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Gourmet Visits Shabu Shabu

Chiang Mai certainly has its share of sukiyaki eateries. If you're looking for a place near the heart of the city with a fair sampling of tasty selections - as I and my lunch companions were - you can do no better than Arirang restaurant in the Suriwong Star Hotel.

Just a short walk from the popular Night Market, Arirang is a favourite with both locals and the city's steady flow of tourists. The decor is tasteful but casual - recessed ceilings, wood paneling and Chinese accents. It's the perfect place for a working lunch or a gathering of friends. But the best part is the menu.

Arirang serves up an excellent Shabu Shabu feast - an all-you-can-eat sukiyaki buffet priced at 150 baht, comprising top-quality ingredients hand-selected by Arirang's experienced kitchen staff. My guests and I tucked in hungrily to a rich selection of squid, pork, jellyfish, chicken and stuffed wontons.

But the buffet wasn't complete without the dim sum set. Also priced at 150 baht, the dim sum is both delicious and beautifully presented. The menu offers more than 30 selections, from barbecued pork and sweet cream dumplings to pork and vegetables wrapped in fried noodles and Chinese-style chicken's feet. Add to this the exquisitely-crafted crab and shrimp wontons, crab in curry butter and the tasty fried rice with garlic, and you will get a sense of how eagerly we attacked our meal.

Arirang also has a fine selection of Western, Thai and Chinese cuisine _ from steaks and burgers to spaghetti and northern Thai dishes. If I hadn't been "on the job," I would have sampled Arirang's specialty cocktail, the Inthanon Dizzy - Bacardi white rum mixed with fruit juice and served in a pineapple husk with floral garnish. Guess I'll have to save that for a follow-up visit.

Gourmet Visits The Udon Western

There's a widespread belief that Europe was introduced to a new culinary chapter when Venetian trader/ explorer Marco Polo returned home from his voyage to the country he called Cathay, known formally now as China.

Whether the legend has a factual basis or not, the noodle resemblance of the two cultures has been much remarked on and a great deal of ink has been spilled on the question of whether in fact spaghetti was inspired by Polo's aquaintance with Chinese cuisine. However, in spite of the obvious similarities between the two dishes it's rare that the ‘stringed' dough or flours should end up in the same restaurant.

Enough said! Comolebi restaurant, located on Changklan Road, is an eclectic little restaurant full of juxtapositions where one can enjoy both European and Japanese dishes alike. In spite of the name Comolebi (Japanese for 'under the canopy'), visitors are greeted with the restaurant's red and white color scheme which is consistent from the tables and chairs down to smaller details like crockery and costumes. For those who have wearied their legs on Changklan Road, this is a rather good place to recuperate. Open from 11 am - 11 pm., it is fully understood that Comolebi is not just a restaurant, but a "relaxin' space" with foot & Thai massage and a selection of spa services upstairs. Downstairs is the place where we were about to indulge in the food. In next to no time, the order having been made, the first dish arrived. To our surprise, it was a vegetarian dish, a Pasta Cream Broccoli; that was it - no meat, no condiment, plain and simple. The taste? Well, plain though it may be, the pasta and other ingredients are really fresh, and if you're keen on eating healthy food, then this is just what the doctor (or chef, perhaps) ordered.

The next dishes similarly took us straight to Japan. If you think you know Japanese udon, think again.

Hiyashi Udon is definitely different. This soft udon or noodle is served with cold soup and wagame weed from the depths of the sea: and all the ingredients come right from the Land of the Rising Sun.

But that downed and enjoyed, however full we felt, there was no way could ever turn down the sweet Jelly Coffee dessert. A speciality of the house, this is actually icy black coffee jelly with three scoops of ice cream on top. Another dessert is the French favorite cream brule, which I must say, even if you don't have the tongue for exceedingly sweet things, then at least try it with a cup of hot coffee.

Sweet and bitter - they just taste great together. Oh! - and that stuff at the beginning about Marco Polo and the Chinese noodle? Well, where do you think the Japanese got their udon from?