Cuisine de Garden

The Verdict

Cuisine de Garden opened in 2018 in Mae Rim, about 25 minutes north of the Old City, on a property that the chef had originally acquired as a farm. The restaurant is literally built around the garden — a glass-walled 20-seat dining room overlooks a working market garden where most of the restaurant's herbs, leafy greens, and seasonal produce are grown. Chef Leelawadee trained at Noma, Gaggan (Bangkok), and several other chef's-table restaurants before returning to Chiang Mai to build a kitchen rooted in her home region's produce.

The tasting menu (THB 2,600–3,200) runs 10 to 14 courses and follows the garden's seasons strictly. A typical winter evening opens with heirloom tomato salad with northern herbs (lemongrass, culantro, betel leaf), moves through local river trout with banana flower and turmeric, pauses for a jungle-curry-influenced intermediate course, and climbs through slow-cooked pork belly, a rice-and-relishes course that references the northern khantoke tradition, and ends with a coconut-rice ice cream and local tropical fruit.

The room is calmer and more spacious than Blackitch — better suited to a proposal or a two-hour slow dinner than a counter-driven experience. The wine list is small, the sake list negligible; the restaurant's non-alcoholic pairing (fermented juices and teas from the garden) is the genuinely interesting drinks option and one of the best non-alcohol programs in Southeast Asia. Cuisine de Garden seats two services Tuesday to Sunday; book 6pm for the light, 8pm for the evening-garden register.

Why It Works for First Date

Cuisine de Garden is the room that Chiang Mai's hotels send their most serious guests to, and the 25-minute drive out to Mae Rim becomes a feature of the evening rather than an obstacle. The setting — a glass-walled dining room facing a working vegetable garden and the Mae Rim valley — provides the scenic-escape-from-the-city aesthetic that the best Chiang Mai dinners build around.

Signature Dishes

Heirloom tomato salad with northern herbs; local trout with banana flower and turmeric; slow-cooked pork belly with jungle chili; coconut rice ice cream.

Also in Chiang Mai

For the broader Chiang Mai picture, see our full Chiang Mai dining guide. Related rooms at this level: Blackitch Artisan Kitchen (Contemporary Thai / Fermentation) and Khao Soi Khun Yai (Northern Thai / Noodles). For the first date cross-city picture, see our First Date directory. Travelling on? Consider Bangkok, Phuket, or Hanoi for your next leg.