Reviewed
Aug 03

Chiang Mai is not your typical Thai restaurant. No fake elephants for a start. It is set back from the High in an old Tudor style building, white with dark beams and wood floors. I've never been to a Thai place to look at elephants, so I can only see this as a huge bonus; attractive, quiet surroundings and delicious food. I have heard people credit this as the best Thai within 30 miles of Oxford. I haven't been to them all, but it really wouldn't surprise me. The service is friendly, unassuming and relaxed, it's not as expensive as people would have you believe and the food has exotic sounding names (all translated) that emerge, like butterflies, as some of the best restaurant food going.

To start, we opted for the sateh, two chicken, two beef with a rich and spicy peanut sauce (£5.75). It was definitely not a bad choice, although I'm not sure that a bad choice is possible unless you have nut or seafood allergies. I moved on to Gaeng Ped Phed Yang (£8.50). I have no idea how to pronounce it, but I pointed and was presented with a roast duck curry with a spicy tomato sauce with pineapple and lime. I also ordered rice and veg, - a steaming pot of white rice with mange tout, broccoli and carrots mixed into it. My friend, ignoring my warnings about the evils of seafood, tried Tom Yam Poh Tek (£5.95), a hot and sour seafood soup with lemongrass, chilli and lime. Also ignoring my looks of horror as she pulled out things with suckers and tentacles, she gave it a wholehearted thumbs up, and we both shared ice cream as a less spicy but delicately flavoured finale.

The whole meal was washed down with a couple of bottles of the light Thai Singha beer, £2.50 for a large bottle. There is wine available, house wine is £10.50, but nothing seems to work quite as well as the beer for me. There is an entire separate vegetarian menu, with delights such as Pad Pad King (£6.75), stir fried veg, ginger and Fung Gu mushrooms, amongst others. This is the kind of food that you really have to go out to try, and if you can't get to Thailand, Chiang Mai is the closest you'll get. But, be warned, it seems that everyone else knows this too and the place usually packs out every evening by 8.30. Make sure you book in advance, work up an appetite and linger until they shut - they'll let you.

Abby Chicken