your next meal a delicious one! Order From Our Kitchen.
Reviews
Our Menu
Starters
All starters are made fresh, from scratch, and can feed both intimate gatherings and larger parties.
Golden Bags
Tasty minced chicken and shrimp mixture neatly wrapped in a "money bag" shape. Fried to a beautiful golden brown. Served with sweet plum sauce.
Grilled Lemongrass Prawns
Large prawns grilled to perfection on a lemongrass skewer. Served with a tempting cilantro lime dipping sauce.
Chicken curry puff pastries
Chef Benz's signature chicken curry filling tucked into a light and flaky empanada-like pastry. Fried to a crisp golden brown. Paired with a Thai cucumber relish.
Vietnamese Fresh Rolls
Super fresh! Assortment of fresh vegetables wrapped neatly in a rice paper wrapper. Served with a sweet chili sauce, topped with ground peanuts.
Crispy Spring Rolls
Mixture of taro, cabbage and delicious herbs and seasonings wrapped in spring roll paper and deep fried to golden perfection. Paired with sweet chili sauce. Careful: these are addicting!
Chicken and shrimp shumai
Minced and seasoned ground chicken and shrimp wrapped in shumai paper and steamed to the perfect consistency.
Chicken or Beef satay
Curry-marinated chicken or beef skewer served with Thai peanut sauce and cucumber relish.
Homemade pork Gyoza/ potstickers with homemade pickled ginger
ground pork, fresh ginger, cabbage, green onion, homemade chili oil dipping sauce
Asian bacon-wrapped wild sea scallops (MP)
Wild sea scallops U15, bacon, wasabi-cilantro lime mayo
Soups and Salads
All soups and salads are made fresh, from scratch, and can feed both intimate gatherings and larger parties.
Green Mango Salad
Fresh, green shredded mango, carrots, tomato, whole peanut. Sweet tamarind lime dressing.
Thai Mixed Green Salad
Mixed greens, cucumber, tomato, shredded carrots, sliced hard boiled eggs, crispy plantain chips and fried shallots. Served with peanut dressing.
Larb
Minced chicken or pork (you choose), fresh kaffir lime leaves, rice powder, red onion, and a spicy lime dressing. Topped with fresh mint leaves, green onions, and cilantro.
Thai beef salad
grilled top sirloin, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, spring onion, cilantro, mints and tossed in homemade sweet chili and lime dressing
Tom ka Soup
A hot & sour coconut soup with chicken or shrimp (you choose), mushrooms, baby corn, sliced Thai chili, Chef Benz's homemade roasted chili paste.
Tom Yum Soup
A hot & sour broth with chicken or shrimp (you choose), tomato, green onion, shallots, sliced Thai chili, and mushrooms. Topped with cilantro.
Wonton Soup
A combination of seasoned pork and shrimp wontons, bok choy, and Chinese snow peas floating in a delicious broth.
Noodles
All noodle dishes are made fresh, from scratch, and can feed both intimate gatherings and larger parties.
Pad Thai
Stir fried rice noodles with choice of chicken, shrimp, or tofu, egg, green onion, carrots. Topped with bean sprouts and peanuts.
Pad See Ew
Chinese-influenced, stir fried rice noodle dish with your choice of beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, or tofu, collard greens, carrots, eggs, and sweet garlic dark soy sauce.
Kua Gai
Thai and Chinese-influenced stir fried noodles with chicken, egg, bean sprouts, and a mild soy sauce. Kid-friendly! Simple but delicious!
Pad Kee Mao (aka "Drunken Noodles")
Stir fried flat rice noodle with your choice of chicken, beef, shrimp, pork, or tofu, collard greens, carrots, green and brown onion, green bell pepper, kaffir lime leaves, jalapeno, egg, and a Thai basil sauce.
Yakisoba
We know... this is not a Thai dish but Chef Benz can do it! A classic Japanese street food: yakisoba noodles, assortment of fresh vegetables, your choice of chicken, beef, or shrimp, and a delicious yakisoba sauce.
Khao Soi curry noodles
Khao Soi is a creamy Northern Thai coconut curry with tender chicken, served over egg noodles and topped with crispy noodles, lime, and pickled mustard greens.
Curries
All curries are made fresh, from scratch, and can feed both intimate gatherings and larger parties.
Panang Curry
A type of red curry that is thick, salty and sweet and has a zesty kaffir lime leaf flavor. Choice of chicken, pork, shrimp, or tofu.
Massaman Curry
A rich, relatively mild Thai / Indian fusion curry full of spices with your choice of beef, chicken (thigh), potato, peanuts, brown onion, sweet tamarind juice. Topped with roasted chili and fried shallots.
Green Curry
Green curry paste cooked in coconut milk with your choice of beef, chicken, shrimp or tofu, kaffir lime leaves, red bell pepper, Chinese eggplant, and fresh Thai basil.
Red Curry
Red curry paste cooked in coconut milk with your choice of chicken, shrimp, or tofu, bamboo shoots, red bell pepper. Topped with Thai basil.
Yellow Curry
Yellow curry paste cooked in coconut milk with your choice of chicken, shrimp, or tofu; potatoes, carrots, and brown onion.
Entrees
All entrees are made fresh, from scratch, and can feed both intimate gatherings and larger parties. All entrees include your choice of Jasmine (white) or brown rice.
Pad Prik Khing
Fresh green beans, Prik khing curry paste, red bell pepper with your choice of chicken or shrimp.
Pad Krapow
Delicious minced or sliced chicken, beef, pork, shrimp or tofu stir fried in a rich, brown sauce with Thai basil, garlic, onions, Thai chilies, and bamboo shoots.
Garlic and Black Pepper Chicken
Thinly sliced chicken thigh, garlic, and a punch of fresh ground white and black pepper is all it takes to make this flavorful dish. Garlic lovers rejoice!
Garlic Sugar Snap Peas with Shrimp or Wild sea scallops (MP)
Sugar snap peas, large sea scallops or jumbo shrimp, tri colored bell pepper, water chestnuts, brown onion, and garlic soy.
Stir fried Fresh Ginger
Sliced fresh ginger, brown and green onions, your choice of protein (chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp) and garlic soybean paste.
Mongolian Beef
Tender, marinated top sirloin steak, fresh, minced ginger, garlic, brown onions, black soy sauce, scallions
Eggplant Stir-Fry with Hot basil
Chinese eggplants, red bell peppers, green onion and organic hot basil. Great dish for Vegetarian and Vegan lovers
BBQ
Our BBQ entrees are made fresh, from scratch, and can feed both intimate gatherings and larger parties. All BBQ entrees are served with Jasmine (white) or brown rice.
Crying Tiger
Tender, top sirloin steak with Chef Benz's signature marinade. Grilled to absolute perfection. This sauce is to die for.
Chef Benz's Signature Honey Bourbon Pork Ribs
St. Louis pork ribs gently marinated in a sweet honey garlic bourbon soy bath. Grilled to perfect tenderness. The hit of the dinner party! This style of rib has “snap“ as opposed to those that ”fall off the bone.”
Fried Rice
All fried rice dishes are made fresh, from scratch, and can feed both intimate gatherings and larger parties.
Pineapple Fried Rice
Perfectly ripened pineapple seasoned with turmeric and curry powder with your choice of protein (chicken, beef, or shrimp). Topped with sliced green onion, whole cashews and raisins.
Spicy Basil Fried Rice
Flavorful fried rice with Chef Benz's homemade roasted chili paste, fresh green beans, baby corn, red bell pepper, brown onion and topped with Thai basil.
Egg Fried Rice
Simple but delicious fried rice with egg and garlic. Great for the kiddos at the dinner party as well as adults looking to add a tasty side dish.
Mama’s recipe crab fried rice (MP)
pan fried genuine lump crab meat, egg with garlic soy topped with green onion
Desserts
All desserts are made from scratch with the freshest possible ingredients.
Sweet Honey Mango Sticky Rice (seasonal/ March-October)
Ripe honey mango served over sweet coconut sticky rice.
Crispy Banana Spring Rolls
Served with Benz’s homemade coconut ice cream
Roti Pancake
Served with mango sorbet
Fruit pie or lemon tart (Blueberry, key lime, lemon.…talk to us 😬)
Psst!🤫🤫🤫 Chef Benz enjoys baking her delicious fruit pies when she is not cooking Thai food. Homemade butter-flaky pie crust, super bright and tasty filling. Minimum party size 8.
Please note: this is a sample menu and is fully customizable to your needs
“Edible Art: A Feast for the Eyes and the Palate”
Contact Us
Let's chat about food!
Drop us a line with your dinner date, party size, and location, and let’s talk ThaI food!
Cooking Thai by Benz
Located in beautiful La Quinta, CA. We serve the entire Coachella Valley and have even been known to travel further for your special occasion ;)
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