Chiang Rai Restaurants

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This place was just up the road from where I was staying at the Janson House (see my accommodation tip). Like the sign says, it's a steak place and if you're a bit of a carnivore then you're in for a treat. The menu is packed with meat such as sausages, burgers, chicken, pork, lamb and beef. A western hippie guy told me to go for the "4-combo" which took him 1.5hrs to eat so I ordered it and it came on one of the biggest plates I've ever seen - 14" or 15" wide! He wasn't wrong. You can choose 4 meat items from a large list that comes served with fries, garlic bread and coleslaw. Great stuff and just what the doctor ordered!

I came here a couple of times for lunch and had some good food such as sweet and sour pork and beef in oyster sauce. The portions are a good size and the owners quite a nice guy. They also serve many western dishes such as burgers, salads and sandwiches plus the normal Thai fayre.

As I'm British and we have a large number of Indian restaurants back home, I feel that I know what to expect when it comes to Indian food. When I saw this place, I thought, right I'm come here as I was craving for an Indian after not having one since I was in Bangkok. So I walked in and started ordering papads (poppadoms) only for the waiter to say that they couldn't get them from Bangkok! "What?", I said. Now I love poppadoms and they, as far as I know, are easy to cook so to hear someone say that they get them delivered was just ridiculous. Anyway, I carried on ordering but wished I hadn't as when the food arrived, the naan bread was undercooked, the steamed rice was oily, and the chicken vindaloo wasn't spicy and looked like it came out of a can as the chunks of meat looked processed into of fresh. So I stormed out in disgust without paying, even leaving my beer! Hopeless, don't bother.

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The food court next to the Night Market is a great place to go to choose from a whole raft of local dishes. The court has two sides where kitchen after kitchen has a menu on boards above the counter, most of which are in Thai and English. Like all food courts you can take one dish from one place and something else from another. Try some kebabs with a chicken rice and basil. It may blow you away (spicy) but for 50B all in, it's got to be worth a try. Regional dishes include roasted pig intestines plus I saw one selling a range of insects and naturally most dishes come with sticky rice. At each end of the court are counters selling water, beer and soft drinks. The food court is a great way to start the evening without hurting your wallet.

This is a pizza chain that you can find all over Thailand that's very similar to a Pizza Hut or a Dominos in the west. I filled myself up with a few of their pizzas during my travels around Thailand as it was nice to take a break from rice and noodles once in a while. They do pan crust, crispy crust, cheese crust pizza types with a large range of toppings and combo meals. For desert, you can go to Swensons Ice Cream nearby.

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This place is fantastic, one of the best I went to. The Greek salad had a huge chunk of feta, loads of olives. The garlic bread was huge. Tomato soup well made, well flavoured, good colour and came with bread with a dip. Pizza was only fair being made with tomato sauce, but the four cheese one was good.

Very nice atmosphere at night time inside. Nicely decorated. Friendly, intelligent staff who speak good English, warn you when they're busy and the food will take longer, and paraphrase when they're not sure if you said 'Greek', or 'Green' salad etc. Didn't get to use the toilet, but very nice. Makes a great intro if you've just arrived as leaving the bus station you can almost see it. It's the first place facing you when you walk to the main road. Only open for lunch and dinner though.

Favorite Dish: The Greek Salad man!

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Thai hot pot is very similar to Chinese hot pot, except that there is a grill plate in the center of the pot. It is called "moo kata" in Thai, meaning a pot with pork. So you'll find all kinds of pork here, plus just about anything else. Hot water is poured into the surrounding pot, which is powered by hot charcoal below it. First you put the pork fat on the grill so that the food doesn't stick on it. Then you simply put the food on either the grill plate or the hot water to cook it. Once it's done, you dip it into the sauce, and eat!

This is an all you can eat restaurant, and it's better to get here early, even though the restaurant is opened until midnight, it seems like they don't refill the food after 9 or so. We were there at 7:30 and the food selection is still good. (They open at 5pm.) There is a variety of meat, fish balls, vegetables and dessert. Simply grab whatever you want from the table outside, bring it back and cook it in the pot. You can refill as many times as you want.

Few seats are under the roof, and it can get cold after dark. There is a large screen showing Thai tv. So you can enjoy the entertainment as you eat.

Drinks, of course, are not part of the all you can eat deal. That's how they make money. Each person is 69B excluding drinks.

It is certainly an interesting experience if you never have hot pot before. The only complaint is that the food takes a long time to cook, as compare to Chinese hot pot. My Thai friends told me to let the food sit inside the pot for at least 10 minutes if you don't want to get sick.

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As mentioned earlier, fried dough sticks and congee are typical Chinese style breakfast. Fried dough sticks also go well with soy milk. I prefer the former but only the later can be found in Mae Salong, in the morning market next to Shin Sane GH. I prefer sweet soy milk, but they seem to add to much sweet syrup in it. The next day I bought some steamed pork buns outside the market, and I like it better than the other day.

The market is very busy in early morning. By the time I came down from viewing the sunrise (around 7am, I think), the place was really alive, both inside and outside. People prefer to go to the market early for the freshest meat and vegetables.

The fried dough sticks and soy milk cost: 12B
2 steamed pork buns and soy milk cost: 15B