Thai restaurants can be found all over the world. But the best way to eat Thai food is to eat food in Chiang Mai.
From Edinburgh to Mombasa, Dunedin to Alexandria and beyond, Thai cuisine is undisputedly one of the world’s most popular and Thai restaurants some of its most ubiquitous. With that said, most Thai restaurants around the world feature similar and familiar dishes – green curries, red curries, tom yams, som tams, pad Thai and other popular favourites from street food to royal Thai cuisine. So while your beloved Thai restaurant in Sao Paolo or Seville may be marvellous, if you do manage to make your way all the way to Thailand, you are in for so many new treats you will be giddy with indecision!
Thai cuisine is often presented by region – the South is known for its spicy and sour flavours with bitter notes; the more barren Eastern (Isaan) region knows how to pickle, ferment and use salt and chilli to enhance their more limited produce producing very spice-forward dishes, the North’s abundance of vegetation means that our flavours are more reliant on produce than any sophisticated cooking techniques (think mystery greens in a rich broth of a curry influenced Khao Soi curry noodles) while the palace and Bangkok-led Central area, where most of Thailand’s more well-known dishes come from, is lauded for its sophisticated, complex and balanced flavours.
Generalisations aside, every region, every district and every family kitchen feature a slew of exciting Thai recipes, those which have been faithfully passed down through the generations, as well as the exciting new additions Thailand’s many chefs are today creating.
Visiting restaurants in Chiang Mai is a great way to explore Thai food and more specifically, northern Thai food, packed with Lanna heritage and northern Thailand ingredients and flavours.
But whether its northern food or simply Thai food in general, the best restaurants in Chiang Mai are ones that feature authentic styles and varieties of Thai cuisine, there are young chefs, Thai and internationally trained, who are pushing all boundaries, there are spectacular world class restaurants with views to die for, there are street stalls and mum and pop shops to be found on every street, there are markets to wander and sample exotic nibbles and bites and best of all it is all very affordable.
Scour our website for thousands of restaurants in Chiang Mai, with reviews featuring mouth-watering photographs, colourful chef profiles and interviews, stories on the historical and cultural significance of dishes, secret recipes and anything else you may need to know about Thai food and Thai restaurants in Chiang Mai. It’s time to eat in Chiang Mai, and these are the restaurants to try.
Ratilanna
Riverside Thai Dining at Mira RatiLanna
One of the loveliest hotels in the city, RatiLanna sits by the banks of the Ping River, its elegant Thai restaurant Mira Terrace boasting fabulous views. Decadent wooden furnishings, tasteful local arts and crafts décor, indoors and outdoors dining and great service, Mira is where you go for a sure thing.
Their menu is focused on classical Thai…with some twists. Order a traditional northern hung-le dish and it arrives with lamb, instead of the usual pork or beef, its accoutrements deconstructed so you can add your own garlic, fried shallots and cashew nuts, elevating a ubiquitous dish into something truly special. Dig into a marinated chicken thigh served with fresh vegetables and spicy Isaan sauce and discover that the chicken has been marinated in the classic Northern Thai laab sauce for added zing. Sample the deliciously complex salmon pad cha, which elevates this herby dish with the imported fish. And make sure you end the meal with a lamyai pudding, a local take on western desserts.
The menu is vast and offers a little section for all tastes and requirements. There is pizza, pasta, steaks, salads, soups, and all sorts of exotic, Thai, European, Chinese and even Brazilian dishes. Their wine list is very reasonable for a hotel with prices in the affordable bracket.
Mira Terrace Restaurant
RatiLanna Riverside Spa Resort, Chiang Mai
33 Chang Klan Road, A. Muang, Chiang Mai, 50100, Thailand
Tel. 053 999 333
Facebook : RatiLanna Riverside Spa Resort, Chiang Mai
www.ratilannachiangmai.com
Mix Restaurant
Best Thai Food at Mix Beef Club & Restaurant
For over 15 years, Mix Restaurant – now known as Mix Beef Club & Restaurant – has been serving up some of the best Thai food found in Chiang Mai. What’s more is that its varied and explorative menu goes beyond traditional food by mixing up old classics with new techniques, flavours and creative ideas to offer a menu unlike any other.
When looking for the best Thai cuisine in Chiang Mai, there’s only a few options – your very traditional, or your very experimental. Luckily, Mix Beef Club & Restaurant has both under one roof, with founder Nuirisorn Somsawat and the creative Chef Chim always finding new ways to advance and develop flavours and techniques that promise a fresh and vibrant ‘mixed’ experience with every bite.
The Khao Soi at Mix Beef Club & Restaurant has been enhanced to elevate the dining experience by featuring succulent river prawns and tender, juicy meat in a rich broth, while the indulgent Pla Kao Hor Mok stands out in both its presentation and flavour alike. The steamed Japanese razor clams with lime are yet another delight that shouldn’t be missed, as well as the Bacon Pla, and tender bacon dish cooked in a zesty and fragrant pla sauce. In addition to the Thai food menu, Mix Beef Club & Restaurant also serves an array of exquisite desserts created by Chef Saruda from Saruda Finest Pastry.
Mix Beef Club & Restaurant
Nimmanhaemin Soi 1
Open daily from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM – 12:00 AM.
Live music from 7:15 PM – 9:45 PM.
Tel: 096 959 3998, 053 216 878
Instagram: mixbeefclub
Facebook: mixcnx
GPS: https://goo.gl/maps/QYZb76cyfA1z6dwy9
Parc Thai Eatery
Elevated Thai Cuisine at Parc Thai Eatery
If you are well familiar with Thai cuisine you may be looking for something new to challenge your palate or offer you an exciting dining experience.
Look no further than Parc Thai Eatery which is set in Parc Burroughs City Resort Chiang Mai and offers up an opulent dining experience filled with culinary wonder. Royal and classical Thai dishes have been re-envisioned, re-engineered, re-interpreted and re-presented to offer diners a fun, tasty and novel dining experience.
The classic massaman curry retains its traditional flavours but instead of beef, boats a crispy-skinned and tender-meated duck confit as its main protein. A simple mackerel, deboned, marinated and mushed in fresh herbs and spices, is re-stuffed into the fish, and served wafting with aromas. The classic Chiang Mai Northern sausage, sai-ua, is served with a concoction of Southern spices, making for a punchy dish overflowing with flavour. Then there is the classic mango sticky rice which is wrapped like a spring roll and served with ice cream.
This is a fun, exciting and creative dining experience which comes with all the bells and whistles expected from a fine dining establishment – great wine list, great service and lovely setting.
Parc Thai Eatery
223 Mahidol Road, Changklan, Chiang Mai
Open daily: 11am. – 11pm.
Tel. 062 309 8222
FB: https://www.facebook.com/parcthaieatery
GPS: https://goo.gl/maps/MZCj8dnE2X6ahm2E7
Sayomporn Thai Restaurant
Succulent Thai Food at Sayomporn Thai Restaurant
Thai cuisine can be elevated to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the best in the world. It can also be as comforting a food as any. Thai food in Chiang Mai is simple, it is complex; it is rich, it is plain; it is elegant, it is gauche. There is a Thai dining experience for any occasion.
While Chiang Mai has no shortage of Thai restaurants, Sayomporn Thai Restaurant has managed to carve a special niche for itself, by serving traditional home cooked fuss-free fare but in a truly elegant setting worthy of any fine dining experience.
Sit in sumptuous luxury while enjoying fine wines and impeccable service. Each dish arrives beautifully presented, using the best and freshest of local ingredients. Yet, there are no interpretations to classic fare, no cunning twists and fusing of cuisines, no flair and showmanship. Simply a collection of dishes which are served on most family tables across Thailand every day.
Try the shrimp and red curry in golden cones, the crispy chicken and ginger salad, the Northern Thai pork rib curry with pickled garlic, the clear lotus root and pork cartilage soup or the mountain leaves wok fried with eggs and smoked dried baby prawns.
A great place to take out of town guests, family, friends or anyone you want to impress and indulge in an evening with.
Sireeampan Luxury Retreat Chiang Mai
88/8 Moo 1 T.Chanpuek, Muang Chiang Mai
Open daily: 11am. – 11pm.
FB: https://www.facebook.com/SayompornThai
GPS: https://goo.gl/maps/BCAguugpcWoG8Zxc6
Gring Grai
Ging Grai’s Original Flavours of Thailand
Ging Grai restaurant brings some of the best and most adored dishes from across all four regions of Thailand to Chiang Mai. Set in a little shophouse down a soi off Nimmanhaemin Road, Ging Grai Restaurant is a great spot for lunch as well as dinner. The downstairs area showcases crafts, and you can also treat yourself to unique snacks from all around Thailand while diners sit in comfort upstairs in a cosy an intimate setting.
You will likely not know many of these dishes…but then that would be the point! Expand your palate and enjoy some great dishes which are rare to find north of the Chao Phraya.
Travel around Thailand in one meal, starting with something familiar, perhaps a classic hung-le curry. You can then head to the central plains of Thailand and order a rice vermicelli with pineapple, pounded dried shrimps, local vegetables and mixed with coconut milk. For some spice, pivot to Isaan with some chilli dips and bushels of fresh vegetables or something more exotic like the Trad favourite, a sweet fish sauce paste served with steamed jellyfish. The jellyfish is pickled in bark, adding a certain aroma as well as bounce to the meat. Round up the meal with some serious flavours of the South with any of their rich curries. There are also desserts and snacks to enjoy.
Ging Grai Restaurant is about faithfully presenting Chiang Mai diners to dishes from all regions across Thailand. There are no gimmicks, fancy frills, showmanship here. Just pure good cooking!
Ging Grai
Soi 11 Nimmanhaemin Road
Tel. 052-010-414
Open daily: 11.30pm – 9pm (Last Order 8.30pm)
FB: https://www.facebook.com/4regions
Samsen Villa
Samsen Villa by the River Ping
This Chiang Mai river-front restaurant commands just about the best Ping River views in the city, made perfect with the backdrop of Doi Suthep beyond.
Serving over 200 classical Thai dishes, interspersed with some international classics from Italian to German, Japanese to Chinese, Samsen Villa is a sure thing for those looking for a very Thai dining experience. Their succulent pork satay is one of our absolute favourites in the city and arrives tender and juicy. The deep-fried, sun-dried squid goes perfectly with their original iced beer wun kaew chae, with beer arriving so chilled and refreshing the froth is frozen. There is a decent wine and cocktail list, and the beer is always chilled. Other signature dishes include curry fried cream snapper, deep fried papaya and banana flower spicy salad, fried pork belly and fish sauce as well as grilled premium Australian sirloin served with Thai sweet and spicy dipping sauce and our favourite, the absolutely delicious red curry with river snail – a Thai twist on the classic escargot!
What makes Samsen Villa so quintessentially Thai is that it has something for everyone. There is a garden with a trickling fountain for kids to play in, and a cool air-conditioned dining room for either romance or business, as well as a large Chiang Mai style garden dotted with tables for groups of friends or colleagues.
Prices are reasonable and the menu large enough to satisfy all cravings and tastes.
Rim Ping Condominium 201 Charoenrat Rd. T. Wad Ket, Muang, Chiang Mai
Open daily: 11.am – 11 pm
Tel. 081 951 4415
samsenvilla.com
