Thai Meal fit for a King

It was not only our last night in Chiang Mai, but also our wedding anniversary, so tonight called for something very special indeed.

So we booked a table at Le Grand Lanna at the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi which has apparently entertained both the King of Thailand and Princess Diana in its time (well if it's good enough for royalty, it should just about do for the Greedy Gluttons!) It was also awarded Best Thai Restaurant in both 2004 & 2005 by Thailand Tatler Magazine, so we were expecting great things.

The Dharma Dhevi is designed to recreate a Chiang, a self contained city, inspired by Lanna architecture and from the moment we crossed the moat and entered the central square of this vast hotel, we were mesmerised. This must be one of the most breathtaking hotels in the world. A short ride on the back of a golf buggy led us up the torch-lit drive towards the main hotel bar for pre-dinner drinks, and it was hard not to be wowed by the golden stupas and domes towering above us.

The setting for dinner in Le Grand Lanna restaurant was no less magical - wooden decking overlooking lush tropical gardens with up-lit fountains and statues at every turn.

The menu choice was as vast as the hotel grounds. We were tempted by a set banquet, but being picky as well as greedy, we decided to adapt it to our own tastes, choosing our own dishes, whilst obviously not diminishing the number of dishes.

So we shared a couple of starters - Moo Ping – Charcoal grilled marinated pork skewers, accompanied by roasted chilli dip, and Thord Man Goong – Deep-fried prawn patties with plum sauce. Whilst the Moo Ping were tasty enough, the prawn patties were awesome - the kind of dish that future cravings are made of.

Soup was next up for the banquet, and we chose the Tom Yam Goong – Spicy river prawn soup with herbs and straw mushrooms. You know, this just wasn't that great - it was a bit salty and fishy for my liking. I know you could argue that I could have guessed that that would be the case, but I'm afraid I didn't finish it - there were too many other goodies to follow to waste my appetite on something I wasn't really enjoying.

So then to the main courses - the banquet menu had three, so we chose three: Pla Thord Sam Ros - Deep-fried sea bass accompanied by sweet-sour chilli sauce,

Phad Gra-Prao Gai – Stir-fried chicken with hot basil leaves and chillies,

and our newly-found favourite Thai dish of all time Pa-Naeng Nuea – Creamy red curry with beef... would it live up to the Greedy Gluttons' own version from the Khao Hom Cookery School? You know what - it did, it was actually even better than the one we made, and that is saying something... this was an amazing Beef Panang Curry...

So yes, I'm happy to say that this restaurant really did live up to expectations and made for a very special and memorable anniversary meal.

And then for dessert... don’t be silly... did you just see how much we ate?...

Le Grand Lanna, Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai - http://www.mandarinoriental.com/chiangmai/