Café Chilli
Café Chilli Saab Lai Der (Isaan for very delicious)
Authentic Northeastern Dishes In Central Pattaya Early 2009 Café Chilli opened its second branch on the second floor of Central Festival Shopping Mall, Pattaya Beach. Inside, the walls have numerous dark wooden drawers, like a Chinese pharmacy, and the front window uses an abacus theme. The Relax team visited recently for lunch and we were warmly greeted by Khun Areeporn (Wan) the restaurant manager.
She brought us menus, and told us a little of the history of Café Chilli. A group of girl-friends, led by Khun Nawarat Sippapak wanted to raise the image of Northeastern cuisine from the misconception that it is only street food.
The girls knew that the food is a work of art with many contrasting flavours, and made correctly includes herbs and vegetables to provide healthy, non fattening food. The food includes chilli which is loaded with antioxidants, garlic to lower blood pressure, phakwan to fight cancer and fresh ingredients with many other essential nutrients.
On the tables there were colourful vegetable arrangements instead of the usual flowers. We looked through the menu which has a range of Isaan, Thai and Western dishes, and we noticed a choice of twenty different styles of Somtam! We tasted the somtam (papaya salad) with scallops, very tasty, and all prepared with fresh vegetables and herbs. Then we tried a different somtam served with black and white sticky rice.
Somtam is a social food, and it is clearly more fun to share it with friends. It is certainly popular with tourists. For a main course we enjoyed a sea bass, served with apple and mango freshly prepared dipping sauces. These were delicious and complimented the fish, and we left only bones on the plate when we had finished! Café Chilli offers you a chance to try genuine Northeastern style food, without the worries some tourists have about eating street food. If you think that Isaan food might be too spicy, ask the staff to make yours a little milder.
Many customers at Café Chilli are non-Thais, and the chefs are used to adapting recipes to foreign palates. There is seating for forty inside and the same outside on the shaded sea-facing terrace. Café Chilli is open every day from 10.00am to 11.00pm. Reservation recommended at weekends or holidays. Tel.: 038 043 198
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