Paak Dang is a riverside restaurant on the Ping river in Chiang Mai, just outside the top right hand corner of the Old City. The two owners claim that their aim is to give back to society by providing employment to the less privileged. Honestly, this social angle initially put me off… I would say that most restaurants do that… you need to give me more evidence before I will regard you as a social enterprise as most businesses perform a social role by providing employment opportunities. Eventually I won my reluctance and I had a very good dinner.
The visit
My driver left me in front of the entrance where a big sign celebrated the “table” status gained in the Thailand 2020 Michelin Guide. The Chinese script is a good indication that they are catering to visitors, but I heard positive comments also from locals.
At the entrance they had some tanks and displays for fresh seafood. At the time of my visit, after the peak season, there was really little on display.
I was offered a table in the terrace directly facing the river.
Appropriately, they also provided some mosquito repellent. Mosquito bites are the downside of riverside dining in Chiang Mai.
Chips were complimentary.
I had an iced tea.
Their specialty is big river prawns. One prawn can be 400-500 grams. I was not in the mood for a prawn on the night of my visit.
Instead, I opted for a grilled squid. They had a big one that was shown to me along with a note with weight and final price. That was very nice; the only glitch was that the note was shown to me for less than a second… they should have left it on the table.
The result was a massive squid, well grilled and absolutely tender.
Then I had been looking for a while for a tom yum (spicy and sour soup) and I had their seafood one. They have a large selection of classic Thai dishes besides the fresh seafood. The tom yum was excellent with a good amount of seafood. They also used straw mushrooms. The lemongrass, lime, and galangal flavors were not killed by the spicy side of the soup.
Finally I had a roti that worked well as a side dish for the soup.
The check
The three dishes and the tea cost me 780 THB (24 USD). Probably two people could have shared the my dishes. The fresh seafood can lift the bill quickly, but overall not too overpriced in my opinion.
in the end, I was very satisfied with the dinner; the dishes I had were very tasty and the service was good. I might go back in the future.
Where in Chiang Mai:
46/1 Wang Sing Kham Road.
Website: https://www.paakdang.com/