Moo Joom - a footpath eatery

Many Asian countries have their own version of the hot pot. Here is Thailand's street version - "Moo Joom". "Moo" means pork, "Joom" = "dip", so you cook the pork in the spicy tom-yum like soup in these cutest little earthenware pots, heated by charcoal.

We came across this footpath restaurant just up the road from Suan Dok Temple, opposite Chiang Mai University's Faculty of Dentistry. Some of Chiang Mai's streets tend to come "alive" after dark with these kind of street restaurants offering cheap street food, and the areas behind Chiang Mai University is no exception.

This particular Moo Joom place was rather busy. It was quite early in the evening, and the stall, spanning over 2 shopfronts, was already packed - a hallmark of a good street eatery. Of course, if you choose to eat at a street restaurant, you should always select a busy place to ensure fresh food!

The standard fare here comes with a plate of sliced pork and a plastic basket of vegies and fresh egg. All these for only 60 baht. Yes, it was very tasty and quite delicious (and probably full of MSG too!) You can also order a variety of pork internal organs to accompany your hot pot, if you so fancy. : )

The restaurants also offer other dishes as well, eg. the ever popular Som-tum (papaya salad), and very tasty chicken and pork, grilled by the roadside.

Altogether, the bill came to...110 baht for 2 - only 55 baht each for a good meal!

Praties, A Meal with A Peel. (Now changed hands - Kelly's)

Happy New Year, my dear readers! Wishing everyone wonderful, successful, very happy, and of course, delicious 2010!

We begin this year with a little plug for my friends, Charlie & Anne's new little restaurant, Praties. Praties? No, it's not a Thai word, or English, for that matter. It's actually an Irish word that means potatoes. And no, it's not an Irish restaurant, Praties actually serves Australian food, or I guess you could say Western food with an Aussie twist. Charlie, is of course, from Australia (Perth), and his lovely wife, Anne, from Thailand.

Praties is a cheerful and welcoming little restaurant. The food is hearty, delicious and healthy, yes, even the pizzas, with wholemeal base! The coffee is also great, and the prices reasonable. Having been opened only since October 2009, there is already a following of regular customers.

Here are some of my favourites from Praties:

Prawn Pizza - Very nice pizza, as mentioned before, on a wholemeal base. It's not your traditional Italian pizza, but very tasty, with a generous amount of prawns and of course, plenty of flavour. The base is more bread like, but still very good and crunchy.

The Aussie Burger - What's an Aussie restaurant without an Aussie burger? This is an excellent burger (and rather healthy....really!...if you don't count the fries..) with good quality beef patty, vegies, sauteed onions and melted cheese in a wholemeal bun. The fries are great too - it can be hard to find good fries in Chiang Mai, and, Praties' are pretty good. Very filling dish!

Charlie's English Fish & Chips - Charlie's Fish & Chips are simply delicious! Served on a generous bed of chips, and comes with tartare sauce a lovely salad.

There are also other dishes on the menu as well eg. various pies, hot dogs, potato wedges, pasta bakes. The menu often changes and there are always something new to try!

Breakfasts here are also very good too.

Other dishes to try: Charlie's Apple Pie with ice-cream - this is a very popular dish amongst local expats; Pancakes & Ice-cream - this is really nice. Be prepared to wait a little though, as the batter is whipped up fresh for each order. This ensures the yummiest and soft pancakes!

Praties

Shop 206/26 Meechoke Plaza

(Near Rimping Supermarket, Middle ring Road)

Moo 6, T. Faham, A. Muang

Chiang Mai 50000

Tel: 081 9510049, 053 249340

Opens:

Tuesday-Sunday 8:30am-8:00pm

Breakfast also available!