Open Mon-Thu: 11 am - 8 pm, Fri-Sat: 11 am - 9 pm. Closed Sundays. Tel. 053-839 059

If you are driving south along the Irrigation Canal road towards the intersection for the Ratchaphruek Royal Garden, turn left towards Hang Dong, and you won’t miss a big basketball sign on your left-hand side directing you to “Coach’s Pizza and Ribs” restaurant.

You might wonder what the basketball sign has to do with pizza. Well, the owner of this restaurant is a volunteer basketball coach at Grace International School and that’s why this place is called ‘Coach’s Pizza’. “It used to belong to a friend of our family. You might have heard the name ‘Ridgley’s’ before. After he decided to stop his business and we were considering opening a restaurant, we agreed to buy the Ridgley’s restaurant business and changed the name to ‘Coach’s Pizza and Ribs’,” said Dianne, the daughter and manager of Coach’s Pizza.

This restaurant is set in a lovely Thai-style wooden house, peaceful and attractive in its setting of trees and garden. Coach’s Pizza and Ribs serves American pizza, sandwiches and BBQ ribs. All their recipes are homemade with the highest quality ingredients. They have several specialty pizzas to choose from, including the “Veggie Lovers”, “Italian”, “Hawaiian”, “Field Goal”, “Game Night Special” and the recommended one - the “Coach’s Favorite”, which is a meat lover’s pizza with ham, Italian sausage, pepperoni and bacon. Apart from pizza, their 6-inch sub-style sandwiches are also very good. We tried the seasoned chicken sandwich and really liked it. The seasoned chicken is tasty, tender and goes well with the generous portions of fresh vegetables, cheese and chips. Also, don’t miss the ‘falling off the bone’ BBQ spare ribs with Coach’s special tangy homemade BBQ sauce. And for a real treat, try their Spinach Cheese Dip.

They also have special promotions during the week.

Monday - Pizza day - (highlighted pizza - 20% off regular price)
Tuesday - BBQ Spare Ribs day - only 240 baht (normal price 265)
Wednesday - Chicken Tenders day - only 140 baht (normal price 155)
Thursday – Sandwich day - all sandwiches only 135 baht

Coach’s Pizza doesn’t have a delivery service but you can call to order and pick up food.

Samsen Villa Restaurant –
Your Winter Hideaway

Open daily: 11am-midnight Samsen Villa Rimping Condominium Tel. 053-306 588

Winter’s cool breezes are saying hello to us Chiang Mai-lovers right now. It’s the ideal time to find some pleasant outdoor spaces to relax and chill out with family, friends or loved ones.

We’ve discovered a beautiful location on the side of the Ping River. Samsen Villa Restaurant is a tranquil venue sitting quietly in a garden right on the river bank. To find it you just drive east across the Nakornping Bridge, turn left at the traffic lights and immediately go down a small soi on the left, next to the Rimping Condominium (parking area on the left-hand side). You will then find yourself at this hidden oasis.

The restaurant serves Thai and Italian cuisine. Highly recommended here are Thai dishes, made from authentic Thai recipes. With over 30 years of cooking up a storm in Bangkok and two years in Chiang Mai, Samsen Villa serves food with a real Thai flavour, with many dishes guaranteed that you can’t find elsewhere. Examples of must-try items are pomelo salad with shrimp, freshwater snails in curry, stir-fried Pakria with shrimp, steamed seafood in curry and coconut, santol and shrimp in curry, and so on. All these dishes are composed from traditional Ayutthaya recipes – Ayutthaya being the province that was once the capital of Thailand and the source of many Thai traditions. Everything at Samsen Villa Restaurant is homemade; even the chili paste and coconut milk; instant ingredients are not used at all. One of the most famous Samsen Villa dishes that you simply must not miss is the pork satay; they use only soft and tender pork, mixed with house-recipe herbs and grilled on a brazier so as to retain its unique aroma. For desserts go for the homemade seasonal sorbet or crêpe Suzette and banana flambé and the chef will show you how to make it, right at your table.

Have a meal here and you have the choice of enjoying it inside or out. And since we’re now into the winter, we suggest outdoors during the day, and indoors in the evening, when it can actually be really cold, particularly if there’s a wind blowing. Another attractive feature is that the romantic atmosphere is enhanced by old Thai songs during the day, and jazz in the evening. Furthermore, every third Saturday, there’s live jazz from a quartet in the garden. This month that means it will be on 18th December, and this special program will run through to February 2011.