During my trip to Chiangmai, we met a long-time friend who brought us to this popular restaurant Ekachan. Opened in late 2022 by owner and head chef Ekaphon “Eak” Pitchawong, the restaurant offers an all-Thai, farm-to-table dining experience from a small kitchen inside a restored, historic teakwood house near the Ping River
Offering diverse local flavours of Thailand. Ingredients are thoughtfully sourced from across the country, such as specialized highland rice from Lamphun and Chiang Rai. The restaurant gained massive local and international traction soon after opening, earning consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand awards
The restaurant has a large backyard that faces directly toward the Ping River, providing a peaceful, scenic waterside escape from the busy city streets. The restaurant operates inside a beautifully preserved historic Lanna-style teakwood house, locally referred to as an “Ancient House” or traditional village home. The house is a stilted wooden building with high, vaulted ceilings giving an incredibly spacious, breezy, and bright atmosphere. Outdoor dining is also available on the wide wooden veranda and terrace
Chef Eak utilizes his kitchen to showcase diverse, ethnic, and lesser-known regional recipes from across the entire country
We started off with the Khon Muang Chili Dip Selection. . It is a traditional Northern Thai (Lanna )appetizer platter showcasing the region’s signature dips alongside customizable dipping ingredients. There are 3 different types of dips; Nam Prik Ong ( Center) – A mildly spicy, sweet, and savory dip made from ground pork, tomatoes, and dried red chilies stir-fried together. Nam Prik Num (Right) – A fiery green chili paste made from roasted green spur chilies, garlic, and shallots pounded together to create a smoky, vibrant flavor and Nam Prik E-Kae (Top Left) – An ancient, rustic Northern Thai chili dip incorporating fermented shrimp paste (kapi) and bitter yellow eggplants. The platter included ingredients to accompany the dips like; baby corn, cucumber, hard boiled eggs, roast pork and pork crackling. I personally liked the spicy dip and the shrimp paste dip as the flavours were alot stronger vs the tomato based one which was quite mild
One of the restaurant signature snack-style appetizers, the Tai Yai Tofu Chips with Salsa Sauce is light, puffed, extra-crisp crisps made using traditional Shan-style (Tai Yai) tofu techniques with airy texture and a mild savory flavours. The dip is a refreshing, vibrant, and chunky Thai-style fusion salsa. Tai Yai cuisine is famous for its creative use of yellow split peas and chickpeas to make specialized tofu variants rather than relying on soy. The crackers were addictive but the salsa was pretty generally so I ended up dipping the chips with the dips from the Khon Muang Chili Dip platter instead which also complemented the chips very well
We ordered the charcoal grilled pork neck served with northeastern-style spicy dipping sauce (Nam Jim Jaew). The pork neck was pretty lean so some pieces were tougher than usual but it had a nice charred flavour which works well with the sweet and savoury sauce. The slight tangy profile in the sauce also helps to cut through any fats from the grilled meat. The next dish is the Northern Thai grilled herbal pork sausage which has a dense, aromatic paste of local Lanna herbs and spices stuffed into the casing before grilled over charcoal fire. Served with roasted cashew nuts, sliced fresh ginger, cucumber wedges, and fresh cilantro sprigs on the side, the dish has a crisped, slightly charred exterior skin with juicy tender meat filling. Each bite has a very strong flavour of lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, and garlic so for those who dislike herbs, they should skip this dish. The flavours were uniqiue and refreshing but it was also not my favourite due to the strong herb taste
Last 2 dishes we ordered was the Thai Coconut Chicken Soup which has a rich, velvety, opaque white soup base using coconut milk and heavily infused with essential Thai aromatics. The soup has chunks of chicken with mushrooms, tomato, dried chillis and chopped cilantro. The soup was very milky with a mild tangy tone and spice kick to cut down the thick coconut flavours. I would have preferred the usual tom yam flavour soup so I did not really drink much of the soup. I wanted some seafood so I ordered the stir-fried squid with red curry paste and green beans which was a pretty simple dish with a smoky red curry taste balanced with the freshness of the green beans and natural sweetness from the squid. This was one of my favoirute dish as I ate most of it with my white rice
Overall, the dining experience was very enjoyable at Ekachan as the staff were friendly and attentive and the environment was spacious and comfortable even without air-conditioning. The food had many surprises as it featured many traditional Northern thai cuisine which is different from the usual Thai food we are used to in Bangkok. Some of the dishes were a hit for me while some were a miss, mainly due to the heavy use of aromatics. It is a nice place to bring visitors or people who visit Chiangmai for the first time
Address: 95 Changklan Rd, Tambon Chang Khlan, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50100, Thailand
Opening hours: 11 am to 3 pm and 5 pm to 10 pm
