Chiang Mai has exceptional culinary diversity, with everything from quick markets to elaborate eateries. Thanks to the large number of expats in the city, you can find Western dishes around Tha Pae Gate, but the culinary highlight of Chiang Mai is its northern Thai food. Dishes are served with sticky rice, and regional curries, characterized by a lack of coconut milk, are generally spicier. Try heading to the area west of Phra Pokklao Rd. in the old city, where you can’t go a block without seeing low-key, traditional Thai restaurants populated almost exclusively by locals. Another regional specialty is coffee. The hills of the North have proven ideal for coffee plantations, and the delicious results of that process are readily available in Chiang Mai.
Market Food. Somphet Market, on Moon Muang Rd. between Soi 6 and 7, serves fried noodles (20-40฿) and kuay tiaw lu chin plaa (fishball noodle soup; 20฿). It is open all day until midnight, but food stalls don’t get going until after 7pm. During the day, the produce market has a larger variety of local food. Other night food stalls line the moat to the south of the old city, near Wualai Rd. The Night Bazaar is another popular destination for late-night eats, but while there are some good restaurants in the area, prices are generally high. Anusan Market, in the southern part of the Night Bzaar between Chang Klan Rd. and Charoen Prathet Rd., is an overpriced nocturnal snack zone. Dining is cheaper at the Kalare Food Court in the middle of the Night Bazaar, where food booths surround a dining area and a stage with nightly entertainment. In the evening, the road that runs between Warorot Market and Lanyai Market, on the west bank of the Ping River, is crammed with food stalls. Freshly sliced fruit (10฿) is available at all of the markets. The mango season (Mar.-May) brings khao niaw mamuang (mangos and sweet sticky rice), a Thai delicacy.
Khantoke. For a memorable culinary experience, try a khantoke dinner. At this formal meal, diners sit on the floor and use their hands to eat rice, two meat dishes, and two vegetable dishes from bowls placed on a khantoke, a low tray table. The Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center, 185/3 Wualai Rd. (☎053 275 097), 1.5km south of the old city, offers vegetarian and Muslim versions. State preferences when calling for the necessary reservation. The 3hr. affair, accompanied by traditional dancing, begins nightly at 7pm (320฿, includes transportation).
Huen Phen, 112 Ratchamanka Rd. (☎ 053 814 548), 300m west of Phra Pokklao Rd. Look no further than this restaurant, packed all day long, for northern Thai dining at its finest. Locals come for the ...more
Aroon Rai, 45 Kotchasarn Rd. (☎ 053 276 947), south of the Tha Pae Gate and before Loi Kro Rd. Aroon Rai is starting to look well-worn from the crowds of farang and Thais who eat here every day. Rumored ...more
Thanachart Saichon, 2/1 Mahidol Rd. (☎ 053 808 642), on a vast covered platform at the southern end of Boonruang Rit Rd., approximately across from Soi Samlan 6; the English sign advertises “variety ...more
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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