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The distinctive cuisine of Thailand’s north is undergoing
changes, says Pim Kemasingki, with different ingredients entering
the mixalong with stylish new venues opening up forits enjoyment.
With expatriates and Bangkokians moving up to Chiang Mai
and more and more tourists staying in the ever-improving and
impressive accommodation mushrooming all over the city, great
restaurants begin to open and, tentatively, the locals trickle
in. The process starts slowly. A favourite riverside restaurant
introduces a sushi bar; a naughty chef adds a fusion dish
or two to a familiar northern Thai menu; a popular bar moves
locations and revamps itself with funky decor. As restaurateurs
checked their bottom line and acknowledged this unspoken applause,
others, in true Thai style, not only paid attention but they
emulated, they experimented and finally they exceeded.
Certain areas of Chiang Mai city are becoming known for fine
dining, primarily the Ping River banks and the west of the
city near Doi Suthep. Flanking both sides of the river are
dozens of restaurants, pubs and clubs, each competing for
patronage from the emerging big-spending young professionals
of Chiang Mai. With fine views as the main selling point,
thoughtful decor and, to a lesser degree, Thai and experimental
cuisines, these establishments are crowd pullers. The Nimmanhaemin
Road and Chiang Mai University area to the west of the city
is emerging as another zone for nocturnal indulgence with
a slew of mainly modern Thai restaurants opening up, once
again with the emphasis on decor and ambience, rather than
on food. The true culinary leaders in the past year, though,
are the five-star and boutique hotels and resorts which have
opened up. Here Thai and international chefs create worldclass
favourites with prices to match.
Because of three devastating floods that hit Chiang Mai in
late 2005, we were not able to review many of these fine establishments,
but some are worthy of note and attention. Le Crystal, an
elegant and opulent riverside restaurant, serves excellent
haute French cuisine to growing local appreciation. Newly
opened, The Chedi’s rather nondescript sounding dining
room, The Restaurant, nevertheless serves rich and artfully
innovative international cuisine in a chic and classic atmosphere,
while Moxie restaurant in the Dusit Group’s D2 Hotel
offers modern international cuisine in an uber chic and trendy
setting; it’s slated to become one of the hottest places
to dine and wine in 2006.
It would be a shame, however, to dismiss the more traditional,
understated but very popular restaurant scene of Chiang Mai.
Although many have been pushed out to the fringes of the city
– hundreds of big and small restaurants line all three
of the outer ring roads – these are still the most frequented
by locals, and often have some of the best food. The people
of the north enjoy a distinctive cuisine. The ingredients
are fresh with many vegetable products being found in markets
picked straight from the jungle, rather than bought in a package
from a supermarket. In true Thai style, a restaurant may only
have one famous dish with nothing else to recommend it, but
it will still be packed full every evening. Restaurants specialising
in dancing prawns, salted grilled fish, jungle food, dishes
made from flowers, local Lanna cuisine and ostrich, among
others, sit by busy highways, on pontoons in the middle of
a lake, in a jungle garden, in shophouses or in beautiful
Lanna wooden houses. Most don’t advertise, relying mainly
on word of mouth. Their casual, jovial atmosphere makes experimentation
a pleasure, even though it could be a hitand- miss exercise
as each place has its own style and character. These are simple
offerings – often with no English menu, but plenty of
locals happy to help select a spread of dishes. Few possess
a wine list, let alone a corkscrew, and while plastic tables
and chairs may be as smart as it gets when diners sit under
the light of stars, atmosphere oozes.
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Although supermarkets, for instance the successful Rim Ping,
are catering to the affluent with an amazing selection of
local and imported goods, Chiang Mai is still a city of wet
markets. Dozens of markets in the city, most with easy parking,
are visited on a daily basis by housewives and cooks who prefer
the fresh and traditional ingredients over what’s offered
in the supermarkets. His Majesty the King’s royal project
supplies Chiang Mai with superb quality fruit and vegetables
and the Mekong River brings a constant flow of cheap products
from China. Being the prime minister’s hometown, there
is strong government support for all things Lanna, and OTOP
(One Tambol One Product) products have reinvigorated interest
in local delicacies; many old family or village recipes have
been introduced to the general consumer for the first time.
Lanna people are a proud lot. They have a cuisine which,
though in part borrowed from others, has been adapted masterfully
to suit local tastes. Burmese, Lao and central Thai influences
are obvious, with western flavours beginning to creep in.
Lanna cuisine is adaptable and it is often at the grass-roots
level that this is most noticeable. So although the high-end
dining scene is evolving at an exciting pace, and is certainly
beginning to hold its own in comparison to Bangkok and Phuket,
it is also worth keeping an eye on restaurants with only rows
and rows of parked cars and motorbikes in front to draw attention
to them, for it could be this type of recommendation that
is the most telling.
The overall Chiang Mai culinary stage is therefore one with
deeply traditional and loyal roots but also a willingness
to experiment and accept change. A group of friends may be
seen dining in a beautiful and exclusive five-star fusion
restaurant at thousands of baht per head one day, and the
very next, sitting, legs crossed, in a grass hut grilling
spicy meat for 50 baht each on the roadside. And both meals
are just as enjoyable in their own way.
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