Lanna Cafe - Coffee co-op and cute cafe

Lanna Cafe has become a regular favourite of ours for lunch as of late. They make delicious made-to-order sandwiches and the coffee is apparently some of the best in town (don't drink the stuff myself, but so say my hardcore coffee drinking friends). Aside from ordering coffee you can also buy whole bean and ground coffee of several varieties. A nice twist is that Lanna Cafe is not only a cafe, but also a non-governmental agency (NGO) started in 2001 by the Wakachiai Project. They buy coffee from hill tribe growers in northern Thailand in accordance with Fair Trade standards.

The main attraction for me is the sandwiches, as I said, made-to-order. They have little slips of paper that have all the categories and how many items you can choose from each one. So you choose bread, meat, cheese, veggies and toppings from the list provided. You can enjoy whatever bizarre combination makes the perfect sandwich to you. The sandwiches themselves are fairly big and definitely delicious. The bread is fresh and real bread (even their focaccia is pretty good). The toppings are all quality and the proportions right on. If you can't tell already, I love these things! They also have a good breakfast/lunch (brunch?) menu, including a great salad with an amazing house dressing. The salad is really nice quality, filling and only B60, so a great deal. I haven't tried a lot of other things cause I'm hung up on those two tasty morsels, but my friend who eats there all the time enjoys a number of different items on the menu.

I really like going here because it's a win-win-win situation (to quote Michael Scott). I get a delicious sandwich (or salad) at a reasonable price, a local business gets supported and disadvantaged minority farmers maybe get that little break that makes the difference between surviving and living. And to top it all off, they've got free wireless. Who could say no!

*NOTE: Recently their bread has left a bit to be desired. I was sorely disappointed by the last time I had focaccia, instead of being all bready and soft it was hard like a cracker. And that's just wrong. I'd go for the bagel or baguette at this stage!