Food, Cafes & Restaurants in Chiang Mai
Our Recommended Local Food Places
One of the well-known northern dishes that we are familiar with is “Khao Soi”, a delicious dish with a mellow flavour. It is a unique dish with various spices. There is a couple of delicious Khao Soi restaurant around Chiang Mai city but our top favourite one is Khao Soi Khun Yai (“Khun Yai” in Thai means Grandma), located next to Wat Khuan Kha Ma (opposite Wat Lok Moli), literally within the old town moat so you’ll see a lot of foreign tourists here. Khao Soi here is the original recipe of the restaurant with concentrated curry paste using fresh coconut milk. The noodles are flat yellow noodles. Garnished with crispy fried thin yellow noodles. It is served with sliced shallots and sour pickled vegetables that go well together. For those who want to add spiciness, they have homemade chilli stir-fried with oil. They do beef, pork, and chicken Khao Soi here and we love all of them. The price ranges from 50 – 70 Baht per dish.
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Khao Soi Khun Yai
Sri Poom RoadOne of the well-known northern dishes that we are familiar with is “Khao Soi”, a delicious dish with a mellow flavour. It is a unique dish with various spices. There is a couple of delicious Khao Soi restaurant around Chiang Mai city but our top favourite one is Khao Soi Khun Yai (“Khun Yai” in Thai means Grandma), located next to Wat Khuan Kha Ma (opposite Wat Lok Moli), literally within the old town moat so you’ll see a lot of foreign tourists here. Khao Soi here is the original recipe of the restaurant with concentrated curry paste using fresh coconut milk. The noodles are flat yellow noodles. Garnished with crispy fried thin yellow noodles. It is served with sliced shallots and sour pickled vegetables that go well together. For those who want to add spiciness, they have homemade chilli stir-fried with oil. They do beef, pork, and chicken Khao Soi here and we love all of them. The price ranges from 50 – 70 Baht per dish.
Another street food Khao Soi which we can tell you that it is a legendary deliciousness for more than 40 years and it has been featured in the Netflix documentary “Somebody Feed Phil”. A popular menu that must not be missed is Spicy Beef Khao Soi. The braised beef is tender, delicious, and melts in your mouth. The soft-boiled noodles come in a thick curry sauce, served with side dishes, pickled onions, pickled cabbage, and lime. The place is rather small, so we usually get takeaways.
Khao Soi Lung Prakit Kaat Gorm
53 Suriyawong 5 RoadAnother street food Khao Soi which we can tell you that it is a legendary deliciousness for more than 40 years and it has been featured in the Netflix documentary “Somebody Feed Phil”. A popular menu that must not be missed is Spicy Beef Khao Soi. The braised beef is tender, delicious, and melts in your mouth. The soft-boiled noodles come in a thick curry sauce, served with side dishes, pickled onions, pickled cabbage, and lime. The place is rather small, so we usually get takeaways.
Yes, another Khao Soi place! This one is only a 5-minute walk from our condo. We also come here for delicious Khao Soi pork and beef when Khao Soi Khun Yai is closed or is too packed (and vice versa). This place can be rather busy too during weekends around lunchtime. The place seems to be popular among the local Thais as we’ve only seen foreigners a couple of times there. I myself prefer Khao Soi Mae Sai style while my partner gives Khao Soi Khun Yai the top place out of all.
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ร้านข้าวซอยแม่สาย Khao Soy Maesai
1 Soi RatchaphuekYes, another Khao Soi place! This one is only a 5-minute walk from our condo. We also come here for delicious Khao Soi pork and beef when Khao Soi Khun Yai is closed or is too packed (and vice versa). This place can be rather busy too during weekends around lunchtime. The place seems to be popular among the local Thais as we’ve only seen foreigners a couple of times there. I myself prefer Khao Soi Mae Sai style while my partner gives Khao Soi Khun Yai the top place out of all.
When talking about the Chang Phueak area, everyone (the locals) must think of this well-known Suki (aka Sukiyaki) restaurant. Sukiyaki is a dish that is easy to make with meats, vermicelli, eggs, and a lot of vegetables (cabbages). The dish we usually get is pork suki without soup – you may think that it looks just like an ordinary stir-fried cabbage but it’s actually very delicious especially with the cabbages being fresh and crispy while the pork is just tender. We also tried the soup one but it’s a no for us. If you dine in, you can even smell the aroma from the roasting pan. Because the place is so popular, there is always such a long queue and because of that we most of the time order takeout via Grab delivery (which is why we don’t really take any photos of it …). There are 3 branches but the one located at the Chang Phueak gate is the original and also the busiest. It could be a great street food dining experience if you choose to sit in but make sure you are patient enough to wait for your order. Another branch that is less busy is behind Chiang Mai university (although a bit further down the city centre). The price ranges from 40 – 60 Baht a dish.
Changphuak Suki
When talking about the Chang Phueak area, everyone (the locals) must think of this well-known Suki (aka Sukiyaki) restaurant. Sukiyaki is a dish that is easy to make with meats, vermicelli, eggs, and a lot of vegetables (cabbages). The dish we usually get is pork suki without soup – you may think that it looks just like an ordinary stir-fried cabbage but it’s actually very delicious especially with the cabbages being fresh and crispy while the pork is just tender. We also tried the soup one but it’s a no for us. If you dine in, you can even smell the aroma from the roasting pan. Because the place is so popular, there is always such a long queue and because of that we most of the time order takeout via Grab delivery (which is why we don’t really take any photos of it …). There are 3 branches but the one located at the Chang Phueak gate is the original and also the busiest. It could be a great street food dining experience if you choose to sit in but make sure you are patient enough to wait for your order. Another branch that is less busy is behind Chiang Mai university (although a bit further down the city centre). The price ranges from 40 – 60 Baht a dish.
Our all-time favourite Thai food place that we visit at least twice a month. We usually order the same dishes (such as Stir-Fried Clams with Chili Paste, Stir Fried Crab with Yellow Curry Powder, Stir-Fried White Chives with Tofu and Minced Pork, and Steamed Red Fish with Spicy Lemon Sauce) and always enjoy them every time we go. The service here is super-fast (but because we eat there regularly, we usually call to make an order first and also to make sure that they’re open!). From our experience, we have never once seen any foreigner eating there (except my partner). Though the good thing is they do have menus in English (and Chinese too). The restaurant is not located within the old town moat but if you have a chance, we recommend you give this place a visit if you would like to experience authentic Thai food with reasonable, local pricing.
Kitchen Thippharot Rattanakosin Bridge
Our all-time favourite Thai food place that we visit at least twice a month. We usually order the same dishes (such as Stir-Fried Clams with Chili Paste, Stir Fried Crab with Yellow Curry Powder, Stir-Fried White Chives with Tofu and Minced Pork, and Steamed Red Fish with Spicy Lemon Sauce) and always enjoy them every time we go. The service here is super-fast (but because we eat there regularly, we usually call to make an order first and also to make sure that they’re open!). From our experience, we have never once seen any foreigner eating there (except my partner). Though the good thing is they do have menus in English (and Chinese too). The restaurant is not located within the old town moat but if you have a chance, we recommend you give this place a visit if you would like to experience authentic Thai food with reasonable, local pricing.
‘Jok’ in Thai means congee. This is a good place to go if you happen to feel sick or hungover. They are open 24 hours. Our favourite dishes are pork congee (their signature is using soft minced pork) with soft-boiled egg and rice porridge with fish. Chicken with rice topped with crispy basil sauce is also tasty.
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Jok Sompet
3 Sri Poom Rd‘Jok’ in Thai means congee. This is a good place to go if you happen to feel sick or hungover. They are open 24 hours. Our favourite dishes are pork congee (their signature is using soft minced pork) with soft-boiled egg and rice porridge with fish. Chicken with rice topped with crispy basil sauce is also tasty.
Our Recommended Brunch Places
Our second favourite brunch place! The atmosphere of the restaurant is natural, and shady, and the food is made to look delicious (and it does taste delicious with reasonable pricing!). We have tried Full Breakfast with Scramble Eggs, Bagel with Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese, Pancake, and French Toast with Mixed Fruits and we loved them all (we usually get the same dishes every time we go). They also have some cakes, cookies, and scones there.
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Natwat HomeCafe
2 ถนน เจริญราษฎร์Our second favourite brunch place! The atmosphere of the restaurant is natural, and shady, and the food is made to look delicious (and it does taste delicious with reasonable pricing!). We have tried Full Breakfast with Scramble Eggs, Bagel with Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese, Pancake, and French Toast with Mixed Fruits and we loved them all (we usually get the same dishes every time we go). They also have some cakes, cookies, and scones there.
Aussie-style café and bar located in Nimman Soi 6. With rather limited seating space (though they have indoor and outdoor), this place is always crowded during weekends. We don’t specifically remember any outstanding dishes but overall, they are tasty and come in a big portion. Pricing is higher than average but still acceptable. Also, a great hot latte!
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The Larder Cafe & Bar
9 Suk Kasame RdAussie-style café and bar located in Nimman Soi 6. With rather limited seating space (though they have indoor and outdoor), this place is always crowded during weekends. We don’t specifically remember any outstanding dishes but overall, they are tasty and come in a big portion. Pricing is higher than average but still acceptable. Also, a great hot latte!
They surely offer a variety of breakfast and brunch options that each time we go we tend to try different dishes (although it seems to be just a mix & match of different types of side dishes). No outstanding dishes as overall they are tasty. What we love to come here for though is the avocado smoothie!
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Smoothie Blues
17 Soi Hua MinThey surely offer a variety of breakfast and brunch options that each time we go we tend to try different dishes (although it seems to be just a mix & match of different types of side dishes). No outstanding dishes as overall they are tasty. What we love to come here for though is the avocado smoothie!
Our top favourite brunch place in town. A uniquely designed café with an artistic atmosphere located in Nimman Soi 17 (although we can never remember its exact café name given those 7-digit numbers). We’ve tried Avo Smash, Croissant Cheese, Salmon Scramble, Fruity French Toast and something else we don’t recall but we definitely very much enjoyed THEM ALL! And because they have such a variety of breakfast options that look so inviting, we will surely continue trying other different dishes. In terms of pricing, we feel it’s very reasonable (similar to Natwat Home Café). This is a brunch place that you shouldn’t miss out on. We recommend that you go a bit early during weekends as the place tends to get busy rather quickly.
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SS1254372 Cafe
Our top favourite brunch place in town. A uniquely designed café with an artistic atmosphere located in Nimman Soi 17 (although we can never remember its exact café name given those 7-digit numbers). We’ve tried Avo Smash, Croissant Cheese, Salmon Scramble, Fruity French Toast and something else we don’t recall but we definitely very much enjoyed THEM ALL! And because they have such a variety of breakfast options that look so inviting, we will surely continue trying other different dishes. In terms of pricing, we feel it’s very reasonable (similar to Natwat Home Café). This is a brunch place that you shouldn’t miss out on. We recommend that you go a bit early during weekends as the place tends to get busy rather quickly.
A serious brunch place located in the Chang Moi area. On the menu, there is a wide selection of fusion styles that combine both Thai and international. Once you’re served your ordered dish you can tell that they are meticulously made and that they look very artistic and photographic. Dishes that we’ve tried are Egg Royale, Honey Chicken and Coffles, and some other bagel dishes that we don’t exactly remember the names of. We feel that the food here is surely of high quality and is of good taste, but we aren’t sure if it’s worth the price. We usually order 2 main dishes, a coffee, and a water bottle, the bill can easily come to between 600 – 800 Baht.
Mitte Mitte - Cafe & Brunch
1 Thanon SithiwongseA serious brunch place located in the Chang Moi area. On the menu, there is a wide selection of fusion styles that combine both Thai and international. Once you’re served your ordered dish you can tell that they are meticulously made and that they look very artistic and photographic. Dishes that we’ve tried are Egg Royale, Honey Chicken and Coffles, and some other bagel dishes that we don’t exactly remember the names of. We feel that the food here is surely of high quality and is of good taste, but we aren’t sure if it’s worth the price. We usually order 2 main dishes, a coffee, and a water bottle, the bill can easily come to between 600 – 800 Baht.