7 Chiang Mai Food Dishes to Try and Where to Eat

Featured image: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Quick answer: what to eat in Chiang Mai

Start with khao soi at lunch and khao kha moo after dark. Add a platter of sai oua and nam prik for a sit-down dinner. Our pick for a first evening is Chang Puak Gate Night Market, which runs 17:30–24:00. If you only get one lunch, we'd spend it on khao soi, and our khao soi shop comparison helps you choose the bowl. Stalls and small restaurants change hands, so confirm any place you plan a whole trip around.

• First night: khao kha moo at Chang Puak Gate Night Market, from 17:00.
• One meal only: khao soi at lunch, before noon.
• Late night: jok at Joke Somphet, open 24 hours.
• Group dinner: a northern platter at Tong Tem Toh on Nimmanhemin Soi 13.
• Vegetarian: plant-based dishes at Tong Tem Toh, or a garden meal at Whole Earth.

7 Chiang Mai Food Dishes to Eat, With Places to Go

Each entry names the dish, one place to eat it, and who should skip it. Prices and hours checked November 2026. Figures come from published guide ranges and shift by venue.

1. Khao soi at Khao Soi Khun Yai

Khao soi is crispy and soft wheat noodles in a mild coconut curry soup, served with pickled cabbage, red onion and a lime wedge. Chiang Mai's Chinese Muslim communities influenced the dish, and nearly every menu from stall to teak house carries a version. Our pick is Khao Soi Khun Yai, in a garden on Sri Phum Road next to Wat Khuan Khama.

Published hours run 10:00–16:00 Monday to Saturday, but one guide lists 10:00–14:00. Arrive before noon and expect a wait. Bowls here were reported near ฿35. Dash Teak House charges about ฿170 for the teak-house setting. Skip it if you only eat dinner. Kaosoinimman on Nimmanhemin Soi 7 serves khao soi with original variations, open 11:00 to 22:00.

2. Sai oua (northern sausage) at Huen Phen

Sai oua is the herb-heavy grilled northern sausage, sometimes spelled sai hua on English menus. Order it on a northern platter, where it arrives with nam prik dips, pork rinds, eggs and raw vegetables. Huen Phen at 12 Ratchamanka Road has a full English menu of Chiang Mai classics and opens 09:00–22:00.

Dash Teak House on Moonmuang Soi 2 also serves a Northern Thai platter, which one reviewer found cheaper than ordering the same dishes separately. Share a platter between two, since sticky rice fills you quickly. Skip it if you avoid grilled meat. Vegetarians should build a meal around the dips and vegetables instead.

3. Nam prik ong and nam prik noom at Tong Tem Toh

Nam prik ong and nam prik noom are the two classic northern chili dips, and both are relatively mild. Nam prik noom is a roasted banana pepper chili sauce. Scoop either one with pork rinds, raw vegetables and sticky rice. Tong Tem Toh, an old teak house at 11 Nimmanhemin Soi 13, serves both on its northern appetizer platter.

It opens 11:00–21:00, and most mains cost under ฿100. Tables fill early, and a crowd was waiting outside by about 19:00 in one account. Skip it if you want a quiet meal. A barbecue set up on the footpath adds smoke and noise.

4. Gaeng hanglay at Huen Phen

Gaeng hanglay is a slightly sweet, mild pork curry that shows the Shan and Burmese influence on northern cooking. Order it with sticky rice and a dip such as nam prik ong. That gives the plate sweet, salty and fresh elements. Huen Phen lists it beside sai oua and both nam prik dips, so one menu covers a whole northern meal.

Two people sharing a few dishes there should plan on roughly ฿150 each, based on published estimates. The long-standing room is on Ratchamanka Road. A plusher dining room sits on the top floor of the boutique hotel opposite. Skip it if you want heat, since this is among the gentler dishes in the city.

5. Khao kha moo at Chang Puak Gate Night Market

Khao kha moo is pork leg braised in Chinese five spice, served over rice with a medium-boiled egg. The Chang Phueak stall opens at 17:00, and drivers stop at the roadside for takeaway. Chang Puak Gate Night Market runs along the central strip of Manee Nopparat Road from 17:30 to 24:00.

Come early, since lines build as soon as the stall opens. Details are in our Chang Phueak pork-leg-rice guide. Skip it if you avoid pork or want a seated, air-conditioned meal.

6. Kai yang with som tam at Roumjai Kaiyang-Somtam

Kai yang is Isaan-style roast chicken, halved, flattened, marinated and grilled slowly over low charcoal. Eat it with som tam (green papaya salad) and sticky rice. Roumjai Kaiyang-Somtam on Boonrueang Rit Road, by Chiang Mai Ram Hospital, is simple and cheap.

It opens Thursday to Tuesday, 10:00–20:00, and food can run out, so go early. SP Chicken in the Old City roasts on vertical spits, 10:00–17:00 daily, with a queue at peak times. Cherng Doi Roast Chicken in Nimman is closed Mondays. Skip all three if you want northern Thai specifically, because kai yang is an Isaan dish.

7. Jok at Joke Somphet

Jok is a rice soup, and it is the best answer to hunger after midnight. Joke Somphet at 59-3 Sri Phum Road, on the inner moat road, is a Sino-Thai shop open 24 hours. Its menu also covers dim sum and roast chicken, so groups can order broadly.

Order the soup first, then add dim sum for the table. Pair it with a night market, since those close between 22:30 and 24:00. Skip it if you want northern Thai food. This is a Chinese-influenced late-night stop.

Where to eat by style

Night markets give the cheapest local plates, with most dishes under ฿50. Our night market eating guide goes deeper on stalls. For sit-down northern Thai, Huen Phen suits first-timers, and Dash Teak House suits those who want a garden setting and will pay for it. The Michelin Guide's Chiang Mai listings work as a cross-check on current restaurants. Use this list to plan by time of day.

• Chang Puak Gate Night Market: Manee Nopparat Road, 17:30–24:00.
• Chiang Mai Gate: Bumrung Buri Road on the southern inner moat, 17:00–22:30.
• Su Meut Night Market: Huay Kaew Road, Thursday to Saturday, 17:00–22:00.
• Nimmanhemin evening stalls: between sois 1 and 13, 17:00–24:00.
• Intraworowot Road cafés: beside the Arts and Culture Museum, full meals under ฿100.
• Central Festival food centre: third floor, dishes about ฿30–60.
• Joke Somphet: 24 hours for jok.

Eating by area

Old City suits walkers, since Khao Soi Khun Yai, Huen Phen and Joke Somphet sit within a short stroll of each other. Nimmanhemin needs a short hop out of the walls by songthaew or ride-hailing. Huay Tung Tao is about 1 km past the 700 Year Stadium and takes an afternoon.

Cost and time trade-offs

The same dish can cost several times more at a decor-led venue. A khao soi bowl runs about ฿35 at Khao Soi Khun Yai and about ฿170 at Dash Teak House, almost five times as much. In our editorial assessment, the extra price buys setting and presentation, not a better bowl. Dash tables are also hard to get after about 19:30.

Khantoke dinner: worth it?

A khantoke dinner serves northern dishes on low round rattan tables, with guests seated on floor cushions. Tourist versions add a traditional music and dance show. Khum Khantoke, just beyond the Superhighway, was listed around ฿850 per head including return hotel transfers, an older figure worth checking. Our view: pay for the show and the transfer, not for the best cooking, since Tong Tem Toh serves most mains for under ฿100. It suits families, groups and first-timers who want the ritual in one evening. Our khantoke dinner details cover formats.

Vegetarian and vegan eating

Chiang Mai is easy for vegetarians, with Tong Tem Toh offering plenty of vegetarian dishes and Kanjana catering well. Free Bird Cafe near Chang Puak Gate opens Tuesday to Saturday, 09:00–17:00, with a Shan and Burmese menu. Whole Earth on Sri Donchai Road serves in a garden. Local-style cafés are harder, so ask for no fish sauce and no meat broth, even in dishes labelled vegetarian. Learn the basics in a vegetarian cooking class.

Learn it, don't just eat it: food tours and cooking classes

A guided tour covers many stalls in one outing. A class teaches you to cook the dishes at home. Start with our guided food tour overview if you have one evening. For hands-on cooking, see hands-on cooking classes.

• Self-guided: cheapest, flexible, best at night markets.
• Food tour: best for first-timers who want a guide to choose stalls.
• Cooking class: best for people who want to recreate khao soi or nam prik.
• Khantoke: best for a staged, one-evening cultural meal.

Sample 1-day and 3-day eating plans

Both plans keep lunch-only spots before noon and markets after 17:00.

• One day, 10:00: khao soi at Khao Soi Khun Yai.
• One day, afternoon: a noodle or rice plate on Intraworowot Road, under ฿100.
• One day, 17:30: khao kha moo and a stall dinner at Chang Puak Gate.
• One day, after midnight: jok at Joke Somphet.
• Day 1, Old City: khao soi at lunch, a northern platter at Huen Phen for dinner.
• Day 2, Nimman: lunch at Kaosoinimman, early dinner at Tong Tem Toh, stalls from 17:00.
• Day 3: lakeside afternoon at Huay Tung Tao, then Su Meut Night Market if it is Thursday to Saturday.

Mistakes to avoid

Most missed meals come down to timing. Here are the traps we see most often.

• Arriving after a lunch-only spot closes, such as Khao Soi Khun Yai in mid-afternoon.
• Expecting cards at stalls. Carry baht in small notes.
• Assuming one spice level. Northern dishes run milder than central and southern Thai, but ask for mild.
• Missing hidden animal products in vegetarian dishes: fish sauce and meat broth.
• Queuing where tourists queue. Pakorn's Kitchen was reported with waits over an hour at peak dinner.
• Planning a Saturday dinner there, since it was listed closed on Saturdays.