THE DRINKS PAGE

I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY DAVES

"How in hell do you get round these places without losing your liver or choking on cholesterol?" asks a guy who reads this stuff on the internet. Easy. I don't. It's truth time - and truth is I listen to other folk I know are reliable.

Great burgers behind the dark glass

Yes, it DID take me just over a year to get to Easy Diner; yes they DO have one of the very best burger's in town (more anon) but it wasn't me who sampled the excellent Lady Jane's Pub in Phitsanuloke months back - and it wasn't me who toured some of Chiangmai's "No Frills" places reported here. It was my spies who clue me up on e-mail - or on scraps of soiled paper left under certain challenging pool tables.

Clues to these anonymuos sleuths of the night? I'll give you just one. Most of them are called Dave, mainly because most people eating and driking in Chiangmai are called Dave. They all agree that the name wasn't commonplace way back when. They grew up on class alongside Johns, Michaels, Brians and Steves. But most Daves worldwide are right here now in Chiangmai, guzzling and gabbing with each other. English Daves (there are 4) hunt around for good, low cost places; Australian Dave surfaces at 11.00pm (my karaoke correspondent); Belgian Dave runs Charming Bar (welcome back!) and American Dave cruises round smart eateries - like Easy Diner. It was he who invited me to this fine establishment opposite the Shell station near Thapae Gate in Rachadamnern Road run by English Dave, sorry, Phil! The burgers comprise excellent ingredients (Nothern Farms meat, I was told); come with a wide choice of toppings; are cooked to perfection and portion sizes are generous in the extreme. Part of Phil's success here is attention to detail. The coleslaw dressing is the best I've had in town, the fries have just the right salting and you get low-volume BBC TV and air-con. Phil, keep it, as they say in certain parts of London, up!

"Please eat here before we both starve!" is the plaintive plea atop the printed menu of Kaew's, the fist "No frills" place reported to me this month by English Dave No 3. Directly opposite the Chinese temple in Loi Kroh, close to The Red Lion, 25B is the most you'll pay here for any one of 18 Thai, Chinese or Vietnamese dishes. No booze, but free water is supplied.

I do recall visiting another favourite of Royal Lanna resigents, Grandfarther's House, the aptly named wooden place opposite Lanna Thai guest house in the nearby soi leading to Anusarn Market. Friendly folk with quiet, friendly white dogs, they serve great Thai food at low prices. "Gracious people with a relaxed, traditional atmosphere" writes Dave 3. He gets his own column next month.

Signs in English, names even, are rare at these places. People running a khao soi place across the river near Rimping supermarket were bemused when Dave 3 asked it's name. Fat Uncle's Khao Soi, a move costing millions at any Bangkok advertising agency, was the eventual answer!

Up Thapae Road at night? Sudden flame on the right near the top is not a book store catching fire. Phad Thai (this sign is in English!). Outstanding vegetable matter, 20B each and you form a line!

It's from the dying days of Domino, now the very much-alive-and-friendly True Blue. It was a Saturday lunch time, lots of guys were drinking at the bar and a lovely Thai lady paused at the open door and called "High Dave!". Seven (I kid you not, SEVEN) heads swivelled right and 7 enthusiastic voices shouted "High yourself!"

BUT I DON’T GIVE A CLUCK!

An English artist living in Thailand - his work and what catches his eye.

Maybe yours too?

Michael Croft

Chiangmai and the North

My Chiangmai

David Hardy

The Drinks Page

Night Fowl

Letters

Heart to Heart

Reasons to Relax

Old and New along the River Ping.

Laos by Bridge

Hospitals losing money

Hospitals taking part in the government's new "30 B per visit" health scheme for poor Thai people are already losing money (...).

MISS JUREEPORN. I'm 30 years old and would like to marry with a foreign gentleman 30-45 years old who has a good heart (...).

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