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.]

Palaad Tawanron

The atmosphere was lovely - dining on the deck in cool breeze and mountain air of Doi Suthep overlooking a lake and panorama of Chiang Mai city. The food was certainly good and service nice, as you would expect.

We had deep-fried pork leg with mashed potatoes. The pork-leg was great, the mashed potatoes - could be better!

 

Tom Yum Koong Maphraw (Creamy Tom Yum with river prawns and young coconut) - nice.

Deep fried 3-flavour Tabtim fish - very nice, but we could only detect 2 flavours (sweet and salty) from the sauce. I wonder what the third flavour is to be added, may be from the chilli sauce?

Overall, the meal was nice. I must admit though, that I was a bit disappointed. It's such a famous, popular restaurant and so many people rave on about it, I guess I expected more. Palaad Tawanron is certainly a choice for a good Thai meal, but there are so many similar restaurants, with the food and atmosphere just as good, and cheaper, although, no panoramic view of town. 

Price: 1500 baht (4 people)

Suthep Rd (back of the zoo)

Ph: 053 216039

Open: 11.30am-midnight

Wawee Coffee Shop, Tita Gallery

Wawee Coffee Shops are popping up everywhere! ...Or perhaps they have always been there, but I'd never really noticed! Here's a lovely one in Mae Rim, just across the lane from the plush Four Season's Resort in Chiang Mai, and a great little get away from the hustle and bustle of town. There is a great selection of delicious looking cakes, and the coffee is not bad too. 

At around 70-80 baht per coffee, we were able to soak in a little of the Four Season's atmosphere without the price tag. : )

Here are some photos: 

Tita Gallery

68 Moo 6, Mae Rim-Samoeng Rd, Mae Rim. 053 298373

Pho Vientiane

Pho is one of my favourite Vietnamese dishes, along with the fresh spring roll. The first time I had Pho was at a friend's place in Sydney. Her mum cooked this most delicious noodles in beef broth dish. It was my first introduction to Vietnamese food. Well, I haven't had Pho for a long time, and was really happy when Pho Vientiane was recommended to me.

Pho Vientiane is one of those "local" restaurants, nothing fancy with simple tables and plastic chairs. The first thing that we noticed was that it was quite busy, which is always a good sign! I couldn't wait to try the Pho. Here it is! 

Well, I remembered Pho to be somewhat tastier, but this one was still quite nice, and it was only 30 baht. For non-beef eaters, they also have the pork version. Might try that next time.

Their deep fried spring roll dishes were great though. We had fish spring rolls with the loveliest soft and fluffy fish, and a yummy dipping sauce (above). The deep-fried pork spring rolls were delicious too (below). 

Somehow, we ended up with mostly fried dishes, but I will try the fresh spring rolls next time and will report back.

All in all, it was a good value meal. The dishes are between 30-60 baht. 

We're sure to go back to try the other dishes. 

Location: Right at the end of an arcade opposite the Shangri-La Hotel on Changklan Rd. Watch out for a bright yellow sign with red writings.  

Opens daily - 9am-9pm

Ridgley's (now closed)

Touted by many expats as having "the best pizza" in Chiang Mai, I simply had to check it out and I was certainly not disappointed. Not sure if it's the best in town, but it's certainly right up there, and the price is very reasonable too.

The restaurant itself is quite small, but has a cosy, home-like feel. Interestingly, Ridgley's has an open kitchen, right at the front door. It's quite nice being greeted by the kitchen staff as you walk into the restaurant.

Although I had an idea that the pizza was good, I also wanted to see what else was on the menu, and I was pleased to find that "French Fries" was spelt correctly! Thai restaurants serving Western food often spell it "French Fried". : )

Other things on the menu included various salads, sandwiches, burgers and pastas. The desserts, ice-cream and shakes all look very indulgent! If you have tried them, please let us know how they are!

This is what we had:

Bruchetta! I haven't had these in a while! ...and they were pretty good.

Yes, I love my salads. The mixed salad was great! The serving was quite big and the large size was very reasonably priced at 79 baht. The garlic-vinaigrette dressing was rather interesting though - we didn't really expect a tomato-sauce look alike dressing, but it was nice.

This is the Sweet & Spicy BBQ Pizza - yum! Very nice and not oily base. Loved the BBQ sauce (?) on the pizza and the Jalapenos peppers were a nice touch. (205 baht for the medium size)

I was hoping for a bigger range of pasta - there were only two. We opted for the Spinach & Chicken Alfredo - nice and creamy. (119 baht)

It turned out to be a very nice and hearty meal. The service was very good and the staff attentive. The food came out rather quickly, much faster than expected. On the way out, we saw the BBQ Spare Ribs being prepared - looked delicious - so I guess having the kitchen by the door as we walk in and out was a good idea afterall. We will definitely try this when we go back next time!

The whole meal came to around 475 baht for 4 people! Fantastic value!

For a map, check out Ridgley's website. 053 490 846

Mon-Sat 11:00-21:00, Closed Sundays

If you've been to Ridgley's, let us know what you think!

Khao Soi Farham (Hang Dong Branch)

This branch of Khao Soi Farham is conveniently situated near a market just before the road that leads to Baan Tawai Woodcarving & handicraft village. The open air restaurant is quite nice and spacious, and importantly, clean!

The Khao Soi itself is not too bad - not as tasty as Lumduan and Samoer Jai. I found the soup spicy, but not very tasty. The good thing is this place offers self-serving condiments and veggies - so you can get as much as you want of these buffet style. 

We also tried Kanom Jean Nam Ngiew ( Kanom Jean or Somen noodles topped with a fishy curry with pork ribs). Normally, I don't really enjoy this dish, but this restaurant does it quite well and it was delicious! We initially ordered one dish to share/try and ended up ordering another one! Just a word of warning though, this is a rather acquired taste, but a more adventurous foodie may want to give it a try, or you may want to order one to try with the others on your table to see if you like it. : )

Dishes were from 30 baht, so pretty good value! 

Arcobaleno Italian Restaurant

"Arcobelano" means "rainbow" in Italian. The restaurant itself is set in an old house. There's plenty of parking out front. The internal decor is quite nice - certainly "a warm, comfortable and lovely atmosphere" (as described by their website) to have a meal. As we arrived, we were warmly greeted by two waiters who opened the doors for us - very nice! 

This is what we had: 

Ceasar Salad - This was a lovely and refreshing Ceasar Salad with roman lettuce, egg, crutons and interestingly, virgin olive oil dressing. The dressing was light, but tasted great. 

Spaghetti Arcobaleno Special - Mushroom, smoked ham, parmesan cheese with tomato sauce (cream sauce also avaiable). Nice pasta, would have been even better if it was just a little less salty.

Spagetthi Pizzaiola - Olive oil, anchovies, garlic, fresh tomato, oregano, basil & red pepper. Tasted great. I liked this one better, but it was quite spicy! 

Margherita with Anchovies Pizza - Yes, we do like our anchovies! Other ingredients were black olives and mozzarella cheese. It was very nice. The pizza base was very good - quite light and crispy (on the outside). Not oily. 

And for dessert....

Tiramisu - it was very good - light, fluffy and creamy. Not too sweet. Nice way to finish the meal. 

Other dishes we had:

Garlic Bread - It wasn't the best I've had - but passable.

Honey and Ginger Homemade Ice Cream - quite nice! There are lots of other interesting flavours (and traditional ones like chocolate and strawberry to try). 

What I liked:

• The food - very good and authentic Italian food. 
• Good value, reasonable prices for Western food
• Friendly and warm atmosphere. 
• Quite efficient service, attentive staff & it was quite busy when we went (Valentine's Day). 
• They gave us extra parmesan cheese & pepper grinder without being asked (not always the case in Italian Restaurants in Chiang Mai).  
• Extensive menu with vegetarian meals

What could be improved:

• The external decor. The restaurant (according to the waiter) has only been in the present location for 3 years. Although the inside of the restaurant is quite nice, it wouldn't hurt to have a fresh coat of paint on the outside. Eventhough currently, there is no external dining, I think would be very nice to have a nice garden and fairy lights. Looks a bit messy outside at the moment. 
• The bathrooms are very old and not that clean (or at least, didn't look clean). The tiles are very worn out and the toilet doors could use a fresh coat of paint - better yet, replaced. Good lighting would be nice too. OK, it wasn't THAT bad, but this was still quite a shame. We were actually enjoying the food quite a bit, and this spoilt the experience a little. 

The Price: 

It came to 1005 baht for four people (no alcohol). 

60 Nawatket Rd, Muang, Chiang Mai 

053 306 254

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