Friday, May 7, 2010

Thai Chiang Mai

2209 North Main Street
High Point, NC 27262-7703
(336) 869-0908
This place has no website!
Two Thumbs Up

Jason's Take
Thai Chiang Mai has been around in High Point for the past 13 years and if they continue to provide such great food they will be around for many more years. Many Asian restaurants are mediocre at best. The food at Thai Chiang Mai is fresh and flavorful. I had an order of crispy spring rolls as an appetizer ($3.00). These are vegetable rolls deep fried and served with a sweet dipping sauce. There is a nice crunch with the deep fried rice paper and the veggies in the middle have a nice flavor. Despite being deep fried they are not too greasy. For my entree I had the traditional Thai dish, Chicken Pad Thai ($9.99). At Thai Chiang Mai you can order food mild, medium, hot, or Thai hot. I ordered it hot. I received a generous portion of the noodle dish and when they say hot, they mean hot. The peppers they use to heat up their food give the lips and mouth region a nice controlled burn which is accented by the few drops of sweat on my brow. However a sip of Singha, the Thai Beer ($4.00), the heat is temporarily washed away. They bring you a spice rack and I added a little dried, ground, Thai chili pepper to my food which added to the flavor. The great thing about spicy Asian food in general is that while the heat exists...you know it because you can't feel your lips, the flavors do not go away because of the heat. The flavors of peanut and chicken and whatever else they use to season their dish still pop in your mouth despite the heat. To sum it up, the Pad Thai is Dank.

A perfect end to any great meal is dessert. Thai Chiang Mai features a very uniques dessert. Homemade coconut icecream (2.99). This is the perfect ending to the meal as it quiets the burning sensation of my lips. The icecream has a nice texture. I can definitely tell it is homemade and flavored with real coconut because the coconut flakes are very evident in the texture of the icecream. There are no frills in this dessert. It is a large scoop of icecream in a glass dish with a spoon. Simple yet tasty and very cooling of the mouth and esophagus.

Thai Chiang Mai is a very unique restaurant when compared to other Asian restaurants I have been to. It is family owned and they treat everyone like family. Much of their business is repeat business and they seem to know and cherish their regulars. Another aspect that makes the place unique is the decor. I am no interior designer and I know nothing of authentic Asian decor, but either this place is filled with authentic decorations or they have decorated it in a fashion that will make Americans think it is authentic. All I know is that the statues, pictures, and "twirly things" hanging from the ceilings make it seem authentic.

Another aspect adding to the color of the restaurant is the stage. There are a few guitars hanging on the wall and a microphone and a few speakers. The restaurant often has live music, a man or woman singing and playing a guitar, on Friday nights. While I didn't get to experience this I overheard the owner speaking with a regular about musical acts that frequented the place over the past 13 years.

Thai Chiang Mai was a great experience. They have a friendly staff, and the food speaks for itself. One day I am gonna be brave and order my food Thai Hot. If I live to tell about it, I will let you know.

Jon's Take
Sorry for the long delay between posts...this is mostly my fault. But in the busy life of High Point, North Carolina, we did get out to Thai Chiang Mai last week for a review. It won't be the last time I go to Thai Chiang Mai – this place has really tasty food, a comfortable atmosphere and reasonable prices for the quality and quantity.

Starting off, there's a huge selection on the menu. I'm not a veteran Thai food eater, so I had a hard time making decisions on the order. Jason ordered Crispy Spring Rolls and I ordered Chian Mai Wings to buy some time while deciding on an entree. The spring rolls were good and very light for fried food. The best part was the sauce that came with them (sweet 'n sour sauce?), because it had an interesting but not overpowering flavor. Most times when you put a sauce like that on food, the sauce takes over. The wings were pretty good too...not really necessary because the entrees showed up before we could get through all the appetizers.

For my entree I decided on Mai Thai with Beef, which is a noodle dish with vegetables and (obviously) beef. It was good and I had a good meal out of it, but I think I probably would have enjoyed other menu items more. The noodles were thin and light, not really what I was expecting but they were OK. I liked the mushrooms. The restaurant provided an array of spices and sauces which definitely added to the experience. I experimented with the crushed chili peppers and Tuong ot Sriracha sauce, and both were very good. I'll definitely order my food hot next time.

The wings, sauces I used on my entree, as well as trying Jason's hot entree definitely had my mouth on fire a few times, but the Singha Thai beer was a perfect remedy. It's light and tasty at the same time, a great compliment to the flavors offered.

I'm definitely looking forward to heading back to Thai Chiang Mai and trying some different things on the menu.

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