Rim Ping

[richard10365]

My apologise. I didn't mean to hi-jack this thread with grits. Rimping is a great store!

[Ulysses G.]

If you didn't grow up on grits then you probably won't like them. If you did, then you understand.

I grew up in the South, but my parents were Northerners, so I did not eat them very much. IMO, almost anyone who likes food smothered in butter, salt and pepper would like them and that is a lot of us.

[NancyL]

Not everyone who grew up eating grits likes them. Hubby grew up on the south and made me promise before we got married that we wouldn't have grits or boiled greens in the house. Bummer, I love grits (and hominy). But I grew up in the Great Lakes area and Mom rarely fixed grits. When she did, I think it was because she was simply bored in fixing oatmeal every morning. The only way Dad would eat grits was with a ton of butter and maple syrup, so I think she decided grits weren't nearly as healthy as oatmeal (although Dad did try to sneak butter into oatmeal)

Since Hubby won't let me have grits in the house, does anyone know a restaurant in Chiang Mai that has it on their menu?

[market trader]

Recently a friend introduced me to Macro Hang Dong. I found the selection of imported foods and prices better than Rim Ping. There was also good service. Rim Ping is not the only game in town.

Totally agree with you Don on Hang Dong Makro being [almost] on par with Rimping and at a fraction of RP's prices. Expanding import food section, fresh vegetables, seafood, meat and larger frozen food selection. My main worry is that now that CP has taken over majority ownership that they will only supply CP corporate meats.

10+ years ago we used to give Rimping 90% of our shopping and now it's the HD Makro that gets it.

Come on get real here. We shop weekly at both Makro and Rimping. There is no way that the selection of imported goods is greater at Makro. 0ne year ago my wife wanted to know how much more we would save by shopping at Makro as compared to Rimping. Everything she wanted to buy was entered into her tablet. We bought most of the things she wanted at Makro. Then we went to Rimping for the balance. she entered all the prices of both stores for what she bought. At the end we had spent a total of 2937 bahts at both stores. Makro came out cheaper by a whopping 71 bahts.

In my opinion the quality of fresh produce and meat is much better at Rimping. I challenge all of you to do price comparisons. You will be shocked by how little the difference is in the total bill.

[market trader]

If you don't know what grits are you probably have been around the largest free world server of grits. It has been proven by the American Indian FDA that grits make you smart and increase your libido. If you need to increase your sexaul drive and intelligence you need to eat grits every day. No need to wait. Now is the time to get on board. Have you ever seen more stronger looking people than American Indians. Euroids and the people from those small british islands are slow about catching on to great traditional American Indian foods. If you can eat haggis you have a good stomach and grits would go down good.

Sorry but today American and Canadian Indians are just like the rest of the population. Fat 300 pounders. Pretty difficult to have any sexual drive when you weigh that much. As a Canadian I find that grits are just like cream of wheat. The only difference being that we put milk on cream of wheat and not butter and pepper.

[seesip]

The Promenada Rimping has a bistro with good food, a sushi counter, a sandwich counter, and several places to sit and eat. They did it right--place is awesome.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Recently a friend introduced me to Macro Hang Dong. I found the selection of imported foods and prices better than Rim Ping. There was also good service. Rim Ping is not the only game in town.

Totally agree with you Don on Hang Dong Makro being [almost] on par with Rimping and at a fraction of RP's prices. Expanding import food section, fresh vegetables, seafood, meat and larger frozen food selection. My main worry is that now that CP has taken over majority ownership that they will only supply CP corporate meats.

10+ years ago we used to give Rimping 90% of our shopping and now it's the HD Makro that gets it.

Come on get real here. We shop weekly at both Makro and Rimping. There is no way that the selection of imported goods is greater at Makro. 0ne year ago my wife wanted to know how much more we would save by shopping at Makro as compared to Rimping. Everything she wanted to buy was entered into her tablet. We bought most of the things she wanted at Makro. Then we went to Rimping for the balance. she entered all the prices of both stores for what she bought. At the end we had spent a total of 2937 bahts at both stores. Makro came out cheaper by a whopping 71 bahts.

In my opinion the quality of fresh produce and meat is much better at Rimping. I challenge all of you to do price comparisons. You will be shocked by how little the difference is in the total bill.

I think it matters what you buy. For imported goods it would not surprise me if the difference is negligible. But if you buy things like Aro brand apple juice (which is just fine), Aro brand toilet paper (also just fine), fruit and vegetables, meat & seafood, Aro brand cheddar cheese, 1kg bags of BMP sausages, mayonnaise in 1 liter bags (either Aro or Best Food), Coke Zero bottles and so on then Makro is waaaayyyy cheaper.

You could argue that most of the above isn't as good as more premium brands, and not comparable to imported versions of the above. At that would be a good argument.

[scorecard]

No, no, corn flakes much better, especially with a cup of yoghurt plus the milk and some diced fruit.

First time I bought it and opened the bag my Thai family all went yuck!.

Today every member of my Thai family eat it for breakfast at least twice a week.

[NancyL]

There's definitely a place for both Rim Ping and Makro in the Chiang Mai market. I go to Makro Hang Dong about once a month and stock up on items for the freezer -- fish, seafood, blueberries, some veggies. Plus cheese. I'll buy produce at the same time, just because I'm there. Yes, it's much cheaper than Rim Ping, but the quality standards aren't good in the produce section. Often they're selling produce that wouldn't even been found in Rim Ping's trash dumpster. I can't count on getting a complete selection of good quality produce, like I can at Rim Ping. Some "essential" item, like lettuce, parsley, celery -- stuff we use several times weekly -- often is very bad quality at Makro.

Like Market Trader's wife, I've collected data at Makro, Rim Ping and Tops and find there's little difference in package goods -- salad dressing, peanut butter and even Coke Zero in cans, with Rim Ping often being a bit cheaper. I'll get those items at Rim Ping because the standards of service and quality of the shopping experience is much better. Plus, Rim Ping (and Tops) will do home delivery, straight to my door. It's always a hassle for me to get the Makro purchases home in a tuk-tuk and then haul them thru the lobby, up the elevator and down the hall in my condo. At least I don't feel I have to go to the health club for exercise on the day I do my once-a-month Makro shopping.

Edited July 21, 2013 by NancyL

[Sparkles]

No, no, corn flakes much better, especially with a cup of yoghurt plus the milk and some diced fruit.

First time I bought it and opened the bag my Thai family all went yuck!.

Today every member of my Thai family eat it for breakfast at least twice a week.

Ok if you don't have a blood /sugar or weight problem. Cornflakes are 70 % sugar,so called "low fat yoghurts" the same.

Read "Sugar , our sweet poison" and if you are wondering why you have a weight problem or verging on diabetes all is revealed and I guarantee you will change your eating habits.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

No, no, corn flakes much better, especially with a cup of yoghurt plus the milk and some diced fruit.

First time I bought it and opened the bag my Thai family all went yuck!.

Today every member of my Thai family eat it for breakfast at least twice a week.

Ok if you don't have a blood /sugar or weight problem. Cornflakes are 70 % sugar,so called "low fat yoghurts" the same.

Read "Sugar , our sweet poison" and if you are wondering why you have a weight problem or verging on diabetes all is revealed and I guarantee you will change your eating habits.

I make my own yoghurt, sugar content 0%, costs 37bht/litre (same price as the milk it is made from)

I really don't understand why anyone buys yoghurt when it only takes overnight and no equipment to make.

Edited July 21, 2013 by AnotherOneAmerican

[hml367]

I doubt there are many people that do all of their shopping at one place. I doubt there are many people that do all their type of shopping at one place. I say "many people", so of course there are probably a small amount of people that do. There could even be some posting on TV that does.

Makro and Rim Ping have different target markets. People can go for one thing or another to either one for a lot of different reasons.

Comparing Makro and Rim Ping should be done with an understanding of what each wants to accomplish. In the USA it would be kind of like comparing Costco to Safeway.

These are from Makro an Rim Ping web sites:

Makro:
With a large registered member base distributed all over the country, the Company continues to successfully operate its principle business of providing solution to a multitude of Clientele operating in a wide range of industries. The main focus being small to medium size businesses, predominantly small retailers, HoReCa (Hotel, Restaurant and Catering), institutions, professional customers and also the service sectors.

RimPing
We aim to provide our customers with an ever-increasing choice of high quality merchandise, sufficient to fulfill all household shopping requirements.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

No, no, corn flakes much better, especially with a cup of yoghurt plus the milk and some diced fruit.

First time I bought it and opened the bag my Thai family all went yuck!.

Today every member of my Thai family eat it for breakfast at least twice a week.

Ok if you don't have a blood /sugar or weight problem. Cornflakes are 70 % sugar,so called "low fat yoghurts" the same.

Read "Sugar , our sweet poison" and if you are wondering why you have a weight problem or verging on diabetes all is revealed and I guarantee you will change your eating habits.

I make my own yoghurt, sugar content 0%, costs 37bht/litre (same price as the milk it is made from)

I really don't understand why anyone buys yoghurt when it only takes overnight and no equipment to make.

Ends up like runny stuff though right?

How do you actually make it?

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Ends up like runny stuff though right?

How do you actually make it?

Tablespoon of starter yoghurt (anything with live yoghurt will do it), stirred into milk in a jam jar, top on, stand on top of fridge overnight.

Put resulting yoghurt in fridge for 6 hours to thicken before eating.

(The thick yoghurt from DelCheeso dairy (Hidden Cafe) behind the big SCB near Tesco on Hang Dong road is a particularly good starter)

Edited July 21, 2013 by AnotherOneAmerican

[anon467848]

The Promenada Rimping has a bistro with good food, a sushi counter, a sandwich counter, and several places to sit and eat. They did it right--place is awesome.

I visited the Promenada yesterday, I wouldn't say it was worthy of an awesome rating.... you forgot to mention the oyster bar ,the bakery is nothing to write home about, Nim City and the Riverside are much better, and I definitely agree with another poster in that parts of the store are very dimmly lit.

[grin]

Not everyone who grew up eating grits likes them. Hubby grew up on the south and made me promise before we got married that we wouldn't have grits or boiled greens in the house. Bummer, I love grits (and hominy). But I grew up in the Great Lakes area and Mom rarely fixed grits. When she did, I think it was because she was simply bored in fixing oatmeal every morning. The only way Dad would eat grits was with a ton of butter and maple syrup, so I think she decided grits weren't nearly as healthy as oatmeal (although Dad did try to sneak butter into oatmeal)

Since Hubby won't let me have grits in the house, does anyone know a restaurant in Chiang Mai that has it on their menu?

I grew up in the Midwest but parents were Okies. For breakfast grits were always served with butter and something sweet like molasses, brown sugar, jam or preserves. My favorite was homemade plum jam.

[KRS1]

Recently a friend introduced me to Macro Hang Dong. I found the selection of imported foods and prices better than Rim Ping. There was also good service. Rim Ping is not the only game in town.

Totally agree with you Don on Hang Dong Makro being [almost] on par with Rimping and at a fraction of RP's prices. Expanding import food section, fresh vegetables, seafood, meat and larger frozen food selection. My main worry is that now that CP has taken over majority ownership that they will only supply CP corporate meats.

10+ years ago we used to give Rimping 90% of our shopping and now it's the HD Makro that gets it.

Makro has the best smoked salmon deal in town !

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Yes, and fresh salmon too actually. Costs a fraction of what Rim Ping wants.

[hellodolly]

Yes, and fresh salmon too actually. Costs a fraction of what Rim Ping wants.

Well it would seem that most of the posters here have not been to the Rimping at the Promenada with the definite exception of two posters. Or if they did have no comment on it.

They have turned it into a Rimping verses Makro thread.

So I will join them having experience in both. I like Italian pepper salami It is 690 baht a kilo at Makro and 1,140 baht at Rimping.

They both sell the same brand.

[jingjoke]

No, no, corn flakes much better, especially with a cup of yoghurt plus the milk and some diced fruit.

First time I bought it and opened the bag my Thai family all went yuck!.

Today every member of my Thai family eat it for breakfast at least twice a week.

Corn Flakes! Yum!

I place several ice cubes in the bottom of the bowl before adding the corn flakes, sugar, and milk.

The ice keeps those golden flakes of sunshine goodness at their optimum crunchy crispness.

Indulge your wilde side with a sprinkling of brown sugar, and seasonal fruit. Dang, dem's good tastin'....

Aro has the super-sized bag which is as close as a shadow to Kellogg's. Rim has the boxes...good too, but they empty too quickly, especially with the converted extended family.

Edited July 21, 2013 by jingjoke

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Nestle Cornflakes 500g, 95bht Makro, 125bht Rimping

[DonaldBattles]

The imported Italian Salami at Makro at 690 Baht per kg is the best in Thailand that I have eaten. The Blue Stilton Cheese at 980/kg is great. The bottom line is that Makro Hang Dong is moving fast toward displacing Rip Ping as the farang food store in Chiang Mai. Now that the CP group has purchased Makro you may rest assured that they have the power to make Hang Dong store the number one farang food store in Chiang Mai. How wonderful the parking is and easy to take your cart outside to unload.

The Makro in Chiang Rai super sucks and they never have what you want. CP Group will also change this.

[kaptainrob]

The imported Italian Salami at Makro at 690 Baht per kg is the best in Thailand that I have eaten. The Blue Stilton Cheese at 980/kg is great. The bottom line is that Makro Hang Dong is moving fast toward displacing Rip Ping as the farang food store in Chiang Mai. Now that the CP group has purchased Makro you may rest assured that they have the power to make Hang Dong store the number one farang food store in Chiang Mai. How wonderful the parking is and easy to take your cart outside to unload.

The Makro in Chiang Rai super sucks and they never have what you want. CP Group will also change this.

As a Makro Hang Dong regular shopper I am disappointed with the bakery and vegetable sections - very hit and miss on quality and freshness, particularly salad greens. Why they re-stock in such quantity only to allow 50% to rot away is beyond me. Bread, when freshly baked is awesome, but they seem to under-prove or make small cobs every so often.... and they sit for days, un-sold.

If we complain more frequently, and offer helpful advice, perhaps Management will take notice. The imported goods lady Manager speaks English.

Rimping is our preferred store for most imports, not all. Tops is way 'over the top' on price - unless buying a red spot special.

Rimping: Weetbix & most imported cereals, Chabaa fruit juices (no sugar added), frozen meals - SK and British Curry Nights.

Makro: Olive oil, butter, cheese, yoghurt, sour cream, TGM bacon, fresh salmon

[elektrified]

Started shopping at Makro Hang Dong just recently. Really am impressed with it and worth the drive out there. But do concur that the produce is better at Muang Mai, Rimping, etc. Shopped at Tops recently for the first time in about a year. Their prices on produce are OTT! But they have finally got it together again on other items. Took them well over a year after the floods to have a good stock again. I agree that there is little difference in price from one place to another. That includes Big C, Tesco, Rimping and Tops. But Muang Mai for fruit and vegetables is the best. Rimping 2 for 1 sales are great.

[CMKiwi]

Roys premium smoked bacon is very very tasty and fries/grills well. Available at Macro and probably a lot of other places as well. I agree re Tops OTT on pricing. Strange how Macro can vary from store to store, remember hearing bad things about the one on the Super Highway but the Hang Dong branch is great. I live out Mae Rim way and the brance there is ok, not as good as Hang Dong but certainly better than Super Highway.

Kassim stores are good too but a tad pricey.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

The imported Italian Salami at Makro at 690 Baht per kg is the best in Thailand that I have eaten. The Blue Stilton Cheese at 980/kg is great. The bottom line is that Makro Hang Dong is moving fast toward displacing Rip Ping as the farang food store in Chiang Mai. Now that the CP group has purchased Makro you may rest assured that they have the power to make Hang Dong store the number one farang food store in Chiang Mai. How wonderful the parking is and easy to take your cart outside to unload.

The Makro in Chiang Rai super sucks and they never have what you want. CP Group will also change this.

Unless of course they want to make Tesco their higher-end brand, and go wholesale box shoving on Makro..

[LarryBird]

What's the scuttlebutt on Rimping Mae Hia?

[Sparkles]

What's the scuttlebutt on Rimping Mae Hia?

Hard to get an opening date,have asked a few times while on our weekly visit to the market next door. Parking is going to be a nightmare but I can't really see that a large customer base. Kad Farang rumoured to be opening a much larger store at their same location where parking is a breeze.

[LarryBird]

What's the scuttlebutt on Rimping Mae Hia?

Hard to get an opening date,have asked a few times while on our weekly visit to the market next door. Parking is going to be a nightmare but I can't really see that a large customer base. Kad Farang rumoured to be opening a much larger store at their same location where parking is a breeze.

Have you noticed there's no sign anymore, and there doesn't seem to be much going on in terms of construction? Agreed also, parking will be a disaster. I think they should find a better location.