This is my third post about our recent 3-night trip up to Pai, a slow little mountain town that’s popular with the backpacker crowd and tourists seeking relaxation.  Like I said in my previous post about cakes, pies and coffees in Pai, about the only thing to do in Pai is eat!  I don’t want you to think we only ate sweets and drank coffee while we were in Pai – we had some savory Thai food too!

Our favorite spot in Pai was Charlie and Lek’s, a great little restaurant that also has cooking classes.  We found a dish there that we haven’t seen anywhere else in Thailand – Pad Thai made with shaved green papaya instead of noodles!  If pad thai and som tam got together and had a love child, it would be Green Papaya Pad Thai.  IT WAS SO GOOD, as shown by Kevin’s face in the photo below.

We also enjoyed some delicious Thai food from Na’s Kitchen.  The pad see iew may have been the best we’ve had so far in Thailand.  We also continued our love affair with Som Tam at Na’s – it did not disappoint.

We splurged and decided to get burgers one night after realizing we hadn’t had any beef for almost 2 months!  We visited Maya’s Burger Queen to satisfy our beef craving.

The cheapest meal we had in Pai was at Chew Xin Jai, a Chinese and Thai eatery with vegan and vegetarian food.  You get a plate full of rice with 1 scoop of food for 30 baht, 2 for 35 baht, 3 for 40 baht, or 4 for just 45 baht.  Cheap, filling, and pretty tasty.

No vacation in Thailand would be complete without some street food.  We started at the end of the main road in Pai and ate our way down the street back to our hotel on the last night.  It was fabulous.  Not pictured: an ear of corn on the cob that I scarfed down before we had time to take a photo…

We capped our street food dinner extravaganza off with a Chang beer at our hotel bar, where we sat and enjoyed some live music.

 

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What’s the best thing you’ve eaten on your international travels?  My favorite meal is still a cook-your-own-hot-plate meal we ate in a dark alleyway in Hanoi, Vietnam last year. We were sitting on tiny plastic stools at a tiny plastic table in a tiny little alley with motorbikes racing by.  Sometimes it’s more about the surroundings than the food!

 

We recently took a little 3-night trip up to Pai, Thailand to get away from the hustle and bustle of Chiang Mai.  Pai is a slow little mountain town that’s super popular with the backpacker crowd and tourists seeking relaxation.  There’s not a whole lot to do in Pai other than eat and relax, so we did as much eating as possible.  What could be more appropriate than overeating in a town whose name is pronounced “Pie”, anyway?  Also, writing about your overeating burns off some of those excess calories.  Ok, I may have just made that up, but I’m hoping it’s true.  Here are some snapshots of the tasty cakes, pies and coffees we sampled in Pai.  Stay tuned for a second blog post of all the non-sweets we had in Pai.

Cakes and Pies in Pai

First stop for some sweets was All About Coffee, a fun spot we found through some fellow traveler’s blogs online.

Kevin had the Binoffi Pai on the left, which was sort of like a banana cream pie with chocolate drizzle.  I had the Mango Cheese Pie on the right, which was pretty much a cheesecake with mangos on top.  Super delicious, but a bit expensive.

Next, we learned that Thai folks interpret “Ice Cream Sandwich” concept very literally.  We picked up this concoction below for just 10 Baht. It’s literally an ice cream sandwich – a piece of sandwich bread filled with scoops of coconut ice cream, a scoop of sweet sticky rice, sweet coconut drizzle, and peanuts.

We also made a visit to the Witching Well restaurant, which we’ve read has delicious cakes and desserts.  Their decor is also fun and unique.

Kevin ordered the Apple Crisp, and I got the carrot cake.  Both tasty, both cost 70 Baht.

We also stumbled onto this street vendor, serving up delicious coconut pancakes.  We got two with coconut + corn, and two with coconut + banana.  SO GOOD.  Don’t miss these if you’re in Pai – it was the best dessert we had there!

 

Coffees in Pai

All the cakes and pies made us lethargic.  Naturally, we sought out some high-caffeine high-sugar beverages as a pick me up.  During our visit to All About Coffee, we also snagged some tasty drinks.  Kevin got a Siphon Coffee, black, and I had an Upside Down Coffee, which is a shot of espresso on top of sweetened condensed milk.

 

We discovered a little cafe called Cafein in the center of Pai with two rocking chairs right by the street.  This cafe is situated right across from a motorbike rental place, so we killed several hours watching brand new motorbike riders come up and shakily ride off on their newly rented motorbikes.  We saw some of them again later with knees and elbows wrapped in gauze!

Another favorite spot was Cafe d’tist, just down the street from our hotel.  They had tasty iced drinks for just 50 baht, and we really liked their Iced Lattes and their fun decor.

Not all our caffeine came from coffee in Pai.  We also stopped by Art in Chai, a little coffee house that’s super popular with backpackers.  Art in Chai is known for their Masala Chai.  For each glass, the barista uses a mortar and pestle to freshly pound up all the spices that go into that cup.  We met a few people at Art in Chai who came to Pai on week-long vacation and are still here two years later.  A lot of people seem to come to Pai and just never leave!

 

I’m almost embarrassed to post all of this.  Yes, we were only in Pai for 3 nights, and yes, we really did eat all of these sweets.  If you could win a vacation award for eating cakes, pies and coffees, we definitely won on this trip!  YOLO, right?

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Where in the world have you had your best coffee?  There will always be a special place in my heart for Vietnamese coffee, which tastes almost like chocolate.