Review

Chow Barn, or villagers, sits in the woodland surrounding the Peri Hotel and is a meeting place to enjoy comforting hearty dishes. This lively pet-friendly restaurant features a high-vaulted ceiling, rustic furnishings, lots of wood, and comfortable sofas. Specializing in Isaan food, the house signature is mookata, meaning Thai barbecued chicken or pork, cooked at the table by diners. Korat chicken is a specialty either grilled, crispy fried, or braised with fish sauce in a spicy salad or a hot and sour soup. The a la carte menu offers many choices, beginning with appetizers of Chow Barn house spicy sausages or fiery shredded bamboo shoot salad with an Isaan dip. Order baked rice with beef tallow in a clay pot to accompany main dishes from the grill, including a favourite of marinated pork collar and grilled pork with papaya salad. Sides of grilled corn and baked potatoes are popular. Desserts feature traditional tubtim krob or lod chong bathed in coconut milk; however, the go-to is Chow Barn sundae, a tower of coconut milk ice cream topped with a variety of multi-coloured Thai toppings. There is a comprehensive range of local craft beers, a concise wine list, and intriguing iced soft drinks of lemon juice with Chinese plum and iced pink milk.