Some establishments seem to have been able to not only find
the magic formula, but keep it as well. With Daddy’s Pizza and Steakhouse
being now 18 years old, they must have been doing something right. The Dining
Out team went along to see if we could find out what it was.
This
restaurant on Chang Klan Road is in a very busy area, with market stalls on the
footpath and seemingly armies of Akha ladies beseeching you to buy trinkets you
will never need. The restaurant is well signed and you should have no trouble
finding it (the Royal Princess Hotel is a good landmark, on the other side of
the street).
However, it is set in a single shophouse, so it is not large.
There are three dining areas - one outside adjacent to the pavement, another
inside, enclosed and air-conditioned, and a further area upstairs for pre-booked
parties of less than 20 people.
The service personnel are kept busy, and the girls are
dressed in tartan skirts, which seems a little incongruous, but certainly does
not keep the customers away. On our night they were very busy, with each table
turning over at least twice during our stay.
The
decor is probably best covered by the world eclectic, with some paintings of
elephant camps along one wall and a large advertisement for the New Zealand
Butter Board on the other. The tables have brightly coloured throw-overs and
have a collection of sauces and condiments including Worcestershire sauce, HP
sauce, Tabasco and toothpicks (always important in a steakhouse!).
The menu is not a grand affair, but is certainly packed with
choices. The first item almost says it all - Smoked salmon with horseradish
cream, capers, onion, toast and butter for B. 160. Well thought out choices and
not over the top in prices.
For those who need burgers, there are many choices (B. 55-85)
with the top of the line being one with blue cheese!
There are also set menus for the “tourists” (B. 175-195)
who should be attracted by a three course offering, including main dishes such
as Weiner schnitzel plus all the trimmings. The potatoes come in a choice of
five styles as well.
Pizzas range from B. 95 and the top spaghetti comes with
smoked salmon in whisky cream at B. 175. There is also a wide variety of
inexpensively priced Thai food items.
We tried several dishes at the insistence of the happy and
congenial owner Chanphen Sennun, with the first being one of their thick based
pizzas. Served hot with generous slices of capsicum (bell peppers) and flowing
cheese as you took each slice, it was a perfectly good example of the pizza
maker’s art.
The steak came with a champignon sauce, steamed vegetables
and well cooked french-fries and really did not need the sharp steak knife that
was in the table setting; however, I did get one of those annoying Uri Geller
bending forks, but on checking it was the only one at our table, and I was
unlucky enough to get it!
Our food was well presented and in good-sized serves. The
champignon sauce was particularly good, and the steaks we tried certainly were
tender. When you are looking at B. 320 for rib eye, this is not expensive for
good quality beef. The pizza was very tasty and the spaghetti carbonara was
excellent. We certainly had no complaints about the food and the beer was cold
and the house wine quaffable.
The combined opinions of the Dining Out team of this
restaurant (plus the views of a table of English lads on their way through
Chiang Mai) was that Daddy’s Pizza and Steakhouse offered good food, in large
enough portions, in clean surroundings. The product was right and the price was
right. The value for money was there. There is no real secret in the restaurant
business, other than that, but unfortunately many fall short. Daddy’s Pizza
and Steakhouse does not. Well worth a trip to the Night Markets!
Daddy’s Pizza and Steakhouse, 147/2 Chang Klan Road (opposite Royal
Princess Hotel), telephone 053 272 117. Secure parking in Anusarn Market. Open
seven days, 7 a.m. until midnight.
