Central Festival -- opening this Thursday now

[grin]

In general there is plenty of parking. There are 5 levels from G to 4. The higher you go the more available parking.

It takes several spirals just to go up or down one level so be patient. Many of the Exit signs are pointing in the wrong direction so beware.

When we parked on level 2 previously the lighting was not working yet so we had to park in the dark

The parking is parallel to the length of the mall so you never have to walk far to get into the mall itself.

Grin

[Trujillo]

To be clear, I went to Central Festival and counted the number of Japanese restaurants. I did not count the sort of cross-over places like hot-pot restaurants and one or two that looked more Korean style. There are 15 Japanese restaurants there!

My point is not about the quality of the places, or how "Japanese" they are, but rather the sheer numbers. You would think with airlines now opening direct routes to Hong Kong, the "big thinkers" when it comes to franchising Central Festival might have included a Chinese food place or two there.

Sure, there is a restaurant called, ขนมจีนบุฟเฟ่ต์ (Chinese snack buffet), but looking at the food you will find little diversity and mostly "Thaiafied" food.

Fifteen Japanese restaurants in a mall in Chiang Mai, Thailand? Are you fcking kidding me?

[infernalman7]

To be clear, I went to Central Festival and counted the number of Japanese restaurants. I did not count the sort of cross-over places like hot-pot restaurants and one or two that looked more Korean style. There are 15 Japanese restaurants there!

My point is not about the quality of the places, or how "Japanese" they are, but rather the sheer numbers. You would think with airlines now opening direct routes to Hong Kong, the "big thinkers" when it comes to franchising Central Festival might have included a Chinese food place or two there.

Sure, there is a restaurant called, ขนมจีนบุฟเฟ่ต์ (Chinese snack buffet), but looking at the food you will find little diversity and mostly "Thaiafied" food.

Fifteen Japanese restaurants in a mall in Chiang Mai, Thailand? Are you fcking kidding me?

Kanoom Jeen (ขนมจีน) is "Thai rice noodle" not exactly Chinese food.

http://richardelliot.blogspot.com/2012/06/restaurant-review-caysorn-china-town.html

Well, in Bangkok it's actually easier to find Japanese food than Thai food IMO. You have to make quite an effort to get real good Thai food in Bangkok.

But again, Japanese food options in Chiang Mai were lagging behind many other types of food here. I personally wouldn't complain.

What I was more excited about is the famous seafood place called Lam Chareon Seafood. It's quite well established in Bangkok and in the Eastern Seaboard. Finally it's here!!!!

Also for bakery, finally we have the slightly higher upmarket Yamazaki called Saint Etoille (they always use broken French grammar on their packaging--quite disturbing). One bread in particular that is really good is called the Danish bread. It's like croissant but in bread form . Perfect for people who want to bulk up.

Edited November 19, 2013 by infernalman7

[Trujillo]

Apropos the "Chinese" place, I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but ขนมจีน does mean Chinese style noodles, not Thai; thus the จีน part.

[infernalman7]

Apropos the "Chinese" place, I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but ขนมจีน does mean Chinese style noodles, not Thai; thus the จีน part.

No it does not! http://th.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ขนมจีน_(อาหารไทย)

[butterisbetter]

Apropos the "Chinese" place, I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but ขนมจีน does mean Chinese style noodles, not Thai; thus the จีน part.

No it does not! http://th.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ขนมจีน_(อาหารไทย)

Several years ago Suthon Sukphisit, who writes a weekly article about Thai food, had a piece about kanom jin. The "jin" does not mean chinese. Apparently, the dish comes from Mon cuisine, the people who were here before the Thais and still populate a few neighborhoods in Bangkok.

[butterisbetter]

My big disappointment with the place was the cookware section of the central department store. It's pretty close to identical to what Central KSK offers (maybe slightly few items) and doesn't come close to matching the selection offered by central in Bangkok.

[meechai]

Went there with the wife tonight.

Nice i guess but nothing really special in my limited "Malls" opinion.

But we ate at a restaurant called Santa Fe ( I think )

Some kind of steak place.

We are both home sick now.

Wife had tenderloin ( hahah ) in pepper sauce & I had the Filet Mignon with bacon

Bacon was draped on steak & looked 100% uncooked.

Steak was really bad & we should not have attempted eating it.

Ordered med well & they came med rare. we figured better go with it as it will only get even tougher.

The steaks come as two smaller steaks & we could barely cut or chew ours.

Wife could not cut her second one at all. It was like shoe leather

Have to remember for the most part beef in Thailand is still a no go for us.

Prices were reasonable as opening specials maybe? But does not matter when

it is that bad.

Edited November 19, 2013 by meechai

[beau thai]

Santa Fe at Airport us usually very good but I would never order Thai beef steak anywhere! I know imported costs more but it is the only steak worth eating.

And ordering Thai beef rare or medium rare is a complete no-no so if it came med rare it should have gone back for a few more minutes.

Their chicken/pork/seafood/pasta is usually good.

Went there with the wife tonight.

Nice i guess but nothing really special in my limited "Malls" opinion.

But we ate at a restaurant called Santa Fe ( I think )

Some kind of steak place.

We are both home sick now.

Wife had tenderloin ( hahah ) in pepper sauce & I had the Filet Mignon with bacon

Bacon was draped on steak & looked 100% uncooked.

Steak was really bad & we should not have attempted eating it.

Ordered med well & they came med rare. we figured better go with it as it will only get even tougher.

The steaks come as two smaller steaks & we could barely cut or chew ours.

Wife could not cut her second one at all. It was like shoe leather

Have to remember for the most part beef in Thailand is still a no go for us.

Prices were reasonable as opening specials maybe? But does not matter when

it is that bad.

[meechai]

Santa Fe at Airport us usually very good but I would never order Thai beef steak anywhere! I know imported costs more but it is the only steak worth eating.

And ordering Thai beef rare or medium rare is a complete no-no so if it came med rare it should have gone back for a few more minutes.

Their chicken/pork/seafood/pasta is usually good.

Yes & really we do know better but for some reason thought we would give it a try.

My wife is lucky & lost hers as soon as we got home.

I on the other hand have never in my life had that ability

Will hopefully feel better tomorrow & try to remember from now on

what we already knew. Thai beef is a no go

[ARISTIDE]

Ice rink nearly there

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[anon467848]

Mods, why is this thread still open?

How about a new post called "Central Festival First Impressions... "

[Awk]

Santa Fe at Airport us usually very good but I would never order Thai beef steak anywhere! I know imported costs more but it is the only steak worth eating.

And ordering Thai beef rare or medium rare is a complete no-no so if it came med rare it should have gone back for a few more minutes.

Their chicken/pork/seafood/pasta is usually good.

Yes & really we do know better but for some reason thought we would give it a try.

My wife is lucky & lost hers as soon as we got home.

I on the other hand have never in my life had that ability

Will hopefully feel better tomorrow & try to remember from now on

what we already knew. Thai beef is a no go

Ate at Santa Fe in Hua Hin a couple of times, and found the value for money poor in general. But can't agree with your opinion about Thai beef. Sure, it's not Australian/NZ beef, but I eat it, usually cooked at home, medium rare, at least once a week, and have never had any problems. I'd bet my money on the problem being not the beef, but the handling of the beef at Santa Fe.

[chiang mai]

I find Sante Fe to be excellent value for money, especially when compared to Sizzler whom they seem to open nearby where ever possible. I also do not enjoy Thai beef but the pork and chicken is excellent and SF does a good job of quality in this respect.

[hellodolly]

I find Sante Fe to be excellent value for money, especially when compared to Sizzler whom they seem to open nearby where ever possible. I also do not enjoy Thai beef but the pork and chicken is excellent and SF does a good job of quality in this respect.

That still dosen't say much for Sate Fe when you consider the lack of value for money at Sizzler. There prices are way high.

[jackr]

Is there a Maccie Ds in there?

[chiang mai]

I find Sante Fe to be excellent value for money, especially when compared to Sizzler whom they seem to open nearby where ever possible. I also do not enjoy Thai beef but the pork and chicken is excellent and SF does a good job of quality in this respect.

That still dosen't say much for Sate Fe when you consider the lack of value for money at Sizzler. There prices are way high.

We ate there yesterday, two people, one had a pork chop and a chicken breast, mashed potato and salad - the other had a pork steak and a chicken steak, American fried rice, salad, mashed potato - one bottle of water each, bill came to 437 baht and the food was decent quality, we were full when we left a clean modern air conditioned restaurant where the service was in English and very attentive, how can that be considered high priced in any farang expats book, unless you're absolutely down and out that is, in which case you probably shouldn't even be in Thailand in the first place!

[CMNightRider]

I visited Central Festival yesterday. Overall the mall looked good with the new movie theaters, and the upscale grocery store on the bottom floor. However, parking appeared to be a problem. I saw a lot of vehicles parked behind other vehicles that would require you to push them out of the way to pull out. If parking looks this way on a Wednesday, the weekends must really be bad. :-(

[jackr]

Is there a BK in there?

[angledream]

Very good place, I hope I have the chance to go there.

[jackr]

Ok then, how about Taco Bell?

[Awk]

I find Sante Fe to be excellent value for money, especially when compared to Sizzler whom they seem to open nearby where ever possible. I also do not enjoy Thai beef but the pork and chicken is excellent and SF does a good job of quality in this respect.

Opinions obviously differ, and that is good. I've eaten at Sizzler probably over a hundred times, while I have little inclination to eat at Santa Fe again. Perhaps you are not too fond of vegetables? I usually have one of the beef steaks at Sizzler (possibly imported? I think the menu says that, but I can't remember for sure at the moment. The beef is fair enough, but certainly nothing special), which is somewhat pricy imo, especially since the quality of whatever import they seem to use is not significantly better than some of the Thai beef imo. Since I am also fond of vegetables and salads, which are included with virtually anything you order, I can't complain about the total price however. If you order one of the cheaper options (fried chicken/port/fish/etc.), the value for money is very good imo.

Been a few years since I last ate at Santa Fe though, so perhaps I'll try them again one of these days, based on your glowing recommendation. ;-)

[grin]

I visited Central Festival yesterday. Overall the mall looked good with the new movie theaters, and the upscale grocery store on the bottom floor. However, parking appeared to be a problem. I saw a lot of vehicles parked behind other vehicles that would require you to push them out of the way to pull out. If parking looks this way on a Wednesday, the weekends must really be bad. :-(

I'm not sure the parking is that bad. I cruised up a few levels just to check things out and the upper levels were nearly empty. I think the double parkers were just too lazy to go up more levels or just didn't realize they could go up more levels.

If you look at the Central Festival map the parking is about 30% of the area of each floor except for the 5th. Maybe on a super crowded holiday it might get more difficult to park.

Grin

[meechai]

I think the problem about Thai beef taste & texture for me anyway stems from the fact I am from the USA.

Where we have very good beef. Eating at places like Stuart Anderson's Cattle Company etc. can perhaps spoil you

I remember many years ago on one of my first trips to Thailand my wife who had not been to the US yet

ordered a T-Bone at a fine Bangkok Hotel. Told me how good it was so I took a bite, shoe leather like most Thai beef

I told her honey wait till we get to the US & you see what a steak is

Getting back to the OP/ Central Festival. I kind of have mixed feelings although I admit I am no mall aficionado

It seemed rather bland in layout basically being a rectangle. The Airport Mall seems more interesting to me.

Secondly the acoustics in Festival seem really hard with noise really bouncing. Of course as usual they also had a lady

on volume infinity downstairs shouting something or other. But even when she was not sound seems to bounce in there a lot.

Other than that it seemed pretty similar to any other mall with mainly the same stores I have seen.

Parking was easy on a Tuesday night 2nd level from top many spaces.

I don't really eat deserts much but saw some nice places. Some are quite pricey like Mrs. Fields I think

wanted 90 baht/$3 for a brownie

That Stone Cold Ice Cream place I think I saw 249 baht/$8 for a large I think. I think we will see some larger Thai folks

in the near future

[meechai]

Been a few years since I last ate at Santa Fe though, so perhaps I'll try them again one of these days, based on your glowing recommendation. ;-)

I think he is glowing mainly about pork & chicken at Santa Fe

I always say the same & was mad at myself for buying beef when I should have known.

But I saw the words Filet Mignon & lost my senses

Other than that I would agree prices,service & setting is nice.

Edited November 21, 2013 by meechai

[hellodolly]

Very good place, I hope I have the chance to go there.

I fully intend to go there to see if it is a good place. The I Max for sure will be good. At least for me.

Not sure about the price though. As I understand it there are some different shops in there with better

quality items. Reading this thread not many. Considering it is the largest in Chiang Mai would expect more than three of four.

The food court should be interesting considering there is two good ones at the airport Mall. Plus the one at Tops. Not to big on that one.

But for the size of it. I suspect all the shops in other malls will be there also.

[Awk]

I think the problem about Thai beef taste & texture for me anyway stems from the fact I am from the USA.

Where we have very good beef. Eating at places like Stuart Anderson's Cattle Company etc. can perhaps spoil you

Yes, I imagine it might. Coming from a country where most of the beef comes from dairy cows, and is quality-wise similar to Thai beef, I can not claim to have been spoiled on beef myself, so perhaps I should have disqualified myself from this discussion. ;-)

[FiftyTwo]

Went there today,

1/2 price pork chop and chips at Sante Fe of 68bht. (Not many chips but a big chop and some salad)

Then wandering around looking at the eye candy.

Brass band out front in the sun playing Land of Hope and Glory.

Very busy on the top food floor, and the bottom 'Britain is Great' area.

I quite enjoyed it, far superior to Promanada. All the shops appeared occupied.

Novelty small but usable Ice rink, with real ice.

Edited November 21, 2013 by FiftyTwo

[naboo]

Its a shopping centre.

Where I come from, men grumble a lot about having to go shopping with the better half, then spend all Saturday afternoon watching the football scores roll in on the teles in the window of Dixons.

You lot have turned it into a life experience.

Is there a pub round the corner where you can disappear to and grumble about how much money she's spending? That's all we need to know. And if there's not, what manly thing can we do similar to staring at the scores rolling in cos the times don't match up.

Any women posters, sorry, you're posting about all the lovely girl stuff girls like to discuss about shopping centres. My post isn't aimed at you.

[FiftyTwo]

Its a shopping centre.

Where I come from, men grumble a lot about having to go shopping with the better half, then spend all Saturday afternoon watching the football scores roll in on the teles in the window of Dixons.

You lot have turned it into a life experience.

Malls in the UK with Dixons never had hundreds of young girls in short shorts wandering around.

Not only can you watch them, but you can smile at them ...... and they smile back and sometimes offer phone numbers.

Really not the same experience at all.

(Not forgetting the free air-con)