3 Days in Chiang Mai - Where should you eat!?
We recently took a 1 week trip to Thailand. Cheapo flights on points - I couldn’t say no. It was the perfect circuit breaker for the winter, and we were VERY excited to eat all of the food! From all of the things we heard from friends and family, it was a food hub, and we were going to eat well.
And we did!
I did a bit of research before we left and had a bit of an idea of where I wanted to check out and the dishes I wanted to eat… but once we got there, it wasn’t what we expected!
Everywhere that I had ‘starred’ on Google Maps because it was on a Michelin list, or a travel blogger’s “must eat list” didn’t turn out to be the places we enjoyed eating at the most. In fact, our 3 favourite places were street food stalls that we walked by on the way to dinner, or cycled by after lunch.
A reflection Chris and I made, was that there is so much information online now. Top 5/must eat/must try lists are endless, and as we explore new areas, I think it’s important to do some research and have an idea of the types of food to expect, but balance that with a bit a spontaneity, which I think many of us (or maybe just I) have lost. Especially in our busy lives, we don’t get as much time to travel any more, and I want to make sure each and every meal is THE BEST, but sometimes the best isn’t on a list… it’s somewhere you found on the way to ‘the best’.
So ironically, I’m going to put our 3 favourite spots into a list haha These were our spontaneous finds, and not a ‘must eat’ stop for you. This is more of a reminder to walk and cycle around and follow your nose. Disconnect from the phones and just enjoy being in a new place.
SPONTANEOUS STOP #1: Barbecue Stand beside Wat Phra Singh Woramahawihan Temple
Okay, so Chris and I were on our way to Chang Phuak Market for dinner. We actually do recommend this market for food, as the other night markets around Chiang Mai old city are absolutely just for tourists. Think knick knacks, bad live music, and over-priced, crappy food. Chang Phuak Market had more of a local feel and was just street food.
Anyways, we were on our way there, and we decided to walk to burn off some energy so that we could order more food. And we walked by a really smoky area - we thought there might have been a fire! After more investigation, we realised that the smoke that was filling up almost the whole street was being produced by one teeny tiny street food stall that was whipping up meat skewers on charcoal. It smelled divine! We gave each other a look, nod and walked over to grab a little appetiser for the road.
As we were waiting in line, I noticed they had a few different cuts of meat, including small intestines, which are my favourite. (Growing up in Argentina, my dad barbecued pork intestines all the time, and they were crispy, fatty and delicious). I was tempted to order them but they were pre-cooked, and since it was 32C at 7pm, I decided to go for the safer option and get the fresh-of-the-coal barbecued pork skewers.
They were crispy on the outside, with burnt charcoaly bits. The meat was well marinated with a sweet/salty flavour.
We ordered 4 bite sized skewers for 25 cents AUD each and it was just the best.
SPONTANEOUS STOP #2 Neng’s Clay Oven Roasted Pork
Chris and I decided to ride our bikes around Chiang Mai because walking around was just too hot. As I’ve gotten older, my heat tolerance has really gone down. After about 1 hour outside, I needed to escape into the AC, so we decided to rent bikes (we did at NK Bike Rentals for like 10 bucks a day) and rode around the whole old town.
Now, Chiang Mai is not a bike friendly city. We had to ride on the road for most of it because there aren’t really side walks or bike lanes. So if you aren’t a confidence cyclist, I don’t recommend this. But we cycle regularly so it was okay. It was nice cycling around the small neighbourhood streets outside the city and being able to stop at coffee shops and boutique stores without dying of heat!
Ok, Cristina, get to the roasted pork!!
After about 4 hours of cycling, we were about to head back to return out bikes, but we saw a roast pork restaurant. By ‘restaurant’, I mean an open restaurant with lots of plastic chairs, seats and rubbish bins for your bones and scraps beside the table. It was a vibe.
Just out the front, they were roasting pork and chicken in large clay urns, a similar method to one of my FAVOURITE Taiwanese dishes - so although we weren’t hungry, we had to stop and try it out.
We first ordered a serve of the medium sized roast pork (since we weren’t hungry) and it came out with about 10 small pieces, dipping sauce and fresh herbs. The pork had crispy skin and was very well seasoned, almost a bit salty, especially when dipped into the tart and spicy dipping sauce. But when you balance it with the fresh thai basil - mmm scrumptious! We ate that in 30 seconds and decided to order more…
So I also ordered a serve of fried chicken skin, which was perfectly crunchy, also served with herbs and a spicy dipping sauce, and the roasted chicken. I wanted to compare the chicken to the Taiwanese Urn roasted chicken - I had to try!
The chicken was delicious, very well marinated with soy, fish sauce and sugar - that perfect balance of sweet and savoury that the Thai do so well. However, because the chicken is marinaded, the skin didn’t crisp up and the chicken flavour was overpowered. Did I prefer the Taiwanese version (ya…of course hehe). But we still really enjoyed both dishes.
I’d come by if you have a group of 4+ because there are SO many dishes you can order, and it’d be great to order a few beers and try lots of different dishes together. All of the side dishes go well with a cold beer!
SPONTANEOUS STOP #3 Kanom Jeen pa Pom
We stopped by on our last day in Chiang Mai. We had to head to the airport at 10am and our hotel had free breakfast, but like I said, I wanted to maximise our meals, so we decided to find somewhere to enjoy a few bowls of noodles before we left the Northern style food.
Kanom Jeen Pa Pom was not far from where we stayed, and there were only locals eating there, so we decided to give it a go.
We walked in, we were seated and that’s when the adventure began. We had no idea how to order and the people working there didn’t understand out sign language.
From my understanding, the restaurant had a table at the front of appetisers that were pre-made. Little wontons, parcels of sticky rice etc. And the other area had 3 large cauldrons of broth for what I assume was 3 differnt types of noodles. Beside that station was the garnish table full of a variety of toppings, noodles and herbs.
The appetiser table was great, we pointed, we got it, it was delicious. We got the wontons. Silky smooth and delicate.
The noodles haha we recognised one of the broths (Khao Soi - which we had many times during our 3 days there), so we pointed at that, and then asked for one of the other soups as well.
The server brought over, what I think was, boat noodles. Chewy thin rice noodles, clear, herby, tart broth with herbs and pork blood. Very delicious and not too spicy. We slurped it all up and couldn’t wait for our next bowl!
Then 20 minutes passed, multiple tables turned around, and no noodles! I tried asking for it, Christ tried asking for it, no luck. After attempt number 3, we finally received our bowl of Khao Soi. (are two bowls of noodles and wontons too much for 2 people??!! ahha). This was our favourite bowl. It was beautifully balanced. You could taste the aromatics in the curry paste, balanced with the creamy coconut milk, the chewy egg noodles, and our favourite part, the preserved mustard greens, herbs and crispy noodles on top. Such a textural experience! This was our favourite bowl of khao soi because it was really well balanced, whereas, the others (including an michelin recommended one) was either too sweet, or overpoweringly spicy - and that’s coming from two people who can tolerate the heat!
So if you’re in the southern part of old Chiang Mai, then…do check it out. And let me know if you figure out how to order!
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
This would be a top experience for us, but we didn’t eat there, so it can’t be on the list! The North Gate Jazz Co-op. A must go. We were going to stop by for ONE set and ONE drink because we were really leaning into travelling in our mid 30s and getting massages than going to bed. BUT, we stayed for all 4 sets and were there until they closed. The musicians were so talented, and it was such a good vibe, even if you’re standing outside or sitting inside or upstairs.
Phra Singh Post Office - not the post office itself, but this is literally what Google Maps comes up with after I searched up where we went for this meal. This stall serves of slow, soy braised pork hock on rice with pickles. It was SO good. Savoury, melt in your mouth pork, umami broth poured over rice, balanced out with the freshness of the herbs and preserves. You’re going to be sitting on plastic stools at a fold-out table with other Thai people on their way home from work though. But it’s great.
Cooking Class - We did a cooking class with Yummy Thai Cooking Class after doing a bit of research. I love doing cooking classes in new places. Learn new techniques, ingredients and hear stories about the food culture. However, I realised after looking around that every single cooking school or program teaches EXACTLY the same thing. One curry, one noodle, one snack, sticky mango rice. We made it and it was delicious, but I asked the instructor if these were the dishes she or her family would eat at home, and got some very interesting insight. She said ‘no’, and then her parents probably wouldn’t even know about some of these ingredients! Because she started her own cooking school, she said that at the beginning, she would include really local, authentic dishes, but nobody would sign up. They’d request pad thai and khao soi, so she eventually changed the menu. In Thailand, apparently, a lot of the food has been accommodated for tourists, not just a natural evolution from immigration etc. I found this so interesting. I could have spoken to her about this for hours haha but she recommended that next time, I request local dishes that she recommends for the class, to have a more bespoke, and authentics insight into what northern Thai families eat. So I recommend doing that!
Hope this helps anyone who’s thinking of going to Chiang Mai. Feel free to completely ignore this list and just follow your nose! Or message me if you have any questions…!
