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Gourmet Visits IMPERIAL MAE PING SPORTS CLUB

It was a rainy early evening when we received the invitation to the launch of a new special menu at the Imperial Mae Ping Sports Club.

We hurried there through the traffic jams in town to satisfy what was already a keen hunger. Fortunately the road out to Mae Rim was not as bad as those in town had been, so we arrived in time to have a stroll around, and then sit by the Olympic-sized swimming pool. We also had the luck to be able to chat with Khun Kobku Termpiriyakij, the Imperial Mae Ping General Manager, whose friendly smiles and good humour matched our own relaxed mood.

Well, to come to business - when the other journalists arrived, the food was ready and the meal began.

As the menu indicated, we started with crispy jasmine rice served with minced pork in coconut soup. This rice cracker with its unique dip is an appetiser from Central Thailand more generally known as khao tang nah tang. We had just finished that when in came the next dish, smoked ham spicy salad with fresh green lettuce, balsam pears, and onion. The ham was soft and delicious; we couldn't get enough of it. Next came southern shrimp paste served with vegetables. Now I must tell you, even though the menu does not say 'spicy' - it was the hottest dish of all, so hot that we had to ask for some rice to go with it. Hot as it was, though, so long as you're accustomed to very spicy food, it goes down really well.

The last two dishes were actually the highlights of the evening. Starting with deep fried sea bass fillet with herbs, this was a kind of perfect food for the health-concerned. The boneless fish was deep fried, so there was not much oil. Each bite was rather crispy, and inevitably contained some kind of herb. Last dish in the main course was beef curry with Indian spices served with whole-wheat toast. Actually, there was also chicken curry as an option for those who don't eat beef. For me, I'm the opposite; I don't eat chicken. This dish alone made the journey through the busy city streets out to the sports club worth while. The beef was so soft. The curry-dipped toast (or you can ask for nan - Indian bread - instead) was yummy. I could have eaten more had there not been such an enormous amount of other food on the table. And believe it or not, each dish was only 99 baht.

I made myself a promise to come back one day to have more of it.

Graeme Monaghan