Mood Mellow - French cake shop (Now closed)

 

Introducing...my current favourite cake shop in Chiang Mai, Mood Mellow. Recently moved from their previous location on Sirimankarajan Road to the hip Nimmanhaemin area,  Mood Mellow's French style cakes are not just simply beautiful ( both in look and taste! ), the shop itself is pretty funky too!

 

This time I had bambini (the white one in the photo below), and the lime tart.

Bambini is a cheesecake - and is so light and fluffy, only slightly sweet, and covered in white chocolate shavings and topped with a single gooseberry -  simply divine.

The lime tart is delicious too. Lovely and tangy, with nice and buttery base. Very nice indeed. 

 

Other cakes to try: Taro Cake - melt in your mouth softness with gorgeous purple colour! The chocolate cake is also great - full of chocolaty goodness! Mmm. I think I'll have to take another trip back to Mood Mellow soon! 

...Oh, don't forget to check out the toilet!

Mood Mellow
Soi 3, Nimmanhaemin Road.

Smily Kitchen - home style Japanese cafe

Very relaxing and comfortable. Simple, unpretentious, great food. This is how I would describe this Japanese Cafe. It's one of those places where you can just hang out with friends and enjoy authentic Japanese food. Moreover, whenever I am there, there is always a steady stream of Japanese expats going in and out, and that's always a good sign! 

The service is warm and friendly. It seems like there is only one waitress, so be patient!

The menu is huge. Most of these are sets which comprise of miso soup, seaweed salad, a bowl of rice and your main dish. Prices are pretty good too, and starts from around 110 baht. I really enjoy the egg plants and pork with miso sauce. The rice with beef topping is also very nice (135 baht).

Other dishes include various types of noodles. The waitress recommended the Noodles with Vegetables and Chicken in Sesame and Vinegar Sauce, and it turned out to be lovely. Light, refreshing, fragrant and tangy. Perfect for a hot day. 130 baht.

I've already been back to Smily Kitchen a few times since a friend introduced me to it a couple of weeks ago. There are so many dishes I'd like to go back to try. I'd say it's my current favourite Japanese restaurant at the moment! 

The Verdict:

Friendly, comfortable, unpretentious restaurant serving great home style Japanese food. One of those places you can go very often.   

The Rating:
The food: 8/10
The ambience: 8/10
The service: 8/10 (very friendly)
Value for money: 8/10

Smily Kitchen
Mon-Sat 11am-9pm
(Closed Sundays)
Nimmanhaemin Soi 3
Tel: 087 176 7566

Mont Blanc Sweet Cafe - Japanese Style French Cakes

 

I love success stories! ..And here is one starring a local young woman who followed her dreams to open a patisserie. It all started when the then 23 year old local girl, Panit Palapong, for the first time in her life, baked a cake. She simply wanted to impress her mum. Since then, Panit went on to study at a French Patisserie school in Japan and came back to Chiang Mai to open her first patisserie, Mont Blanc. It's so successful that she now has 3 branches.

Mont Blanc cakes are all French cakes and made from French recipes. The Japanese part comes from the way the cakes are decorated...well...in Japanese style! The result is light, soft and smooth tasting cakes.

 

The cafe in a quiet lane off the trendy Nimmanhaemin Road. This shop is decorated in retro-modern style (I guess!), and you have a choice to enjoy your cakes in the garden, or inside in air-conditioning.

There is a HUGE variety of cakes to choose from - all beautifully decorated and delicious looking. I wanted to try everything! After some consideration, we opted for:

Chocolate Caramel Cake - smooth chocolate mousse at the bottom, followed by a layer of hazelnuts, then soft and fluffy cream. Yum!

 

Mango Rare Cheesecake. "Rare" cheesecakes are what the Japanese call "no-bake" cheesecakes. Lovely, light in texture and creamy. 

 

Souffle Cheese Vanilla. Fluffy, creamy and light cheesecake (in texture, not calories!) covered with white chocolate shavings. Very, very nice. 

 

Mont Blanc

Branch 1: Nimmanhaemin Road (main road, near Soi 7)
Tel: 053 210 776

Branch 2: Central Airport Plaza
3rd floor, near escalators & Robinson
Tel: 053 280 662

Branch 3: Nimmanhaemin Soi 2
Tel: 053 210 776