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Chiang Mai, a closer look
Other Fine Views on Chiang Mai Honolulu:
 See the Official Chiang Mai site! |
Reid checks out Chiang Mai! |
 Yelper's on Chiang Mai! |
 See Chiang Mai reviews on Trip Advisor! |
Aloha!
4/19/10 - Hey, much mahalo'z and thanks to Kawehi (Haug) for inviting a few of us on the last TGIF section of the Honolulu Advertiser. 'Only thing was... she got to do, like, six or seven progressive dinner routes and us-bloggers only got to do one each! No, I'm kidding, of course - she is the Advertiser food/entertainment editor, after all, and we were more than happy just to be included in the story! A little inside info, though - besides Pomai at Tasty Island, Ed Morita of Bakers Hours, and myself, at least one other blogger was supposed to be featured, and that is Reid, from Ono Kine Grindz. Reid is a humble guy that can be a bit media-shy, but make no mistake about it, he's been doing food blogs much, much longer than anyone else of note here on the island, and is looked-up to and well-respected by all of us newer guys coming afterwards; a true trailblazer in the field. Though technifal snafu's prevented him from contributing this past time, he was and always will be the Godfather of Hawaii Food Bloggers!
In case you're completely lost, here's the internet version of the Advertiser story, featuring Progressive Dinners, from Metromix (in partnership with the Honolulu Advertiser). To tell you the truth, I had no idea what a Progressive Dinner even was before being contacted! I guess back a few decades or so ago, the big thing was gathering a bunch of friends together, then visiting everyones' homes, one after another, with each person responsible for a different meal course for the evening. Nowadays, the modern version is using restaurants instead of homes. Kumi and I, along with friends, luuuv restaurant-hopping, so it wasn't much of a stretch to come-up with a good route. There are so many other great Progressive Dinner options, and perhaps I'll share some of them in the future, but the one I chose for the Advertiser was of a walking tour through Waikiki. The three restaurants are all within a five-minute walk of eachother, so it's a super-fun, highly enjoyable, and very much practical schedule you all should try one day, really! Do check out the link!
But moving along, right now it's time to venture instead into McCully/Moiliili, to one of the most established, well-respected, and longest-running Thai restaurants on the island, Chiang Mai:
Located in the small building right next to Stadium mall on one-way S. King St., you can either park on the road or in a lot directly behind the restaurant. Here's a few interactive maps to help you get there:
I remember once working with an older, very beautiful, and well-mannered Thai woman once, and she told me that the most authentic Thai restaurant on the island was none other than Chiang Mai. Having been here several times since, and although I'm not the greatest authority on Thai authenticity, I can say with all confidence that yes, this place is definitely authentic at least by Hawaii standards. Beyond that, I can only hope! I mean, you know how it is - everytime I ask a Thai-speaking person about where the best Thai food on the island is, almost invariably, they'll say "in my own kitchen!"
"Yeah, ok - second best, then?!"
Chiang Mai Honolulu looks a bit dated from the outside, but once inside, you'll find the surroundings clean, relatively nice, and spacious enough for lots of elbow room. With Buddhist statues welcoming you at the door, the next thing you'll see is an open kitchen to your right, where various folks are happily chatting-away while cooking:
There are three sections to dine in, with the largest fronting the kitchen and bar, a second, slightly smaller one next to it, and a smaller private room located near the back.
Alongside the windows, a row of Thai-style low riders are great for laying-back - waaay back! You can almost lie down on these things!
If you're familiar with any of my other Thai restaurant experiences, you're probably bored of seeing a tom yum soup every time, but so-sorry - once again, on this particular page, it'll be no different! I just can't stop Kumi from ordering the super-spicy, super-tangy soup!
Not that I don't like the stuff. It's just not a taste for everyone, and not one I'd particularly crave, is all. If only the extra-tart tanginess were taken away or at least mellowed, I'd find it a really killer soup! Only, I suppose then it wouldn't be tom yum anymore, ey?
Even with puckered lips, however, I'll still enjoy a bowl, only in smaller portions than Kumi. Chiang Mai's version is fabulous, but definitely on the expensive side - include chicken, and it's $9.50; shrimp, $12; fish, $13.50; and a seafood combo, a whopping $16! They do, however, come in decently large portions, this one above coming loaded with lots of whole shrimp, fresh Chinese parsley, lemongrass, galangal, and mushroom varieties like black fungus, straw and oyster:
Some of the herbs and spices that a cheaper Thai spot will use only in small portions are also the ingredients that make a Thai meal really pop! Without them, dishes always seem less exotic, and I end-up not knowing whether I'm having Thai or Chinese!
From left to right, lemongrass, galangal (Thai ginger), and kaffir lime leaf:
Another uniquely Thai dish is sticky rice. Personally, I prefer straight Jasmine rice, with its fragrant smells and long, fall-apart grains, but Kumi was curious as to how an order of sticky rice might turn-out.
This one wasn't quite as sticky as I've seen in the past, but still, very mochi-like. At the same time, however, don't think it shares any resemblance to local sticky rice, which is half-mush and more the result of people not knowing how to cook! The texture here is not mushy at all, but firm, chewy, and very sticky at the same time. Presented well, too, I must say!
Another starch dish, listed on a special menu, was a big winner for Kumi and I - pad kee mao. Often called called drunken noodles, it is a chow-funn-like wide noodle originally created by Chinese residents living in Southeast Asia. It can be found at just about any Thai restaurant these days, and Chiang Mai's version was easily the best I'd ever tasted.
I forgot to request a spice level, but even so, the english name they used was spicy noodle, so I guess the heat still comes, regardless. And lemme tell you what - these guys don't fool around! I hadn't had Thai-hot in quite a while, but this one came pretty darn close, even without a request! Along with another very spicy dish you'll see later, I went through three re-fills of ice-cold water, while the napkin I had was reduced to a pitifully soiled, completely useless, torn & tattered excuse-of-a-paper towel after repeatedly wiping the sweat off my brow, as well as off my neck and face, after each and every bite! The poor waitresses were so funny, checking-on me every so often, seeing if I was ok! "Too hot?" they say, over and over again. "oh, no," I say... "dass jess how I like 'em!"
But the best part of this particular dish wasn't the perfectly-cooked, chewy-tender noodles, nor the chicken (very dry, actually - one of the few missteps we've found!), but the irregular strips of tofu! May not sound so great, but the real story is that they were of a deep-fried variety, which makes everything better, yes? And when when they soaked-up all that spicy sauce, the combination was a concentration of flavors that was unbeatable! Upon closer inspection, you can already tell these things were delicious, yes?
One glaring aspect I find interesting here is that, except for their spring rolls, I can't find anything else with pork! Whaaaa? Yup, I scanned the whole menu, and nothing happening - not with soups, not with salads, not with noodles, not in stir-fry's, and not even on curries! Don't they know that pork fat does a body good?
But no worries. That most staple of Thai dishes, curry, doesn't come with pig, but does come in chicken, beef, fish, or shrimp, as well as the usual assortments of red, yellow, green, Massaman, and so on, so there's yet plenty of options. We've tried several of them, and they're all great. Here's a green curry with beef ($9.50):
They are on the small side, portions-wise, but still, worth it only because they're so delicious. A small mound of beef, eggplant, and basil provide substance, while the thin, coconut milk-infused green curry fills the shallow, boxed plate.
Like our pad kee mao, or spicy drunken noodle, another dish on the special menu list was a red duck curry:
Once again, fabulous. In fact, this was my favorite curry of all here. Like other curries, a small mound of hard ingredients, in this case duck, basil, bamboo shoots, and a bit of pineapple, was placed in the center, its thin sauce filling a shallow basin below.
Though the mound was small, it contained a deceptively decent amount of luscious, fatty duck pieces, all of which were done as well as any good Chinese restaurant! A flip-side shot reveals a bit more of its tender, yet crispy bamboo shoots:
I've had Chiang Mai's version of pad thai here before, but didn't really care much for it. I mean, you could tell everything was done well, from the crispy bean sprouts to the al dente noodles, all flash-cooked perfectly together and all. It's just that the taste was a bit too much on the light side for me. For all I know, this is probably how they do it in the Motherland, and everything else we experience here regarding Thai is over-flavored and over-exaggerated. Who knows?
One type of pad thai you don't have to worry about when it comes to flavor, however, is their curry pad thai ($9.50 with chicken or beef, $12 with shrimp). Yep, when hitting-up any Thai restaurant around town, you may be able to special order this particular combination, but at Chiang Mai Honolulu, it's actually included on the menu, and believe me, it's a very popular way to go:
Actually, I thought they'd prepare a dish of pad thai, cooked and tossed with other stir-fry ingredients as normal, then just ladle curry all over it. Instead, the boiled noodles themselves, along with raw bean sprouts, were simply added to the plate. I wonder if it'd taste better if an actual order of pad thai noodles were prepared normally, then covered-over with curry? But then again, that's a twice-cooked process, so maybe it'd be a twice-as-expensive dish, as well, no?
Here's a better shot of the noodles and beansprouts underneath. As you can see, it's simply pure-white noodle, nothing else. Not that I'm complaining - I'd still recommend this combination curry/pad thai noodle in a heartbeat!
In my book, Chiang Mai Honolulu is definitely one of the best, if not the best, Thai restaurant on the island. The ingredients are fresh, there's a touch of sophistication in all their dishes, and it seems that they take great pride in authenticity, as far as this local boy can see! There's also a whole lot of vegetarian dishes, too, and you can already tell from the other dishes that their veggies are fresh, crispy, and flash-cooked perfectly, so I suspect that their evil tofu, long rice w/bamboo shoots, mixed vegetable curry, broccoli noodle, and more, are just as great.
At about $9-$13 per dish, prices may seem a little high as compared to portions, but it's not especially different from many of the other good Thai restaurants on the island. And the Thai-hot here? Next time I'll bring a full-sized beach towel to soak-up all the sweat! We also took-out a Thai-hot papaya salad, and not only could we not finish half of it, but we combined the remaining half with a third of a chopped head of cabbage, and it was still difficult managing the heat! But like I said earlier - dass jess how we like 'em!
Hey, you all have a great and wonderful day!
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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