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!

Tamarind Village, Parts 1 and 2

Part 1: Round one

As it turns out I ended up staying at Tamarind Village both on both ends of my stay in Chiang Mai.  My first visit was a blur, so I'm glad to have more time to realize what a treasure this village truly is.

After a wonderful buffet breakfast of western, European and Thai delights I'm finding time to relax poolside, share this wonderful place and continue to acclimate to the temperatures. At the moment it's warm though tolerable with a slight breeze.

Pool from the dining room...

The grounds are peaceful... Its namesake a 100 year old Tamarind Tree in the main courtyard.

The magnificent namesake tree of this village!

Here's our balcony and my room with amenities:

















Dinner for two! Sony was my dinner date for the night:

Northern Thailand spicy house made pork sausage
with peanuts, lemongrass and greens.

Spicy salad 

Nam prik sauce served with raw vegetables

Tiny eggplant, chicken and greens.

Chicken with tamarind, fish sauce.

Watermelon, pineapple, papaya & dragon fruit.

Around the grounds...

Once you walk/drive through this entry, all else melts away...

A lovely start to my stay in Chiang Mai, don't you agree?

Have you met my travel flats?





Tamarind Village Life,
Even Better the 2nd time around

After escaping the frenzy of Bangkok, I was happy to retreat to Tamarind Village once again.  The reservation/reception staff made it possible for me to stay for the balance of my time in Chiang Mai with an added incentive of a discounted rate, complimentary dinner for me and my travel guests, airport shuttle, and so on...

This time I had the chance to know the cook staff, the customer service manager Mr. Sutham, the gracious general manager, Ms. Napat, my favorite night crew reception of "Nut' and Mae.  All very professional, friendly, accommodating and always with a wonderful smile!

Breakfast buffet staff...we kept them busy!

Just a start at the fantastic breakfast buffet! 

Every morning she greeted us with such a warm smile but I didn't get her name.

A little pool time is always good...

As per usual, Leo and the computer..

Silly Sony playing around...

General Manager Ms. Napat generously gave me complimentary dinner for all three of us since I was not only a repeat customer but also a long stay as well.

Spring roll starter. with Tamarind drink.

Light chicken coconut soup.

Mixed vegetables, pork with peppers and ocean snapper with tamarind sauce.

This ocean snapper was fabulous!

Sunday night market right outside our driveway!

Nighttime entrance

Breakfast time, prior to kickoff...

Steelers and the Ravens streaming live...

My favorite night shift reception / front desk:  Mae and "Nut"

  

At night, the Tamarind tree is even more magnificent!  The walkways
are lined with tiny wicked pots to light your way. 

Reception seating area

Preparing for the festivities!

Expert palm weaving

My favorite Tamarind Village staffer -nicknamed "Nut"

Thank you to the professional staff at Tamarind Village for making my time in Chiang Mai memorable. I would definitely come back to visit this lovely place over and over again!