Mangkorn Fah Restaurant

[sabaijai]

I recently ate at Mangkorn Fah (Sky Dragon), the tiny Chinese resto near the airport and next to a petrol station. A Chinese friend visiting from Bangkok, where he works for the UN, took me there, saying he thought it was the best Chinese spot in CM. The couple that own it are immigrants from China and they do most of the cooking and serving themselves. Beijing-style cuisine, I thought it was excellent. Very unassuming looking place from the outside.

Moderately priced too.

[Crow Boy]

I recently ate at Mangkorn Loy (Flying/Floating Dragon), the tiny Chinese resto near the airport and next to a petrol station. A Chinese friend visiting from Bangkok, where he works for the UN, took me there, saying he thought it was the best Chinese spot in CM. The couple that own it are immigrants from China and they do most of the cooking and serving themselves. Beijing-style cuisine, I thought it was excellent. Very unassuming looking place from the outside.

Moderately priced too.

Hi Sabaijai - a bit more information re address please - like on what road would be good

thanks

CB

[p1p]

It is in the petrol station almost opposite the Immigration office on the airport road. They are on the Right hand side as you look at the petrol station and might be confused with a shop or something. I have been going there for many years and agree with Sabaijai's assesment. Very good food.

You should note however that, as the cuisine is Pekinese, they do not serve many of the favourites associated with more "normal" and popular Cantonese, Szechuanese and Hunnan cooking.

[sabaijai]

It is in the petrol station almost opposite the Immigration office on the airport road. They are on the Right hand side as you look at the petrol station and might be confused with a shop or something. I have been going there for many years and agree with Sabaijai's assesment. Very good food.

You should note however that, as the cuisine is Pekinese, they do not serve many of the favourites associated with more "normal" and popular Cantonese, Szechuanese and Hunnan cooking.

Yes, as I noted above, the food is Beijing cuisine and the owners are from Beijing (or so they told my Chinese friend). You'll have better results if you go with someone who can read the Chinese specials menu (in Chinese characters only), IMO.

p1p few folks in Chiang Mai - Thai or foreign - know CM street names, and nowhere on this road is the name posted. Some maps refer to it Mahidol Rd, but I've also seen the road where Niyom Panich is located labelled with that name.

There's only one petrol station near immigration and the airport, so it's easy to find if you look for the petrol station. I think it's a PTT pump, but might be Bangjak.

[p1p]

p1p few folks in Chiang Mai - Thai or foreign - know CM street names, and nowhere on this road is the name posted. Some maps refer to it Mahidol Rd, but I've also seen the road where Niyom Panich is located labelled with that name.

That is why I referred to it as the airport road, (lower case "A"), in an attempt to avoid confusion. Still, the food is very good.

The owners do speak some Thai, so you can normally get an approximate explanation of the dishes labelled in Chinese alone.

[sabaijai]

Airport road, that's the best choice for sure.

I just ate there again last night, noticed the name is actually Mangkorn Fah not Mangkorn Loi, so I'll edit the title of this thread and OP.

Also noticed the menu is in Thai and Chinese only, so if you don't read Thai you'll need some help. I read Thai, but since I don't read Chinese very well (I do read some), can't corroborate whether the Thai names approximate the Chinese. I do know that the time I went with a Chinese friend, he ordered a few dishes that I didn't see anywhere on the Thai/Chinese menu.

My companion & I dined on an excellent Mandarin-style goat stew, roast duck (a cut above any I've had in CM) and a seaweed/tofu/ground pork soup. The rice was also very good, perfectly cooked, a rarity in Chiang Mai.

[realthaideal]

"My companion & I dined on an excellent Mandarin-style goat stew, roast duck (a cut above any I've had in CM) and a seaweed/tofu/ground pork soup. The rice was also very good, perfectly cooked, a rarity in Chiang Mai."

Sounds great. Noticed that place after Good Morning Chiang Mai did an article about it a couple years back. I even peaked in at the menu once but didn't eat as it was before noon and looked better as a dinner thing. How are the prices ? How do they compare with other Chinese restaurants around town that are 'authentic?' How about quality/ fanciness ? The place seemed pretty low-key to me....

[sabaijai]

"My companion & I dined on an excellent Mandarin-style goat stew, roast duck (a cut above any I've had in CM) and a seaweed/tofu/ground pork soup. The rice was also very good, perfectly cooked, a rarity in Chiang Mai."

Sounds great. Noticed that place after Good Morning Chiang Mai did an article about it a couple years back. I even peaked in at the menu once but didn't eat as it was before noon and looked better as a dinner thing. How are the prices ? How do they compare with other Chinese restaurants around town that are 'authentic?' How about quality/ fanciness ? The place seemed pretty low-key to me....

It's not fancy at all but very clean and service is good. The goat and duck dishes are among the most expensive on the menu (about 200 baht for a half portion, 350 baht full portion). Everything else is pretty reasonable.

Are there any other authentic Chinese restos in Chiang Mai? I like Mit Mai very much but I'm not sure how authentically Yunnanese the food there is. I've had delicious Yunnanese in Ban Santichon (near Pai), Mae Salong, and near Doi Ang Khang, not to mention in many areas of Yunnan itself, and Mit Mai fare just does not compare. Still I like Mit Mai anyway, authenticity isn't everything (otherwise I wouldn't be eating at any of the Italian restos in town or at any of the American or British ones either for that matter!). The place on Si Donchai (I forget the name) I find overly bland, ditto for the famous mushroom place near Chiangmailand (tho I've had some very good dishes there).

China Palace at the Westin/Sheraton used to be good, not sure if it's still there under Holiday Inn but I imagine it probably is.

[chinagal]

"Are there any other authentic Chinese restos in Chiang Mai?"

I like Mekong Restaurant in Changklan Plaza, it's next to the new Shangri-la on Changklan Road. The chef/owner is from Hong Kong whom has worked as a five star hotel chef in Beijing. The restaurant serves some pretty authentic Cantonese and Szechuan food. The dishes are a bit on the sweet side for Chinese food, I guess its because they are adjusted for the Thais' taste preference. And they have a couple of homemade dim sum items on the menu. I really like their Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll, it's comparable with the ones in good Hong Kong dim sum restaurants.