Mai Restaurant & Bar’s New Menu Supports Local Sustainable and Organic Farming
CHIANG MAI, Thailand (Aug. 28, 2025) – 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 21st 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.
For further information or to make a reservation, call Mai Restaurant & Bar on +66 52 090 603, email fb@meliachiangmai.com or visit https://www.melia.com/en/
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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.
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.
‘Neau Yang Nam Prik Kha’ made up of grilled Thai-Angus rib eye beef, dried galangal gravy and San Pa Tong rice.
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.
About Meliá Hotels & Resorts
Meliá Hotels & Resorts is the best-known international brand in the portfolio of the Meliá Hotels International company; it has more than 100 city and resort hotels in the main leisure and business destinations of Europe, Asia, Africa and America. The brand offers exemplary meetings and events facilities in all important business cities as well as in exotic locations, catering to the ever-expanding conference and incentive travel market. As part of its innovation philosophy and new positioning, Meliá Hotels & Resorts has reinvented itself to cater to every aspect of the guests’ wellbeing. Unique experiences are created for guests and are defined by relaxation, quality time and personalised services. For a balanced lifestyle, Meliá Hotels & Resorts instinctively understands the guests’ needs and lifestyle expectations, which is an integral part of its redefined identity. Follow Meliá Hotels & Resorts on Twitter @MeliaHtlResorts, Facebook @Melia.Hotels and Instagram @meliahtlresorts. www.melia.com.
About Meliá Hotels International
Founded in 1956 in Mallorca (Spain), Meliá Hotels International operates more than 380 hotels (portfolio and pipeline) throughout more than 40 countries, under the brands Gran Meliá Hotels & Resorts, Paradisus by Meliá, ME by Meliá, Meliá Hotels & Resorts, The Meliá Collection, INNSiDE by Meliá, Sol by Meliá, and Falcon’s Resorts by Meliá, plus a wide portfolio of affiliated hotels under the “Affiliated by Meliá” network. The Group is one of the leading companies in resort hotels worldwide, while also leveraging its experience to consolidate the growing segment of the leisure-inspired urban market. Its commitment to responsible tourism has led the Group to become the most sustainable hotel company in Spain and Europe, according to the last S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (Silver Class). It also has ranked seventh in the Wall Street Journal's list of the 100 most sustainably managed companies in the world (and the leading travel company) and is the only Spanish travel company included in the list of “Europe’s Climate Leaders 2021” by Financial Times. Meliá Hotels International is also included in the IBEX 35 Spanish stock market. For more information, visit www.meliahotelsinternational.
About Asset World Corp Public Company Limited
Asset World Corp Public Company Limited is a holding company under TCC Group operating leading integrated lifestyle property development in Thailand. The company has two main businesses consisting of the Hospitality business managed by top hotel executives of world-renowned hotel brands such as Marriott, The Luxury Collection, Okura, Banyan Tree, Hilton, and Sheraton and Retail, Wholesale and Commercial properties whose projects include 1) Retail and Wholesale including lifestyle travel destinations, community shopping malls, community markets, and wholesale business real estate. Popular real estate projects consist of ASIATIQUE the Riverfront Destination, Gateway at Bangsue, AEC Trade Center – Pantip Wholesale Destination, and Tawanna Bangkapi and 2) Commercial buildings including the famous Empire Tower and Athenee Tower located in Bangkok’s central business district.