I came across this restaurant in Chian Mai thanks to the Thailand 2020 Michelin Guide. It is listed as a Bib Gourmand.
The visit
I reached the restaurant for a lunch through Grab Car: it was located in the garden of a villa in a gated compound in the Southern tip of the city.
I sat under the ample veranda.
The place was bordered by a creek. It was quiet and elegant in its simplicity.
One characteristic of the restaurant is the daily special: at the time of my visit it was Southern Thai rice salad (Monday), Thai noodles rolls (Tuesday), rice noodle with pork mince (Wednesday), tumeric fried rice with deep fried fish (Thursday), steamed rice with pork spare ribs (Friday), rice with spicy shrimp salad, deep fried vegetable and mackerel (Saturday), Shanghai noodle with steam pork, ginger and garlic (Sunday). It was a Friday and I was not particularly interested in spare ribs.
I had a classic pad thai (stir-fried rice noodles) with shrimps. This is a simple dish and this was an excellent specimen. I am not a big fan of pad thai, but this was delicious.
Then I had a beef Mussaman curry with roti. The beef was tender and the curry very tasty. The crispy rotis were a perfect match.
On another visit I tried heir pad thai with a soft shell crab (more pricey at 150 THB) but absolutely worthy; the crab was really meaty.
Finally I will mention that you should not miss their schnitzel style Northern sausage. The Northern sausage is a typical Chiang Mai dish, but I have never seen it served in a nice battered crust like here.
Attached to the restaurant there was a cafe, but I did not try their cakes or drinks.
The check
The two dishes and a drink cost 295 THB (less than 10 USD). For two dishes so good it was an incredible value.
Definitely one of my favorite Thai restaurants in Chiang Mai.
Where in Chiang Mai:
122/128 Moo 6, Mueang Chiang Mai.
Website: http://www.kruaya.com/
Tip: not open for dinner, but it opens early at 9am… good for breakfast too.