Barrab restaurant Chiang Rai — Restaurant in Chiang Rai Province

This restaurant made my soul happy. We love food, it’s the beat of our hearts. Paul is a chef, and I travel the world chasing flavour; and this was one of the best meals of our lives. We spent the whole bus ride home talking about it. No frill restaurant; but very cosy and comfortable and clean. The owner was produce-driven, and subsequently, the food was thoughtful and purposeful. The owner recommended we opt for the Northern Thai dishes with a Burmese influence, and so we did. The Thai herbal sausage was phenomenal to eat, we wrapped it in the beetle leaf and the flavours of ginger, garlic, chili, basil were so intense but so perfectly balanced, nothing was too overwhelming to the palette. The chicken curry was so hearty and rich, the chicken fell off the bone. The pork in the hung lay curry was so tender, the sauce was robust yet smooth, and perfectly balanced. Even the cucumber salad that accompanied the spicy chicken curry was banging, it was sweet and salty. The roti was cooked to perfection. The five grain rice was earthy and cooked perfectly. The salad dressing that came with tofu chickpea salad knocked us off our seats. It was roasty, toasty, spicy, deep, complex and delicious. Warm service, excellent produce, comfortable prices, and real, honest, thoughtful food. A rarity anywhere in the world nowadays. We recommend you go and EAT. Lots of pad Thai and fried rice orders on the tables around us - our recommendation is to order traditionally, don’t cheat yourself joy at a spot like this. Thank you to the owner for operating a restaurant with heart and knowledge. After almost a decade in NYC, and after managing hatted restaurants, I’m telling you - you run circles around...

I truly don’t know how this place isn’t always full. I stopped in her and had one of the best meals I have had in all of Thailand.

The owner immediately came over once I sat down and gave me a breakdown of the menu including her recommendations and dishes special to Northern Thailand. Additionally, she let me know that most menu items had the option to get a sample or “tapas” size to help people try multiple things which was really nice.

I ended up going with a small portion of the Barab to start with which was super tasty. The pork was salted and seasoned to perfection. When wrapped together with the cucumber and a squirt of orange, it was a delicious mix of very fresh flavor. The rice was nice too to help me clean up the rest of the great food left over from my wrap.

But the meal that really left me astounded was the boneless chicken curry with the naan. It was simply incredible. The flavor of the Burmese curry was rich, a perfect balance of sweet and savory with a great nutmeg flavor. When scooped with the naan (that was more like a doughy roti) and then dipped in the sweet vinegary cucumber salad it was an absolute perfect bite. The chicken was incredibly tender and melted in your mouth and all together the dish was simply delightful.

I can’t stop thinking about this meal! It was unlike anything I have had before and I loved it. It’s also awesome how excited the owner is to show new northern Thai dishes and flavors to everyone. I wish I could...

Outstanding! No better word for it. We had the "Super Pad Thai" (don't forget to order the extra peanut sauce), Morning Glory, Papaya Salad and Khao Soi, 12/10 recommended. We've had all these dishes before many times in our 3 Thailand visits and can confidently say that these here were by far the best out of all of them. Other reviews have stated that the presentation was overdone and made only for tourists but it's clear to us that it's because the owner lives for what she does and cares about aestheics. Anyway, the TASTE is what matters most and was absolutely superb.

About the service: the owner spoke very good English and explained the menu in detail. A girl at the neighboring table was allergic to peanuts and the owner quickly pulled out a list of all the dishes that should be avoided in her case. There were also different levels of spiciness to choose from as well as lots of choices from vegetarian to seafood. The food came very quickly, which could be seen as a bad sign but it was still genuinely fresh, warm and delicious.

So yeah, only good things to say about this place. Don't miss it if you...