Friday 26 August 2016

2Getherbar & Restaurant

When I was making dinner plans with a Thai friend and she found out I felt like Italian food, she unhesitatingly suggested 2Getherbar. She said the chef is Italian and the food there is excellent.

So there we were. My friend ordered the Pepperoni Pizza, her favourite at 2Getherbar. When I asked if we were sharing the pizza, she didn't look too happy. I ordered spaghetti pesto genovese. My friend then said that the somtum (aka papaya salad) here is excellent and proceeded to order the somtum with crab and fermented fish... not my favourite! What else can a curious foodie do, but order my own Tum Thai (just the regular somtum) to try it out. Well, that was a first! Going in for Italian food and also ended up ordering some papaya salad.

So here it is, the papaya salad. And yes, it was excellent. Crunchy papaya and peanuts, intense flavour and super spicy. My tongue was burning by the time I was half way through the somtum when luckily the pizza came out. BTW, normally you would have the somtum with other less spicy dishes. You can also order milder versions.


Luckily, my friend let me have some of her pizza. She explained later that pepperoni pizza is her favourite at 2Getherbar and normally she just eats the whole thing by herself, hence her hesitation in sharing the pizza with me! So while she gets through her papaya salad, I started on the thin crust pizza, which, I must say, was very good. I ended up eating 5 pieces (!!!), ie half the pizza (normally I would eat 3 pieces max). 240 baht.


After a little while, the pesto genovese came out. 120 baht. This is simply pesto, pasta and parmesan and it was a dream - deliciously smooth and creamy, especially when we added the extra parmesan. My friend, incidentally loved it and helped me eat quite a bit of it. :P



Who would have guessed a restaurant can make both great Italian food and Thai food (at least the papaya salad anyway)! Having tried the somtum, I would love to come back and try 2Getherbar's other Thai dishes, which incidentally also look great on the menu.

I must also say that the staff here is very friendly. During the meal, I see tourists coming to the bar as well as regular customers who the staff know by name. The restaurant wasn't overly busy on the Saturday night, but then I was told that a lot of people go to the Saturday Walking Street instead of the Night Bazaar, so perhaps the weekend would be a good time to come if you want to have a quiet dinner.

2Getherbar is located just a couple of doors down from Le Spice Indian Restaurant. If you come by car, you can park at Galare Night Bazaar (10 baht per hour).

The price, I think, is also quite reasonable, especially when compared to other Italian and Thai restaurants. Altogether, the bill came to about 300 baht each (including a glass of red wine for me and 2 glasses of white wine for my friend).

2Getherbar & Restaurant
19/1 Charoenprathet Soi 6
Night Bazaar, Chiang Mai
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/2GetherBarChiangMaiThailand/
Tel: 099 037 4331
Hours:  5pm-1am daily
GPS Location: 18.7847, 99.00149





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Saturday 20 August 2016

Singto Khao Mok Gai

Khao Mok Gai is a Thai biryani style yellow fragrant rice with chicken "burried" in and cooked with the rice. The rice is served with fried shallots, slices of cucumber and a refreshing sweet and sour sauce with mint and ginger.

Khao Mok Gai is not widely available in Chiang Mai as Khao Mun Gai (Chicken rice). I've had Khao Mok at only a few places in Chiang Mai - one at Khao Soi Islam, where khao mok neur (beef version) is supposed to be really good, and which I found quite good when I had it. There's also a beef noodle shop at Meechok Plaza where I work where I can get my khao mok gai fix. It's good, but I wouldn't say it's amazing and the chicken piece that they serve with the rice is quite small.

Recently, I discovered Singto Khao Mok Gai, a newish eatery quite close to Meechok Plaza. It's quite a large eatery buzzing with local lunch time diners. I notice that the eatery is very clean and they do have menus in Thai and English.

Khao Mok Neur (Beef) - 60 baht | Khao Mok Gai (Chicken) - 45 baht

And here it is.. Khao Mok Neur (60 baht) and Khao Mok Gai (45 baht).  I must say the first thing I noticed with the large piece of chicken and quite a big serving of the beef (compared to other shops). The rice was well made, fragrant and packed with flavour of the spices. The sauce - sweet, tangy and refreshing adds a nice vibrant note to the dish. Delicious!

I also tried the Curry Chicken Laksa (45 baht), which quite different to Malaysian style laksas I'm used too. I suppose this is the Thai version! I've never had this dish before. It's pretty much curry noodles, a little like khao soi, but the curry is quite smooth, rich and tangy. Very nice as well although the tangy flavour is quite unusual.

Chicken Curry Laksa - 45 baht

Singto Khao Mok Gai also have various types of soups (chicken, beef, squid and oxtail) that I haven't tried. The oxtail soup should be ordered in advance.

In terms of desserts, Singto Khao Mok Gai has Lodchong (these are the green "noodles" in coconut milk) - 20 baht. The lodchong here is excellent and the coconut milk "soup" is lovely, fragrant and creamy. The dessert is served in a pinto and the ice is separated from the actual dessert so that the melted ice doesn't dilute the the coconut milk.

Lod Chong - 20baht

Singto Khao Mok Gai is a great eatery with excellent Khao Mok / Thai Biryani chicken and beef. Definitely a place to try if you're in the area! Don't forget to try the lodchong too!

Singto Khao Mok Gai
88/8 Moo 8
T. Sanphiseur A. Muang
Chiang Mai
Tel: 093 958 8264
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/singtomokgai/



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