Seeking “hole in the wall” restaurants in CM for home-style farang food

[ElwoodP]

Troll post and reply removed.

@georgegeorgia Stop this now.

[suzannegoh]

On 10/17/2024 at 8:39 AM, FolkGuitar said:

The Gekko Garden Restaurant on Sri Donchai Rd. offers a large Farang menu as well as Thai food. It offers good food and good value for the money.
They will be doing a Thanksgiving buffet, as well as their regular Sunday night buffet.

 

Might as well recommend Mad Dogs too if you're going to recommend that place.  Both offer inexpensive low quality food for people who drink too much to be able to recognize good food from bad.

Edited October 31 by suzannegoh

[suzannegoh]

On 10/25/2024 at 7:46 PM, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

"Home-Style" farang food ... here's more, especially for my fellow Americans.

 

In my opening post, I emphasized "hole-in-the-wall" garden-style restaurants.

Well, the food is more important than the surroundings, right?

 

I think so, too, so I'm going to add another restaurant to this topic.

Not hole-in-the-wall.

Not garden-style either.

But excellent, home-style, farang food, mostly American, including Tex-Mex, but also a full-English, complete with a bottle of HP brown sauce.

 

Newly opened, just 3 months ago.

And apparently independent, owner-operated ... NOT a chain.  NOT in a mall.

 

Route 66 is an American diner-style restaurant.

On the outside, a non-descript building on the edge of the highway behind Payap University.

On the inside it looks like a real diner from 60-70 years ago in the USA.

(I'm thinking of Mel's Diner in San Francisco and countless others scattered along the highways of the USA in those days.)

 

But who cares about the decor?

I certainly don't.

Let's get to the food!

 

And that will take some explaining ...

 

When Thai cooks try to replicate Western food, they usually get the appearance right, but, they almost never get the taste or the texture right.

If pastries, too sweet or not sweet enough.

If meat, over cooked, or not cooked enough.

If bread, too soft and squishy.

etc., etc.

Would be a similar result if I tried to make som-dtum.

 

But Route 66 gets the tastes exactly right.

And I mean, exactly.

That tells me there's an American with lots of restaurant experience in the kitchen.

He gets it right.

 

Plus, whenever I walk into any restaurant for the first time,

I'm looking for indicators of quality and careful management.

Is it clean? ✓

Are things generally neat and in order? ✓

Is the place free from any bad smells? ✓

 

And there's another way I look for indicators of quality: the brands of products.

At Route 66, ketchup was Heinz. (NOT Rosa).

Butter packets were Anchor. (Not Imperial or Allowie).

My tea bag was Twinings (English). (Not some anonymous food service label).

 

So we're off to a good start at this new restaurant.

 

I'll let you dig through the menu yourself.

I ordered American-style breakfast: pancakes, link sausage, eggs.

Generous servings and arrived at the table hot.

 

Well, whether they know it yet or not, our venerable favourite, The Duke's, is in for some serious competition.

Except for location -- Route 66 is far out on the Eastern edge of town.

But plenty of parking right in front.

And motorcycles welcome.

 

In the opening post, I mentioned a Thanksgiving dinner at the old Garden Cafe near Thapae Gate.

What do you know:

On the table at Route 66 was an advertising card for their Thanksgiving dinner!

And a Christmas dinner, too.

 

I'll put a map and several photos below.

(Seems there's another branch in Pattaya, but I don't know anything about that.)

 

I have no connection with this restaurant in any way, other than as a satisfied customer.

 

(Photos below stolen from Google maps.  Not my photos.)

.

Agree that Route 66 is Excellent.  Currently the best option inCM for farang “comfort food".

[Old Curmudgeon]

1 hour ago, suzannegoh said:

low quality food for people ... [who can't] recognize good food from bad.

 

+1 to @suzannegoh

 

Based on recommendation here from @FolkGuitar, I ordered for delivery from Gekko Garden.

Bah!

Not worth eating.

No more Gekko Garden for me.

 

This thread asks for suggestions of independent restaurants in CM that offer home-style farang food, not detailed restaurant reviews.

So I won't post details.

Edited November 1 by Old Curmudgeon

[FolkGuitar]

2 hours ago, suzannegoh said:

 

Might as well recommend Mad Dogs too if you're going to recommend that place.  Both offer inexpensive low quality food for people who drink too much to be able to recognize good food from bad.

 

How kind and polite of you to say so...

I don't drink so perhaps I can recognize the quality of food, and I enjoy my meals at Gekko Garden, along with dozens of others who eat there regularly.
I don't find it necessary to eat at fancy, expensive restaurants every day. A good family-style place is fine for me.

[FolkGuitar]

1 hour ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

+1 to @suzannegoh

 

Based on recommendation here from @FolkGuitar, I ordered for delivery from Gekko Garden.

Bah!

Not worth eating.

No more Gekko Garden for me.

 

This thread asks for suggestions of independent restaurants in CM that offer home-style farang food, not detailed restaurant reviews.

So I won't post details.

 

Quite understandable!

Most restaurant critics have their foods delivered so that they can critique a meal that had been cooked 30 minutes before it even arrives at their table... after being bounced around on the back of a motorbike stuck in traffic.

 

Sorry you didn't enjoy your meal. We usually do. But then, we eat it while it's still fresh and warm in the restaurant.

[hakancnx]

Recommend "My Kitchen" in Nong Hoi. 

 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/sy52dND2R9WWViMt9?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

[Old Curmudgeon]

2 hours ago, hakancnx said:

Recommend "My Kitchen" in Nong Hoi.

 

Photos look like a very pleasant garden-style restaurant.

And the farang food looks tempting.

 

@hakancnx what are your favorite items to order at "My Kitchen"?

 

Edited November 1 by Old Curmudgeon

[Tedly]

On 10/25/2024 at 8:46 AM, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

"Home-Style" farang food ... here's more, especially for my fellow Americans.

 

In my opening post, I emphasized "hole-in-the-wall" garden-style restaurants.

Well, the food is more important than the surroundings, right?

 

I think so, too, so I'm going to add another restaurant to this topic.

Not hole-in-the-wall.

Not garden-style either.

But excellent, home-style, farang food, mostly American, including Tex-Mex, but also a full-English, complete with a bottle of HP brown sauce.

 

Newly opened, just 3 months ago.

And apparently independent, owner-operated ... NOT a chain.  NOT in a mall.

 

Route 66 is an American diner-style restaurant.

On the outside, a non-descript building on the edge of the highway behind Payap University.

On the inside it looks like a real diner from 60-70 years ago in the USA.

(I'm thinking of Mel's Diner in San Francisco and countless others scattered along the highways of the USA in those days.)

 

But who cares about the decor?

I certainly don't.

Let's get to the food!

 

And that will take some explaining ...

 

When Thai cooks try to replicate Western food, they usually get the appearance right, but, they almost never get the taste or the texture right.

If pastries, too sweet or not sweet enough.

If meat, over cooked, or not cooked enough.

If bread, too soft and squishy.

etc., etc.

Would be a similar result if I tried to make som-dtum.

 

But Route 66 gets the tastes exactly right.

And I mean, exactly.

That tells me there's an American with lots of restaurant experience in the kitchen.

He gets it right.

 

Plus, whenever I walk into any restaurant for the first time,

I'm looking for indicators of quality and careful management.

Is it clean? ✓

Are things generally neat and in order? ✓

Is the place free from any bad smells? ✓

 

And there's another way I look for indicators of quality: the brands of products.

At Route 66, ketchup was Heinz. (NOT Rosa).

Butter packets were Anchor. (Not Imperial or Allowie).

My tea bag was Twinings (English). (Not some anonymous food service label).

 

So we're off to a good start at this new restaurant.

 

I'll let you dig through the menu yourself.

I ordered American-style breakfast: pancakes, link sausage, eggs.

Generous servings and arrived at the table hot.

 

Well, whether they know it yet or not, our venerable favourite, The Duke's, is in for some serious competition.

Except for location -- Route 66 is far out on the Eastern edge of town.

But plenty of parking right in front.

And motorcycles welcome.

 

In the opening post, I mentioned a Thanksgiving dinner at the old Garden Cafe near Thapae Gate.

What do you know:

On the table at Route 66 was an advertising card for their Thanksgiving dinner!

And a Christmas dinner, too.

 

I'll put a map and several photos below.

(Seems there's another branch in Pattaya, but I don't know anything about that.)

 

I have no connection with this restaurant in any way, other than as a satisfied customer.

 

(Photos below stolen from Google maps.  Not my photos.)

.

I'll second the quality of food at Route 66 Chiang Mai, I've had lunch there a few times and everything I had was very good. It's a new favorite of mine.

[DD86]

On 10/25/2024 at 7:46 PM, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

"Home-Style" farang food ... here's more, especially for my fellow Americans.

 

In my opening post, I emphasized "hole-in-the-wall" garden-style restaurants.

Well, the food is more important than the surroundings, right?

 

I think so, too, so I'm going to add another restaurant to this topic.

Not hole-in-the-wall.

Not garden-style either.

But excellent, home-style, farang food, mostly American, including Tex-Mex, but also a full-English, complete with a bottle of HP brown sauce.

 

Newly opened, just 3 months ago.

And apparently independent, owner-operated ... NOT a chain.  NOT in a mall.

 

Route 66 is an American diner-style restaurant.

On the outside, a non-descript building on the edge of the highway behind Payap University.

On the inside it looks like a real diner from 60-70 years ago in the USA.

(I'm thinking of Mel's Diner in San Francisco and countless others scattered along the highways of the USA in those days.)

 

But who cares about the decor?

I certainly don't.

Let's get to the food!

 

And that will take some explaining ...

 

When Thai cooks try to replicate Western food, they usually get the appearance right, but, they almost never get the taste or the texture right.

If pastries, too sweet or not sweet enough.

If meat, over cooked, or not cooked enough.

If bread, too soft and squishy.

etc., etc.

Would be a similar result if I tried to make som-dtum.

 

But Route 66 gets the tastes exactly right.

And I mean, exactly.

That tells me there's an American with lots of restaurant experience in the kitchen.

He gets it right.

 

Plus, whenever I walk into any restaurant for the first time,

I'm looking for indicators of quality and careful management.

Is it clean? ✓

Are things generally neat and in order? ✓

Is the place free from any bad smells? ✓

 

And there's another way I look for indicators of quality: the brands of products.

At Route 66, ketchup was Heinz. (NOT Rosa).

Butter packets were Anchor. (Not Imperial or Allowie).

My tea bag was Twinings (English). (Not some anonymous food service label).

 

So we're off to a good start at this new restaurant.

 

I'll let you dig through the menu yourself.

I ordered American-style breakfast: pancakes, link sausage, eggs.

Generous servings and arrived at the table hot.

 

Well, whether they know it yet or not, our venerable favourite, The Duke's, is in for some serious competition.

Except for location -- Route 66 is far out on the Eastern edge of town.

But plenty of parking right in front.

And motorcycles welcome.

 

In the opening post, I mentioned a Thanksgiving dinner at the old Garden Cafe near Thapae Gate.

What do you know:

On the table at Route 66 was an advertising card for their Thanksgiving dinner!

And a Christmas dinner, too.

 

I'll put a map and several photos below.

(Seems there's another branch in Pattaya, but I don't know anything about that.)

 

I have no connection with this restaurant in any way, other than as a satisfied customer.

 

(Photos below stolen from Google maps.  Not my photos.)

.

Obese menu,but great.

[JimTripper]

There are so many restaurants in CM that I would not bother looking one up on a map and taking a special trip there. Just walk around the most popular areas. The food does differ, but not usually enough to make a big deal of it. I rarely care about or remember restaurant names.

[suzannegoh]

11 hours ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

+1 to @suzannegoh

 

Based on recommendation here from @FolkGuitar, I ordered for delivery from Gekko Garden.

Bah!

Not worth eating.

No more Gekko Garden for me.

 

This thread asks for suggestions of independent restaurants in CM that offer home-style farang food, not detailed restaurant reviews.

So I won't post details.

Another one that might qualify as home style (though not a hole in the wall) is Food4Thought.  They have two branches now with identical menus and the same quality.  However I'd recommended eating at one of those branches, at least the first time, rather than judging on the basis of a Grab Food delivery.

[Old Curmudgeon]

 

Opps !

This thread started by simply asking for suggestions of restaurants.

Understandably it veered off topic into restaurant reviews.

 

So I suggest, instead of posting "restaurant review" here, please add new topics with the title:

     Sub forum - restaurant reviews - Chiang Mai: [restaurant name]

 

The purpose in doing it that way is to motivate the forum boss into creating a new "sub topic" specifically for restaurant reviews.

Each restaurant would have it's own topic thread.

Edited November 1 by Old Curmudgeon

[1FinickyOne]

On 10/30/2024 at 10:30 AM, BritManToo said:

Well overpriced IMHO.

Food is good, portion size is large - I didn't find it expensive for what they give you - - 

[Tazmo]

Archers ; UN Irish ; Crustys; Cafe du Siam ; 

The Score Sports Bar; 

( google them for menu, all top quality and service)

[hakancnx]

19 hours ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

Photos look like a very pleasant garden-style restaurant.

And the farang food looks tempting.

 

@hakancnx what are your favorite items to order at "My Kitchen"?

 

 

I have been there a few times for his lunches. It's different every day. 

See the weekly list on facebook. 

 

 

 

[newbee2022]

Auf der Au

Huge Buffet every day, Sundays with pork legs 

[suzannegoh]

On 10/30/2024 at 10:30 AM, BritManToo said:

Well overpriced IMHO.

You must be on a very tight budget.

[Bill97]

14 minutes ago, suzannegoh said:

You must be on a very tight budget.

The opinion of being overpriced doesn’t mean he can’t afford it nor does it speak to his budget.   

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, suzannegoh said:

You must be on a very tight budget.

I'm not on a tight budget, just generally tight.

[Kiniyeow]

Humm, nobody has recommended "The Hideaway" yet.  Very extensive western and breakfast menu (Thai also).  Not far, but easy to miss.  Located here.  

https://maps.app.goo.gl/AkBju4QxxkWDC2G57

 

[Old Curmudgeon]

25 minutes ago, Kiniyeow said:

"The Hideaway" ...  Very extensive western and breakfast menu

 

Thank you, @Kiniyeow, very much.

I never even heard of "The Hideaway".

 

Pictures show nice atmosphere, big breakfast menu, even Mexican food.

Certainly looks worth the effort to get there.

 

 

For anyone who hasn't had breakfast yet ...

Edited November 7 by Old Curmudgeon