A Culinary Experience In Chiang Mai

The restaurant serves a wide variety of delicious French cuisine and a large selection of fine wines on display in the huge wine cellar. Haute French cuisine has become quite popular in Chiang Mai, but Le Crystal stands out as among the very best. The Chef de Cuisine, Khun Nattaphong Chanpen has eighteen years experience with fine international and Asian cuisine; including at the Four Seasons in Bangkok. Le Crystal won Tattler Magazine’s Best Restaurant Awards for 2007 to 09. You can be assured that the offerings here are as fresh as possible since 60% of the ingredients are delivered directly from their source, while many of the others are purchased from the Royal Project Foundation. The beef is imported from the USA and Australia to assure the finest quality. They offer an extensive ala carte menu, as well as, their degustation (tasting) menu.
 
We opted for the monthly “Creation Set Dinner Menu” and were quite pleased with our choice. This is a four course dinner, in which you choose one of three starters; two soups; three main courses and two desserts. I very much enjoyed the classic Caesar salad with sautéed prawns. The prawns were a succulent addition to this classic salad. My companion ordered the pan-seared foie gras with caramelized pears and white balsamic reduction and was quite pleased with his choice as it was very tasty and prepared perfectly.


Soup choices included lobster cappuccino and black truffle soup. We chose the latter, which turned out to be northing short of sublime. It was smooth, creamy with the subtle taste of the truffle. One of us went for the fillet of beef with wild mushroom, asparagus and thyme sauce, the other went for the pan fried duck breast with braised red cabbage and orange juniper berries sauce, the third choice was roasted snow fish served with sautéed zucchini, mushroom Riesling sauce. The beef was tender and very flavorful; and we were quite pleased with our choices. Although we were well satisfied, we forced ourselves to choose one of the irresistible desserts. Traditionally prepared crepe suzette was served with French vanilla ice cream and was sweet and flavorful. Vanilla crème brulees was another irresistible choice, so we had one of each and shared them. We had two glasses of French wine with our dinner, which was an excellent complement to the meal. This set menus offered are not pared down set meals, but are first quality and contain some of their most popular dishes from their a la carte menu including the foie gras, truffle soup, filet of angus beef and crepe suzette. So excellent value for the money. 

 
We topped off our repast with a first-rate cup of fresh brewed coffee and petit fours, a nice touch. This Creation Set Dinner Menu was priced at 1500 baht net. With two glasses of French wine its 1800 baht. The prices can vary depending on what is offered seasonally so check the website for their current offerings.

After our meal, we were invited over to check out the Steak House opened last year by Le Crystal management at JJ Market. We enjoyed the pleasant ambiance, live music and some liquid refreshment. On Sundays, Executive Chef Nattaphong has created a ‘Variety of Sunday’ buffet brunch, featuring mouth watering soups, salads, pastas, sushi, meats and desserts. JJ Market is a farmers’ market selling organic produce to consumers and wholesalers but at night comes alive when all the younger hip crowd takes over as the area changes into a trendy collection of night spots with live entertainment as there are a lot of colleges nearby. 

Le Crystal Restaurant 
74/2 Paton Road, T. Paton, A. Muang, Chiang Mai 50300
Tel: 053 872-890-1
E-Mail: info@lecrystalrestaurant.com
reservation@lecrystalrestaurant.com
Web site: www.lecrystalrestaurant.com

The Steak House at JJ Market
Tel: 053-224-123