Many of us enjoy a wee tipple now and then and here are some great new/newly renovated venues to check out this month.
Hard Rock Café
Incredibly, Chiang Mai is big enough to have our own Hard Rock Café, and it is located near Burger King in the Night Bazaar. There is an outdoor area as well as a two-storied interior overlooking the floating stage. The bartender mixes up some great cocktails and the food is pure Americana with huge burgers, large chips, massive racks of ribs, mouth-watering pulled pork sandwiches and moreish dips and tacos slathered in cream cheese, salsa and all the goodies. The food is what you would expect at any Hard Rock Café, tasty and very generously portioned, and the décor has the assortment of Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Michael Jackson paraphernalia, as well as some more modern celebrities’ castoffs like Ariana Grande’s tiny little bra and skirt and EDM DJ’s signed photos. Stop by for a night out Hard Rock style.
Restaurant open 11am – 12am
Rock shop open 10am – 12am
115, 115/1-2, Loi Kroh Road, Chang Khlan
www.hardrock.com/cafes/chiang-mai/
053 277 766
David’s Kitchen Wine Bar
Voted by TripAdvisor’s users as the best fine dining restaurant in Asia, David’s Kitchen is one of the few must-book restaurants in the city. Fans will be pleased to know that they have just opened up a lovely wine bar and lovers of wine will be pleased as punch to find that they serve some of their best wines by the glass — even bottles in the tens of thousands of baht (price per glass is divided by five from bottle price). There is a good selection of single malts, beers and cocktails and most are very reasonably priced with cocktails starting at 280 baht. This sophisticated little wine bar has a walk-in wine cellar and a social bar counter as well as some lounge areas to sink into. There is also an outdoor seating area, perfect for the winter months. Stop by for an after work drink, a romantic tete a tete or an evening of fun with friends.
Open 5 – 10pm (closed Sundays)
13 Bumrungrad Road, Wat Gate
Email: info@davidskitchen.co.th
091 068 1744
Wintage Room
By now most Mae Rimmers who enjoy a fine glass of wine will likely have heard of this charming little wine bar at Mae Rim Plaza, but for those of us in the city, it is worth the drive to sit in this open aired dark wood-panelled wine bar where very reasonably priced bottles are served in super comfortable chairs. The owner is also a Scandinavian furniture exporter, so his wood and leather chairs are featured around the bar, and perfect to sit back in to sip some new and old world wines, starting as low as 585 baht per bottle. You can also order the amazing food from Steak of the Day two doors down or the Japanese restaurant next door. Make a night of it, eat well, drink up and make sure Grab taxi or Uber gets you home.
Open 5 – 10pm
Mae Rim Plaza
Email: wintageroom@gmail.com
081 903 0362