Little Tree Cafe is quite out of the way. I think you really have to be going there to end up near there. Or at least that is what it feels like to me. It is in Nakhon Pathom and we took Phetkasem Rd to get there. But then you turn off onto Soi Wat Om Yai and zig zag for a little while until you think you are totally lost, and then you are there.

But if you want to eat in a gorgeous garden in an out-of-the-way place with good desserts and a nice walk through the gardens which opens out onto a beautiful view of the Tha Chin river… then this is the place for you.

Furthermore, once or twice a year they have a “talad nat” (weekend market) there. Praew wanted to go, so we headed out that way to check it out on Saturday.

I’ve never been a big “talad nat” fan, but the garden environment made this enjoyable even for one such as myself. And for those of you with young kids, there are all kinds of art and craft activities for them. In the atmosphere felt more like something I would expect to find in San Francisco or Santa Monica than Bangkok. (But with more lush tropical flora.)

It is hard to describe, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…

The food is high quality but not something I would crave enough to drive an hour for it alone. But it is certainly good, and once you are there it doesn’t let you down. With the weekend market, seats were in short supply and they were serving in slightly more informal ways than they did when we ate there once before on a more normal weekend.

Praew ordered the “guay tieow kua gai” (fried noodles with chicken) and I went with the pork ribs with mustard and sesame seed rice. The sesame seeds in the rice added that little touch that made the whole dish something more than you would usually find in the usual pork ribs and rice dish at any restaurant in Bangkok. (That unexpected something is what I really look for in a restaurant.) But the real stars (this time and last time) were the drinks and the desserts. For drinks Praew ordered a smoothie made from green apple and a very sour Thai fruit called “taling pling” (Averrhoa bilimbi). I got the lychee and rose smoothie (the rose came from their own garden). The cake in the lower left of the picture was a slice of macadamia nut caramel chocolate cake. Needless to say, I really enjoyed the cake. 🙂This being the second time we’ve come here, I’m pretty sure we’ll come again. And if you really want to know why, take a look at the garden in the pictures above. It is just big enough to get a little lost in (but only if you want to) and the panorama I included of the garden opening out onto Tha Chin river really doesn’t do it justice.
If you have a chance to go, I would highly recommend it. Even though the food is quite good, bring a date and go for the garden and desserts. And if you are into weekend markets, you might keep an eye out for when their next “talad nat” day is. Particularly if you have young kids.

Here is the location: