UN Irish Pub and Restaurant, Chiang Mai: Review

23:10 Amy 2 Comments

Cozy, warm, friendly and with that smell. For us, the best pubs have lots of interesting people to meet, a decent drink selection, outdoor seating area and maybe some bands playing. We've spent some time trying to find a great pub in Chiang Mai. Our journey of discovery has seen us drinking warm lager and eating the poorest excuse for a bacon sarnie ever. But, our search was not in vain. 

Back when I was a traveller, I used to wonder why people would want to go to Western-themed places and eat Western food when they were on holiday. 

"You've travelled all this way, eat some Thai food! You can get garlic bread and chips anywhere!"

...You absolutely cannot get chips and garlic bread just anywhere. Nowadays we really appreciate that you can get so many different food types here in Chiang Mai - British, American, Italian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian, Thai, Burmese and so on. I have completely changed my view. So what if someone wants to eat Western food on holiday? It's up to them, after all.

We eat Western food every Saturday as a treat, and when we want a bacon sarnie, apple pie or the best veggie burger in Chiang Mai, we head on over to the UN Irish Pub and Restaurant.

Good pub food can be hard to beat. We went to the UN Irish Pub last weekend for a late breakfast. 

Food and Drinks

First, let me start with the sauce box - it's incredible. There's HP Brown Sauce, Heinz Tomato Sauce, Worcester Sauce, vinegar, proper mustard and importantly for me - real Tabasco. I realise that this list may sound extremely sad to someone who doesn't live here and can have HP Sauce whenever they feel like it, but here in Chiang Mai it's a treat - believe me.

I ate a much-anticipated bacon sarnie and Andy had a veggie burger - his preference every time we go. The burger comes with really good chips (fries to you Americans out there), salad and onion rings. We've tried veggie burgers at a lot of places, and this is the best so far.

Previously we've eaten fish in parmesan sauce, meaty hamburgers, garlic bread with cheese melted on top (amazing, 95 baht), apple pie and ice cream and more veggie burgers and chips than I can remember. The food is always good. I plan to try most things on the menu, but I suspect Andy will be happy to keep eating the veggie burgers. Next time I think I'll have pie with bubble and squeak and more stuff from their tasty in-house Crusty Loaf Bakery. You can buy takeway goodies from the bakery, such as Guinness and beef pie, cornish pasties, cake and different types of bread.

Drinks are likewise great. You can get beer (including very expensive Guinness), but we usually have a fruit shake (45 baht), coffee or wine.

Atmosphere

We prefer to sit in the leafy, shaded garden when it isn't raining, but inside is fine if it is. They play decent music, too. As well as indoor tables and bar seats, they have a whole upstairs room that we haven't even discovered yet. I hear it has a dartboard. Overall the atmosphere is good, and almost like a pub back in England - except you can pretty much always sit out in the beer garden here.

Staff

The wait staff are usually friendly and attentive. A couple of times one waitress has been pretty disinterested, but the rest have always been really nice.

Events

They show sports events regularly. A lot of sports events. You can check their schedule on their website.

Quiz night every Thursday evening at 8.30pm attracts lots of competitors. Arrive early.

During events it can get really busy. If you want a quieter meal out, avoid these times.

Address

24-24/1 Ratwithi Road, Sriphum, Amphur Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand 50200

Telephone
+66 (0) 53 214 554

Map

Website

Facebook

Opening hours

10am - midnight, sometimes till around 2am.

Free WiFi!