Fabulous Foods of Chiang Mai

Great foods are everywhere in Chiang Mai!  Check out some of the street vendors along major streets,  at the Saturday or Sunday night markets, hole in the wall places, the food courts in the mall. Good food in Chiang Mai is not hard to find.

Outside a shopping area, this fellow offers skewers of pork, fish, chicken
and so on.  The grill it up for you fresh!

Rice cakes of sorts, some savory some sweet,

Lemongrass Restaurant take-in was pretty great! The curries
and vegetable dishes were flavorful.

This eggplant dish was my absolute favorite.

In a pinch, we opted for a 7 Eleven rice patty and pork
sandwich and a hotdog.

Na took me to one of her favorite local places for lunch.

She has a clear soup with fish balls.
And she ordered pork skewer balls. 

Pad Sieuw is still top choice.

Pork balls

At the Sunday night walking market, there were lots of very interesting food displays!

Sweet potato goodies ~ they remind me of marzipan sweets

Crispy critters

Papaya salad is a popular choice.

Fish balls with holy fried basil. 

Critical to all thai cooking is the keffir lime.  Ugly, huh?

On a busy night, these noodle dishes sell out!

Another local favorite "sticky" rice paddies.

Thai version of sushi. 

Excellent pad thai for 30 Baht!
On the street by the University - super
cheap eats!

Cooked up then wrapped up in an egg omelette.

coconut rice goodies!

Also sweet potato, taro, corn, etc. 

Pork and rice sausages on a stick or balls on a rope!

Grilled goodies

And fish on sticks.

These cold noodles with sauce and vegetable
were also very popular and looked great!

At Central Mall Plaza near the airport offered lots of great food options:

grilled bananas are tasty

These guys offer various noodle and soup dishes.

Everyone helps themselves to the fresh condiments.

Lots of sauce and seasoning offerings.

Leo liked this little pad thai place that made his pad thai to his specifications.  Everything gets cooked inside, no fresh toppings, then wrapped into the omelette.  yum!

He's pretty happy with his Pad Thai.

These are not tacos, they are sweet cookies with a meringue
of sorts and grated coconut.

This place is called 1 Baht - but the only thing on the menu that's 1 Baht is the congee rice - or rice soup.  We got take out a few times before we discovered much better places for food.  It was good in a pinch!

Morning glory was always great, sauteed with garlic. 

This is cashew chicken with onions.  It was fine.

Na was pretty determined to find us a package of durian to share!  She was examining this whole one to see if it's worth it to purchase the whole fruit.

Here I am trying it...it does stink!

 I wanted to try the soup noodle dish Khao Soy, so Na took me to the original birthplace of the dish.  It is a hole in the wall, to be sure.

We also had pork satay which were good!

Khao Soy is a curry like soup with egg noodles. 

Na and I  getting ready to dig in!

Tasting Heaven

MASALA ART,  Best in Bangkok

http://www.masala-artbkk.com/

We stumbled upon a fabulous Indian Restaurant in our neighborhood, reviewed by many on Tripadvisor and other visitor websites.  The ambience is comfortable, subdued and intimate.  The host, wait staff, manager and Executive Chef were gracious and accommodating.  

Their menu was well laid out in artistic terms:  First Impressions, Heavy Strokes, All Time Favourites, and so on. It all sounded very interesting. 

As we began to make choices, we steered towards what we knew but were quickly taken into the hands of both the manager and Executive Chef who choose for us.  It was the best decision!  

The Chef brought us a house made naan with local honey.

The first appetizer was suggested by the manager:  DAHI KE KEBAB, house made hung curd shaped into an oval then rolled in chopped mixed vegetables then quickly and briefly deep fried.  With a bit of fresh squeezed line, it was our first taste of heaven! 

Next was another house made starter, PANEER TIRANGA that was succulent and fresh, clearly made that day,  sauteed with chili peppers, pickling spices, onions and tomatoes. Full of layered flavors, yet simple.

My flat wearing a pappadum hat awaiting
the entrees, anticipating the best!

From the top: KHMUB HARA PYAZ button mushrooms saute, LASOONI PALAK creamed spinach flavored garlic, MURG MAKHANI, combination of chicken with satin smooth gravy, HANDI GOSHT, lamb cooked with baby potatoes in rich gravy. 

Saffron Basmati Rice

After dinner we were all giddy, sated with fantastic foods, taking silly photos with our flats.  It was our last night together for this round - not fully decided on whether we were seeing one another again.

With the Executive Chef