best thai owned,restaurant/bar c/mai,boonies included

[hml367]

Suan Sabay Sabay (they use a different spelling I think) in the area near Grand Canyon.

[anon467848]

Torifuku Fried Chicken - best fried chicken in Chiang Mai

Thanks for that. Definitely looks interesting.

Capture.JPG

Looks good guys, where is it? Idiot proof directions please, and thanks..

[narkeddiver]

Torifuku Fried Chicken - best fried chicken in Chiang Mai

Thanks for that. Definitely looks interesting.

Capture.JPG

Looks good guys, where is it? Idiot proof directions please, and thanks..

Here's my best attempt at directions

It's on the superhighway just along from Maya, next to the 7-11 that is just before the Tarin hotel - it is set back off the road so you might not immediately see it but there are lots of cars parked there in the evening as there are lots of food stalls

[Oscar2]

Torifuku Fried Chicken - best fried chicken in Chiang Mai

Thanks for that. Definitely looks interesting.

Capture.JPG

Looks good guys, where is it? Idiot proof directions please, and thanks..

Here's my best attempt at directions

It's on the superhighway just along from Maya, next to the 7-11 that is just before the Tarin hotel - it is set back off the road so you might not immediately see it but there are lots of cars parked there in the evening as there are lots of food stalls

also lots of signs and the main sign on the front of the restaurant can easily be seen from the Super Highway.

[Bill97]

I think Let it be will overtake SoTD....Ray needs to come up with a gimmick or change his menu (be it the blackboard menu or set menu).

Falangs and Thais are tired of TSOSDD (The Same Old <deleted> Different Day).

Don't get me wrong, Ray is a good guy but as a chef he needs to maintain his enthusiasm and create new dishes.

Keep his patrons intrigued...

Tried 4 things at Let it Be and will not be going back but maybe it is a place for beef, pork and lamb which we did not order.

Agree SOTD is no longer interesting.

[CMKiwi]

I think Let it be will overtake SoTD....Ray needs to come up with a gimmick or change his menu (be it the blackboard menu or set menu).

Falangs and Thais are tired of TSOSDD (The Same Old <deleted> Different Day).

Don't get me wrong, Ray is a good guy but as a chef he needs to maintain his enthusiasm and create new dishes.

Keep his patrons intrigued...

Tried 4 things at Let it Be and will not be going back but maybe it is a place for beef, pork and lamb which we did not order.

Agree SOTD is no longer interesting.

Sorry to hear you werent impressed by Let it Be. Ive had a pizza there and also the lamb shank (On different days of course) and both were very good. The salads are a bit on the small side for what you pay and best avoided.

My initial visit was a bit of a let down too as the staff werent very apt with attention to detail, they forgot one order and tried to downplay their mistake. I suppose its all to do with the loss of face mentality. However the second visit it was a lot better.

Last Tuesday I walked past SoTD at around 7pm, very quiet with just one falang having a meal. Although Tuesday is pretty quiet of most places in the Mae Rim plaza due to that being market day, Ive never seen SoTD being so 'dead'

[chiang mai]

The Thai restaurant on the corner, just down from SoD is very good, the people who run it are especially nice and welcoming people - excellent food I reckon.

[Oscar2]

please let's not paint a negative picture of SoTD. it's one of the best restaurants in C.M. if you don't like it then move on. don't ruin it for the rest of us by saying negative things that turn people off from going there and in turn hurting their business. i struggle to find decent food around here and drive a long way to dine there.

[Dante99]

please let's not paint a negative picture of SoTD. it's one of the best restaurants in C.M. if you don't like it then move on. don't ruin it for the rest of us by saying negative things that turn people off from going there and in turn hurting their business. i struggle to find decent food around here and drive a long way to dine there.

Right, don't post your opinions if they do not agree with mine. Even if they are just opinions about food. Sheeesh.

[Dante99]

I think Let it be will overtake SoTD....Ray needs to come up with a gimmick or change his menu (be it the blackboard menu or set menu).

Falangs and Thais are tired of TSOSDD (The Same Old <deleted> Different Day).

Don't get me wrong, Ray is a good guy but as a chef he needs to maintain his enthusiasm and create new dishes.

Keep his patrons intrigued...

Tried 4 things at Let it Be and will not be going back but maybe it is a place for beef, pork and lamb which we did not order.

Agree SOTD is no longer interesting.

Sorry to hear you werent impressed by Let it Be. Ive had a pizza there and also the lamb shank (On different days of course) and both were very good. The salads are a bit on the small side for what you pay and best avoided.

My initial visit was a bit of a let down too as the staff werent very apt with attention to detail, they forgot one order and tried to downplay their mistake. I suppose its all to do with the loss of face mentality. However the second visit it was a lot better.

Last Tuesday I walked past SoTD at around 7pm, very quiet with just one falang having a meal. Although Tuesday is pretty quiet of most places in the Mae Rim plaza due to that being market day, Ive never seen SoTD being so 'dead'

Have you tried the pizza at Mama Mia? We like it but it is a bit farther to get to on the CM-Mae Joe road.

[chiang mai]

I agree with Oscar2, if people don't like a place they should say so and then move on. The power of social media to make or break a business, based on comments made by people who have only used its services once or twice, and/or aren't really qualified to understand whether a thing is good, bad or indifferent, is way too high, often a tool of competitive business to destroy competition or to settle the petty quarrels/complaints of often riff raff customers.

[lordblackader]

Perhaps a little obscure but Tubtim-krob J Auan, Sridonchai Road towards the river, honest, cheap great Thai food, super quick service, and always full of locals despite it not being the cheapest (50-70baht for a dish); my better half tells me it's locally famous for good food.

On the same strip, Guden Guden Japanese (pretty sure it's Thai owned), nearly always full of Japanese expats and tourists, decently priced food.

[elektrified]

Perhaps a little obscure but Tubtim-krob J Auan, Sridonchai Road towards the river, honest, cheap great Thai food, super quick service, and always full of locals despite it not being the cheapest (50-70baht for a dish); my better half tells me it's locally famous for good food.

I also like that place. The food and desserts especially, are excellent.

[CMKiwi]

Chiang Mai and Oscar.... perhaps the whole point of any forum is to express your ideas/findings or whatever. In this regard I have been many times to the aforementioned establishments in the Mae Rim plaza.

I have no problem listening or reading others comments on any dining establishments anywhere, and yet I am still able to form my own opinion regardless.

I'm not too sure what you replies are trying to say or prove.

I think you are wasting your time trying to stifle a person's opinion or experience. Even if you own experience may have been different it's not to say that the other person's experience is wrong.

This is really what Dante has said.

[junglechef]

I think Let it be will overtake SoTD....Ray needs to come up with a gimmick or change his menu (be it the blackboard menu or set menu).

Falangs and Thais are tired of TSOSDD (The Same Old <deleted> Different Day).

Don't get me wrong, Ray is a good guy but as a chef he needs to maintain his enthusiasm and create new dishes.

Keep his patrons intrigued...

Tried 4 things at Let it Be and will not be going back but maybe it is a place for beef, pork and lamb which we did not order.

Agree SOTD is no longer interesting.

Sorry to hear you werent impressed by Let it Be. Ive had a pizza there and also the lamb shank (On different days of course) and both were very good. The salads are a bit on the small side for what you pay and best avoided.

My initial visit was a bit of a let down too as the staff werent very apt with attention to detail, they forgot one order and tried to downplay their mistake. I suppose its all to do with the loss of face mentality. However the second visit it was a lot better.

Last Tuesday I walked past SoTD at around 7pm, very quiet with just one falang having a meal. Although Tuesday is pretty quiet of most places in the Mae Rim plaza due to that being market day, Ive never seen SoTD being so 'dead'

Have you tried the pizza at Mama Mia? We like it but it is a bit farther to get to on the CM-Mae Joe road.

Our go-to Pizza place, good for sure especially for this area.

Not sure I'd say Thai owned though, yes prob in the lovely wife's name who along with their daughter run the front of the house but the Italian Dad who does the cooking is really the one who's running the show.

[chiang mai]

Chiang Mai and Oscar.... perhaps the whole point of any forum is to express your ideas/findings or whatever. In this regard I have been many times to the aforementioned establishments in the Mae Rim plaza.

I have no problem listening or reading others comments on any dining establishments anywhere, and yet I am still able to form my own opinion regardless.

I'm not too sure what you replies are trying to say or prove.

I think you are wasting your time trying to stifle a person's opinion or experience. Even if you own experience may have been different it's not to say that the other person's experience is wrong.

This is really what Dante has said.

I wouldn't dare to try and stifle opinion and I hope nobody else would either. But I also hope that posters, when they criticise a restaurant for some aspect they didn't like, moderate their comments in the knowledge that they will be seen by thousands of people, interpreted a variety of different ways and potentially impact the business they are commenting on. It takes big balls and lots of time and effort to start a business of any type and as a dear friend reminded me today, only a small percentage survive, despite best efforts. And when you live in an area that is saturated with restaurants most people don't notice or care when a few fail, here in Mai Rim we have limited choice and I for one would rather see us with a couple of average to good restaurants than non at all, that is the risk.

FWIW I think SotD serves good or better food, the problem seems to be that the restaurant has not reinvigorated its client base with new menu's and they have become bored as a rsult, I hope that will change soon.

BTW Mrs CM and I had lunch in or around Mai Rim Plaza today and it was far from good and we left 50% uneaten. Owners please note that Italian sausage is in no way similar to a commercial hot dog, pizza bases that are frozen are a big no-no and a spaghetti dish with seafood that contains ketchup as a sauce should disqualify the cook from serving the public for at least a month. You know who you are so improve, many of your other dishes are very good indeed!

Edited May 28, 2016 by chiang mai

[CMKiwi]

Good comments chiang mai....and I do understand what you are saying. My missus had a restaurant in the Plaza a few years ago. Mainly catering for falangs. We had some good chefs but unfortunately the clientele base in Mae Rim was large enough to support the business.

I wonder how any business can survive there actually.... there are some good places in the Plaza and there have been in the past too. It's a very cut throat business at the best of times and something I'd think twice about before going at it again.

But that aside I must get out Mae Jo way and try Mama Mia's pizza...I've only heard great things about the place. I'm not big on pizza but it's nice to eat once in a while.

And to add to the thread, I went to My Back Yard tonight and had a great meal of Fish & Chips. Washed down with a big Leo for a total under 200 baht. Great place and super nice people. Only thing missing was malt vinegar otherwise spot on.

Edited May 28, 2016 by CMKiwi

[chiang mai]

I also am looking forward to trying Mama Mia, I'm a big fan of Italian food and Arcobaleno in Watkate is my favourite, the Italian in Ruam Chok Plaza is also very good and handy too.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Torifuku Fried Chicken - best fried chicken in Chiang Mai

Looks good guys, where is it? Idiot proof directions please, and thanks..

Here's my best attempt at directions

It's on the superhighway just along from Maya, next to the 7-11 that is just before the Tarin hotel - it is set back off the road so you might not immediately see it but there are lots of cars parked there in the evening as there are lots of food stalls

So.. this is a stall or small shophouse restaurant that only opens at night, right?

[junglechef]

Good comments chiang mai....and I do understand what you are saying. My missus had a restaurant in the Plaza a few years ago. Mainly catering for falangs. We had some good chefs but unfortunately the clientele base in Mae Rim was large enough to support the business.

I wonder how any business can survive there actually.... there are some good places in the Plaza and there have been in the past too. It's a very cut throat business at the best of times and something I'd think twice about before going at it again.

But that aside I must get out Mae Jo way and try Mama Mia's pizza...I've only heard great things about the place. I'm not big on pizza but it's nice to eat once in a while.

And to add to the thread, I went to My Back Yard tonight and had a great meal of Fish & Chips. Washed down with a big Leo for a total under 200 baht. Great place and super nice people. Only thing missing was malt vinegar otherwise spot on.

I beg to differ that the restaurant industry is "vey cut throat business" at all never the less "at the best of times".

Sure there are instances that it can be but over all it's just competitive often with the establishment being it's own worst enemy by not doing a good enough job.

It's always easier to blame someone else for one's failures then to get your own house, or business, in order.

Cut throat often refers to a competition that might be a price race to drive others out of business or using other unprincipled practices.

People aren't going to go to the same place every time so there's easily room for a few places in the same area, that's why there are often specific areas where there are a bunch of restaurants, often sharing the same parking lots and valet services.

Also some place are what they call "destinations restaurants" that one would be worth traveling to, others "occasion restaurants" that one would go to infrequently for special occasions and then there is one's local corner pub, fast food, casual, buffet etc etc.

Price can be another huge factor in where one chooses to dine for any particular meal.

The point is most people wouldn't go to any one more then a few times a week or probably a month (perhaps a corner pub or local everyday place where the profits margins are lower ((food costs 25%)) necessitating higher volume being exceptions).

But it is a difficult business to run (lots of variables and hard work) and to make a profit (again lots of variables, some controllable other not so much, to get right).

True in this modern day of the internet one has so many places to vent one's feelings and people do trash talk a lot but I feel chiang mai (the TV member not the city) is a bit over sensitive with his thoughts of the powers of TV and similar sites.

Who would ever refer to a Lonely Planet for dining suggestions and I think by now everyone realizes the bias of Trip Advisor.

Do you really believe everything people write or agree with all the opinions on TV?

Yes word of mouth is still king but I listen to people I know and respect their culinary opinions and a few TV members from years of comparing their likes and dislikes to my own.

[narkeddiver]

So.. this is a stall or small shophouse restaurant that only opens at night, right?

It's a shophouse, open from 18:00 I think, from experience they are closed on Wednesday

[JaseTheBass]

One staple comment that always makes me smile is "it's full of locals, so it must be good".

There's a well known noodle restaurant near me that does a roaring trade and even has 'VIP' customers which involve the police disrupting non-VIP's lives by blocking off a public road when they decide to dine there.

We ate there once and it was rubbish.

I agree that if you are somewhere like France or Itay where people generally have good taste and really understand good food, then yes, follow the locals, but here? Forget it.

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant

[Dante99]

Chiang Mai and Oscar.... perhaps the whole point of any forum is to express your ideas/findings or whatever. In this regard I have been many times to the aforementioned establishments in the Mae Rim plaza.

I have no problem listening or reading others comments on any dining establishments anywhere, and yet I am still able to form my own opinion regardless.

I'm not too sure what you replies are trying to say or prove.

I think you are wasting your time trying to stifle a person's opinion or experience. Even if you own experience may have been different it's not to say that the other person's experience is wrong.

This is really what Dante has said.

I wouldn't dare to try and stifle opinion and I hope nobody else would either. But I also hope that posters, when they criticise a restaurant for some aspect they didn't like, moderate their comments in the knowledge that they will be seen by thousands of people, interpreted a variety of different ways and potentially impact the business they are commenting on. It takes big balls and lots of time and effort to start a business of any type and as a dear friend reminded me today, only a small percentage survive, despite best efforts. And when you live in an area that is saturated with restaurants most people don't notice or care when a few fail, here in Mai Rim we have limited choice and I for one would rather see us with a couple of average to good restaurants than non at all, that is the risk.

FWIW I think SotD serves good or better food, the problem seems to be that the restaurant has not reinvigorated its client base with new menu's and they have become bored as a rsult, I hope that will change soon.

BTW Mrs CM and I had lunch in or around Mai Rim Plaza today and it was far from good and we left 50% uneaten. Owners please note that Italian sausage is in no way similar to a commercial hot dog, pizza bases that are frozen are a big no-no and a spaghetti dish with seafood that contains ketchup as a sauce should disqualify the cook from serving the public for at least a month. You know who you are so improve, many of your other dishes are very good indeed!

Yeh and we know what restaurant you are talking about.

[narkeddiver]

One staple comment that always makes me smile is "it's full of locals, so it must be good".

There's a well known noodle restaurant near me that does a roaring trade and even has 'VIP' customers which involve the police disrupting non-VIP's lives by blocking off a public road when they decide to dine there.

We ate there once and it was rubbish.

I agree that if you are somewhere like France or Itay where people generally have good taste and really understand good food, then yes, follow the locals, but here? Forget it.

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant

Generally agree with that statement for restaurants in Thailand - however we have several Japanese restaurants in our area but one typically has a lot of Japanese expats eating there so I figure by their standards it's the best in our neighbourhood

[narkeddiver]

Another option for good food at a Thai owned restaurant - The Brotherhood in Santitham - the burgers at 89 baht seem good value to me Not sure if the picture will do it justice

[elektrified]

Torifuku Fried Chicken - best fried chicken in Chiang Mai

Looks good guys, where is it? Idiot proof directions please, and thanks..

Here's my best attempt at directions

It's on the superhighway just along from Maya, next to the 7-11 that is just before the Tarin hotel - it is set back off the road so you might not immediately see it but there are lots of cars parked there in the evening as there are lots of food stalls

So.. this is a stall or small shophouse restaurant that only opens at night, right?

I've been there the other night. It's a shophouse next-door to 7 Eleven and I think it opens from 5:30-10:30. It's pretty good.

[sandmonster]

Don't know the name of the place, but when I get a craving for Southern Thai food, this is my go to place. I believe this is a locals top pick. Always busy, especially around lunch time. Never seen a ferang there in all my visits...maybe too spicy for most. Its on the Canal Rd, near the stretch where they sell strawberrys when in season. I prefer to go for a late breakfast around 9.30am when most of the stuff is just being prepared.

No English anywhere but has all the classics. Just look and point. Dirt cheap, super smiley service. The kua kling is spot on, tumeric fried chicken, or fish makes a nice change. My personal favourite is the pork rib curry infused with tumeric and galangal. If you like southern spicy, well worth a try.

[Johpa]

I agree that if you are somewhere like France or Itay where people generally have good taste and really understand good food, then yes, follow the locals, but here? Forget it.

You are probably hanging out with the wrong type of Thais, or really don't know too many Thais at all. Yes, the self-imagined Hi-Sos often congregate where other Hi-Sos are known to congregate regardless of the quality of the food, it is a Veblen response of the leisure class. I see this near my home at the nearby Mon Chaem resort where many Thais visit in droves despite their being far better views and food in nearby establishments. On the other hand, my local Thai neighbors, not Hi-So, have consistently taken me to local eateries with amazingly good food that is not dependent upon the subtle nuances of, for instance, French cuisine as subtlety in food is only good for the atrophied taste buds commonly found among those who live in the western countries.

[hml367]

Som Mai Laap Gai on the road to Mae Taeng, opposite the turnoff to Mae Tae.

I am enjoying laap gai and pla moo yang.

[chiang mai]

We finally went to a pizza restaurant on the Maejo Mae Rim road, not good.

We were the only people there despite the place being open for many years.

Great service, nice people, very good chewy pizza crust, inexpensive, BUT, poor sauce and not enough of it, almost not seasoning and flavour, even poorer quality cheese and meat topping whose smell announced the pizza's arrival thirty seconds before it reached the table. On my pizza quality scale the place gets 5/10 at best which compared to the MR Plaza debacle at 3/10.

Mrs CM who is an excellent cook and makes superb pizza asks, why is it so hard for these guys to get it right, small changes would make it an 8 or 9/10 easily possible!

My partners major complaint their meal was that the food appeared to be old. Sorry guys, I had great hopes for this place and the pictures looked great but the experience was not good.