Chiang Mai is known to have some of the best food in Thailand. Food stalls like the Lady with the Cowboy Hat’s pulled pork are Internet sensations. Unfortunately, we don’t eat pork, so I can’t add my two cents except that it smelled delicious, and she was swamped. But the city is a refuge for ex-pats and foreign travelers looking for a great food experience in Chiang Mai. If you’re looking for the comforting good food with a splash of the local flavor, then you’re in the right place.
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- The Salsa Kitchen
- khao soi
- Zood Zood
- SP Chicken
- Accha Authentic Indian Cuisine
- Food4Thought
- Pin Me
- Related Articles
6 Great Food Experiences in Chiang Mai Thailand
You don’t have to settle for Pizza Hut or McDonald’s when you want something familiar. There are a number of delicious alternatives that offer a taste of home, while you explore Chiang Mai.
1. Salsa Kitchen
The Baja style menu is large and in English and prices are reasonable, but higher than street food. My entree was about $4.50 and it was plenty filling. You definitely know you are in Thailand, but the flavors of Mexico come through in every dish.
2. Khao Soi
Khao so is not a restaurant. It’s a regional dish we fell in love with instantly. Eating Khao Soi was literally the first thing we did after arriving in Chiang Mai. And it was so freaking good, it was also the last thing we did before leaving Chiang Mai.
3. Zood Zood
You can get Khao Soi just about anywhere in Chiang Mai, but don’t do that. Purposefully eat it at one of the family-owned restaurants, like Zood Zood. You might ask why I just don’t say eat at Zood Zood. We ate it at Zood Zood, at the night market, on the walking tour. You get the point. It’s that good.
12/2 Nimmana Haeminda Rd Lane 9, ต.สุเทพ Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand. +66967891596.
3. SP Chicken
While it is tucked away from the main activity in Chiang Mai’s old town, SP chicken is definitely worth a visit. It serves some delicious rotisserie chicken (and other things) you can watch being cooked on an unusual vertical spit in the front of the restaurant. The meal came almost as soon as we had ordered and the chicken was perfectly cooked and seasoned, with some great Thai side dishes.
Samlan Rd Soi 1, Tambon Si Phum, Amphoe Mueang Chiang Mai, Chang Wat Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand. +66 80 500 5035
4. Accha Authentic Indian Cuisine
After eating Thai food every single day, we wanted something different. We chose Accha Authentic Indian Cuisine because it was on our way to the Saturday night market. They serve naan with a variety of sauces, all of which were delicious. The small restaurant has open-air seating in the heart of Chiang Mai. The presentation was over the top, service was fast and delightful and the price left us feeling we had stolen something.
Nimmanhemin Soi 5 Sutep, Chiang Mai 50200 Thailand. +66 99 291 1551
5. Food4Thought
Craving a western-style breakfast one Sunday morning, we decided to walk to Food4Thought. It was a long 20-minute walk, but Food4Thought has a large selection of breakfast/ brunch items, soups, salads, and wraps. We sat under a tarp while the constant roar of the planes flew overhead, listening to a wide range of accents from at least three continents. Steven enjoyed an avocado smoothie and I sipped on one of the nicest cups of black coffee I had had in a long time– no sugar, just a teaspoon of brown sugar syrup made there at the restaurant.
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Comments
These sound like great places to go, and I’m glad you and your husband found such a variety of delicious tastes in Chiang Mai!
Chiang Mai is a foodies heaven. I loved everything I ate there and cannot wait to go back. The food was so fresh and inspiring to me, a great benefit of traveling.
#ChiangMai has some of the best food anywhere in the world. #Khaosoi or yellow #curry, rice noodles and chicken are a #NorthThailand specialty I can’t wait to have again.
There are a lot of great restaurants in Chiang Mai, but we all have our favorites. Here are 5 of my favorite restaurants in Chiang Mai that I hope you all enjoy and get a chance to visit.
wow! I have never been to Thailand but it all looks so good!
I hope you get a chance, its one of my favorite places on Earth. And the food is so much better than the pictures trust me!!
I love exploring new places and different foods. These look amazingly good. Would love to try them out.
Thank you for stopping, I appreciate your comments.
Wow these are some incredible eatery finds! I love the name Food for Thought.
Thanks for stopping by Jennifer. Come back again soon.
Love all these photos. The food looks amazing! Makes me hungry already. I have been to Bangkok but haven’t been to Chiang Mai. Would love to go to this places when I go there one day. Pinned it!
I am glad you liked the photos and thank you for sharing, I truly appreciate that.
Nice picture, great post , if we decide to visit Thailand your article will be very helpful, the food looks great ,thanks
I hope you do go to Thailand. Its one of my top three travel destinations I’d recommend to visit.
So cool that you got to go there! I’ve never been “across the pond”, but I would love to get over there and check some of those out!
We are lucky that we don’t have to cross the pond for good food. I’m sure they have great Thai, Indian and Mexican restaurants closer to your front door.
I haven’t been to Chiang Mai but I want to go. Do you think the food is better than Bangkok cause I’ve been there? I thought the food was good there too.
I think so. It just seemed fresher and more creative in Chiang Mai. We had good food all over Thailand, but if I had to pick, Chiang Mai was the best.
It is too bad you don’t eat pork because the Cowboy Hat Lady’s pork is so freaking good. We ate two plates. Chiang Mai does have some good food. I can’t wait to go back again. Thanks for bringing back some yummy memories.
You aren’t the first person who told me this. We were tempted to try it anyway since its not for religious reasons. But we haven’t eaten pork in over 20 years.
I just love to eat, I eat more than my husband :)) All those food looks amazing. I really want to try the Khao Soi dish.
The khan soi is amazing and so simple too.
What beautiful pictures. These all look like great places to try when visiting
Thank you, the food made the pictures much better than my skill level, lol.
Beautiful plates of yumminess! The Food for Thought made me soo hungry!
There may be a Foof4Thought near you, you should check it out.
What a wonderful time! I need to visit in person 🙂 The foods are certainly something to look forward to–I love being immersed in different cultures 🙂
Its on elf the biggest reason I travel. But Imma a big history nerd, I really enjoy the old stuff, but a girls gotta eat too, right?
Mm, all this food looks delicious! I love to eat, so I’d be happy to check out all these places.
Hey, Its okay, lol. Chiang Mai is well known as a foodie paradise. We did our research and we didn’t eat a single bad thing.
Thank you for these recommendations. Everything looks delicious indeed, so it would be lovely for me to visit those places:)
I see you wrote about Rome, that’s another foodie paradise. I had the best spaghetti with plain sauce I’ve ever eaten in life in one of the plazas there years ago.
Those all sound like great places to eat. If I ever get out that way, I will check them out.
Hi Robin, thanks for stopping by.