Dinner at Chiang Mai....restaurant, not in Thailand!

Another exam over! What a relief! But then, there is another even more important final examination next month, so its not exactly a time for relief, right? Haha. Then again, its good to try to catch our breath once in a while. So, the evening after the last paper for this exam(Selanjar as we call it), we were heading to Chiang Mai restaurant for our dinner. No, its not. Thats for the question you might be asking about.*laugh* The restaurant is situated in Wakaf Baru, Kelantan, which is nowhere near the Chiang Mai that you might be thinking about. And as you might've guessed, its a restaurant serving Thai food. There are a few other Thai food restaurants nearby too, all with Thai-ish names-Bangkok restaurant, BanThai restaurant. Nevertheless, I personally think that Chiang Mai is the best of all this restaurants. It is situated behind a housing area and is quite secluded. An outsider would not have been able to come to the place without any recommendation from the locals as it was about 1km away from the mainroad. Even the entrance to the housing area is not exactly 'out-standing'. You could easily miss it if you are not paying attention. We were only aware of the existent of the restaurant when our seniors introduced it to us during our first year here. It was the usual 'introductory spot' for most seniors as there were gathering for those from the same schools previously or those from the same states. This was the best chance for the seniors to have a look at the new juniors.

<-----Han lim and Lek tuan mixing garlic with their plate of rice...
There was 6 of us in total that night with our organizer Alex followed by me, Kianping, Lektuan, Hanlim and Jincin. It was a much anticipated night as some of us had been eating magee for the study week in order to save time for revision especially for Kp. He bought a dozen of cup noodles for storage and it was all gone by the time we started exam! Such was the tension of the exam that many didn't eat a proper meal.

Jincin, Kianping and our 'ring-leader' Alex-------->
We were on our way around 615pm in two cars as we went separately. Lt, Jc and Hl went first as they wanted to vaccinate for thyphoid virus as a preparation for their backpacking trip to Cambodia in June. By the time we reached the restaurant, it was already near 7pm. There wasn't a lot of people at first. We were basically the third group of people to reach the place at the time. We order 5 dishes including the green curry recommended by Kp , the ever-present Keng Song(tomyam fish), a fried squid, a vege and friend lemon chicken. It was the first time for most of us for the so called green curry. It was kinda weird thinking of it to be honest. But we thought we gave it a try in eat something new. There were suggestion for the fried BEEs as well, but the failure to obtain a '2/3 majority' meant that the plan had to be postponed to other time. Phew, that was close! haha.

<----Vase-like appearance...
The people were starting to come to the restaurants in 'colonies' when we finished placing our order. Soon, an appetizing odour flood the place and out came the dishes. Too bad they weren't all coming at once. The green curry came first in a high standing, vase like pot. It was left on the center of the table with all of us in a mixed feelings of expectancy and a sense of wonder. Kp was the gentleman as he took the initiative and distributed the curry to the small bowls prepared. The taste of the curry was unbelievable. Its soup was thick with the 'santan' as well as the milk(I think). It was a fantastic dish. Thanx Kp for the excellent recommendation. After that, 3 other dishes were served except for the lemon chicken. The Keng Som tomyam fish was one of the most famous dish of the place. Almost everyone orders it when they come to the restaurant. The best thing of the fish is that the soup from the dish can be REFILLED. Yes, McD drinks type of refill. Apart from the smooth, sweet fish, the soup is of the Keng Som is the best! Its just nice with the combination of spice and sour taste.
You have to bring your own waiter eh...everyone's too busy*laugh*----->
The other 3 dishes weren't too special, especially the vegetable as it was just the normal variety of fried vege. The Gim Hiang fried squid was quite nice but then, the appearance was not that erm... appetizing. It actually looked like a bunch of garbage.*laugh* They should try to improve the outlook of the food they serve I guess since its one of the basics of food,' 色，香，味', literally translated, 'outlook, smell and taste'. But then again, its definitely better than the food we have in the campus, especially if you compare it to the expensive Indian food in our campus.(it is the only store that have food after 6pm if you don't wan to eat burger).

Overall, the food was excellent and very enjoyable. If anyone of you drop by in Kelantan, I'll make sure you get a taste first hand!

Some of the nice dishes...
Green Curry, the not-so-good-looking fried squid, Keng Som Tomyam fish