Food in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Like everywhere else in Southeast Asia that we visited, Chiang Mai has great food on practically every street and street corner. We recommend simply trying anything that looks good. Here are some tips to meet your food preferences:
If you are sensitive to spiciness (like Sarah is), instead of choosing foods made in large batches (like soups, larb, stews), look instead for foods made to order for you: papaya or mango salad, basil chicken.
When looking at restaurants, local joints MAY be able to accommodate spice or vegan/veg limitations. Again, when it’s made to order for each dish rather than prepared in a large pot for the day you’ll have greater flexibility.
For a price, you can get whatever you need. There are plenty of restaurants charging $4 and up per dish (instead of $1 per dish) for more Westernized foods.
Khanom Jeen Pa Pom (Khao Soi) (in Thai: ขนมจีน ป้าป้อม)
This place had fantastic khao soi (chicken and noodles in a rich curry sauce) and was only a block from our place in Chiang Mai. Our hotel owners said they had the best in the city. The name is in Thai and translates as Aunt Pom’s Kanom Jeen. Kanom jeen are thin rice noodles (which are part of the khao soi). A bowl of chicken khao soi cost 55 baht (USD$1.50). You MUST get here earlier rather than later as they run out each day (they are open 10 AM – 2 PM), so if you’re trying for khao soi at 1 or 2 pm, you might be disappointed. Outside they sell other snacks. A packet wrapped in banana leaf is likely rice cooked in pork blood, which is a very popular local dish.
How to find it: The restaurant is located across the street/around the corner from KALM City Chiangmai (a small art and conference center that can be explored in under 30 minutes for free) and across the street from Wat Pan Whalen Thai Massage. You can map to KALM at 14 Soi 4, Phrapokklao Rd. Muang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand. If you are facing KALM, turn left, around the corner, and the restaurant is on your left. Address of Khanom Jeen Pa Pom in Thai – 15 1 ถนน พระปกเกล้า ซอย 4 ตำบล พระสิงห์ อำเภอเมืองเชียงใหม่ เชียงใหม่ 50200.
Laab Kai Meuang Phan Waen / The Best Larb
(Phra Sing, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai)
We thought this place looked promising. When we told our hotel owners we’d eaten here, they were surprised we found it and said it’s the best place for larb in the city. It was indeed very good, but too spicy for Sarah. If spiciness is not an issue for you, for sure make this a stop.
Basil Chicken
We happened upon this place at lunchtime and it was so good we returned another day (but she was already sold out at 1pm for the day!) This restaurant isn’t on Googlemaps and doesn’t have a clear sign in English, so we recommend you map to Yupparaj Wittayalai School and look for a sign for the Parent/Alumni Association on Ratvithi Road across from the restaurant.
The Ma Yom Tree/ Golden Wells Residence Bed and Breakfast
Certainly some of the best food we had in Chiang Mai was at our B&B. They also have a restaurant open to those who are not hotel guests. Probably best to contact them a day in advance to make sure they are ready for you. We asked them for Thai breakfast and every morning they surprised us with a new multi-course fabulous meal, the best versions of traditional cuisine.
Huen Muan Jai (Lanna cuisine)
We met a traveling mother and daughter who suggested we go to lunch together at this restaurant. Lanna cuisine is the cuisine of northern Thailand and is named after the Lanna kingdom which ruled northern Thailand for about 800 years. There is significant Burmese influence on Lanna culture and cuisine since Burma ruled the Lanna kingdom for about 2 centuries. The food was pretty good, prices high ($12 for our half of the bill), number of non-spicy dishes good, and it was quite busy with locals as we visited just before a holiday weekend. When they are busy, you’ll put your name on a waiting list. The problem is they call your name in Thai–so listen for “Ca + your name” as “Ca” is an honorific equivalent to Mr/Ms.
After too many nights of market food for dinner, we really just wanted a place to meet 4 needs: not too spicy, not high prices, not fried, not pork. We found Nun’s Restaurant on Googlereviews and it certainly met our needs. All the patrons were foreigners and the shop fits 21 diners max. They are pretty quick though, so if you have to wait I wouldn’t worry too much.
The menu states they only do Thai food, and it meant we were getting “real” Thai even if it was toned down for spice. They also say “we are not a vegetarian/vegan restaurant but we will meet your food needs.” I loved that all the dishes had options for protein: tofu, beef, pork, chicken and sometimes shrimp. We have a few of the menu pages included but not all; they have about 5 different curries, several soups, several noodle dishes–just lots of options and the ability to meet many different dining needs at once if that’s what you are looking for.
We’d come to a pattern where breakfast was great, lunch was manageable, and dinner felt desperate. Nun’s was a welcome break in that pattern and we’d recommend them.
Address: 7, 1 Rachadamnoen Rd Soi 5, Tambon Si Phum, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50200 (in Thai: 7, 1 ถนน ราชดำเนิน ซอย 5 ตำบลศรีภูมิ อำเภอเมืองเชียงใหม่ เชียงใหม่ 50200)
Street near Wat Inthakhin Sadue Muang
(13 Intrawarorot Rd, Tambon Si Phum, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50200)
If you are facing the Wat, go down the street around the right side of the black and gold temple.
This little street has some of the oldest local food establishments in town. The place we went for chicken rice, for example, has been in business 40 years and is generally known as the best and first place to get Hainanese chicken rice.
We tried the chicken and rice and the satay chicken from Kiat O Cha (Address: 41, 43 Intrawarorot Rd, Tambon Si Phum, Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand) and it was good. Chicken and rice is bland, and they give you a good dipping sauce (not spicy) and a dish of ginger and chilis (spicy) and pickled cucumbers (spicy). The satay sauce was sweet and not spicy. Free Chinese tea is served as well.
There are several dessert places along here, soup restaurants, and snacks.
Chocolate
If you have a serious chocolate need, there’s not much in Chiang Mai. Most of the chocolate cake was just not chocolately enough for us. We found one peanut butter chocolate cake at Herb Basics that did pretty well (note that this place mostly sells soaps and herbs), and otherwise the chocolate bars from 7-11 are an option.
Location: 174 เมือง Chiang Mai 50200
H Cafe
cake
peanut butter chocolate cake
Market Food
Saturday (Wua Lai Walking Street) and Sunday night (Rachadamnoen Street) markets
These walking street markets are the biggest in Chiang Mai extending at least a kilometer in length, not even counting the various offshoot streets off the main street.
Our take: the food is better and more interesting almost anywhere else. Go once to one of these two markets and that will probably be sufficient (we talked to several vendors and they told us that they worked both markets). We should note, though, that we did eat very tasty papaya and mango salads at the Sunday Night Market, and found good fried fish cakes from a Saturday market seller. Fruit shakes made with or without water/dairy/coconut water are plentiful and cost between 30 THB (under $1) to 60 THB. This price difference is mostly about what tourists are willing to pay. We even saw one vendor with the exact same sign in Thai and English (thanks Google Translate) where the Thai offerings were 20 THB less for the same item.
KANOM KROK: these are coconut “pancakes”–but are like half circles. They are made from rice flour, sugar, salt, coconut milk. Toppings are usually sweet potato, green onion, corn, or other non-meat. There is a restaurant in California near us that makes an excellent version of these, so we were eager to try the local ones. The local version was not as pretty or sophisticated, but they were sweet, vegan, readily available, cheap and tasty. We liked the corn ones best.
This is a smaller, food-only night market that operates every night on the south side of the Old City. It’s mostly Thai food but also has vendors such as the hugely-popular-with-tourists sushi cart (did not look appetizing to us). We ate here several times: mango with sticky rice, grilled banana, fruit shakes, potstickers, and pad thai. During the day, the building behind the vendors is a small fresh produce and sweets market.
Chang Phuek Market
This is also a nightly market but located on the north side of the Old City. About the same size as the Chiang Mai Gate Market, but with some different and tasty vendors so it’s worth visiting both this and the Chiang Mai Gate Market. Located at 248/70 ถนน มณีนพรัตน์ ตำบลศรีภูมิ อำเภอเมืองเชียงใหม่ เชียงใหม่ 50200.