Restaurants

[eek]

Oops..yes..its another food/restaurant thread..sorry about this..!

..but actually I would like to know peoples recommendations for higher end Restaurants and buffets. Somewhere you can dress up a bit in a nice environment with good food.

Thanks.

[jackr]

Doesn't the Shangri-La Hotel have one of the best buffets in town?

[caf]

Doesn't the Shangri-La Hotel have one of the best buffets in town?

Food is so subjective it is best for individuals to just try a few buffets

Try Shangrila and Maninakorn (Sri donchai ) for example and you'll have your answer

[cm das]

The Shangri-La has a very nice buffet... but the above picture is not of the Kad Cafe, where the buffet is. Maybe this is a picture of one of the hotel's ballrooms?

[noise]

Le Crystal's Steak House in J.J. Market (Super Hwy Lotus area) is very nice with excellent table settings (which they will immediately change to match your order, if appropriate; e.g., steak cutlery vs Thai food spoon/fork or glasses for red vs white wine choices), great service, and the choice of good local beef or imported on the menu, along with a variety of other good Thai and Farang food choices. Very nice trio (plus or minus) and singer.

[eek]

I went to Shangri-Ia some weeks ago and was a IittIe disappointed. The environment didnt feeI very intimate and peopIe were just dressed smartIy but reguIarIy. Wasnt reaIIy a pIace where peopIe seemed to be dressing up. Maybe peopIe usuaIIy do, but the Saturday night that i went, it just was peopIe dressed smart but nothing very dressy. Food was ok. Then again, as a vegi, i suppose my choices were Iimited. But im ok with that.

I did hear Le Crystal was nice, but didnt reaIise it was a steak house. I dont mind eating in pIaces that are mixed vegetarian and non-vegetarian, but cautious when pIaces are primarily meat pIaces. wiII check out Ie CrystaI.

Thanks guys! Any others?

[gotlost]

IMO The Le Crystal Steak house is OK but not a dress up and is nothing special. Food was on a par with The Dukes. I have been to it once and was so impressed that I have not been back.

[neilrob]

Chiang Mai has a remarkably good range of fine restaurants, but rather than mention the usual suspects, I will suggest one that I'd never even heard of until a week or so ago. I ate there last week. The food was very good and the atmosphere charming---like a small private dining room. It is called Baan Tazala. In spite of the name, the cuisine is French/Continental. The restaurant is directly opposite the main car park and entrance to the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Devi. If you try it, please let me know what you think of it.

[cmsally]

Mandarin Oriental Hotel - one of their restaurants. You might want to check it out first if a special occasion.

Chedi Hotel - Indian is pretty good and nice setting. Bit of mozzie protection if sitting outside .

Le Crystal (not the steakhouse) the main restaurant up north along the river - north of highway). Approx near the Lanna Mantra Hotel). Those would be on my list of high end for food and setting. Otherwise some very good food, but maybe not high end location, there's a lot in that category.

[cm das]

Of the high end places I've been in Chiang Mai, you certainly could dress up at any of them and not feel out of place. But I've yet to see a place where it was required or expected. Smart casual seems to be the norm for a meal at a nice restaurant. Of course, private functions are a different story.

[brommers]

Le Crystal's Steak House in J.J. Market (Super Hwy Lotus area) is very nice with excellent table settings (which they will immediately change to match your order, if appropriate; e.g., steak cutlery vs Thai food spoon/fork or glasses for red vs white wine choices), great service, and the choice of good local beef or imported on the menu, along with a variety of other good Thai and Farang food choices. Very nice trio (plus or minus) and singer.

We have stopped going there because the food is attractively presented but not anything exceptional & the live music is so loud that it is impossible to hold a conversation.

[eek]

Yeh..Ioud music in dining pIaces..why is that? As an aside, thats what puts me off dining at Riverside. I cant think, i cant taIk. I Iike Iistening to Iive music, even Ioud music (mp3 bIasting in my ears even), but not when im out to dinner with someone.

Getting back to pIaces to eat, appreciate the suggestions, thanks. I dont mind smaIIer/intimate suggestions aIso.

Its not exactIy a speciaI occasion, but a friend is returning "home" to Chiang Mai after some pretty grueling manuaI Iabour abroad. He wants somewhere dressy to spIash out on as a way of ceIebrating his Iiberation from a job he Ioathes. Promised him i wouId find out a nice pIace.

What about the 360 restaurant? Ive heard thats supposed to be quite nice?