David's Kitchen at 909

Note: David’s Kitchen has moved since this posting. It is now located at 113 Bumrungrad Road, Wat Kate.

Whether we are traveling or hanging around home, one of our favourite pastimes is eating! Yesterday, we were looking for somewhere different to go out for dinner and came across a place called David’s Kitchen at 909 while browsing the internet. Located a little outside of town on the banks of the Ping River, it looked intriguing but expensive. Despite the fact that we had nothing to celebrate, other than living in Thailand, which is a good enough reason in itself, we mapped it out on the iPhone GPS and hit the road.

It is not a dining establishment that you would run across by accident. You would have to know its location and find your way there by taxi or your own vehicle. After about a twenty-minute drive through the outskirts of Chiangmai, we came to the turnoff and headed down a narrow dirt road into the unknown. After two or three hundred meters, the restaurant came into view along with a small number of houses on the opposite side of the road.

We were warmly greeted by the staff and had our choice of several seating locations. At that point, we realized we were a little early for dinner but you never would have known by the way we were treated. The three main seating areas are the outside terrace, the formal but unpretentious dining room, and the sweeping lawn and garden off to the side. We chose the comfy seating arrangement in the garden.

We were given complementary drinks (non-alcoholic but unusual and delicious) soon after we were seated, along with a small glass of wonderful olives. The menu is not huge but has a good variety of Thai, Italian and other Western dishes. We chose the set menu, which was 999 baht apiece. This included a choice of three appetizers, three main courses, three desserts, coffee or tea, and a glass of wine.

A basket containing a warm variety of fresh breads was soon delivered to the table. They were so good, we later agreed to another basket when asked! We both had Caesar salads to start, which were very tasty with copious amounts of fresh Parmesan shavings and bacon pieces done to perfection. For the second course, I had the salmon and Nancy had duck breast. Both were elegantly served and cooked to perfection with just the right amount of flavourful sauces and vegetables on the side.

With a gourmet Thai chef and the loquacious owner David – erstwhile English theatre director – having honed his Italian cooking skills in Florence, you have the choice of two of the most famed world cuisines’ signature dishes.
– James Austin Farrell

The property is located at the end of the road and you can stroll down to the riverbank or walk around the grounds while waiting for dinner or between courses. There was actually a riverside table so maybe you can actually wine and dine there if it is vacant.

Nancy had a chocolate mousse for dessert and said it was one of the best she had ever tasted. I fell in love with sticky toffee pudding while living in Scotland years ago and it just so happened to be one of the set dessert choices. So guess what? Yep, and it tasted just the way I remembered!

The staff were not overbearing and knew just when to approach us to remove plates or enquire about any needs we might have. David and Prom were wonderful hosts. They came out partway through our meal to welcome us and returned again to say goodbye. Today, I received an email from James, the manager, thanking us for our visit, with a request to inform them if we had any requests or suggestions for the next time.

I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a special dining experience. Yes, it is expensive compared to most other places around town but “you get what you pay for” and the setting and the service makes it worthwhile. Our grand total came to just over 2000 baht, which equates to about $70 Canadian. This is not outrageous for fine dining in a beautiful setting. It’s not something we will do every week but we will certainly return at some point.