Brian Kennett
Amateur Chef and Boozy Traveling Foodie Extraordinaire
Sadly our last day in the incredible Chiang Mai. Here comes my last little blog of this truly wonderful short break and Chiang Mai Review. I am only showing off two things today, we had a nice lay-in, the usual delicious breakfast, Mary and I had a massage as the kids played in the pool and messed about in the sauna, and we had lunch at the hotel which was a free gift. So yes last day was indeed chillax.
One of my customer friends had recommended a restaurant for us to try out. Thank goodness we did. He described this place as the best Mexican food you’ll get outside of Mexico. We have to give that a go, so off we trundle to Miguel’s Cafe, +66 (0) 5387 4148, www.miguels-cafe.com; 106/1 Chaiyaphum Road.
If you happen to be in Chiang Mai, get yourself here. Come say hello to Mark and the lovely staff at Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant Chiang Mai, and sample the incredible food.
The Last Supper. My friend, James, made this recommendation to come for “the best Mexican outside of Mexico. In Thailand, are you sure? We have to try!
Let me apologise for the photos. As you can see we’re sitting under a blue-green gazebo thing, and it made all the pictures rather blue despite me having a crack to rectify it. It is what it is, just come eat – I guarantee you will NOT be disappointed. I cannot thank James enough for the tip! What a place Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant Chiang Mai is.
We took James’ advice re some of the must-have food choices too, and this is what we had – all for the incredible price of $60, I kid you not:
- 2x large Chang beers
- Strawberry ice cream shake
- Ice lemon tea
- Lemonade
- Lemon Shake
- Chain gang bowl of Chili
- Beef Steak Burrito
- Steak in Soft Taco
- Ground Beef in Soft Taco
- Pulled Chicken in Hard Shell Taco
- A Plain Cheese Quesadilla
Let me say it again Miguel’s Cafe charged us about $60 for all the above: must-visit in Chiang Mai.
So James said don’t worry about it not looking 5* from the outside, because the food is 5*. I kind-of like the look of the place, it’s very cool. The water mist things were great too – nice and cool without aircon. Grab a tuk-tuk to here, it’s on the main ring road around the central square of Chiang Mai.
My Ground Beef Soft Taco, so fresh, homemade tacos, spicy beef. Amazing, and another James’ recommendation. The smokey flavour gave this something of a unique quality from any I have tried before. Nicely done Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant.
Baby Jude’s extremely good Cheese Quesadilla – again all home-made at Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant, super light and super fresh.
Ollie’s just stunning Steak Burrito. Have a look at that melted cheese and sour cream. Dive in Ollie: one of Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant classics.
We went large, how could you not with the amazing fare on display – so let’s have three pulled Chicken Hard Shell Tacos too, please.
Oh yes, and the Chain Gang Chili. This was killer! Smoky, meaty and balanced with the sour cream. A foil wrap with soft tortillas, again freshly made and so good. Bloody brilliant chilli Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant – absolutely brilliant!
What a dinner. What a price. What a place. It’s a must folks! I have never been to Mexico, but without any shadow of a doubt, this was the best Mexican food I have ever sampled in my 49 years!
Nicely full up, we are ready to go shopping at the Saturday market. It’s hot, sweaty, full of tourists, ‘expensive’ in relative terms but cheap in comparison to Singapore. We bought tonnes of stuff. It is well worth a visit – Chiang Mai Night Bazar or Saturday Market.
Next up is a short tuk-tuk ride to The Saturday Market for some last-night shopping – wow this place is manic! But check the street food on display at every turn. These are rings and rings of BBQ little pork sausage links: I think Chorizo. If only pictures could smell.
See what I mean? This is tourist heaven – but it has to be done one or two nights of your stay. I wedged out each of the kids so they could buy their own gifts. Baby Jude was dead set on getting a jeepni and it was literally the 2nd to last stall of thousands when we found it.
Glad we did the Chiang Mai Saturday Market on Chiang Mai Day 5, it is well worth a look.
The girls were bargaining hard – I think they bought two dresses from this stall and got a free scarf.
And the final photo for Chiang Mai Review Day 5 is – Pimp My Tuk-Tuk. Check this bad boy out. We wanted to use this to get home, but it is Hobson’s Choice, so to the front of the tuk-tuk queue we go.
That is it, the last post for this holiday trip to Chiang Mai. Our last day was insignificant, lay in, late breakfast, finish packing and bus to the airport. No photos, nothing to report for that, hence Chiang Mai Day Review Tour being the final.
I hope you all enjoyed the insights into the food and fun over our five days in Chiang Mai, you never know it might give you some tips for a first-time trip, or some new things to do if you have been before. We loved Chiang Mai so much, and plan to come back, and if you get to do some of the things we shared, please: ENJOY!!!
