Udommit

This is a terrific Northern Thai & Thai restaurant. I would say more of a fine dining modern Thai experience, yet with a friendly and cosy feel and reasonable prices.

Udommit is situated on the second floor of the very pleasant Nim City Daily (near Airport Plaza).

The menu is quite interesting with the usual "traditional" Thai dishes, including lunch time rice and noodle dishes, as well as a modern take on "traditional" dishes. For example, we had the Deep Fried Morning Glory Leaf Salad, which was lovely. The morning glory leaves were light and crispy and the salad was topped with chicken, prawns and something else - I was enjoying it too much to take notice! The Green Curry was also very nice, as you would expect from a good Thai restaurant. The Stir-fried vermicelli with salted eggs and preserved garlic was also delicious and quite tasty yet subtle. Taro Spring Rolls - one of those very nice and crispy spring rolls, so I was satisfied!

There were 3 of us, and it all came to around 450 baht (including 2 beers).

Udommit's menu is quite extensive. We are sure to go back to try out the other dishes!

Nim City Daily 2nd Floor (Near Airport Plaza)

Phone: 053 201 788

Food for You

"Food for You" is a delightful find. It can be said that this restaurant is a local secret. I've never seen a ad for it. It is found in one of the small sois (lanes) in Sansai, a suburb on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Yet, it is a pretty little restaurant in a family home. It opens only for dinners from Tuesday-Sunday and caters for only around 30 people. 

The food is great too! I would say it's Chinese-Thai Fusion, and the menu is quite different from a typical Thai restaurant. 

We had the most delicious Prawn and Pineapple fried rice; mixed spring rolls - crab spring rolls, prawn spring rolls and vegetarian spring rolls - my favourite was the crab spring roll even if it was a bit oily; Hot and sour seafood soup - this is a bit like Tom Yum soup, but the flavours more subtle, and more peppery than spicy. It was full of flavour and beautiful! We also had Fish in Tamarind sauce - and other appetizing dish consisting of deep fried barramundi in tamarind sauce.

There were six of us and the bill came to around 920 baht.

28 M5 Chiang Mai-Doisaket Rd, Sansai

Phone: 053 491 604

Khantoke Dinner at Khum Khantoke

A trip to Chiang Mai would not be complete without enjoying delicious Northern Thai food while watching splendid performances featuring various traditional dances and hill tribe culture shows at a Khantoke Dinner."Khan" means bowl and "toke" means a low round table, and is a traditional way of having a meal in the North of Thailand. Several dishes are placed on the table for the diners to share.

At Khum Khantoke, these dishes include a delicious Chiang Mai style pork curry, deep fried chicken, crispy pork skin, crispy rice noodle, sticky rice and several other dishes. There is also a recess under the low table so you'll be able to sit normally.

The modern Khantoke dinner was started in 1953 by a Chiang Mai business man and Lanna Thai scholar Kraisri Nimmanhaeminda who at thetime held a party to entertain some VIPs. A few years later, folk dancing was included in the entertainment program, in a similar style
to Khantoke dinners today.

Dances performed include Candle Dance; War Dance; Tee (Umbrella) Dance; an episode from one of the greatest Thai literary work, the Ramakian; Hill tribe Dance; Sword Dance, Sueng Ka Pho (using half coconut shells as instruments), and Rumwong.

I had the opportunity to attend a Khantoke Dinner at Khum Khantoke the other night, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The dinner and show took place in a beautiful hall decorated in the traditional Lanna (Northern Thai) style. The food was quite nice, and you have unlimited refills. It was also fascinating to watch the dance performances with the dancers decked out in beautiful costumes. 

Afterwards, we also have the opportunity to release Khom Loys. These are paper balloons that are released into the night sky as a way of paying respect to the Goddess of the River, and to float away your troubles.

139 Moo 4, Nong Pakrang Subdistrict, Muang District

Phone: 053 304 121

Just Khao Soi

Just Khao Soy makes its' name turning Kao Soy as a street food into a fine dining experience. This restaurant serves, as the name suggests, only one main dish, the popular Khao Soy 

Khao Soi is a delicious Northern Thai curry noodle dish served with various condiments, including picked cabbage, red onion, lime juice and chillies. The whole mixture is then topped with crispy noodles. 

The restaurant, Just h Soy, is beautifully decorated, and atmosphere warm and friendly. Ordering Khao Soi here is an experience - you have a choice between two soup bases - a rich version, and a milder version. You get to choose the noodles, what kind of meat you'd like (vegetarian option available), how spicy you want it. 

Your Kao Soy then arrives on an "artist's palatte" with condiments placed around the main noodle bowl. You can then adjust the taste of the curry base to your liking. 

I found my Kao Soy experience at Just Kao Soy very nice, although having grown up with Asian food, I thought the soup was little bland - may be I didn't add enough condiments! I still think the restaurant is a great concept though, and the food is of a very high quality. It's also a great idea to have two versions of the soup base available, in case having something very rich and spicy is not your thing! I also like the fact that there is a vegetarian option, and it seems that no MSG is added to the meals. 

I must say though, that I really enjoyed the starter consisting of various Northern delicacies of Sai Oua (Northern Spicy sausages), spring rolls, crispy fried fish and sun-dried beef. The beef was a bit tough, but the spring rolls lovely. My favourite was the Sai Oua. It was quite spicy, but was one of the nicest I have tasted in Chiang Mai, and the little salad that came with it really balance out the flavour nicely.  

Location: 108 Charoenphratet Road, Chang Klan, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Phone: 053 818 641