Chef Steak (New location, New Review!)

For meat lovers...and vegetable lovers as well!

A couple of years ago, I did a review on Chef Steak. They've done so well, now they have moved down the road and around the corner, and is a "proper", and even a little fancy restaurant! The price is still great though - only 169 baht/person (drinks extra). The food is very good. No wonder the restaurant is filled up every night (well, at least when I visited!).

What we came for was the steak..and this can be found in the BBQ area in front of the restaurant. Take as much pork, pork ribs, chicken or fish as you like. My favourite is the BBQ pork ribs.

If you're not so much into meat, there is also a salad bar with lots of beautiful fresh vegetables, and also a selection of dishes to choose from including pasta, some stir-fry dishes (depends on the day), and very, very good mashed potatoes. I always need at least 2 servings of this!

So we have it..a very nice, healthy meal (if we don't overeat!).

Chef Steak
T. Sanphranet, A. Sansai
Tel: 053 000 000
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chef-steak/425824537511485


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Papa's Meal @ The Chill Park

At first I thought this rather cute and comfy family-runned cafe is an Italian restaurant... and I guess it's sort of is, to the extent of the use of pasta...but with a definite Thai twist. The result is dishes like Grilled Pork Carbonara, Baked Spaghetti Chicken Mussaman Curry with Cheese, Organic Greenshell Mussels Pesto Sauce with Cheese...as well as a large selection of more traditional Thai dishes. The dessert menu is also quite large, which would satisfy diners with a sweet tooth.

I couldn't go pass the Baked Spaghetti Chicken Mussaman Curry with Cheese - It just sounded so interesting. I certainly haven't had any curries with cheese before. I think the name explains it all.  I thought the mussaman curry could be a bit tastier, and I couldn't really taste the cheese. On the whole though, the dish was quite nice, and the curry very smooth. 90 baht.

Spaghetti Ki Mao - "Drunken" Spaghetti - The "Italian" version of the famous Drunken Noodles. This one has Thai taste all the way. Pasta with basil, chilli, garlic, fish sauce, and in this case, chicken. Very nice, full of flavour, and nice and spicy too!

My favourite, though, is the Seafood Tom Yum Black Fettucini - talk about awesome flavours - very delicious with smooth tom yum sauce, almost creamy. Mmmm. I'll definitely have it again when I go back next time. 95 baht.

With these two tasty dishes, no wonder I thought the mussaman curry was a little bland.

We did order a more traditional Thai dish - Gaeng Som Cha-Om Kai Goong - Acacia Omelette & Prawns in Sour (Tamarind) Soup. Normally, this is one of my favourite Thai dishes, but it was quite sweet here at Papa's Meal. 75 baht.

After a big meal, dessert was in order! The menu has quite a lot of scrumptious looking desserts. We opt for what seems to be a very popular dessert in Chiang mai recently, Honey Toast. Each cafe has their own version of the Honey Toast, which is basically a couple of very thick toast with honey, and topped with something. Papa's Meal has a healthyish version of this dessert - topped with fruits, and served with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice-cream. Quite nice, and you don't have to feel too guilty after this one! 95 baht.

The Verdict
A nice quiet little cafe with a big menu, and good food. Nice and friendly service, and reasonable prices. The food does take some time to arrive, so please be patient! : )

Papa's Meal
@ The Chill Park - on the 1st (Middle) Ring Road, opposite Big C Hangdong
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Papas-Meals-Chiangmai-Thailand/126670750842047
Tel: 081-950-9552, 081-530-8537
Opens: 10am-10pm
GPS: 18.742588,98.959984


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Solao - โซลาว - Isan food

"Sap" - the spicy and sour taste - is the order of the day at Solao, an Isan (north eastern Thai) restaurant in Sirimankalajan Rd (Nimmanhaemin area).

Occasionally, one may have a craving to eat something 'sap'. On these occasions, the place to go is a somtum restaurant. 'Somtum', or papaya salad, is a ubiquitous Thai dish with all the delicious Thai flavour - sweet, spicy, salty, sour- especially spicy and sour!

Solao is a simple and clean open air local restaurant. They have more than just somtum - the menu is actually quite large and includes various fried fish, grilled pork neck, tom sap ("sap" soup), larb....

The somtum here is very good. There are many varieties to choose from eg. with crab, fermented fish, etc. We chose the Sao Chiang Mai (Chiang Mai lady) Somtum...the regular papaya salad with Chiang Mai crispy pork skin and pork loaf. The pork skin gives a nice crunch. Very good, and very spicy and "sap"!

One of Solao's most famous dishes that I see when ever I see a review is the "Peek Gai Tod Nam Pla" - Fried Chicken Wings in fish sauce - these are chicken wings marinated in fish sauce and deep fried. Solao's chicken wings are definitely very yummy, and, I guess, dipped in a slightly sticky sweet and salty sauce - very tasty indeed, and also a good respite from the fiery papaya salad.

The "Plachon Dad Diew" - deep fried sundried snakehead fish, served with green mango salad - very nice! The sneakhead was very nicely fried - fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

A very good and popular local restaurant. Good value too - you can expect to pay about 100-250 baht/person.

Somtum Solao
43 Sirimankalajan Rd
Muang, Chiang Mai.
Tel: 0896355848
Opens daily 10:30am-8pm



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Janey Scoop

You'll have no problem finding good ice-cream in Chiang Mai. There are ice cream parlors every where, from franchises such as Swensen's, Bud's, iberry to ice cream carts selling coconut ice cream for 10 baht.  A reader recently recommended a homemade ice-cream shop, saying that it was one of the best she's had...so off I went to give Janey Scoop a go.

Janey Scoop is a little shop in a little corner of Nimmanhaemin Soi 5 selling not only ice-cream, but various other desserts too. The shop was packed when we walked in after lunch on a Sunday, leaving only two tables outside.

There are exotic flavours eg. Nestea Oreo...I settled for a scoop each of the more mundane sounding green tea & chocolate-orange ice cream. Both were very nice - full of flavour. From the two flavours I tried anyway, Janey Scoop's ice cream seems less creamy and lighter than the usual ice-cream (eg from Swensen's and Bud's)...which is probably a good thing ... and hopefully means we can eat more of it without feeling too guilty.. (not that I do.) LOL. I would love to go back to try other flavours, and desserts .. the honey toast looked really good too.

Janey Scoop
Nimmanhaemin Rd Soi 5
Opens 11am-9pm
Closed on Wednesdays
Tel: 081 288 8889
https://www.facebook.com/JanieScoop

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Kafe Vino Coffee and Wine Bar

Kafe Vino is one of those places that only locals would know (unless you get the word from bloggers like me!)..actually, some locals may not even know about it... This funky cafe is a great place for coffee by day and wine by night! ...Although the you wouldn't want to have a little too much wine after leaving Kafe Vino for fear of driving (or falling) into the very large drain along the road side opposite the cafe (you'll know what I mean when you see it!). Don't let that deter you though...the food here is  good, the ambience nice and cosy, and there's a wine buffet for wine lovers!

Kafe Vino offers Thai and Western food, as well as mouthwatering desserts. Lunchtime specials start from 49 baht. I went for dinner though...with a goal of eating dessert in mind...

So I order a...Crispy Prawn Salad with Thousand Island Dressing, which is lovely and fresh. The thousand island dressing is quite interesting with a peachy orangey flavour. My friend orders the Grilled Beef Salad with Sesame Dressing, which is also very nice ...looks exactly the same, but with tender grilled beef on top. Both 125 baht each.

We also order the Fried Chicken with Wasabi Mayo Sauce to share, which is more of a snack size. I would have liked the chicken to be hotter (but it could have turned cold as I took photos though..hehe) and crunchier, but overall, it's pretty good, and the wasabi mayo adds a nice punch to the dish. 115 baht.

...And now the dessert... There is a selection of about 6 different types of cakes in their fridge and they all look great. The owner recommends:

Green Tea Crepe Cake...crepe cakes seems to be the rage in Chiang Mai at the moment. I have been meaning to try one for a while so here is my chance. The layers of the green crepes and cream looks great. The flavour was quite subtle. The cake is served with a strawberry sauce (very yummy!), but it overwhelms the green tea flavour. Still, the crepe cake is very nice.

Coconut Cake - lovely subtle flavour, only slightly sweet. The fresh cream is mixed with coconut juice, and there's a generous layer of thin coconut slices as well. I really enjoyed the coconut cream (and I'm not normally a cream person).

The ambience at Kafe Vino is very nice and cosy. The cafe is set in a Thai wooden house, and the tables are set in various rooms of the house. There is a very quiet, comfortable and relaxing feel when sitting down for a meal or chat.

Kafe Vino
38 Moo 2
T. Nongjhom, A. Sansai
Chiang Mai
(near Meechok Plaza/Ruamchoke Market)
GPS Location: 18.831780, 99.020130
Website: http://kafevinocm.com/
Tel: 084 595 5777
Opens from 10am-11pm
Closed on Mondays


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Baan Piem Suk - Cafe / bakery

After hearing one of my friends gushed about Baan Piem Suk's coconut cake, I simply had to visit this little cafe selling drinks, cakes and cookies.

Baan Piem Suk is a cosy little shop on the "Riverside" strip .. If you come from The Riverside Restaurant towards Good View then keep going down the road, the cafe is on the left hand side of the road, opposite Sop Moei Arts. There are only about 5 tables. We were lucky it was a quiet moment when we arrived.

Their specialty cakes are the  Coconut Cream Pie and Coconut Cake.

As I was going with another lady friend, we couldn't possibly try everything...we do have to watch our figures! We settled on Mango Cream Pie to share, as it was the special of the day. Mango is in season!
Although it's pretty much a biscuit base with mango pieces and lots of cream, the "pie" was rather light and lovely. The mango was nice and ripe - very intensely flavoured - a nice contrast to the lightly sweetened cream and slightly salty base. We both rather enjoyed it.

Since Baan Piem Suk is famous for the coconut cake, I took away one of these, as well as a cheesecake to try. The coconut cake was great - light sponge cake layered with cream and fresh young coconut pieces. Very refreshing when served chilled. The cheesecake was nice, but not really something to write home about. I'd love to go back and try the other cakes (and have more coconut cake!).

Mango Cream Pie & Thai Tea

There's not much by way of parking in front of the shop. If you are riding a motorbike, there's a small parking area at the back of the shop. If you have a car, you can park at the sheik temple across the road from the  (I've checked this with the shop assistant!).

Baan Piem Suk
Charoenraj Rd, T. Watket,
A. Muang, Chiang Mai
Tel: 0857088988, 0855250752
GPS location: 18.792908,99.001831
Opens daily: 9:30am - 7pm daily
https://www.facebook.com/baanpiemsuk

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Withlocals.com - eating with local families whilst travelling

Would you be interested in eating at a local family's home when you're travelling? A Dutch organisation contacted me and asked me to post info about their website, www.withlocals.com. I don't normally "advertise", but the work they do sounds very interesting and worthwhile.

The organisation aims to connect travellers with local people who could act as tour guides or host you for a meal. I would love to try a meal cooked by a local family while visiting a new place, or even have a local person to guide me...it would give a whole new perspective to the place I'm visiting ...more than just seeing things through tourists' eyes.

A few questions that come to mind, like safety for the traveller. I was told that the family / guide is selected by a local person.

If you are interested or have questions, please contact them directly. I'm not involved with them in anyway other than helping to "spread the word".

Anyway, here's their spill:

The ultimate travel experience: seeing Thailand through the eyes of a local

Everyone recognizes it: you are visiting a new city and all the streets seem unfamiliar yet exciting, but you have no clue where to start exploring. Often, you find yourself ending up in one of those already crowded touristic places, while missing out on a whole lot of fun that is going on a few streets down the block. Touristic places like to sell the idea of being authentic, but mostly, they are all providing you with the same experience. On your journey abroad, the real magic happens when you step out of the touristic comfort zone, and start thinking like a local. A place can be incredibly touristic, still there are areas where the ‘real stuff’ is going on. Ever wondered where the locals live, eat or do their shopping? You probably did, but weren’t sure how to take the next step in following this thought. 

Now there is a new kid on the block in travel land, Withlocals, which aims to change some things in the travel industry. By removing the intermediary travel agencies, Withlocals connects locals and travelers directly through food and experiences.

Now what exactly does this mean? Imagine yourself going on a trip to Chiang Mai, and having a dinner in a local family’s home. Instead of eating a standard meal in a tourist restaurant, you will meet new friends, discover a different culture and taste a real authentic dinner you will never forget.  

The idea is to enable people to show their own strengths and skills. After all, everybody is good at something. Withlocals gives you the chance to eat with locals, but also to go on tours and exciting activities with them. Locals are the experts of their area. Learn for instance how to make your own milk, navigate a long-tail boat, or where to find the best street food stalls!

The locals get a honest price for something they do daily because they can set their own prices. The ultimate local experience will be cheaper than in a tourist agency, but will make a huge difference for a local family. 

Withlocals will kick off in Thailand, a country renowned for its open culture and friendliness, making it the ideal base to depart from. After this, the organization will expand to other countries to Asia. Got excited? You can find more information and even subscribe for the first launch in September on the website of Withlocals.