Food in Chiang Mai – Grandmother’s Khao Soi

Posted on 11 August 2011 by christao408

Sometimes you have bits and pieces of information in your head but they have yet to coalesce into a linked arrangement that qualifies as knowledge. Prior to this trip to Chiang Mai, that described the state of affairs in my mind when it came to the subject of Northern Thai cuisine. On this trip, though, the bits of knowledge started to come together and my understanding of Northern Thai cuisine began to solidify. The process began, appropriately enough, over a bowl of khao soi.

Khao soi means snipped or trimmed rice and it refers to the way the noodles used to be made in this classic curried noodle soup. Originally, sheets of rice noodles colored and flavored with turmeric were rolled up and then snipped into strands. These days, though, the dish is generally made with egg noodles.

The dish is believed to have roots with the Hui, Chinese muslims from Yunnan province. Similar dishes with similar names are found in Burma, northern Thailand, and Laos, the result of the trade routes crisscrossing the area where the three countries not far away from China.

While khao soi has a curry base, it is usually not as thick as a traditional curry. It also does not have a lot of spicy heat, although it certainly has a lot of flavor. The dish also relies on two types of noodles: fresh ones in the soup and deep fried ones on top to add some crunch. All in all, it qualifies as comfort food and is certainly a defining dish in Northern Thai cuisine.

We ate khao soi a trio of times during our trip. The first stop was at Ran Aahan Khao Soi Khun Yai, which translates as “Grandmother’s Khao Soi Restaurant.” Located on Sriphum Road, which runs along the inside of the north moat, Grandmother’s Khao Soi is in a private residence nestled between two wat, or temples: Wat Kuan Kama to the east and Wat Montien to the west. It is only this small orange sign, all in Thai, that indicates the entrance.

Parking is limited to a few places on the grass and most customers walk from nearby businesses and houses. As you can see, Wat Montien is literally right next door.

The restaurant is an open air pavilion just inside the gates. Grandmother’s house is further back on the property. The restaurant is open from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm daily except Sunday and quantities are limited.

In a wonderfully old-fashioned touch, the menu is painted on the property wall as well as being posted on a sign over the kitchen. I didn’t see any English menus, but imagine that you would be able to make yourself understood (through pointing, if nothing else). The menu is basically three items: khao soi, bami (thin egg noodles), and guaytiaw (rice noodles), available with chicken, beef, or pork. (I know, strange that a Muslim-origin dish would have a pork option.)

I opted for the khao soi nua (beef), which is always a good test for a khao soi restaurant. The key is whether they have stewed the beef long enough so that it is very tender. Grandmother’s beef met the tenderness test and the noodles were cooked to the perfect, not too mushy consistency. The curry broth is fully flavored, a little thinner than some versions I’ve had but not lacking in flavor. A small splash of boiled coconut cream added richness.

It is customary to doctor your khao soi with a plate of garnishes. These always include some dark chilli paste, red shallots, lime, and pickled cabbage. I make it a point to taste the broth before adding condiments so that I can get a sense of the original flavor. The lime and cabbage add acidic notes that keep the curry broth from being too heavy.

A wonderful drink with which to accompany the khao soi is naam lamyai, or longan juice. Don’t you love the high-end table covering? Winnie the Pooh and Tigger love khao soi!

To get a taste of what else Grandmother’s Khao Soi has to offer, Tawn and I split a dish of bami moo, egg noodles with ground pork and pork balls. This dish is always comforting, a little sweet, a little savory (thanks to the fried shallots on top), and very easy to eat.

The look of a satisfied diner. All told, Grandmother’s Khao Soi met and exceeded expectations, setting a very high bar against which other khao soi we tried during our trip had to compete.

Not to spoil your appetite, but I found this garden snail climbing up the midst of the menu painted on the wall, crossing the “o” in “soi”. I thought it was an interesting shot.

Settling in to Chiang Mai

Posted on 9 August 2011 by christao408

Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand, roughly one-tenth the size and population of Bangkok. Located an hour’s flight north of Bangkok, Chiang Mai is nestled in a valley surrounded by low mountains. Temperatures this time of year are similar to Bangkok’s, but a little less humid and ever so slightly cooler at night. We lucked out that our visit coincided with a bit of a cool spell, with temperatures about 28 degrees (82 F) during the day and 24 degrees (74 C) at night. The weather was overcast most days with light drizzle, so we were spared the harsh sun.

At the heart of Chiang Mai is the old city, delineated by a moat and the ruins of city walls shaped in an approximately 1.5 km square. The eastern portion of the old city, near Tha Phae gate, is more of the touristy area. Our hotel, the Tamarind Village, was a few blocks west of that. The hotel is named after the 200-year old tamarind tree, pictured above, that shades one of the courtyards.

Set back from the main street by a long, bamboo-shaded driveway, Tamarind Village fits the cliche of an “urban oasis” and is surprisingly quiet and calm. The buildings are laid out in a series of courtyards, each of which is very lush. The rooms are somewhat rustic, with simple interiors, and the staff are extremely friendly and helpful.

There are only 43 rooms and, despite it being low season, the hotel was fully booked. Many of the tourists were European with a large number of French families visiting. The restaurant next to the pool serves a complimentary breakfast buffet each morning with both indoor and outdoor seating. It was a nice place to relax but I can’t spend too long cooped up in one place so headed out to explore.

Outside our hotel and just down the block is a busy corner with a Wawee Coffee. Wawee is a Chiang Mai based chain that offers very tasty coffee. I made a few stops there over our vacation and enjoyed lingering and watching the people pass. The customers were almost exclusively tourists, which left me feeling itchy, but they also provided several interesting people watching episodes.

Passionfruit meringue pie. Oh, this was very good!

The intersection at which the Wawee Coffee sits is a microcosm of Chiang Mai or, at least, the touristy part of Chiang Mai. Let’s talk about what you can see at this corner.

This corner seemed to be a magnet for the lost and disoriented travelers. As I sat there, I saw group after group stop at the corner and struggle with their Lonely Planet guidebook or maps, puzzling over the directions, and then head off down the street. Sure enough, a few minutes later they would come back, evaluate their books or maps again, and head off in another direction.

At this corner, a Thai man (in camo shorts) was speaking with lost tourists. He speaks proficient English and asks the tourists where they are going. He gives them directions and then suggests they take a tuk-tuk (the three wheel vehicle in the background), which of course is conveniently waiting. It is conveniently overpriced, too.

Another thing you can see in this picture is a pair of foreigners on a rented motorbike. So many tourists rent bicycles and motorbikes in Chiang Mai. I have to wonder how many accidents there are. As I drove about town, I watched as tourists rode either dangerously fast or dangerously unaware of traffic around them. Thai drivers are aggressive and the streets in the old city are narrow. Not much room for foolish and inexperienced tourists.

Two other common sights in Chiang Mai are shown in this picture. First, the yellow (actually, usually red) pickup truck with covered seating in the back, which are called “song taews”. The name means “two rows” and refers to the two benches in the back of the truck. These are used something like taxis in that they don’t usually operate a fixed route. You flag one down (it may or may not have a sign indicating where it is heading) and name your destination. If the song taew is heading that general direction, you can hop on, otherwise the driver will wave you off. Fares are negotiated but are usually inexpensive. It is initially a little complicated but ends up being a pretty effective way to get about.

The second common sight is the side-saddle female passengers on the motorbikes. You see this throughout Thailand and I’m always startled by how effectively these ladies manage to balance themselves.

The final common sight are monks. Chiang Mai is home to two monastic universities and scores of temples and you see a greater concentration of monks and novices here than anyplace else in Thailand. A snapshot of Chiang Mai would be incomplete without some saffron robes in it! More about monks in Chiang Mai in the next entry.

Chiang Mai Strawberries and Whipped Cream

Posted on 23 January 2011 by christao408

To celebrate the completion of our bathroom re-tiling project, we celebrated with a special dessert: fresh strawberries from Chiang Mai (in the north of Thailand) and some hand-whipped cream.

Beautiful, aren’t they? Unlike some of those mega-monster strawberries we get from California, which are all pale inside, these strawberries reminded me of the strawberries of my childhood – smaller and sweeter. Of course, they still weren’t as nice as the strawberries we tried in Japan two Aprils ago. (Video of that experience here.)

Trip to Chiang Mai – Final Part

Posted on 16 January 2010 by christao408

The final full day in Chiang Mai we drove up to Doi Suthep, a mountain that is immediately to the west of Chiang Mai and offers, on a clear day, a nice view of the greater Chiang Mai area. On the top of the mountain is a temple which ostensibly dates back to the late 14th century and is one of the most significant sites for Thais to visit. It is also a very beautiful temple so is well worth the trip up the winding 13 km road from the city.

Stephanie and I picked up my friend Kari, who recently moved back to Thailand from Kenya with her husband Ron. They are both missionaries whom Tawn and I first met when I was attending Union Language School after first moving here four years ago.

The day was drizzly but as we drove up the mountain, the drizzle subsided replaced by a thick fog. On the way up we had to stop and help a family whose pickup truck had slipped into a small ditch at the side of the road. Thankfully, only one tire was in the ditch and with the help of another driver, we were able to jimmy it free.

The base area of the temple has lots of tourist shops, stalls, stands and vendors. It is a bit of a circus. Thankfully there were not too many people there thanks to both the inclement weather as well as the depressed tourism situation in Thailand. There are two ways to reach the temple: you can either take a short cable car ride or you can walk the 300 steps (decorated with beautiful nagas, or multi-headed serpents). Here’s a photo of Stephanie posing before we began our ascent.

One of the vendor’s dogs sitting on the wall, imitating the nagas in the previous photo!

The temple is perched right on top of the mountain and is surrounded by lush tropical forest. The fog was very thick and advanced quickly, swallowing up the mountainside. This picture reminded me of something from the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”.

Looking down to the area where the monks’ quarters are located. Visibility was down to about 30 meters. Note the lanterns. These are a very typical Lanna / Northern Thai style lantern. Beautiful, no?

While taking pictures the fog started to turn into a mist and, eventually, drizzle. Thankfully we had our umbrellas with us.

The main chedi, or stupa, is covered in gold with four gold umbrellas standing on the corners. On a sunny day it is beautiful and makes a striking contrast with the blue skies. See this photo as an example. Today, however, we just had to appreciate it at a different level. In fact, the fog/mist/drizzle lent an interesting serenity to the place.

Rare to get a shot here with no visitors in it!

I like the drops of water on the statues. After about an hour poking around we decided the dampness was getting to us and descended to the parking lot area.

From the main entrance we looked back up towards the temple and the summit, which was now entirely shrouded in the clouds.

Here’s a video of the few days up there:

While in Chiang Mai we had the opportunity to eat quite a bit of Northern Thai food, which offers some of the best dishes in all of Thailand. Here is a spread we had one night. In the upper left is a variety of vegetables and a Northern style sausage called sai oua. It is served with a green chili dipping sauce (available in varying degrees of spiciness) called nam prik ong. In the center is a red pork and chili dipping sauce called nam prik num. It is more savory than spicy. You eat it with the fried pork rinds in the upper right. That’s right, Thais love cracklins! The bamboo container in the lower left features khao niaw or sticky rice. In the center is a plate of raw veggies and herbs served on ice, which are eaten to cool the spiciness. Finally, the dish in the lower right is a salad made of sun dried pork, shallots, peanuts, cilantro and chilies.

Here’s another view of the sai oua and nap prik ong and khao niaw. I bought some at the Chiang Mai Airport at a vendor who has been around for years and carried it onto the plane. That’s right – you can bring super-spicy green chili sauce onto the plane here as a carry on. Bottled water through security? No. But nam prik ong? Absolutely fine. Everyone knows that isn’t dangerous.

Trip to Chiang Mai Part 2

Posted on 15 January 2010 by christao408

The highlight of our trip to Chiang Mai was a drive two hours south to Doi Inthanon National Park. One of the largest parks in the Kingdom, this is the home to the “rooftop of Thailand”, Doi Inthanon peak. Many people who visit Thailand stay in typically touristy areas, particularly the biggest cities and the beach towns. As lovely as these are, they miss out on the spectacular natural beauty to be found in this country.

This park features several beautiful waterfalls including the impressive Vachiratharn Falls. These falls are all located just short walks away from parking areas making them accessible to almost everyone. Even several months after rainy season, these falls are going strong!

There are also hiking trails if you want to get more of a workout. On our way to the top of the falls, which turned out to be less interesting than viewing them from down below, we found this interesting stand of dead bamboo. There were also several disused picnic tables on the way up, all in areas that didn’t seem conducive to a pleasant picnic.

Near the summit of Doi Inthanon are a pair of chedis built by the Royal Thai Air Force to commemorate the fifth cycle (i.e. 60th) birthdays of their majesties the King and Queen of Thailand in 1987 and 1992, respectively. These are beautiful chedis, both done in modern style. They are very distinct with the King’s chedi having very dark stone and the Queen’s being built in with a violet hue. Since my last visit in 2006 they have installed enclosed escalators to make the climb to the top easier for the thousands of elderly Thais who come here to pay their respects.

The hazy, cloudy view from the top of Doi Inthanon looking southwest towards Burma.

At the top of the peak (2,565 meters / 8,416 feet as marked by the small round metal plaque on the concrete pedestal in the foreground of the picture) is a small shrine to the memory of the Phra Chao Inthawichayanon, one of the last kings of Chiang Mai until his death in 1897. During his 27-year reign, King Inthawichayanon was very concerned about the preservation of the forests and mountains in what was still an independent tributary Lanna kingdom. Following his wishes, the king’s remains were interred at this spot on the top of what was then called Doi Luang. The mountain was subsequently renamed Doi Inthanon.

It was also during his reign that the remnants of the Lanna kingdom were finally annexed into greater Siam. One could argue that the political friction in modern-day Thailand (which has a very distinct north versus central split) has its roots in these ancient annexations.

Part way down the mountain is the Royal Agricultural Station, a large garden area that has acres of greenhouses where different types of plants are grown. The purpose of the project is to identify different species from around the country and also cultivate other species that may be well-suited to Thailand’s different climates. As an example of some of the work done by various royal-sponsored agricultural foundations, opium production in Thailand (which once used to be the world’s top producer) has almost entirely vanished, being replaced by cash crops such as coffee and macadamia nuts.

Tiptoe through the tulips…

Reflection in the pond. The sun kept trying to break through but it rarely lasted.

My personal favorites, the fuchsias. The climate up here on the mountain is very similar to that of my childhood home in the San Francisco Bay Area. We had fuchsias in our backyard that my father tended to with great care. Seeing these in the greenhouse brought back many memories. I used to snap open the flowers, enjoying the “pop!” sound they made.

Mae Ya Falls, Doi Inthanon National Park – Chiang Mai Province. Our friend Kari is standing in the distance taking pictures.

Chris hoping that there isn’t a sudden flash flood!

I’ll continue tomorrow with the second road trip in Chiang Mai, up to Doi Suthep, along with some video.

Trip to Chiang Mai Part 1

Posted on 12 January 2010 by christao408

Stephanie and I waited until after the New Year’s weekend to head up to Chiang Mai, hoping to avoid the crowds of Thais who would be up there in the search of cooler weather. The crowds of foreigners might be lighter, too. What we found surprised us.

Chiang Mai was deserted – no exaggeration, it was mighty lonely up there. I spoke with several locals and the story I heard again and again was that this is the least busy they’ve seen things in many years. Granted, the economy is bad and two years ago the airports in Bangkok were shuttered for a week as part of political protests. Still, with the great value that Thailand offers and the nice weather in Chiang Mai, I was surprised at how quiet things were.

Things got off to a slow start as after boarding, we pushed back and fired up our engines only to be towed back to the gate because of an indicator light. After ten minutes of poking around we pushed back again, only to be returned to the gate. The pilot, an American, came into the cabin and apologized for the delay and indicated that they would have to have a closer look at something related to the oil system. We disembarked and waited about forty-five minutes until given the all clear. Above, a mechanic with a box of oil working on our engine.

Chiang Mai started out sunny the first day with temperatures not too much cooler than Bangkok’s but at least a bit less humid. Stephanie and I stayed at the Imperial Mae Ping hotel, one of the original high-rise hotels in the city but thanks to a remodel and the fine service of the staff, still a very nice place to stay. Considering we paid just US$40 a room in the midst of high season, it was a steal.

There are countless temples in the heart of the city, which is very walkable. We stopped by several of them, taking pictures and talking with people. Everywhere we went, people assumed Stephanie was the Thai and would speak to her, only to be confused when I would be the one responding to the questions as she looked at them with a polite smile and blank expression.

At one temple, the patriarch of the temple, a saffron robed man in his eighties, was sitting in a plastic chair managing the work of several young monks. He waved me over and we chatted for several minutes. He was selling me on the unique attributes of his particular monk and an upcoming ceremony they would have. “Come back and see it!” he said as I bid my farewell.

More to come…

Chiang Mai Part 2

Posted on 13 June 2008 by christao408

Saturday morning was beautiful, still a little overcast but cooler than most mornings in Khrungthep and a bit less humid, too.

Breakfast was included in our room rate, so we walked over to the restaurant.

Left: Me outside the main lobby building.

As I mentioned in Part 1, Chiang Mai was pretty deserted as this is the off season. The population at the resort was similarly sparse.

The restaurant staff did a really good job of maintaining a wide selection of items in the buffet without putting a large amount of food out. For example, instead of a basket full of muffins, there was a banana-leaf tray with six of them. They were neatly arranged, had a flower as decoration, etc. but you could tell they didn’t want to waste food.

The restaurant is open-air and has an adjacent patio (right) where you can dine under the branches of a huge tree.

The tree, with its many vines, roots, and Northern Thai-style lanterns (the white ones, below) hanging from its branches, was the focal point of the resort. The owner wrote in his welcome letter that he selected the site of the resort specifically because of the tree.

After breakfast we looked around the resort. We learned that the annual staff party would be held that evening, so the restaurant would close at eight. This was fine as we had other plans in mind for dinner. We also noticed (“we”, “we”, “we”… as if Tawn doesn’t have his own blog – maybe if I stop writing “we”, he’ll update his blog), that the staff was conducting a ceremony at the base of the large tree. It seems that they were replacing the spirit house with a new one.

I’ve spoken about spirit houses before, but a brief explanation for those who are unfamiliar: While Thais are mostly a Buddhist nation, many animist, Brahmanist, and Hindu beliefs form a sort of quasi-religious subtext. One of the more common of these is the belief that the land, trees, mountains, etc. have spirits living on or in them.

When the land is developed to build a house, shop, or other building, you are obligated to erect a house – a “spirit house” – in which the displaced spirits can live. This is placed in an auspicious spot, is appropriately sized (huge ones outside malls, smaller ones outside residential houses), and the residents and tenants regularly pay respect to the spirits by offering incense, candles, drinks and food.

In the entry located here, you can see me making an offering to our condo’s spirit house on the day we moved in. Also, the most famous spirit house in Thailand is the Erawan Shrine. Read more about it here.

The peacock motif appears throughout the resort, often on the ridges and corners of buildings where more commonly a naga tail might be placed.

A little online research didn’t yield many satisfactory answers as to why the peacock motif is so prevalent in Chiang Mai, although I did learn that in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology, the peacock is symbolic of the worldly realms of appearance whereas the swan is the symbol of the higher realms.

Also, in Buddhism the peacock’s tail is associated with the Wheel of Dharma.

How’s that for a whole lot of additional trivia that you probably didn’t ever expect to learn?

Below, Tawn takes a picture of a beautiful three-dimensional mural of a peacock in the outdoor dining area.

We started the day with a massage, which is always a fine way to start. Afterwards we wandered over to Tha Phae Road, on the north side of the Night Market, looking for a tea house that Khun Ken had recommended. Along the way we found some interesting shops, including the Sun Gallery, pictured below.

The downstairs area had a wide variety of objects and paintings for sale, but the owner, Khun Veeraphat, opened the upstairs area for us. It was this beautiful space, one side of which can actually be used by painters to create their works and the other side of which displays more paintings. The light and volume of the space were really nice as there were balconies at the end of the rooms providing natural lighting.

Just down the street we found the Siam Celadon Tea House, housed in a two-story teak building of neocolonial design that dates to 1915. Khun Nit Wangwiwat, owner of the Raming Tea Company, bought the house in 1986 and it was eventually renovated for use as a shop and restaurant.

The highlight of the building is its central atrium, which floods the space with diffused light. No air conditioning is used and the design, which includes high ceilings, lots of open grilles at the top of walls, and good window placement, allows for visitors to comfortably enjoy their tea with a nice breeze.

It is a pleasant space with a lovely garden in the back and we enjoyed a light bite to eat and some tea. The shop is located next to a small khlong or canal and every so often the hint of an unpleasant smell wafts over on the breeze. That was the one downside.

We headed back to the resort mid-afternoon and I was able to get a swim in at the pool until I was interrupted by the rain.

That evening we enjoyed an Indian meal at the Whole Earth restaurant, located adjacent to the resort. I’ve eaten there before and they used to have a branch in Khrungthep that has regrettably closed.

Located in a beautiful Thai-style building pictured to the left, the food is well-prepared with an extensive vegetarian menu and other meat selections. We had a fish tikka and a curried okra dish that were amazing. The service is attentive, too.

Pretty tired from all our walking around – how is it that holidays are so exhausting? – we stopped by the front desk of the hotel and borrowed the Michelle Pfeiffer film, I Could Never Be Your Woman. Even thought they had several dozen films, they were all things we had either seen before or had no interest in seeing, so we settled for this 2007 comedy. It was okay, but I’m glad I didn’t pay 100 baht for it in the cinema.

Sunday morning was sunny, with blue skies finally breaking through the clouds. Our flight was just after noon so we didn’t have a lot of time.

The one last thing on my list was breakfast at Bake & Bite Bakery. A Chiang Mai fixture with three locations, this is a straight-up American style breakfast place with an emphasis on homemade breads, bagels, muffins and cinnamon rolls.

When Ken and I were up in Chiang Mai a year ago, we enjoyed nice breakfasts here a couple of times. Since then, I’ve concluded my quest for an American style breakfast place in Khrungthep with Little Home on Thong Lor, about which I have yet to write.

Left, full-on American breakfast with homemade sausage patties. My sourdough biscuits are much better, though.

For some reason, I ended up fully satisfied with my breakfast while Tawn was not satisfied with his at all. I think some of it was that Tawn’s stomach wasn’t feeling terribly well. But part of it had to do with the chef’s inability to hard boil an egg. Tawn ordered two hard boiled eggs and the first ones that came out were really soft and spilled all over the place upon cracking the shells.

He pointed this out to the waitress who apologized and brought out two more eggs a few minutes later. Same problem. Needless to say, Tawn now doesn’t understand why I like the restaurant.

After breakfast, we packed our bags and said goodbye to the friendly staff of the Yaang Come Village, who all lined up and wai’d us as we left.

Our short flight home was on THAI Airways, a different airline from our flight up because Tawn was originally going to be up in Chiang Mai on business and I booked the same, slightly more expensive flight back as he had.

Even though the flight is only an hour from takeoff to touchdown, they serve a snack service that, while not gourmet, certainly puts to shame the “hospitality” offered by any US-based airline.

Below left: Tawn special ordered a fish meal, which ended up being cold fish sticks with tartar sauce. Below right: I ate the standard meal that was being passed out, a pork laab patty (kind of like chicken salad but with pork and Thai spices – it is normally served as a salad and not formed into patties) served with fresh veggies. As with many of our meals this weekend, mine proved to be the better choice.

And thus ended our weekend in Chiang Mai. We’ll have to travel somewhere again soon as there is so much to explore here in Thailand.

Chiang Mai Part 1

Posted on 11 June 2008 by christao408

One thing I’ve discovered the past few days is that if I stay away from my computer (or at least non-work related things on my computer) I get so much more done. It just can really suck you in. Gosh, what a discovery!

Our trip up to Chiang Mai was nice. It is low season here in Thailand and things were deserted up north. One evening we went to the famed Night Market and it was so empty, I had wondered whether there were any other tourists in town!

Chiang Mai is a popular city, and I enjoy many of the things it has to offer. But part of me hasn’t ever really liked it, ever since my first visit in 2000. The core of the city – the Old City – looks and feels a lot like Khao San Road, the backpacker paradise in Khrungthep. As Tawn points out, that’s a lot better than Pattaya, the whole of which feels like Patpong, the sex bar district in Khrungthep.

We arrived mid-afternoon on Friday and within minutes of stepping out of the airport terminal the afternoon thunderstorm, an event to be repeated daily throughout the weekend, had started its downpour. The staff of the resort, Yaang Come Village, used a large umbrella – the sort you see in the middle of your outdoor dining table – to ferry us from the taxi to the front steps and then from the lobby after check-in to our room.

The resort is gorgeous just as in the pictures I posted in the previous entry. It isn’t very large so the staff quickly gets to know you and your preferences. They are friendly to a degree that is just hard to describe and well-trained. I’d recommend it for anyone visiting Chiang Mai who wants to stay in a resort.

I will add that I’m not sure I’m really the resort type of person, as I rarely spend a lot of time sitting around the pool or strolling in the gardens. But this was a beautiful resort.

Friday afternoon after the rains, we headed to Nimmanahaeminda Road Soi 1, an artsy district near Chiang Mai University. Tawn had read about this soi in Elle Thailand and it seems like an up-and-coming corner of the city. Apparently, many artists and designers from Khrungthep have relocated to Chiang Mai.

Many of the old houses have been converted into shops. Some are boutiques and others are galleries and all of them are very cute. Here are some pictures:

Above: A cute hair salon. Below: The front car park and entry way of a shop.

Above: The extravagant entry to Suriyan Chandra, one of several combination art-furniture-music “lifestyle” stores. There is a new store called Avatar by the same owner, located a few blocks away. Avatar is in the midst of a six-month “pre-opening” even though it looked fully open. Eventually, he’ll have a cafe there, too. Sadly, it was too dark by the time we arrived so I didn’t get good pictures. Below: Tawn inside the Suriyan Chandra garden on the other side of the wall above.

We walked through this neighborhood, a series of small sois that have a number of interesting shops. Along the way I encountered this tree, below. Any guesses as to what it is?

If you guessed “papaya”, you’d be correct. For all my time in Thailand, I hadn’t seen a papaya tree. Maybe I can get one for the balcony!

In the late afternoon the last of the stormy skies had cleared and even Doi Suthep (Suthep Mountain) which stands sentry over the city’s northwest, was unshrouded as the clouds dissipated after the storms.

For dinner, Tawn suggested another Elle recommendation. The House is a self-styled “restaurant & wine and tapas bar” with a little Thai cafe on the side. It resides in a renovated colonial home, is very cute, and has attentive if somewhat unpolished service.

It is an attractive place, one of many European restaurants in a city that caters to a large population of expat retirees. It is my observation that Chiang Mai probably has a better quality of European restaurants than Khrungthep. What I’ve tried so far has been pretty good.

The food was generally nice but the preparation lacked nuance. One item in particular, a crab bisque, was a disaster. When it was served to Tawn, the wide bowl had a brown broth strewn with small bits of crab meat. There was no cream in sight, which by the very definition of the name is required in order to make the soup a bisque.

Tawn tried the broth. Very bland, as if water had been used to make it instead of stock.

A minute or two later, the waiter arrived with a small bowl of a thick cream and a spoon. He explained that this was a “do it yourself” bisque where you added the cream.

That was a terrible idea. The soup was not piping hot and when Tawn added the cream, it curdled, forming small, unappetizing lumps in the broth. We each tried a spoonful and agreed that the bisque was now even more of a mess than it had been before.

Tawn called the waiter over and explained that its was not edible and ordered something else for an appetizer. The waiter seemed a little befuddled as to what to say, but eventually did admit to us – rather candidly! – that several other people had said the same thing about the bisque.

The remainder of the meal was better. I had a beef carpaccio that was pretty tasty. Our main courses, a pan-seared sea bass fillet on white bean puree with fresh veggies for me (below) and potato croquettes with avocado salsa and vegetables for Tawn (above), were enjoyable although I definitely wound up with the better selection of food.

We did enjoy a really good wine find: a 2004 Madfish Cabernet Sauvignon Rose from Western Australia. It was very fruity but also very dry and crisp. I’ll be poking around the wine shops here in Khrungthep to see if I can find a half-case.

Finally, for dessert we shared a stalk – that’s it, just one stalk – of rhubarb poached in grenadine syrup, served with raspberry whipped cream and a scoop of rum raisin ice cream. It was an interesting concept but the syrup was simply so sweet that it overwhelmed the natural tartness of the rhubarb. Still, it was a light end to the dinner.

From there we headed to the night market and walked around for a little while. As I mentioned earlier, the place was deserted. After an hour we decided to return to the hotel, exhausted from our first afternoon in town.

I’ll leave you with a short video clip shot in the back of a Tuk Tuk as meter taxis are rare in Chiang Mai.

More soon…

A Computerless Weekend in Chiang Mai

Posted on 5 June 2008 by christao408

Tawn and I are getting away today to Chiang Mai, Thailand’s “Second City” and the largest city in the northern, mountainous part of the Kingdom.

We’re staying at the Yaang Come Village, a resort that is one of the highest-rated on Trip Advisor. Hopefully, all those people are right. Here are some pictures:

Looks nice, eh? Well, the biggest “escape” in this whole trip is that I’m leaving my laptop behind. I spend way too much time staring at the screen both for work (really!) as well as blogging. That’s it, a weekend of resting my eyes.

Talk to you Monday!

christao408

The adventures of an expat American who moved to Bangkok for his husband.

Tag Archives: Chiang Mai