Chiang Mai

We went to Chiang Mai last night, though I was a little wary having read some of the reviews. We'd spent Christmas in the 'real' Chiang Mai last year, and I'd seen the restaurant did some of the great Northern Thai dishes, so we went to see if we could recreate the same tastes we'd had at Christmas. Having established they could do 'Thai-style' spicing, as opposed to Farang (Westerner!) we ordered some of our faves.

Starters: Larb Gai, Nam Prik Ong and Chiang Mai Sausage were all superb. Proper chili levels, and all the right accompaniments (except the pork skin was replaced by prawn crackers with the Nam Prik - surprising, as it's readily available in Thai supermarkets, but maybe they thought it was a step too far for Londoners!)

Mains of beef Jungle Curry and stir fried lime leaf/lemongrass chicken didn't disappoint, though the curry was a little low on grachai!

With aperitifs and one of the more expensive wines on the list, the total bill was £60. Not quite Thai prices, but very good for London, esp with such authentic food.

The service was hit and miss, though polite, and the loos could do with some renovation, but over all it was a great find, and we'll be back!
Comment on this reader review

- View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 10
Sunday, February 24, 2008

We have now been a couple of times to this handily located restaurant. Whilst I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the food as I am neither Thai nor have I been to Thailand for some time, it is nonetheless delicious and distinctive from other similar "Thai" restaurants. Certainly the all the staff are Thai and the Thai customer sitting beside us couldn't get enough of the food.

This time we had the set menu (min 2 people) with the platter starter to share, followed by chicken and beef dishes with some fantastic broccolli in oyster sauce with coffee to finish. All was very tasty and certainly filled a hole!

I do think, however, that the service leaves a little to be desired as it is seemingly a bit hit and miss. We were served relatively promptly, though not very professionally, but the couple next to us were waiting an hour for their first course to turn up. The atmosphere also is a little lacking.

All in all I would say that if you are looking for a relatively cheap, good tasting restaurant, I would recommend it. Perhaps if you are looking for something for a special occasion then it might disappoint.
Comment on this reader review

Toby - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Food is not what the menu stated, some dishes contained meat particles even in 'vegetarian' dishes. The total of the bill differed to what we ate so we had to insist on some phantom items be taken off. An 'optional' service charge was added and they refused to take it off claiming it was british law (they thought we were foreign).

Also they claimed the downstairs was non smoking to get us to eat there and about 30 mins later people started smoking to which they replied 'we change according to the crowd'....and all round bad time. The only good points were the food was nicely presented and on time. Decor is nice too, although bathrooms are smelly and dirty. However be very careful of sneaked on charges and if you dont want to pay the 18% service charge (yes, 18%, and it changes depending on what they think they can con out of you!).
Comment on this reader review

Wendy Parker
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Thursday, March 01, 2007

The menu sounded good (with lots of vegetarian options), the staff were reasonably friendly and the wine choices good value for money, but the food varied from incredibly bland (tofu in a red curry sauc) to inedible (totally over the top spicy rice noodles and crispy friend corn cakes that tasted like they had been re-fried several times). I was shocked that this virtually inedible meal came to £58.
Comment on this reader review

Alimarcam - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, August 21, 2006

I used to go there regularly with my boyfriend as we enjoyed the food and the friendliness of the staff. However, we were once served beef which had already been cooked and lying somewhere for a while since it was very hard and smelly. It was unedible. We mentionned it to our waiter who did not even apologize or offer anything else and we left without the usual satisfaction but yet the same generous bill...
Comment on this reader review

Natasha - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Monday, May 01, 2006

I was taken to this restaurant in June 04 as a birthday treat and had a fantastic meal. I was a little worried when i saw the poor comments and noted that there had been a change in management. However i risked it and took my parents there for a meal a couple of weeks ago. What a fantastic place!! The food is excellent, value for money great and there is so much food in the set menu for veg and meat eaters that we even took it home and had for lunch the next day. GO TO THIS RESTAURANT!! its a real gem!! Keep off the house wine though - the tai's arent known for their grape juice..
Comment on this reader review

E Harry
Wednesday, September 14, 2005