Baan Khun Mor (Vegetarian Cafe)

Have I mentioned that Chiang Mai must be the Vegetarian food capital of Thailand? I have no figures to substantiate this, but there are really a lot vegetarian restaurants here. Most of them are cheap, local cafe style restaurants.

We literally came across Baan Khun Mor by accident. I was taking a couple of friends to Wat Suan Dok, an interesting temple on Suthep Road (behind Chiang Mai University). There is a strip of vegetarian restaurants near the temple...and well, we happened to find parking in front of Baan Khun Mor.

What attracted us to the cafe is that it looks quite modern and clean. The waitress is ready to welcome us in front with a big smile. As we approach the shop, we realise that the waitress might be blind in one eye (we didn't ask her!). This is quite surprising, since most blind people I've seen tend to end up busking at markets. Kudos to the cafe owner for giving the lady an opportunity.

Anyway, let's talk about food! The menu is quite large, and contains a lot of yummy sounding dishes, and the usual Thai dishes including Kho Soi, Pad Thai, etc. The waitress wholeheartedly recommends the Pad Thai, so how can we resist? And yes, the Pad Thai is good.

Other choices are: Golden Needle Mushroom Omelette (very tasty); Yum Moo Yor ("Moo Yor" salad) . Moo Yor is a kind of Thai pork loaf. Vegetarian Moo Yor is quite pleasant, and actually tastes remarkably like the real thing, except for a more rubbery texture. The salad itself is quite lovely, and the flavours quite mild (for a Thai salad), and quite gentle on our tongues and stomach! (Note: We asked for "mai ped" - not spicy)

The Verdict:

Overall, a nice and satisfying meal. Nice clean restaurant / cafe. Friendly service. Good place to go if you're in the area.

The Rating:

The food: 7/10

The ambience: 7/10

Value for money: 7/10

Sorry, I forgot to get their details! ..But as I mentioned before, it's located on Suthep Rd in a strip of shops just up (going away from the old town) from Wat Suan Dok, opposite Chiang Mai University.

Galae Restaurant

This is such a beautiful open air restaurant. Dine amongst gum (eucalyptus) trees (which was a bit of a surprise since we are in Chiang Mai) and gorgeous flower garden overlooking a reservoir. After dinner (or lunch) you can even take a walk on the other side of the reservoir for some great views of Chiang Mai City.

And the food (a large menu of Thai and Northern Thai food) is not bad either. Most of the dishes are around 90 baht, and fish dishes up to 220 baht. Drinks are surprisingly cheap, at least cheaper than comparable restaurants eg. local fruit juices only around 30 baht.

We had BBQ ribs and dipping sauce (tamarind, I think) - quite fatty but delicious!

Green Curry with young coconut shoots - nice.

Deep fried Morning Glory Salad - although this was supposed to be one of the recommended dishes, I must say I've had better at other places such as Udommit, and other restaurants as well. Galae's version was rather oily, however, the serving very large!

Other dishes I'd recommend at Galae: Galae Chicken (Roast chicken in special tomato based sauce and cashew nuts) and Yum Woon Sen (Spicy vermicelli salad).

This restaurant is at the end of Suthep Road (behind Chiang Mai University), and not too far from Palad Tawanron Restaurant. If you're tossing up between the two, I'd definitely recommend Galae. The food and atmosphere are better at Galare, not to mention the prices! There is a 10% service charge at Galae, however.

The only thing is that being such a large, spread out restaurant, the service can be quite slow.

Galae Restaurant

65 Suthep Rd, Muang, Chiang Mai

053 328 455

[Update: 23/6/10 - having been back to Galae several times since when the review was written, I'd have to add that, when I said the "food is quite good" - I mean that the food was OK and you'll probably enjoy it. I prefer Galae to Palad Tawanron, but there are also other restaurants out there with very good food and very good atmosphere I that I'd prefer to Galae. See our "Recommended Restaurants" list.]