Places to EAT around Chiang Mai - reviews and discussion

[Paul Catton]

On 8/14/2024 at 7:07 PM, GammaGlobulin said:

 

No.

I never get tired of simply Thai food.

 

Im -Pla-Phao

Been with Thai family a few times, never disappointed.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Im-Pla-Phao/@18.748909,98.9410172,17z/data=!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x30da3a7e90bb6f5d:0x98d46270a59b4367!2sChiang+Mai,+Mueang+Chiang+Mai+District,+Chiang+Mai,+Thailand!3b1!8m2!3d18.7883439!4d98.9853008!16zL20vMDFocjU4!3m5!1s0x30da30c4a686da85:0xdef9200f891bda3f!8m2!3d18.7487339!4d98.9407454!16s%2Fg%2F11b7w1lyd3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAwOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

 

[Old Curmudgeon]

 

There is a certain “style” of restaurant in Chiang Mai, a little building, often very tiny, next to a family home, in a residential area, that specializes in home-style farang food.

 

I’ve found exceptionally good farang food, plus friendly, welcoming service at such places.

So actively looking for others to try.

 

Examples:

 

CM old-timers will remember 10-15 years ago, “Garden Cafe” at the end of Thapae Soi 3.

Perfect breakfasts, very nice sandwiches.

I still recall a USA-style Thanksgiving dinner there one year: roast turkey, stuffing,

pumpkin pie – excellent.

Alas, Garden Cafe is long gone.

 

My current favorite of this style is Bucoliq restaurant out SanSai way.

Far down a long and winding road, past rice fields.

Tiny building next to what seems to be family home.

Specializing in Texas-style BBQ + perfect pancakes + the best hot dogs I’ve found in 20 years in Thailand.

 

Where – these days – are there other such “hole in the wall” restaurants that are likely to offer good quality farang food like that?

 

 

[chiang mai]

Bake and Bite, previously in Watkate since 2006, recently moved to same road as Coq d'or

[FolkGuitar]

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.

[Bill97]

The Omlette Mae Rim and Ruam Chok

[TaaiTaai]

The Garden has moved way out the city, but still well worth the drive for me !!

Same lovely couple in the kitchen, and you now can have a breaky before and lunch after your visit to Buatong 😁

 

4X3X+4F Mae Ho Phra, Mae Taeng District, Chiang Mai

[sappersrest]

Sausage King  a good place.

[Old Curmudgeon]

8 minutes ago, sappersrest said:

Sausage King  a good place.

 

Agreed about Sausage King, especially for breakfast.

[Old Curmudgeon]

On 10/17/2024 at 7:26 AM, chiang mai said:

Bake and Bite, previously in Watkate since 2006, recently moved to same road as Coq d'or

 

I want to support small, independent, restaurants around here, especially those serving farang food (especially those with American food and/or Full English you-know-what), so I've decided to put more effort into this thread.

I have no personal connection with any of these places.

 

Here's more about Bake and Bite, a restaurant I personally enjoyed many times when it was in Nimmanhaemin Road and I was living just around the corner.

 

Here is the current location -- according to TripAdvisor -- although I have not yet been there:

 

 

Any errors, corrections quickly please.

[Old Curmudgeon]

.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next up: Gekko Garden suggested above by @FolkGuitar

 

 

 

This is exactly the kind of food I had in mind when I put up the original post.

Exactly!

 

I've never been to eat at Gekko Garden, but after seeing their menu, it won't be long before I correct that mistake.

 

 

[Old Curmudgeon]

About Omelette Bakery Cafe,  suggested above by @Bill97, reports from experience, please.

I've never been, so can't review myself.

 

Pictures look pretty "hi-so" to me, but that's not a critique of the food.

I'm only middle-so, so probably would not make the long drive.

Should I correct that and make the effort to go to Omelette Bakery Cafe??

Comments??

 

 

[Old Curmudgeon]

On 10/18/2024 at 10:21 PM, TaaiTaai said:

The Garden has moved way out the city, but still well worth the drive for me !!

 

Thanks for that report, @TaaiTaai.

But I don't have a car, so probably would not go all that way just to eat.

Sad.

 

But, if you have photos or a more detailed review, @TaaiTaai I encourage you to post about The Garden.

[Old Curmudgeon]

1 hour ago, sappersrest said:

Sausage King  a good place.

 

I'm going to follow up on @sappersrest's post about Sausage King garden, because I was there just a few days ago.

The full English, of course.

With eggs poached and fried bread instead of ordinary toast.

Mighty tasty.

Plus a large bag of frozen sausages to take home.

For any of my fellow Americans reading this, the Jimmy Dean "replica" sausages are very nice.

 

 

 

For some reason, waitress didn't automatically bring HP brown sauce.

They've got it ... just ask for it. 

 

[Bill97]

43 minutes ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

About Omelette Bakery Cafe,  suggested above by @Bill97, reports from experience, please.

I've never been, so can't review myself.

 

Pictures look pretty "hi-so" to me, but that's not a critique of the food.

I'm only middle-so, so probably would not make the long drive.

Should I correct that and make the effort to go to Omelette Bakery Cafe??

Comments??

 

 

It is not hiso but if good looking plates of food are scary then stay away.
 

Stay away is best,  you would probably be complaining they don’t serve omlettes.

[Mahseer]

3 hours ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

I want to support small, independent, restaurants around here, especially those serving farang food (especially those with American food and/or Full English you-know-what), so I've decided to put more effort into this thread.

I have no personal connection with any of these places.

 

Here's more about Bake and Bite, a restaurant I personally enjoyed many times when it was in Nimmanhaemin Road and I was living just around the corner.

 

Here is the current location -- according to TripAdvisor -- although I have not yet been there:

 

 

Any errors, corrections quickly please.

Bake&Bite moved couple of months back to Nong Hoi Google maps have the correct location.

 

13 Koaklang Rd, Nong Hoi Sub-district, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50000

[Old Curmudgeon]

22 minutes ago, Mahseer said:

Bake&Bite moved couple of months back to Nong Hoi Google maps have the correct location.

13 Koaklang Rd, Nong Hoi Sub-district, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50000

 

Thank you, @Mahseer, for your post.

 

Is this current location for Bake&Bite?

[chiang mai]

14 hours ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

I want to support small, independent, restaurants around here, especially those serving farang food (especially those with American food and/or Full English you-know-what), so I've decided to put more effort into this thread.

I have no personal connection with any of these places.

 

Here's more about Bake and Bite, a restaurant I personally enjoyed many times when it was in Nimmanhaemin Road and I was living just around the corner.

 

Here is the current location -- according to TripAdvisor -- although I have not yet been there:

 

 

Any errors, corrections quickly please.

Bake and Bite moved about two months ago, they are no longer in Watgate near the mosque and are now located in Nong Hoi, just off the Chiang Mai/Lamphun Road, South of Rajavej Hospital. A map is shown below.

 

Head south down the CM/Lamphun Road and take the right fork shown on the map, go about 1 km and they are on the left....a good location with lots of parking and easy access.

 

PS: I saw photographs of the old location during the recent floods, the water was over the top of the high gates in the front of the building! They moved just in time.

 

 

 

[ChaiyaTH]

Seems nobody mentions the bomb of CM since many years: Auf der Au Garten, western buffets for peanuts... Well for those who live under rocks: https://g.co/kgs/PK1jQzw

[Old Curmudgeon]

 

"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.)

.

[stament]

Thanks for sharing all.

[ElwoodP]

Personal attack and reply removed.

[BritManToo]

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

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.)

Well overpriced IMHO.

[Old Curmudgeon]

9 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Route 66 restaurant ... Well overpriced IMHO.

 

I agree with @BritManToo:  Route 66 is not a budget restaurant.

 

I, for one, am quite happy to pay extra price for good quality and good taste.

 

Always looking for other restaurants in CM of similar caliber, especially of the type that are "owner-operated", not a chain, not in a mall.

Suggestions and opinions for more would be welcome.

[connda]

"My Kitchen."  Like really, my own kitchen.  Nobody can make an American breakfast that suits my tastes other than me.  And I can make a dandy. 

[BritManToo]

5 minutes ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

I agree with @BritManToo:  Route 66 is not a budget restaurant.

 

I, for one, am quite happy to pay extra price for good quality and good taste.

 

Always looking for other restaurants in CM of similar caliber, especially of the type that are "owner-operated", not a chain, not in a mall.

Suggestions and opinions for more would be welcome.

Butter is Better, same as Route66 but in town, same price, similar menu, similar American diner experience.

[Old Curmudgeon]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Butter is Better, same as Route66 but in town, same price, similar menu, similar American diner experience.

 

I'd like to hear more about Butter is Better.

Used to go there frequently for breakfast when I lived in that general vicinity.

And still remember they had a really nice, homemade chocolate cake.

But I have not been in some years.

 

What are your favorite items?

Advice on any menu items to avoid?

Photos?

[BritManToo]

11 minutes ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

I'd like to hear more about Butter is Better.

Used to go there frequently for breakfast when I lived in that general vicinity.

And still remember they had a really nice, homemade chocolate cake.

But I have not been in some years.

 

What are your favorite items?

Advice on any menu items to avoid?

Photos?

Avoid the Canadian bacon (aka gammon), dry as dirt.

American breakfast with bacon is good but expensive, 290bht but includes 1 coffee mug refill. Clam chowder in bread bowl for the adventurous 180bht.

 

Went there when Auf De Au was closed, German buffet for 260bht, well worth the cost, includes coffee. Thick sliced ham, meatballs, fried fish and assorted breads all good.

[Old Curmudgeon]

8 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Clam chowder in bread bowl for the adventurous 180bht.

 

Very good idea.

 

This ??

 

I'd go just for that !

 

(Yummy photo from TripAdvisor.)

 

[BritManToo]

Does Mexican count as 'farang food'?

 

If so La Casita in Ratvithi Road is well worth a visit. 

Three tacos and a soft drink for around 250bht, includes free chips and dips, more than I can eat. Beware the spicy pork taco, you'll need a bottle of water to douse the fire. I usually order 1 pork, 1 chicken and 1 chorizo pork.

There's also Creole Gumbo for the more adventurous!

 

 

[Bill97]

36 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Does Mexican count as 'farang food'?

Of course, farangs eat most of it