Chiang Mai Restaurants

Northern Thailand is home to one of the world’s finest cuisines, as can be seen by the numbers of Thai restaurants that have sprung up around the world in the last few years. One of the best ways to experience Chiang Mai’s culinary delights is to sample some of the many different dishes that can be found here. If you get tired of eating rice or noodles, there is also a wide range of excellent western food in Chiang Mai, from cheap hamburger stands to elaborate Italian, French, German and British eateries.

Local cuisine

Traditional northern dishes include kaeng haeng le, a delicious curried pork, Burmese-style dish; nam phrik ong, a spicy dip of ground pork and tomatoes; kaeng khae kai, a chicken and vegetable curry; and khao niao, glutinous rice, the staple cereal of Chiang Mai. Other northern Thailand fare includes khao soy, yellow crisp wheat noodles in coconut curry broth with chicken or beef; and fried insect dishes such as rot duan, a kind of caterpillar, meng muan, a woodborer, and ging gong, a type of cricket.

Where to eat

Some of the tastiest meals prove to be some of the most affordable and these can be found at the city’s many food stalls and markets. Some markets open in the day, while others open only in the evening or at night. Next to the Three Kings Monument is a street where you can try great kwai teaw, kao man kai and kao soi. At the Sunday Market, held between the Thapae Gate and Wat Phra Sing, stalls are set in the temples along the way, where you can try the freshly made deep-fried snacks. If you’re hungry in the middle of the night, you can go opposite the Vista Hotel for some noodle soup, fish balls and some dim sum.