Address - Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Yurakucho 1-6-10 Opening hours - Every day from 11:30 to 11:00 pm , last order at 10 pm Map - Yes Telephone - 3580-0456 or 3503-3060 Menu In Japanese and English, with pictures CC Ok

I have been to literally hundreds of Thai restaurants, and found them to be almost always equivalent in quality, that is to say good or very good. In Chiang Mai's case I cannot but congratulate myself once more for the accuracy of my judgement.

This was one of the first Thai restaurants to open in Tokyo and, as a matter of fact, I had been trying to go there for many years, and finally managed to some time ago, the time I went to Hibiya to see Miyazaki Hayao's excellent full-length animation "Spirited Away".

A small room in the basement of a building, Chiang Mai has a very rich menu which includes some uncommon dishes, Tom Kha Gai, for example, and that alone makes it worth a visit. Thai restaurants are not all that common in Ginza or Yurakucho either, and this is one more plus.

There were four of us, all hungry, so we ordered a great amount of food: fried rice, sate, sauteed shrimps, green curry and the like, most dishes being priced between 1000 and 1300 yen. To drink we of course had Singh Ha, the dangerous Thai beer. Everything was both excellent to eat and a delight to look at.

I was saying that almost all Thai restaurants serve the same food. If originality is not their forte, quality and reliability certainly is, and Chiang Mai is a case in point. Here you will have what you expect from a good Thai restaurant, and at a more reasonable price than at most other restaurants in this area: four thousand yen should be sufficient.