Check out these hot new hipster haunts in Chiang Mai, where you can spend an entire day seeing and being seen while enjoying the finer things in life.
Natwat Home Cafe
As any Thai person knows, home is where the food is. And here at Natwat Home Cafe, owner and head chef Ton has turned his childhood home into a lovely little cafe that is both hip and homey…not to mention delicious. Choose from a selection of beautifully presented and well-priced western dishes (all around 100 baht), including baguette sandwiches, salads, pasta, soup and delicious breakfasts. The cool and quiet cafe is made up of several sunlit, air-conditioned dining areas with modern style and warm wood accents, as well as a leafy green garden area with umbrella tables and trickling fountains outside. Natwat specialises in drip coffee, with beans custom roasted from local favourite Ponganes Espresso, and serves a wide variety of fancy bevs, from piccolo lattes to white malts to smoothies, frappes, beer and wine (150 per glass). To eat, try a delicious chicken and brie sandwich with homemade mustard, a poached egg and salmon baguette, or one of the monthly specials, like the hearty pulled pork sandwich.
Open daily, 8am – 7.30pm
330/2 Charoenrat Road
Facebook: Natwat Home Cafe
081 716 1608
The Cutler
Looking to rock the hippest haircut in town? Want to flaunt a quiff only Elvis could match? Fellow men of Chiang Mai, The Cutler is where you must go. Led by a barber named X, who majored in the arts, this team of mane artistes will take a good hour to cut and style your hair, but the results are flawless, and for the standard of work, the price is impressively low (around 200 baht a cut). The barber shop itself is all man, designed with a vintage flair and featuring display cases of pomade, an endless collection of classic tunes and a new tattoo parlour upstairs. They also sell a variety of pomades, moustache waxes and hair sprays imported from across the world. Bookings are necessary; just call the owner directly – he speaks great English.
Open daily, 1 – 9pm (closed Wednesdays)
75 Samlan Road
www.facebook.com/THECUTLERBARBER
091 123 7966
Beerbox
Attention brew lovers! Located in the heart of Nimmanhaemin’s bar zone, new open-air bar Beerbox has a huge collection of craft beers and five impressively unique imports on tap, including Guinness, Hofbrau and Hitachino. Prices start at 220 baht for a beautifully poured pint, and the bar also has periodical promotions that you can find on their Facebook page, including a two-hour beer buffet for 777 baht, with a choice of any of the fancy draught beers and over 45 types of bottles on unlimited flow. Snacks are also sold, including a delicious sour pork and peanut salad. Beerbox is the only shop in Chiang Mai that has the one-of-a-kind Spanish beer Inedit, which is served in a wine glass and marketed as the world’s first “gastronomic beer,” though you’ll have to give it a taste to determine exactly what that means!
Open daily, 6pm – midnight
Nimmanhaemin Soi 9, Tall Teak Plaza
www.facebook.com/beerboxnimman9
087 789 4394