Pasta Cafe

There are endless numbers of restaurants on Nimanhaemin Rd and the lanes that run off it to choose from. Pasta Cafe is another popular restaurant. Great atmosphere, great pasta and salad dishes, reasonable prices. To top it off, the owner and chef, a local girl trained at Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, so expect the standards to be up to scratch.

The restaurant itself is set in a large house with an extensive lawn. As well as air-conditioned indoor dining, there is also a nice outdoor (covered) dining area. It was a Friday night, and as we're in the middle of the wet season, we chose to sit indoors. Just as well we made a booking, because Pasta Cafe was packed that night.

And the food? As expected, everything was of high quality.

I had Spaghetti Puttanesca, which contained a sauce made from tomatoes, anchovy, black olives, and a bit of chilli, giving the pasta a bit of a bite. It was lovely.


Squid Ink Fettuchini with Cream Sauce. This actually didn't look too appetising to me, but it also contained prawns, spinach and shrimp roe. It turned out to be fantastic, according to our fellow dining companion. I must try it next time!

The vegetarian amongst us ordered the Vegie Lasagne - lots of stewed vegies, and lots of cheese!

We also ordered a Ceasar Salad to share. This is one of the dishes the waiter recommended to us. It was nice and fresh, and the sauce very creamy. It was very nice, but I didn't think it was THAT fantastic.


We enjoyed the Rocket Salad a lot more though. Fresh, light and tangy (from the Balsamic Vinegar Dressing) with the earthy, rich, peppery taste of the rockets. Yum!

The total bill turned out to be 1110 baht for 5 people. Really good value! Pasta Cafe turned out to be not a bad place for good pasta at reasonable prices!

Pasta Cafe

21 Soi 5 Nimanhaeminda Rd

Suthep, Muang, Chiang Mai

Tel: 053 357 310

11am-2:30pm; 5:30pm-10pm

Closed Monday

Tags: Fusion Food, Nimanhaemin, pasta, Western food

Salad Concept

Salad Concept is a cute little salad restaurant on the corner of Nimanhaemin Soi 13. As you can tell from the name, they serve salads. You can design your own and choose from one of their amazing homemade dressings, which include Japanese Soy Sauce, Carrot, French, Pumpkin, Tofu and Tamarind Sesame, or you can choose a salad off the menu. They also serve healthy smoothies and delectable looking cakes.

I had the Grilled Beef Salad which comes with the Japanese Soy Sauce dressing. The dressing was gorgeously tasty and light. The beef was tasty and tender. Notice - no burnt bits - very healthy indeed, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! 90 baht

The Organic Tofu Salad looked fantastic too, and again, came with the Japanese Soy Sauce dressing. The tofu were fried with sesame oil. 85 baht.

The meal was nice and light, actually, too light for me, as I was still hungry afterwards. Our party of 5 for some reason, didn't feel like a dessert after the salads so we went off somewhere else for our second dinner.

On my second visit, I tried a design your own salad, and I noticed pasta is available as one of the additions. This made the salad a bit more filling. I also chose grilled chicken. I guess chicken is cheaper than beef, because I got a lot more of it! By the way, the Tamarind Sesame Dressing was great too - light and tangy.

One smoothie also caught my eyes - Banana Brand Smoothie, which contains banana, milk and peanut butter. I actually had this on my second visit. I was expecting a Western style smoothie - rich and creamy, but I was surprised that it was a Thai style smoothie - light and refreshing, blended with ice. I needn't feel guilty! I'm not sure if I can say the same for the dessert though! I didn't try any of the cakes, but I heard that the carrot cake is very good.

What I like about Salad Concept:

• Lovely, fresh and healthy salads with amazing dressings
• Dressings served on the side, but we ended up pouring the whole thing into the salad anyway!
• Delicious and healthy drinks available, including an anti-cancer drink. I'd imagine you'd have to go back everyday and drink it though if you're after the anti-cancer effects!
• Dynamic atmosphere & quick service

The only little thing I'd mention is that that the tables are very small seating only 2-4. We were a group of 5, and luckily we managed to get one of the bigger round tables. Even then, it was still quite tight - having to fit all the huge salad bowls/plates, napkin dispenser, etc.

Still, it's a great little restaurant to go to if you'd like a vegie fix or feels like something light. It's definitely very popular - Salad Concept was packed both times I was there.

Salad Concept

Nimanhaemin Soi 13

Opens: 11am-10pm

Tel: 053 894 455

Tags: Nimanhaemin, Recommended Restaurant, Restaurant review, Vegetarian, Western food

Chiang Dao Nest 1, Chiang Dao

Spaghetti with Prawns, Garlic & Zucchini. This was quite nice and light pasta dish, but just needed a bit more salt and it would have been great! We were expecting larger prawns though, because the menu said "king prawns", as far as I can remember. We were a bit disappointed to get puny ones. Ok, it wasn't THAT bad, just smaller than expected! 155 baht.

By this time, we were quite full, but there was something else we wanted to try - Belgian Chips. These took a while to come out, and turned out to be french fries, fried the normal way. Cheddar cheese was then placed on top, and the whole thing baked. It was delicious, of course, but I must say, not too good for the waistline! 65 baht.

So our "light meal" became not so light after all! We were quite satisfied and happy, even if the meals came out quite slowly (they were quite busy at the time). We were also quite hot as the restaurant doesn't have air-conditioning. However, April IS one of the hottest months here in Thailand. It's probably quite comfortable there in the evenings and in the cooler months.

Chiang Dao Nest 1

Tags: Chiang Dao, European, Recommended Restaurant, Western food