Meliá Chiang Mai’s signature restaurant, Mai Restaurant & Bar, has unveiled a new menu of innovative dishes concocted via a thoughtful cooking process to slash food waste and greenhouse emissions.

The intimate restaurant on the hotel’s 21^st floor serves contemporary Northern Thai dishes with Mediterranean influences to a backdrop of a compelling design referencing the city’s rich culture and spectacular vistas of the city and famed Doi Suthep Temple on the mountaintop to the west. 

As part of the hotel’s 360° Cuisine concept, executive chef Suksant Chutinthratip (Billy) and Mai Restaurant & Bar’s Sous Chef Karn Phojun craft dishes featuring fresh produce from the hotel’s network of ethical and chemical-free suppliers, including organic gourmet farms Rong Khum in San Pa Tong and SEED in San Sai. The chefs use as much of every ingredient as possible before leftovers are returned to the farms as compost, and leftover cooking oil is sent to be recycled into biodiesel.

The new menu’s six appetisers range from ‘Hoi Shell Samunprai’ featuring hot seared deep blue sea scallops, dried chili drops, and turmeric chip, to ‘Khao Soi Salad’, a mixed salad bowl with fresh produce from the farms, accompanied by khao soi dressing, tai lue tofu, wheat, and cage-free eggs. 

In addition to three soups and three rice and noodle dishes, the menu outlines nine meat, seafood or vegetarian main courses. ‘Cheeva Pork Chop’ with locally sourced pastured pork chop, wild pepper corn sauce, and apple salad, ‘Neau Yang Nam Prik Kha’ made up of grilled Thai-Angus rib eye beef, dried galangal gravy, and San Pa Tong rice, ‘Kua Haam Gai Benja’ low-cooked chicken roulade, sai oua stuffing, and lemongrass foam are among the delectable meat mains. 

Alongside seafood dishes such as ‘Kanom Jeen Nam Prik Goong Pao’ with seared tiger prawns, fermented rice noodles, curry sauce, and garden herbs, vegetarian mains include ‘Yum Makeua Yao’ comprising grilled eggplant, chili-soy dressing, garden herbs and wheat germs and ‘Saar Phak Tod’ of vegetable fritter, lemon aioli, and garlic chips. 

To round off the dining experience, four desserts are on offer, including ‘Lum Yai Pudding’, comprising organic longan pudding, butterscotch sauce, and coconut ice cream. The organic longhans, for example, are a product of Rong Khun farm’s “Farm Lab” established by Prof. Dr. Puangrat Kaewlom and Mr. Piroj Kaewlom (Dr. Puangrat’s father) to explore and demonstrate real-world solutions for sustainable agriculture that range from healing soil to improving consumers’ health.

The Farm Lab’s key responsibilities include: developing and testing organic farming methods tailored for perennial fruits, starting with longan orchids; applying and evaluating biochar, compost, and natural microbial treatments to improve soil health and enhance soil carbon sequestration; and monitoring soil respiration and biodiversity as indicators of ecosystem recovery and carbon storage potential. The Farm Lab also serves as a training and demonstration site for farmers, researchers, students, and businesses seeking practical tools to address climate change, food safety, and regenerative farming.

Through the ‘Organic Longan Project’, Chiang Mai Green Kitchen partner restaurants, including Mai Restaurant & Bar, visited the Farm Lab, learned about organic Longan production, and created signature Longan-based menus that highlight health, sustainability, and creativity, featuring ‘Lum Yai Pudding’.

Adjacent to the hotel’s executive lounge and tucked under MAI The Sky Bar, the highest rooftop bar in the city, the 38-seat Mai Restaurant & Bar is a visual marvel. Diners enter the venue under an arch that pays homage to a nearby temple. In a salute to Chiang Mai’s Bo Sang Umbrella Village, large lit installations of umbrella ribs cling to the ceiling. Various artworks of umbrella canopies hang on the walls, such as those made from antique Chiang Mai textiles. The carpet’s concentric patterns, in the likes of gun-metal grey, periwinkle, and soft amber hues, reference umbrella tops in a striking yet subdued way.