Eat in Chiang Mai
Search Chiang Mai dishes by craving — gaeng hang lay, khao soi, nam prik noom with sticky rice and more.
7 dishes worth going out of your way for in Chiang Mai, 3 of them vegetarian. Each one lists where to eat it, because the dish and the room that does it well are not the same question.
Leave room for Sticky rice with the market's fruit.
Northern Thai coffee is a breakfast thing here, and sells out by mid-morning.
Popular cravings
Diet
Best for
7 Chiang Mai dishes found
MildPork belly stewed slowly with tamarind, ginger, garlic, peanuts and a dry masala of Indian-Burmese spices — no coconut milk at all, which is what makes it look and taste unlike any other Thai curry.
฿100–250
Best around: Old city and the Wua Lai quarter
Medium spiceEgg noodles in a coconut curry broth built on a Burmese-influenced paste of turmeric, ginger and curry spices, with a chicken leg or braised beef in it, a nest of deep-fried noodles on top, and pickled mustard greens, shallots and lime on the side to cut it.
฿50–120
Best around: Faham road, north-east of the old city, and across town and Ratchadamnoen Road, in the monastery yards off the street
HotGreen chillies, garlic and shallots roasted whole over charcoal until blackened, then peeled and pounded into a rough, smoky relish, eaten by pinching it up with balls of sticky rice and raw or steamed vegetables.
฿40–90
Best around: Old city and the Wua Lai quarter and Ratchadamnoen Road, in the monastery yards off the street
Arabica grown on the hills around Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai — much of it by hill-tribe farmers under royal-project schemes that replaced opium — roasted locally and served as filter or espresso in shops that take it very seriously.
฿60–150
Best around: Nimmanhaemin, west of the old city
Medium spiceNorthern Thai sausage: coarse pork mixed with a curry paste of lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaf, turmeric and chilli, coiled into a spiral and grilled slowly over charcoal until the skin cracks.
฿30–100 by weight
Best around: Old city and the Wua Lai quarter and Faham road, north-east of the old city, and across town
Sticky rice steamed and soaked in salted coconut cream, served with the fruit the market has that month — mango in the hot season, and durian, longan or jackfruit the rest of the year.
฿50–120
Best around: Nimmanhaemin, west of the old city and Ratchadamnoen Road, in the monastery yards off the street
Medium spiceA shared meal served on a low round lacquered tray — sai ua, nam prik with vegetables, hang lay curry, fried pork crackling and a basket of sticky rice — eaten sitting on the floor and shared by everybody at the table.
฿250–600 a head
Best around: Old city and the Wua Lai quarter
