Food Guide to Chiang Mai

The Cowboy Hat Lady dishing up piles of khao ka moo near Chiang Mai's North Gate

Chiang Mai is one of my favorite places in the world. Why? Well, there really isn’t a lot to do. There are lots and lots of wats, but you can see them all in a couple of days’ worth of hard walking. There are a few museums, but most are fairly small and don’t take long to get through. Again, a couple of days at most. There are some markets: the night market (it’s OK for overpriced touristy stuff), the Sunday Walking Market (OK for slightly less overpriced touristy stuff and great for food), and the Saturday Walking Market (waaaaaay tooooo crowded—skip it).

But we’ve spent more than a month in Chiang Mai.

So what did we do?

Eat! Chiang Mai has amazing food, and we tried to eat it all. Here are some of our favorites:

Street Food Guide to Chiang Mai

North Gate

Exit the Old City through the North Gate, cross the moat, and you’ll find a cluster of food carts. There’s (as always) a 7-11 if you want soda or bottled water. But the real reason you’re here is:

• The lady with the big white cowboy hat. (I know—that doesn’t sound like a clear direction, but trust me, just go. You’ll see her.) She serves khao ka moo, stewed pork over rice. Hers is so good, she’s ruined this dish for us everywhere else in Thailand. We feasted on this for Thanksgiving one year. Find a table behind her cart and sit down. Someone will come by with just enough English to take your order—though things always went better once we learned enough Thai to interact with food sellers.

• Suki cart. A little down from the cowboy hat lady, you’ll spot a cart selling suki (from Japanese sukiyaki, but not what you’d expect if you’ve had sukiyaki in Japan). Usually, the tables are full. Sometimes you’ll get a numbered ticket and wait; other times, you just lurk until you can slip in. You have two choices: wet or dry. We like the dry. But both are excellent.

• Other stuff. Wander around and follow your nose. There are a lot of food carts here. We order small amounts from many carts and share. That way we cover a lot of ground.

  
  

South Gate

Exit the Old City through the South Gate, turn right, and walk about 100 meters into a street food fiesta. On your way, stop at the roti cart (egg, banana, and Nutella is our favorite).

Once you hit the main area:

• City side: Look for the cheeseburger cart. Surprisingly good. I always order the pork burger (trust me—pork in Thailand is almost always better than the beef).

• Moat side: There’s a smoked meat-on-a-stick cart. We tried a lot, but the chicken was our favorite. Just look for the cart with a plume of smoke rising from it. That is probably the right cart.

• Middle of the action: Don’t miss the pah tong koh (fried dough shaped like little Xs). Lurk until a fresh batch comes out of the fryer, then pounce. Grab some pandanus sauce to dip them in.

Sunday Walking Market

At the Sunday Night Walking Market (but not Saturday), every wat along the market route sets up a food court. Our favorites are Wat Samphao and the wat across the street from it. If you start at Thapae Gate and head west, these will be the first two wats you see—one on each side of the street.

Wander and graze. Recommendations:

• Mushrooms wrapped in bacon.

• Thai fried chicken (Thais make the best fried chicken).

• Thai sausages.

• Waffles.

• Kebabs.

• Basically, eat everything.

Restaurants

We’ve never eaten at a “fancy” restaurant in Chiang Mai. It’s the little hole-in-the-wall places we love. Here are our top picks:

• Aroon Rai. Go out the Thapae Gate, cross the big street, turn right, and walk five minutes (or just Google Map it). This is one of my favorite curry places in all of Thailand. Order the northern-style curry (hang le) and the yellow curry with potatoes.

• SP Chicken. Maybe my favorite chicken place in the world. The chickens are small but ridiculously good. Order a half or whole chicken, some sticky rice, and anything else on the menu.

The daughters in front of SP Chicken

• Lert Ros. Great northern Thai food. The grilled pork is fantastic.

• Khao Soi Islam. Outside the Old City. We’ve walked here, but you can also take a songtaew to the Night Market or Warorot Market and then walk. Or take a Grab. Get the khao mok gai (Thai biriyani). Order the mutton. Holy crap, it’s good. And, of course, the khao soi is fantastic.

The daughters at Khao Soi Islam

Get out there and have yourself a Thai feast. You deserve it. Because travel is hungry work!