Looking for great breakfast/lunch buffets

[vagabond48]

I'm going to be in CM the 1st week of August so I'm looking for great breakfast and lunch buffet priced under 350B. Does the Grandview lunch buffet at 199B the same price it was over 4 years ago when I last ate there offer similar variety or have they reduce the choices? Auf der Au Garden may be good but they have increased their price from 140B in April to 220B in June. Quite a jump. I hope they are worth it. Are there any great Indian restaurant lunch buffets as well? Thanks for any of the suggestions.

[beau thai]

given up buffets apart from Sizzler salad buffet as the others are bad for my weight!

Empress used to be good so long as not invaded by Chinese hordes, similarly Siripanna which was 189bht weekdays lunch.

[CMoldie]

Siripanna is still, in my opinion, the best.

Auf der Au - I'm not sure where you got your info from. I was there last Sunday and it was 140 baht. Best value in my opinion.

Lotus Pang Suan Kaew Hotel (the Lotus Hotel attached Kad Suan Kaew). 300 baht and reasonable value for money in my opinion. (The buffet is most easily reached through Kad Suan Kaew. Go to the left of the Watsons on the ground floor and keep bearing left). Farang, Thai and Japanese food.

Grandview. It is OK, but nothing special.

Empress. Used to go there every Sunday until the tour groups took over. Gave it another chance a few weeks ago and probably will not go back again.

Ibis Hotel Near Junction of Canal Road and Huay Kaew. Mostly Thai food of food court standard. From memory, about 180 baht or so. Nothing special.

La Maison Verte. Ratchamanka soi 3, in the old city. Something rather different. It's basically a guest house with a small cafe attached. It's an eat all you can for 159 baht deal (or was when I went there in the last week in June) but nearly everything is cooked to order. You can order as many times as you like, Thai and Farang food. Not exactly a buffet, but well cooked, cheap and order as many times as you like.

 

What's good food or bad food, good value or poor value, is a matter of opinion. The above is my opinion and you may not share it.

[brommers]

There is no such thing as a good buffet. Cooked food kept waiting in inadequately hot conditions grow bacteria, and people shed dead skin cells and hair as they serve themselves or dimply rummage around in the bains marie. Cannot think of anything more revolting than a buffet.

[vagabond48]

CMoldie, thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I realize that opinions especially about food can vary greatly from person to person. The "rate increase" came from an article from City Life that they moved June 11th and the price was 220B for breakfast. The dinner buffet price did not change which I thought was strange.

Edited July 20, 2019 by vagabond48

[khwaibah]

Not a buffet but it works for me.

 

[vagabond48]

Thanks khwaibah, but I NEVER touch the stuff. ????

[elektrified]

The Grandview has fallen out of favor and is not very good anymore IMO. I would not go there if I were you. Auf der Au is 140 THB - I was there 3 times in the last 2 weeks. No change in price. Food is fresh and the owners are very kind. As stated above, the Lotus Pang Suan Kaew is quite good for lunch. The advertised price is 299 but they have 149 Baht promos often or you can search for 50% discount coupons. My wife gets them all the time.

Edited July 21, 2019 by elektrified

[vagabond48]

elektrified, Thanks for the info. I remember your id over the many years. Glad you are still in CM and "alive". Too bad about GV. When I lived here, we used to go once every 2 weeks. I'll be in town for only 6 days so can you share where can I find the 50% promo for Lotus? As I previously mentioned the wrong price for Auf der Au was in City Life. When we go there i'll mention the wrong price to the owner.

[Bill97]

Cannot think of anything more revolting than a buffet.

Quite a sheltered life. How about gang rape, would that be more revolting? If it was your ass?


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[Mahseer]

Had the buffet lunch today at the Sripanna for the first time and pretty good it was. All the usual Thai dishes / couple of soups / som tam station / pizza & spaghetti station / Japanese station / BBQ chicken / pork / shrimp / fish each on skewers plus sliced beef and the stand out item I wasn't expecting to see NZ lamb chops. Small selection of deserts /fruits / half a dozen ice creams / tea / coffee / soft drinks. Live music from couple of lads on acoustic guitar which was fine. All for 289 baht all up.

 

The lamb chops were excellent and well worth the cost of admission alone although I only managed 3. The lamb / beef and BBQ options (possibly others also) were only put out in minimal quantity and topped up as need be unlike other places that tend to dump enough food for a couple of hours. One other major plus was the absence of any tour groups and to be honest I thought the atmosphere was a touch sedate but hardly a complaint. Another plus was the room is split into fan and air sections so take your pick.

 

Buffet starts at 1130 and when we left at 1300 it was about empty so if you plan a visit get there towards opening time. 

 

Enjoyed it.

[Rotweiler]

Based on 14 years of trial and mostly error, the best I have found is still the Meridien.  Selection, quality, fresh baked goods, and great coffee.  But although pricey, it within YOUR stated budget.

Edited July 21, 2019 by Rotweiler

[elektrified]

13 hours ago, vagabond48 said:

elektrified, Thanks for the info. I remember your id over the many years. Glad you are still in CM and "alive". Too bad about GV. When I lived here, we used to go once every 2 weeks. I'll be in town for only 6 days so can you share where can I find the 50% promo for Lotus? As I previously mentioned the wrong price for Auf der Au was in City Life. When we go there i'll mention the wrong price to the owner.

I'll ask her when she is back in a couple of days but most likely through Line or FB groups.

[FolkGuitar]

I'll put in a vote for 'Auf der Au' too.  We've been eating there every weekend now for several weeks and never been disappointed. The owner, Udo, will even make you a fresh omelet or scrambled eggs if you ask. The food is fresh and tasty, with good variety. Price is 140 baht per person.

 

[chingmai331]

Looks like a fake photo. Easy to do these days.

[CMoldie]

1 hour ago, chingmai331 said:

Looks like a fake photo. Easy to do these days.

No, it isn't. I eat there often and everything in that photograph is always available from the buffet. There are, in addition, salads, cold cuts and desserts.

[connda]

Chiang Mai Expat Club Breakfast at The River Market Restaurant every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month.

[xxeo]

Auf der Au is excellent value for money. Udo will cook eggs for you; meet, sausage, pizza, bretzels, salads, sausage, a selection of cakes and cookies. I told him that, should I live in CM and come to have breakfast in his restaurant regularly, I would very likely gain in weight significantly... What a difference to Top North Hotel; they charge about the same amount.

[FolkGuitar]

4 hours ago, chingmai331 said:

Looks like a fake photo. Easy to do these days.

Tastiest fake food I've eaten in a long time.

Everything on this plate is available every week. I'd guess it's available every day, but we only go on the weekends.

 

33 minutes ago, xxeo said:

Auf der Au is excellent value for money. Udo will cook eggs for you; meet, sausage, pizza, bretzels, salads, sausage, a selection of cakes and cookies. I told him that, should I live in CM and come to have breakfast in his restaurant regularly, I would very likely gain in weight significantly... What a difference to Top North Hotel; they charge about the same amount.

 

Actually, one of the reasons I like to eat there is that I'm following a low-carbohydrate/weight loss diet, and this plate-full has less than 5g. I'm trying to stay under 20g per day, and doing so lets the weight just drop off effortlessly, without feeling as if I'm being deprived... Well... I guess I am being deprived of the great cakes, breads, pretzels, fruits served at this buffet, but I can live with it. ????

[wwest5829]

4 hours ago, chingmai331 said:

Looks like a fake photo. Easy to do these days.

Except those of us who eat there also recognize the table cloth. Your’s is a sad comment.

[Bill97]

Looks like a fake photo. Easy to do these days.

FOS again, consistently that way.


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[PingandSingh]

On 7/21/2019 at 11:48 AM, Rotweiler said:

Based on 14 years of trial and mostly error, the best I have found is still the Meridien.  Selection, quality, fresh baked goods, and great coffee.  But although pricey, it within YOUR stated budget.

Le Meridien WAS the best, isn't anymore. Much less foreign items. Yesterday the flat oysters were reddish and smelling. I brought mine back and asked to check them. They than removed all flat oysters from the buffet! Why they can not see/smell that by themselves? To me, you not fool around with oysters, it can be very dangerous. For us, it was our last time. I also not saw any foreign chef anymore. All gone as the Chinese not care and just eat everything, good or bad? Similar thing happened at the Holiday Inn about 7/8 years ago. Two French chefs and brunch was fantastic for years. They left for the South and Thai chefs took over. Disaster.

[chingmai331]

Never been to Auf der Au German food emporium. I'll give it a try soon.  And i will take my own photo.

And would say that the Grandview lunch buffet is best value in town, esp for me since i easily ride my bike there.  No need to travel across town to fill my face.

 

And difficult for me to accept that at 199 baht, with a good variety of foods (western, japanese, thai), attentive service, clean tables/plates, seldom crowded, hot coffee, cold ice cream, etc etc some folks need to dismiss the Grandview. 

 

Oysters?  In northern thailand?...what a joke.  Go back to New Zealand on your yacht.

[Almer]

On 7/20/2019 at 6:25 PM, brommers said:

There is no such thing as a good buffet. Cooked food kept waiting in inadequately hot conditions grow bacteria, and people shed dead skin cells and hair as they serve themselves or dimply rummage around in the bains marie. Cannot think of anything more revolting than a buffet.

And do you think the person cooking you a la carte doesn't shed skin and hair or the person bringing your plate to table, i bet you run a mile when you see a food cart in a badly lit Soi

[orang37]

17 hours ago, connda said:

Chiang Mai Expat Club Breakfast at The River Market Restaurant every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month.

Eating expats before they are dead is dangerous.

 

~o:37;

[khwaibah]

If you don't like McDonalds give Burger King a go.????

 

[chingmai331]

Egg/sausage McMuffin: wholesome food to power your day. IMO, that is MCD's best offering. I have one every 3 months.

[vagabond48]

We went to 3 of the buffets mentioned here. Of  course, all that I write is a purely our opinions.

The Aud der Aus was Ok The owners were a very nice and friendly especially Udo. The food was kinda worth the price the 140B. We focused our selection on the German side and found the sausages and sliced meats not especially tasty. I asked Udo for German mustard. He came back with a bottle of French's saying that he recycled the bottle but it had German mustard. It tasted an "awful" lot like French's which I dislike. The sauerkraut which I looked forward to having with the sausage had a strange taste. Having the food dishes in an opened area attracts flies making the food a little less appetizing.

Next, we went to Lotus Pang Suan Kaew buffet for 299B on Saturday. I did get a 30% off coupon off their website so we paid 218B. The selection was ok. The desserts were not as good as Grandview as I remembered it. The nice surprise was that they had salmon sashimi so like bears we feasted on them. We got there about 11:30AM it wasn't crowded. 25 minute later, a group of what I gathered were Western tourists staying at the hotel, swooped down to devour the food. We liked it enough because of the salmon sashimi that we came back Monday with the discounted coupon but when we arrived about 11:45AM found the place strangely empty. and we were disappointing to found that the salmon was not being offered and that it had been possibly a Saturday promotion. They also didn't have dim sum that my wife previously had and wanted. The dessert section didn't have the one dessert I liked, so off we went to Grandview.

The Grandview was just as we remembered it and very busy. When we got there at 12noonish, all the inside tables were reserved. The food selection was about the same as we remembered it including the dessert. At 199B, it is definitely a better value the Lotus at their asking price of 299B.

With that, we wish you all and CM a fond farewell until the next time.

Edited August 7, 2019 by vagabond48

[vagabond48]

We went to 3 of the buffets mentioned here. Of  course, all that I write is a purely our opinions.

The Aud der Aus was Ok. The owners were a very nice and friendly especially Udo. The food was kinda worth the price the 140B especially in CM. We focused our selection on the German side and found the sausages and sliced meats not especially tasty. The sauerkraut which I looked forward to having with the sausage had a strange taste. I wanted German mustard which Udo gave me that was in a French's bottle. He said that it was not French's but it tasted an "awful" lot like it. I think French's is about the worst mustard there is. Having the food dishes in an opened area attracted flies making the foods a little less appetizing.

Next, we went to Lotus Pang Suan Kaew buffet for 299B on Saturday. I did get a 30% off coupon off their website so we paid 218B. The selection was ok. The desserts were not as good as Grandview as I remembered it. The nice surprise was that they had salmon sashimi so like bears we feasted on them. We got there about 11:30AM it wasn't crowded. 25 minute later, a group of what I gathered were Western tourists staying at the hotel, swooped down to devour the food. We liked it enough because of the salmon sashimi that we came back Monday with the discounted coupon but when we arrived about 11:45AM found the place strangely empty. and we were disappointing to found that the salmon was not being offered and that it had been possibly a Saturday promotion. They also didn't have dim sum that my wife previously had and wanted. The dessert section didn't have the one dessert I liked, so off we went to Grandview.

The Grandview was just as we remembered it and very busy. When we got there at 12noonish, all the inside tables were reserved. The food selection was about the same as we remembered it including the dessert. At 199B, it is definitely a better value the Lotus at their asking price of 299B.

With that, we wish you all and CM a fond farewell until the next time.

Edited August 7, 2019 by vagabond48

[Lizard2010]

On 7/22/2019 at 1:04 PM, chingmai331 said:

Looks like a fake photo. Easy to do these days.

which photo If the Folkguitar

That is Udos tablecloth with free water too

I should know i go their enough