This week the Dining Out Team found a restaurant, right
opposite the Chiang Mai airport, overlooking a lake. A veritable oasis in the
flat uninteresting panorama of the airport!
So why have you not seen this restaurant before? Because it
is hidden away down the soi that leads to the Aero Thai Club, and unless you are
‘in the know’ you would not be aware of its existence. However, after
reading this week’s review, you will be one of the knowing ones!
The
restaurant has two main areas - an air-conditioned indoors section and a covered
rotunda on the edge of the lake. Being a hot day, we chose the air-con section
for our lunch.
The menu is a very bright and large affair, with plenty of
photographs for those who are unsure of what items such as deep fried shitake
mushrooms with sauce look like! It begins with a seven item Special Menu with
items ranging from B. 50 (Red curry with pond snail and acacia) through to B.
200 at the top end for the Ostrich dish.
Six
appetizers are next (B. 60-80) with deep fried fish tofu or the aforementioned
shitake mushrooms. 18 curries follow with the majority around B. 70 with the
usual standards, plus a jungle curry with frog and an interesting sounding
northern Indian curry with pork and flaked ginger. There are five Tom Yams at B.
80, followed by seven Hot soups around B. 60 with lots of minced pork and
different vegetables.
The next two pages cover stir-fries and deep-fries. Other
than the fish items, the vast majority are well under B. 100, with 64 items to
choose from including deep fried spicy northern sausage or even a hot spicy
curry paste with frog and green pepper, or the more usual stir fried chicken
with cashews.
Now past half way, there are 18 spicy salads, all B 80 or
lower, some interesting dips (B. 60-120) and then single dishes with rice and
noodles with most around B. 40-50.
Finally there are two pages of beverages with softs and
juices around B. 20, local beers B. 70-85, plus bottles of whisky from as low as
B. 300, or the locally distilled ones at B. 160. Finally (gasp) there are six
choices of Thai dessert around B. 40 with sago and black bean in coconut cream
and black sesame dumpling in ginger tea sounding adventurous.
At the suggestion of their marketing lady, Patchara Hitasiri,
we began with a deep-fried bean curd with plum sauce, which was a very pleasant
appetizer and then moved on to assorted northern sausages and deep-fried pork
skin and a hot sauce to go with this.
The next item was very interesting - a crispy sliced Morning
Glory with a peanut and chilli sauce. After these spicy items we then attacked a
vegetable stir-fry with oyster sauce and a Panang curry. This was very smooth,
though I did find the pond snail a trifle rubbery (similar to squid).
More food kept on coming out from the Aero Thai Club kitchen,
brought by the immaculately turned out service personnel in their dark green
uniforms. This time it was an interesting peppery beef dish, that I enjoyed very
much. Finally we had a steamed Tub-tim fish with ginger, Madame’s favourite
for the day.
We were very pleasantly surprised by this restaurant. It was
of a higher standard than many establishments in Chiang Mai, and the food was of
good quality, and not too spicy for the expat palate either. The costs were also
most reasonable, so you could take the family there without breaking the bank.
The outlook over the lake makes for a pleasant sojourn, and it would be hard to
beat the rotunda on a cool evening. Two jazz saxophonists play most nights.
Definitely worth a try.
Aero Thai Club Restaurant, 34, Soi 11 Himmanhaemin Road (opposite the
airport), Tambon Suthep, Chiang Mai, telephone 053 281 541 ext 4900. Open 10
a.m. till 11 p.m.
