Sukjai by Pata Obasan’s superb Thai vegetarian cuisine

อ่านบทความภาษาไทยคลิกที่นี่

This newly opened vegetarian restaurant set in a charming ye olde townhouse has an old world charm, matching its eponymous source of inspiration, Pa Ta (Auntie Ta), a celebrated Thai vegetarian chef who moved to Chiang Mai three decades ago from Bangkok. She is a devout Buddhist, a traditional Thai chef, and a dedicated vegetarian. Today she has lent her name, her recipes and herself as brand and inspiration to two students of her cuisine, Nong and Mod, who co-own the restaurant.
“I have long been associated with food by my friends and family,” Pa Ta told Citylife with great humility, though her name has long been renowned in Thailand’s culinary world for her technique-driven vegetarian Thai cuisine. “Whenever relatives visited from Bangkok, I would bring my pestle and mortar to a picnic by a waterfall and start making something for everyone to eat, or teaching visitors and friends how to cook. Soon, I was cooking more often and regularly, studying northern Thai cuisine and travelling across the north, especially to the border areas, learning about their foods. With so much learning and experimenting, I began to go to Kad Mua (pop up markets) about twenty years ago and sell my food, getting great feedback from people. People also began to seek me out and I have been teaching cooking to individuals and small groups of people for many years.”

Pa Ta used to eat meat, but through meditation and devotion to Buddhism, she slowly switched to vegetarianism. “I loved my food though and didn’t want to sacrifice any of my flavours when I became vegetarian, so I really focused on how to create high quality Thai vegetarian cuisine which maintained all of the elements we love, just without meat.”

Sukjai by Pata is a must visit for any foodie, vegetarian or carnivore. The menu features some Northern delights such as the classic khao soy, nam ngiew and laab, and she even has a very impressively authentic version of sai-ua which features three types of mushrooms to mimic flavours of pork and fat while wrapped in thin tofu instead of being stuffed into an intestine—if you have your eyes closed you wouldn’t know that there was no meat in these dishes. Classic Thai dishes from satay to green curry, pad Thai to chili dips mimic to great perfection their original meaty counterparts without appearing to be in anyway a substitute. Each dish stands alone magnificently and doesn’t flinch upon closer inspection.
Mod and Nong are both from Bangkok, “I am a Thonglor girl,” laughed Nong. “We used to both work in corporate real estate in Bangkok, in fact, Mod was my old boss! But when Covid hit, I decided to move to Chiang Mai to escape to nature. I then began to explore my passions, joining cooking courses, visiting Nepal and learning about vegetarianism and exploring my palate. I began to wonder what I could do in Chiang Mai full time and happened upon an interview of Pa Ta online where she talked about teaching people how to cook traditional Thai vegetarian cuisine. I saw the clip and was immediately moved to action. The next day I got into my car and drove to Mae Tang to search for Pa Ta. She lived off grid! Her house was lit by solar power and the road was pretty rough. She was quite surprised when I turned up. But after talking for a while, styling under her and really getting to know her and her food philosophy, we began to think of what we could do together. Mod then came to visit me from Bangkok one day and it was just serendipitous that it all came together as an idea. We needed a location which would honour Pa Ta—hence this 90 year old building which took a few months to redecorate— we had to seriously study her cooking, learn her techniques and really understand her in order to to set recipes and to conceptualise.”

The team of three women wanted to preserve the finesse and technique of Pa Ta, passing these treasured recipes and her food philosophy down to younger generations. The mindful recreation of recipes, the thoughtful search of organic, fresh, healthy and nutritious ingredients, the exploration of dishes beyond the limited norm ubiquitously found in most vegetarian restaurants, are all carefully thought out and implemented into the restaurant’s menu.

If you order a grilled squid, you will find a plate of oringi mushroom stems, which can closely copy the texture of a grilled squid, complete with deep umami flavours of a soy and herb marinade. A burger arrives juicy and tasty, its rich flavours fully absorbed into the jackfruit meat which has been baked and grilled to highlight the char of a piece of barbecued meat. A large serving of laab is almost more complex than the real thing, with its minced meat and organs, as both tofu and mushrooms are used in a variety of ways. Multiple techniques are used to create layers of flavour and textures, each showcasing the finesse and skills of Pa Ta, honed over many years.

There is no vegetarian sign in front of the restaurant, as the three women believe that this restaurant is for everyone, not just vegetarians. All sources are made from scratch and no preservatives are used. Food is seen as medicinal as well as nutritious and tasty.

The menu currently features around 25-30 dishes, though Pa Ta is known to simply turn up with a new dish now and ten, wandering around customers’ tables and asking them to sample her new inventions—much to everyone’s delight.

Sukjai by Pata Obasan has been open for just a month, but it is already garnering massive interest far beyond Chiang Mai, with food critics, bloggers and the media—Citylife including—hurrying to sample a bite or two or three of Pa Ta’s cooking. This restaurant is uber trending these days so we recommend you make a reservation if you want to be guaranteed a seating.

Sukjai by Pata Obasan
Open: 11 am – 9 pm (Close on Monday)
Tel. 065 054 6266
GPS: https://maps.app.goo.gl/P2ijpV2E4RJADnS98