|
|
| Charcoa |
| Written by Nattha Yenpanya | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saturday, 17 March 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Located 50 meters inside Soi 1, off the main Sripoom moat road which encircles Chiang Mai Inner City, Charcoa is one of those small and charming restaurants which just beckon for your attention. You just cannot miss the well designed banners advertising the daily specialties on the front sidewalk. Ms Atilaya Kaewreung (better known as Nueng), the owner and manager who also happens to be a trained architect, was able to fuse an eclectic combination of contemporary and traditional design styles to transform a simple store front into a trendy, intimate and inviting restaurant.
The name of the restaurant, Charcoa, which has been operational for just over 2 years, was inspired by Nueng’s passion for chocolate and is an abbreviation for the word charcoal. She proudly recalls that “this place used to be my family’s modest convenience store that I had initially converted into a much smaller restaurant which initially served only coffee, hot and cold drinks and a few home made cakes. I can still remember being ecstatically happy any day our daily revenues were over 500 baht.” Nueng’s love for cooking and bakery was instilled in her, early in life by her grandmother. Since, she has expanded her cooking skills by reading books and food magazines, from the Internet and by swapping recipes with friends. She has also taken many courses at different cooking establishments in Bangkok. She learnt her custard recipe from a French bakery chef and has picked up a world of culinary knowledge from Ajarn Yhingsak, a very well known Thai cooking personality. A coffee expert uncle attached to the Royal Phu Fa Research Project in Nan Province introduced her to the widening world of coffee drinking. She went on to learn all that she could about the art of properly brewing coffee and regularly sends her staff to attend “Barista” courses in Bangkok. The Charcoa extensive menu offers a large variety of all day choices ranging from international breakfast items to Thai favourites and European foods. Items recommended by the management include Spaghetti Carbona, Duck breast in orange sauce with mashed potato, Khao Hor Khai (fried rice wrapped in an omelette with a special Charcoa brown sauce), Rice and Pha Naeng (pork in red curry), Steak ham in cream sauce, and a home style Pork chop pepper steak. Food prices are moderate, such as the Spaghetti Italian sauce with prawns and garlic bread for 88 baht, to the most expensive being the 4 Grilled sausages with mustard sauce, mashed potato and pickled cabbage at 250 baht, and the Pork Ribs with BBQ sauce with courgette potato balls and salad at 199 baht. A small vegetarian menu is also available. The refrigerated pastry cabinet, by the Cashier at the front entrance, displays a mouth watering choice of freshly made cakes. The list included the Yoghurt Blueberry cheese cake, the Chocolate Fudge cheese cake, the Chocolate and Oreo cheese cake, the Nascapone Blueberry Cheese cake, the Cookies and cream cheese cake, the Orange layered cake and the Fudge chocolate bar with an average price of 60 baht. A variety of cookies costs 10 baht per small bag. The locally grown 100% Arabica Coffee offers hot and cold Charcoa Coffee, Espresso, American Coffee, Cappucino, Latte and Mocha with prices ranging between 35 and 65 baht. Fresh fruit juices and local and imported beers are also available. Nueng’s draws half of her clientele from the tourists staying at the multitude of neighbouring guesthouses who come for breakfast and her tasty Thai dishes while her lunch time crowd comprises mostly of local Thai professionals who love the restaurant’s European dishes and especially the Pork chop pepper steaks. The restaurant also operates a 12 room guesthouse called Sudjai, conveniently located immediately behind. Reasonable weekly and monthly rates are available. As a trained architect, Nueng offers design services as well as counseling on restaurant management.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
