G&M German Sausage

Legend has it that there is a wonderful German Pork Leg place in Doi Saket, Chiang Mai. It's also very hard to find, and I haven't been able to find directions anywhere. This even made us more determined to find this place! So, where is a better place to farewell our French friend from Chiang Mai than going to a German Restaurant?

Off we went - a motorcade of three cars following each other through Thai country villages, lush green rice fields and mountain backdrops. What a journey! After stopping a couple of times for directions, we finally came to a packed car park. Guess we've found the place!

Arriving at nearly noon, there doesn't see to be any tables left for us. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. 170 baht lunch buffet every Sundays would attract a lot of people. Most of the people I see are locals, and a few farangs (Westerners), no doubt local ones.

G&M German Sausage is a sprawling restaurant, and it was rather chaotic with so many patrons and not a lot of staff. It started as a small 3 table restaurant, and I guess as their reputation grew and more and more customers came, they added extra rooms as required. The ambience is more of a (very) local Thai style, also a little grubby and greasy. The rooms and curtains seemed to be quite old, and in need of a good refit. Not at all what I would imagine a German Restaurant would look like. In addition, I think a combination of a very busy period and not a lot of staff made us feel we had to fend for ourselves a bit. I must give the thumbs up to the staff though - they were lovely and did their best to help us.

We all had a pretty good time. After we got our food and settle in, we started to enjoy the various types of sausages made at the restaurant. (There is also a sausage factory on the premises.) My favourite is the spicy sausage, and this reminds me of Northern Thailand's Sai-Ua. G&M's spicy sausage is quite a lot milder than your typical Sai-Ua, but still very yummy.

After a bit of reminding, the staff eventually brought us what we came to the restaurant for - the pork legs. It turned out that these German pork legs were actually deep fried ham...well, that what it looked (and tasted) like to me anyway. Very interesting. Anyway, it was very tasty, especially the crispy outer parts, and even came with a Thai style chilli dip! ...Well, we ARE in Thailand and most of the customers are Thai...

The buffet spread itself wasn't bad - sausages, potato salad, Thai Vermicelli Salad, bread. We even had dessert! You can order Wall's Ice-cream from the staff. Try the lime ice-cream - very tangy and refreshing after the heavy meal.

The best part I guess was the price - only 170 bath per person. I think the experience would have been better if we came earlier - may be about 10am or 2-3pm, when there wouldn't be as many people. Would be quieter on the weekdays too.

G&M German Sausage Restaurant

269 M 4 Muangton, Doi Saket

Tel: 053 840531

Sunday Brunch Buffet - 170 baht/person

And the directions? It's quite complicated! It's off Borsang-Doi Saket Road. I suggest you call for directions! It's part of the adventure!

Khun Nai Teun Sai

"Khun Nai Teun Sai" literally means a lady who wakes up late. Actually, the restaurant is named after a flower that opens up in the evening, according to the lady owner. The restaurant used have Khun Nai Teun Sai flowers growing everywhere, and the opening of the flowers in the evening signals the opening of the restaurant. Recently, however, the restaurant started opening for lunch as well.

Khun Nai Teun Sai is set in a Thai house on Nimanhaemin Road. It's a cute and cheery restaurant, so comfortable we felt like we were lounging around at home. The walls are decorated with colourful paintings, and even the toilets are quite artistically designed. What a lovely place! ...and I was instantly glad I brought my two camera wielding friends from the Philippines - there were plenty of photo opportunities!

Of course, ambience is not the only factor in a good restaurant, and the food here is very good. We only ordered a few dishes from their huge menu, and all of them turned out to be very nice:

Fried Mushrooms Tossed with Sesame Seeds. The mushrooms were amazingly tasty. The first bite brought out contented "ummm" from all of us. The mushrooms were quite chewy, but not tough. Actually, when the owner's husband cum waiter brought out the dish, we thought it looked rather like meat, more specifically for me, deep-fried sun dried pork. This must the the vegetarian version, I think. 77 baht.

Mango Salad with Grilled Pork. Another delicious, but very spicy dish, even for me. This is of course, after I asked for "mai ped" - "not spicy". LOL...I guess it's "mai ped" for the chef, but still very "ped" for us! Still, I really enjoyed it, and one of my friends did too. He valiantly tried to eat as much as he could despite the sweat pouring out of his head, and having to gobble down a few glasses of cool water! The other friend wouldn't even touch it. In the end, it was left to me to gladly finish off. I must say though, that Westerners would most probably not appreciate this dish because dressing is made from shrimp paste (which has a rather strong aroma). 87 baht.

We also had Stuffed Chicken Wing - deep fried & and huge!

Khun Nai Teun Sai also serves coffee, fruit shakes, and some cakes.

So, I'd say Khun Nai Teun Sai is a lovely little restaurant - very relaxing and comfortable, and has great food. Definitely worth a try. I'll certainly go back and try some of their other dishes.

Khun Nai Teun Sai

3 Soi 11 Nimmanhaemin Rd

Chiang Mai

Tel: 053 222208, 084 046 0712

Pasta Cafe

There are endless numbers of restaurants on Nimanhaemin Rd and the lanes that run off it to choose from. Pasta Cafe is another popular restaurant. Great atmosphere, great pasta and salad dishes, reasonable prices. To top it off, the owner and chef, a local girl trained at Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, so expect the standards to be up to scratch.

The restaurant itself is set in a large house with an extensive lawn. As well as air-conditioned indoor dining, there is also a nice outdoor (covered) dining area. It was a Friday night, and as we're in the middle of the wet season, we chose to sit indoors. Just as well we made a booking, because Pasta Cafe was packed that night.

And the food? As expected, everything was of high quality.

I had Spaghetti Puttanesca, which contained a sauce made from tomatoes, anchovy, black olives, and a bit of chilli, giving the pasta a bit of a bite. It was lovely.


Squid Ink Fettuchini with Cream Sauce. This actually didn't look too appetising to me, but it also contained prawns, spinach and shrimp roe. It turned out to be fantastic, according to our fellow dining companion. I must try it next time!

Linguini Pink Sauce with Smoked Salmon, Cream and Tomatoes. I didn't try this one either, but I was told it was very nice. Being Asian, I'm always weary of cream sauces. They are always great in the beginning, but I usually end up feeling sick if I have too much cream! This one apparently was not as creamy as it looked, and went down really well.

The vegetarian amongst us ordered the Vegie Lasagne - lots of stewed vegies, and lots of cheese!

We also ordered a Ceasar Salad to share. This is one of the dishes the waiter recommended to us. It was nice and fresh, and the sauce very creamy. It was very nice, but I didn't think it was THAT fantastic.


We enjoyed the Rocket Salad a lot more though. Fresh, light and tangy (from the Balsamic Vinegar Dressing) with the earthy, rich, peppery taste of the rockets. Yum!

The total bill turned out to be 1110 baht for 5 people. Really good value! Pasta Cafe turned out to be not a bad place for good pasta at reasonable prices!

Pasta Cafe

21 Soi 5 Nimanhaeminda Rd

Suthep, Muang, Chiang Mai

Tel: 053 357 310

11am-2:30pm; 5:30pm-10pm

Closed Monday