Restaurant with a view – Location, location! Looking for Northern Thai food?
Restaurant Name: Lumdee
Address: Lumdee Tambon Wiang, Amphoe Mueang Chiang Rai, Chang Wat Chiang Rai 57000, Thailand
Note: This is an independent restaurant review based on my experience.
When wandering around Chiang Rai, it seems that all roads lead to the Clock Tower. This is a popular meeting spot as it is easy to find and a golden, kitschy tourist attraction of the small northern Thailand city.
...like a German pretzel from Germany, unless you have been to Thailand, you do not really know how it tastes.
The Cafe: It is here at Lumdee, that thirsty, tired and hungry, we stopped for a bite to eat while waiting for our room to be available. The cafe style restaurant has a cute, homey feel to it; some wooden tables outside, a few more inside and lots of tourist knick knacks and goodies for sale.
The Service: A server took our order fairly quickly. She seemed rather bored and possibly a little angry that she had to work while the rest of the city still seemed to be sleepily waking up. We ordered 2 Pad Thai and 1 Nam Ngeow (soup) along with water to quench our thirst.
...overdid it with the dried shrimp in the Pad Thai, resulting in an overpowering fishy taste
The Food
Nam Ngeow: The soup is a Northern Thailand specialty made of a deep meat broth, in this case, beef – I think. It is has an extremely rich, slightly garlicky flavour, similar to a good stew or goulash. Tomatoes and a gentle sprinkling of chili round out the flavour. Although we generally like things on the spicier side, this was probably seasoned for a beginner’s palate. A small serving of noodles buried in the broth completed the delicious dish.
Pad Thai: I think unlike in the past, today almost everyone knows what Pad Thai is, although I would argue that like a German pretzel from Germany, unless you have been to Thailand, you do not really know how it tastes. It is all about the ingredients – tamarind paste, fish sauce and palm sugar to hone the flavours of noodles, sprouts, and chicken, among additional other fresh vegetables and spices.
The plating of the Pad Thai was beautiful. The noodle concoction was accompanied by fresh bean sprouts, scallions, chili pepper flakes and chopped peanuts. However, they overdid it with the dried shrimp in the Pad Thai, resulting in an overpowering fishy taste which destroyed the slightly sweet, more sour garlic flavours.
The Cost: The bill for the two of us came to a fair price of 150 baht / €3.90 / USD$4.50.
Get There:
Links which you may find interesting:
→ Chiang Rai / Photos
.….⇒ Stay: Baan Siri Hotel
…..⇒ Eat: Baan Chivit Mai Bakery & Restaurant
…..⇒ Eat: Sawaddee Restaurant
…..⇒ Sleeping Bus from Luang Prabang, Laos to Chiang Rai
…..⇒ Top Things to See and Do in Chiang Rai
…..⇒ Temple Challenge – are you up for it? Fun!
→ Chiang Mai / Photos
…..⇒ Green Bus From Chiang Rai to Chiang Mai
Location: Asia > Southeast Asia > Thailand > Northern Thailand > Chiang Rai > Lumdee