Some of the best restaurants in Thailand I’ve eaten at have been a product of just walking around with no plans and discovering a restaurant. That’s exactly what happened when we ate at Loong Thai Khao Gaeng (ลุงไทยข้าวแกง (เพชรบุรี), a restaurant in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
We had justed visited a local market, located across the street from Chiang Mai university, and we were headed back to the center of town to have lunch and to walk around more. But just as we were about to jump into the back of a taxi (rot songthaew), we noticed a restaurant that was bumping with customers… and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet. One thing I’m always paying attention to when I eat is crowds of people at a restaurant - if you ever notice a crowd, that’s a pretty good sign of something good being served.
Loong Thai Khao Gaeng (ลุงไทยข้าวแกง (เพชรบุรี) is a Thai rice and curry restaurant. You can choose to order your food with a separate plate of rice bowls of dishes, or you can get a plate of rice and then choose the different dishes you want placed on top. We ordered a combination of both. First I got a plate of rice topped with some amazing looking pad phet neua (ผัดเผ็ดเนื้อ beef fried in red curry) and mara pad kai (มะระผัดไข่ bitter melon fried with egg). On the side, I couldn’t resist ordering an extra dish of lon dao jeow (หลนเต้าเจี๋ยว) an old school Thai dish, like a dip used for vegetables, made from fermented soy beans. Finally, I wasn’t first going to order it, but after seeing nearly everyone who was eating there order it, I got an extra plate of gob pad phet (ผัดเผ็ดกบ frog fried in red chili curry).
The two chili curry dishes looked incredibly spice from the start, bright red in color, and were just stuffed with chilies. The pad phet neua (ผัดเผ็ดเนื้อ beef fried in red curry), was incredibly good, and it tasted sort of like beef jerky, flavored with wonderful spices and an unbelievable amount of chili coated onto every single piece. I’m a huge fan of bitter melon, and the bitter melon stir fried with egg was a perfect complement to the spicy beef. The lon dao jeow (หลนเต้าเจี๋ยว) is a unique and interesting dish. It has a bit of a flavor of cheese, but for myself it was a bit on the sweet side. It did taste good with raw vegetables, but I would have preferred it, had it not been so sweet. Finally the pad phet gob (ผัดเผ็ดกบ frog fried in red chili curry) was wonderful. Again, the spices and chili were incredibly pungent, and I actually cried from eating it. The chunks of frog were nice and tender and despite all the little boney pieces of frog, there was still some good meat to it.
If you love spicy food, and want to try some authentic Northern style rice and curry when you’re in Chiang Mai, Loong Thai Khao Gaeng (ลุงไทยข้าวแกง (เพชรบุรี) is a wonderful place. But do be prepared to cry from the amount of chilies they use in their cooking. They also have some dishes that aren’t too spicy, but you should most definitely try the spicy dishes, as that’s what they are most famous for.
Loong Thai Khao Gaeng
Address: Thanon Suthep, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Open hours: 4 am - 2 pm daily (good for breakfast or lunch)
Phone: 08-6977-8593
Prices: About 50 THB per person
ลุงไทยข้าวแกง (เพชรบุรี)
ที่อยู่ ถนนสุเทพ ตำบล ช้างคลาน อำเภอ เมือง จังหวัด เชียงใหม่ ทางเข้ากองบิน 41 ข้างโรงแรมพิงค์พยอม
โทร.08-6977-8593
เปิดจันทร์ – ศุกร์ 04.00 – 14.00 น.
Music in this video courtesy of Audio Network
Restaurants in Chiang Mai: http://www.eatingthaifood.com/best-restaurants-in-chiang-mai/
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