Hi there,

As promised, here are some restaurant reviews from my recent trip up North to Chiang Mai, an absolute favorite city for artists and foodies alike. If you love quirky little cafes, crafts, and no-rush atmosphere, Chiang Mai is definitely your town. So let’s see some of my favorite places, shall we?

• ห้องแถว Hong Taew – an old favorite for traditional Thai food and Northern dishes. Almost everything on the menu here is absolutely delicious. My most favorite is the หลนปลาสลิด or mildly-seasoned coconut curry with minced pork and crispy fish. The sweetness of the soup is nicely complimented by the crispy fried fish. It’s a must try! The only dish that was a miss for me was the แกงเหลืองยอดมะพร้าว or yellow curry with young coconut, which was extremely spicy with no other flavor whatsoever. But since it’s a Southern dish by nature, so I did not expect it to be good in Chiang Mai in the first place. Here are the pictures of the delicious dishes that I tried:

หลนปลาสลิด mildly-seasoned coconut curry with minced pork and crispy fish

แกงเหลืองยอดมะพร้าว yellow curry with young coconut

ยำทวาย Mix vegetables salad with coconut milk

แหนมทอด Fried fermented pork

ปีกไก่ทอด Chicken wings

เสือร้องไห้ grilled beef steak with spicy chili sauce

• Upper Crust – a tiny cafe that serves up one of the best cakes in Chiang Mai. I didn’t try the food at this place, but I know they serve simple Italian and Mexican dishes as well as offer a lunch boxes service to-go. All I have to say about this place is that you MUST, I stress, must try their mango cheesecake. It’s absolutely divine. The perfect ratio of whipped cream, cream cheese, and mango. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Their cheesecakes are also nice too, but the mango is the star.

Mango Cheesecake with mango sauce

Carrot Cake

Cheesecake with fresh passion fruit sauce

• Mont Blanc – cute cafe that reminds me of a Japanese bakery in Tokyo. It offers a huge array of really pretty French pastries (with that “cutesey” highly decorated Japanese spin) for you to choose from. It’s no surprise when i found out that the owner went to pastry school in Japan. I prefer the cakes at Upper Crust, but if you want a nice restaurant to chill out at, Mont Blanc would be a great choice. I saw two branches on ถนนนิมมานเหมินทร์ Nimanhemin Street, one along the main road next to Black Canyon (entrance of soi 7,) and another one is in soi 2. There is also another branch at Central Plaza, Chiang Mai, as well. The one on soi 2 is a two story house that is very spacious and definitely suitable for a relaxing afternoon with friends.

Strawberry Shortcake

Raspberry Cheesecake

Iced Cappuccino

These are all I’ve got for now, please wait for more delicious reviews in part 2.

Bon Appétit!

Hong Taew

95/17-18 Nimanhemin St. Near soi 2

Mueang Chiang Mai Tel 0 5321 5027

Upper Crust

Railway Rd, Opposite Railway Station

Wat Ket, Mueang Chiang Mai Tel 053-302233

Mont Blanc

Branch 1
Nimanhemin Street entrance of soi 7 Tel 053-210-776

Branch 2
 3 fl Central Plaza, Robinson side Tel 053-280-662

Branch 3 
Nimanhemin Street Soi 2