Chiengmai's answer to Tony Roma ?

Almost as good as TR's...
Posted on 03.33pm Nov 09, 2008

Normally when in Chiengmai, I love to fill up my share of Thai food....the real, original Thai food. The lovely fish cake, pad Thai, tom yam, mango rice ....and all the other yummies.

But this time when I was in Chiengmai, I decided to take a break from the usual and try out this restaurant that I had noticed everytime I was there, but never really ventured in. This restaurant called The Duke is located at 145 Changlan Road or popularly known as the Night Bazaar Road. Just opposite the Royal Princess Hotel, it seem to be quite popular amongst the caucasians and seem to have a fairly good crowd most of the time!

Anyway, I ordered the Ribs Full Rack priced at BHT395 (about RM42). The rack is supposed to be rubbed dry with brown sugar, herbs and spices and then oven roasted. Sounds delicious, doesnt it? Well....it didnt exactly melted in my mouth as it was supposed to, but it was almost as good as Tony's. Served with tangy bbq sauce with cole slaw, fries or mash potatoe, baked beans and honey corn bread, I must say it was certainly worth more than the 40 odd ringgit. The bbq sauce was a tad salty but it was still good!! So far as I was concerned, it there is no Tony Roma, this was definitely good enough to quench my appetite!! You bet, I will be back there again on my next trip to Chiengmai.

Having impressed me with their Ribs, I decided to try their Shrimp Chowder. Offering a choice of either cup (BHT65) or bowl (BHT95), the order comes with unlimited special toast. It was goodly tasty!! I was glad I didnt order the bowl in my greedy sojourn, as the cup sized soup was already more than I had bargained for. Nonetheless, I finished the last drop, just to prove the soup was equally tasty.

Sorry but I had no more room to try their dessert. Next trip...maybe.. Ha ha...!! Before I left, I found out that this restaurant had been voted one of Thailand's best by Tattler in 2007. Wow... better be good!!! Maybe you want to try them out next time you are in Chiengmai?