7 popular restaurants in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai has hundreds of dining options, so whether you are looking for a fragrant bowl of khao soi noodles, a romantic table in an old teak house, or a chic urban venue to enjoy the local fare and do some people watching, the perfect restaurant awaits. Choose from these top 7 best restaurants below and you cannot go wrong.

The Restaurant at Anantara

The Restaurant at the Anantara Chiang Mai Resort offers breakfast, lunch and dinner to both hotel guests and visitors from outside the hotel. The Restaurant offers a fine dining experience at one of Chiang Mai’s finest five-star hotels. The outside area has riverside views of Chiang Mai and is a great place to spend sunset. The inside area has a mix of tables and booths to sit in and large glass windows so guests can still see the river and garden area.

Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center

Is it the most utterly delicious meal in the city? Not exactly. Is it a quintessential Chiang Mai experience? 100 percent. The northern Thai equivalent of dinner theater couples deliciously pan-regional meals, think slightly sweet, northern Thai-style pork curry, chile-based dips, as well as a couple central Thai dishes with traditional dance, and has been entertaining both local and foreign visitors for the last 40 years.

David’s Kitchen

David’s Kitchen is my favorite place in Chiang Mai for fine dining. This is where you go when you want to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, impress a date or just enjoy a very nice meal. Most of the menu is comprised of French recipes such as lobster bisque, escargot, and salad Nicoise. The restaurant also offers seafood selections and local recipes elevated to a fine dining standard.

The chef’s favorite dishes, and the ones he is mastered most, are beef. Reservations are highly recommended and essentially required if you want a table on most weekends or holidays, as this is one of Chiang Mai’s most popular restaurants.

Huen Phen Restaurant

This long-time favourite restaurant has been serving up mouthwatering northern Thai fare for more than four decades. It serves one of the best khao sois in Chiang Mai, along with a range of northern Thai fare prepared according to the family recipe. The non-descript open-air section is open for lunch, whereas dinner is served in an atmospheric dining room.

Good View

Good View is a Chiang Mai institution due to its riverside location, live music and good value menu, offering a range of Thai, Japanese and International cuisines. The Kantoke, a customary platter of Chiang Mai delights is highly recommended.

Mit Mai

The back hills of Chiang Mai province are home to remote communities of Yunnanese Chinese, and for several decades now, this restaurant has brought their cuisine to the city folk. Go for dishes with uniquely Chinese ingredients such as pleasantly salty Yunnan-style air-dried ham, wok-seared greens, spicy and fragrant DIY salads, and for contrast, one of the typically mild, comforting soups.

The House

This upscale, cosmopolitan restaurant in the middle of the Old City is set in a mid-century wooden house and offers an East-meets-West fusion menu and a selection of Thai favorites, too. The result is a modern, international venue to match the crowd.

Read more: Best foods to try in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Source Internet

6 foods to try in Kolkata, India

The huge variety of food items, high on taste and low on price, makes Kolkata a food lover’s paradise. Well-known mostly for its bhaat-maachh (rice and fish) and non-vegetarian food, Kolkata is a heaven for vegetarian food lovers as well. We list the best street food items in the city.

Jhaal Muri

This all-time favourite snack is essentially puffed rice mixed with peanuts, fresh chopped onions, tomatoes and chiles, drizzled with mustard oil. This is an omnipresent snack available almost anywhere in Kolkata. If taking a train ride to Kolkata, you can find hawkers selling jhaal muri on the trains and stations en route to Kolkata.

Chop, Telebhaja

‘Chops’ are deep-fried treats either stuffed with chopped veggies like carrots and peas, or with egg or minced chicken. The Telebhaja, which literally means ‘fried in oil’, are an amazingly lip-smacking and soulful group of food items. There are made by coating the key ingredient with a besan batter and deep-frying it. The main ingredient can be a brinjal (making a beguni), onions or potatoes.

Phuchka

The phuchka is a larger version of the golgappa, as North Indians call it. It is lighter, bigger, and crispier than its rest-of-India variant. The filling is mostly potato, unlike those found elsewhere.

Radha Bollobhi, Luchi with Alu Dum

This is a breakfast favourite of the locals, and stalls end up selling all their wares even before the end of breakfast time. It is a dal-stuffed puri served with either chana dal or dum aloo.

Luchi is a variation of puri, made with refined white flour or maida. A lunch plate of four luchis accompanied with dum aloo can be purchased from road-side hawkers at Rs 20!

Shingara

The shingara is a Bengali version of the well-known samosa. They are either baked or fried and mostly come with a potato/peas/cauliflower stuffing. The non-vegetarian version can include a stuffing of minced meat. Shingara and tea is one of the most popular evening snacks in Bengali homes.

Ghugni

Ghugni is an extremely flavourful dish made of boiled white peas, mixed with chopped onion, chiles, tomatoes, coriander, coconut, and tamarind juice. It can be had with luchi, radha ballabhi, or simply on its own.

See more: Kolkata's colonial architecture in 6 impressive buildings

Source: Internet

A vegan guide to Ha Noi

You might not believe it but it can be hard to find decent vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Ha Noi. Here are the best vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Ha Noi to make sure every meal is a winner.

Peace Vegan

Situated in a French-inspired maison overlooking the iconic west lake (Tay Ho), Peace Vegan certainly earned its moniker. Sit in the chilled, communal style ground floor, or peek upstairs at the elegant rooftop, where local expats and Vietnamese chat over coffee and delicious vegan food. Peace Vegan offers a fairly extensive and buffet option, as well as coffee and tea for extremely competitive prices.

As such, it has become one of Tay Ho’s trendiest hang-outs. On a weekday, you can grab yourself unlimited food including soup for only 40,000 VND, about 1.75 USD.

An Lac - Buffet Chay

How about a vegetarian buffet? For just VND 99,000 (USD 5), you are able to eat as you please and try all of the over 50 delicious, healthy vegan dishes at An Lac. This is great for a group meal as the restaurant is spacious. However, seats and food do run out thanks to the restaurant’s popularity and, of course, the extremely attractive price tag, so we recommend you reserve yourself a table in advance. Also, do make sure you keep an empty stomach before you head over.

Jalus Vegan Kitchen and Café

A small shop in an old, worn-out building located right in the heart of the Old Quarter, Jalus serves all kinds of healthy dishes in a cozy environment. This is a popular spot for the Western vegan community, and even seems to attract locals who are looking to take a break from their carnivorous diet. Enjoy a nice meal on the cute balcony while watching people wandering aimlessly on the street below, or stay under the A/C in the wooden-themed interior.

Loving Hut

This is the second Hanoi outlet for this international vegan restaurant chain, also known as Com Chay Thien Phuc. Located in an alley, with three 90-degree turns, this branch is located just outside of the Old Quarter. There are small signs to guide to in at both alley entrances, but the restaurant is easily visible from Hoang Ngoc Phach. Like all Loving Hut’s, you can expect a clean dining room, English language menu, and the typical mock meat and vegetable dishes. Prices are very reasonable, and you can also pick up some great whole foods such as whey powder, honey and dried fruit.

Quan Chay Bo De

There is a small vegan supermarket downstairs with a variety of noodles, mock meat and vegan sauces, we were excited to find this but to be honest the selection was limited and lots of it included MSG, which might be a problem for some travelers.

Read more: 5 best Banh My shops in Ha Noi, Vietnam

Uu Dam Chay

Welcoming you with a green garden and water stream that makes you surprised. Uu Dam is a cozy eatery located on Hang Bai street that connects the Old Quarter to the other districts in Ha Noi. The place is very spacious, spanning multiple floors, and almost feels as if you are dining in an art gallery. Uu Dam serves the vegetarian take of a wide variety of dishes ranging from southern to northern cuisine, including local favorites such as pho, bun cha and banh xeo. Every dish is vegan-friendly and the portions are so beautifully presented that you will feel a little guilty when you start to chew.

Source Internet