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Gourmet Visits Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi

"Dinner this evening is going to cost us a week's wages!" I joked with Kwang as we pulled up outside the illustrious Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi Chiang Mai.

I was keen to take another look around this special hotel, having seen the project prior to completion last year. It was beautiful then in its attempt to conjure a kind of mythological Lanna city.

We made our way through the very comfortable yet highly luxurious main lobby and slipped into the surprisingly funky Horn Bar for pre-dinner cocktails. Drinks here are pretty standard bar prices and you can get a beer for as little as 99 baht.

Dinner was at Akaligo; one of five different eating venues at the Dhara Dhevi available to hotel visitors. This restaurant opened recently bearing a sumptuous Mediterranean-inspired menu, and allaying any fears I had about price, Three courses including a dessert buffet is currently only 800 baht.

Executive Chef, Dominique Bugnand, came over to chat: "We all respect the food in the kitchen for exactly what it is. For me, fusion is confusion," he told us, thereby explaining Akaligo's collection of fine but refreshingly unfussy dishes.

I began with the Carpaccio Di Manzo, an Akaligo speciality. These wafer thin slices of almost raw beef are just slightly cooked, miraculously, with the addition of lemon juice. Served with a rocket salad and flavoursome Pecorino cheese I was off to a dynamic start. For my main I opted for the similarly recommended Osso Buco Di Vitello; melt in the mouth shank of grass-fed veal in rich gravy, accompanied by pureed potatoes and organic greens. Kwang grinned over her farmhouse chicken breast covered with rosemary-marsala wine juice.

I bemoaned having not had the chance to try some of the pasta dishes such as the Linguine Marinara and special Risotto Akaligo, but Kwang, as a serious sweet lover, was already happy to head for the desserts. An intriguing-looking Strawberry Dome passed us by, but we went for the traditional Tiramisu and Pastiera Alla Napolenta; ricotta cheese tart with orange zest, lashings of amaretto and Malaga ice cream.

Currently the Dhara Dhevi has an aptly-named ‘Dine-In-Style' membership programme which offers a range of healthy discounts for regulars; most notably if you are two diners, you receive a 50% reduction on the price of your food. On the whole, dishes at Akaligo range between 250-600 baht, making this a surprisingly affordable option based on the venue.

While the decor in the dining room is sumptuous, the view off the terrace really has to be seen to be believed…

Gourmet Visits The River Ping Palace

Our visit to the River Ping Palace last year was more than a delightful experience. This year we returned once more to this magnificent place that gave us so much gourmet pleasure.

The result? The old charm is still at work. First of all, we were impressed with some renovation works, which includes the extension of the dining space and a fabulous mosaic artwork that forms an exotic face of a Chinese opera character.

However, beauty aside, what's more important than the food itself? As Esther Ting, the Singaporean lady owner of the place pointed out.

"You have to like food to be in the restaurant business. You eat what I eat. The same dishes I ate in my Grandmother's kitchen as a child," she told us.

Esther is also dedicated to using the freshest ingredients available. "If a fish isn't still swimming when you buy it, why eat it," she joked, highlighting just how fresh she likes things to be.

The food steadily began to arrive - a tasty simple plate of salami for starters, followed by pla muek pad prik pao, squid stir-fried with sweet chili paste. Next to appear was the khamoo muntow, stewed pork with herbs cooked gently on a low charcoal fire for about 6 hours to make the pork very soft. This was sided with local fresh vegetables. Alongside this came some fried buns, and it has to be said they were the best darn buns I've ever had. Soft and sweet on the inside, and lightly crispy on the outside and not the least bit oily. We were also treated to some plates of mixed vegetable tempura and finally some fried oysters.

But Esther had yet to reveal the ace up her chef's sleeve. Dessert! Trust me, she makes the best mango pie ever! There was also a remarkable kind of ‘hot chocolate' pudding served in a tiny receptacle. It had three layers of crushed peanuts at the bottom, chocolate cake with a hot chocolate filling in the middle, and whipped cream on top. However neither of these appeared on the menu as Esther normally provides her guests with dessert for free based on what she's been inspired to create on the day.

"A person can always lie about something, but food tells no lies," our hostess remarked, asking afterwards what the response was from our taste buds.

Truly satisfied indeed, we all confirmed.