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Guide · One dish
Khao soi, Chiang Mai street food in one bowl
Curry broth, soft egg noodles, a crown of crispy ones and a squeeze of lime: here is what makes the city's signature noodle, where official guides send you for it and how to make it yourself.
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Editorial team, chiang-mai-food-tour.comUpdated October 26, 2026Reading time 6 min25 sources
Quick answer
- 01What it is
- A creamy yellow curry noodle soup with chicken, sometimes beef.1
- 02Where it came from
- A Chin Haw dish brought by Chinese Muslim traders.2
- 03Guide-listed bowls
- Khao Soi Mae Sai in the city and Lhongkhao Kitchen in Mae Rim.3
- 04Cook it yourself
- The organic farm class has khao soi on its menu, from $28.
- 05On a food tour
- The short Michelin walk names khao soi for its dinner option.
What is in the bowl
Khao soi is Chiang Mai street food at its most comforting. TAT describes it as a creamy yellow curry soup with egg noodles and slow-cooked chicken, sometimes beef, topped with crunchy fried noodles for contrast.14 The soup is typically made with coconut milk.4
The sides matter as much as the soup. TAT lists lime, shallots and pickled vegetables, and CNN Travel, as quoted by TAT, adds mustard greens and chilli paste to the plate that comes with it.45 You add them as you eat, adjusting sour, sharp and hot to taste. A good cook leaves the choice to you, and the same bowl can taste mild at one table and fiery at the next.
It is filling enough for lunch on its own and rich without being heavy. TAT calls it the city's most famous dish, and it is the natural first order on any visit.6
A dish that travelled the spice route
Khao soi came to the north with travelling merchants. The MICHELIN Guide calls it a Chin Haw dish, brought by Chinese Muslim traders along the spice route, and a staple in northern Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.2 TAT agrees that the city's most famous dish is thought to have originated with Sino-Muslim traders.6
Chicken is the classic version. TAT notes that massaman, another curry with Muslim roots, is most commonly made with chicken too, and it describes khao soi with chicken and, sometimes, beef.71
The guide also singles out the noodles. It says the magic of khao soi lies in hand-cut noodles, steamed on cloth over boiling water.8 In 2022 CNN Travel named khao soi one of 50 of the best street foods in Asia, a list TAT was quick to celebrate.9 Seen that way, every bowl you eat in the city is a small piece of trade history, carried over the mountains long before tourists arrived.
Learn it
Classes that teach khao soi, by number of ratings
ratings
Eat it or cook it
Where to find khao soi
| Where | Type | When | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Khao Soi Mae Sai | Noodle shop | 08:00 to 16:00, not Sunday | Lowest guide level |
| Lhongkhao Kitchen | Northern kitchen | Not stated | Not stated |
| Michelin stall walk | Food tour | Dinner option | from $29 |
| Private tasting walk | Food tour | By booking | from $75 |
| Organic farm class | Cooking class | Half day | from $28 |
| Herb garden class | Cooking class | Four sessions | from $30 |
Restaurant details from the MICHELIN Guide, tours and classes from their own listings; prices are starting prices per guest.101112
Three ways in
Cook it on a farm, in a herb garden class, or taste it on a walk
Cook it
Short class
Taste itDecision helper
Eat it, or learn it?
Pick the way you want to meet the dish.
The organic farm class
Khao soi is one of the dishes you can pick from its menu.
The Michelin walk
Its dinner option names khao soi, sai ua and bua loy.
A class
Every dish at the farm class can be cooked vegetarian or vegan.
Vendors ladle gorgeously golden bowls of hearty, creamy, chilli-laced coconut broth over a bed of egg noodles with chicken legs or beef.
The guide-listed bowls in and near the city
The MICHELIN Guide's best-of page for khao soi in Thailand names 4 restaurants, 2 of them in Chiang Mai.3 The first is Khao Soi Mae Sai, at 29/1 Ratchaphruek Road in Chang Phueak, a Bib Gourmand noodle shop at the guide's lowest price level.1411
The guide describes its chicken khao soi as a rich broth balancing coconut milk and spices, with tender chicken and crispy noodles, and you can choose your meat.1514 It opens from 08:00 to 16:00 Monday to Saturday and is closed on Sunday, which makes it a lunch stop rather than a dinner one.10 Arrive before the lunch rush if you can, and you may well share a table with locals on their lunch break.
The second is Lhongkhao Kitchen, out of town in Mae Rim, where the guide recommends the khao soi with chicken.123 Pair it with a morning in the hills north of the city. TAT adds that Bib Gourmand street food stalls across Chiang Mai highlight khao soi among their northern favourites.16
Map
Where the food is: the old city markets and the districts around them
First the gates, markets and stalls in and around the old city, then the districts where the farm cooking schools and some guide-listed kitchens are.
1Tha Phae Gate2Chiang Mai Gate Market3Warorot Market4Chiang Mai Night Bazaar5Wat Mahawan6Wat Ket Karam7Chang Phueak Gate
8Chiang Mai9Mae Rim10Saraphi11San Sai12San Kamphaeng
- 1Tha Phae Gate
The after-dark food trail spends an hour tasting here; the Michelin walk meets on Tha Pae Road nearby.
In Google Maps ↗ - 2Chiang Mai Gate Market
The same trail ends its tastings with an hour at this market.
In Google Maps ↗ - 3Warorot Market
Called the oldest market in the city by TAT; the Michelin walk, a guided market walk and the truck tour all stop or end here.17
In Google Maps ↗ - 4Chiang Mai Night Bazaar
TAT points to it for northern handicrafts, lanterns and textiles.18
In Google Maps ↗ - 5Wat Mahawan
Roti Pa Day, a Bib Gourmand street stall, stands in front of this temple and opens from 18:30 to midnight.1920
In Google Maps ↗ - 6Wat Ket Karam
Lung Khajohn Wat Ket, opposite the temple, makes khao kriap pak mo and opens from 06:00 to 14:30, closed on Sunday.2122
In Google Maps ↗ - 7Chang Phueak Gate
One evening trail tastes food here for 45 minutes and a tuk-tuk tour stops at the gate market for 30.
In Google Maps ↗ - 8Chiang Mai
The evening street food tour picks up at your accommodation in the city.
In Google Maps ↗ - 9Mae Rim
Lhongkhao Kitchen, one of the two Chiang Mai kitchens on the guide's khao soi list, is here.312
In Google Maps ↗ - 10Saraphi
Chum serves a northern starter with a young chili relish that is not too spicy.23
In Google Maps ↗ - 11San Sai
Kinlum Kindee cooks from its own garden, nam phrik num included.24
In Google Maps ↗ - 12San Kamphaeng
The farm cooking class sold here sits near San Kamphaeng Hot Springs, 45 minutes from the old city.
In Google Maps ↗
Checklist
Your khao soi day
01
Plan
- Go at lunchtime, when shops are open
- Avoid Sunday at the classic shop
- Carry small cash for a noodle shop
02
At the table
- Taste the broth before adding anything
- Add lime, shallots and pickles slowly
- Try the chilli paste last
- Order a bowl each
Price check
A khao soi class for your group
Choose a class or walk and the number of guests.
People
Total from$55
per guest from $28
Check availabilityfree cancellationEach line takes the listing's lowest per-guest starting price on Viator or GetYourGuide, times the guests you enter, converted at the European Central Bank rate; the seller's checkout gives the exact sum.
Video
Five bowls of khao soi around Chiang Mai
The video loads only when you tap play.
Finding a good bowl on your own
You do not need a guidebook to eat well. TAT names the Wua Lai and Sunday walking streets among the night markets that show off regional delicacies, khao soi included.25 At a market stall, look for a pot of yellow curry, a basket of fresh egg noodles and a tray of the crispy ones waiting to go on top.
Judge a shop by its broth and its toppings. A good bowl has a layer of red chilli oil on top, a broth that coats the noodles rather than drowning them, and crisp noodles that stay crunchy for the first few spoonfuls. If the sides arrive without lime or pickles, ask for them.
Go at lunchtime. Khao Soi Mae Sai, for one, keeps daytime hours, 08:00 to 16:00.10 An evening bowl at a market is still worth having, but the guide-listed shop is a daytime affair.
Khao soi on a food tour
Not every food tour serves khao soi. The evening tour this site books names kannom jin noodles, stewed pork leg, coconut dumplings and northern delicacies, but not khao soi in particular, and its dishes change with the markets.
Two tours name it outright. The short Michelin walk lists khao soi, sai ua and bua loy for its dinner option, from $29, and the private tasting walk names khao soi among its 10 tastings, from $75.
If khao soi is the one dish you must eat on a tour, choose one of those, or eat it at lunch on your own and keep the evening tour for the dishes you would never find alone. A morning at the classic shops and an evening at the markets cover both sides of the city's food. Either way, you will leave the city knowing the dish properly rather than from a single hurried bowl.
Learning it in a khao soi cooking class
A khao soi cooking class makes a lasting souvenir. The organic farm class this page recommends lists khao soi, Chiang Mai's curry noodles, on its menu, and every dish can be made vegetarian or vegan, spicy or mild. It runs 6 hours with hotel pickup and a garden walk, from $28.
Other classes build khao soi around the paste. The herb garden class offers khao soi among its curry pastes, and the lake class lets you choose a northern khao soi paste for your curry. The evening class names khao soi with chicken among its dishes, and a farm class lists it on its menu too.
Pounding the paste is where you learn the dish. Watch how long the dry spices toast, how much of each goes in and when the coconut milk is added, and write it down. The crispy noodle topping is easy at home once you have seen it done in a hot wok. Ask the teacher for the proportions of the paste, too; they are the part of the recipe that books most often leave vague.
How to eat it like a local
Start with a spoonful of broth before you add anything. Then squeeze in the lime, scatter some shallots, and add the pickled greens a little at a time. Stir the crispy noodles down into the soup if you like them soft, or eat them first if you love the crunch.
Chopsticks and a spoon work together. Lift the noodles with the chopsticks, rest them in the spoon, add a little broth and eat in one bite. Chicken legs are eaten from the bone; pull the meat away with your spoon, and do not be shy about using your fingers at the end.
Order a bowl each rather than sharing. Khao soi is a one-person meal, and it cools quickly once the noodles start soaking up the curry. If you want to try several shops in one day, ask for a small portion where one is offered and save room for the next. And keep a napkin handy: the curry stains, and the bowls are filled to the brim.
Book your evening
Your first night in Chiang Mai, well fed.
Hotel pickup, two or more markets, 8+ dishes, and free cancellation up to a day ahead.
You ask,we answer.
What is khao soi?
Northern curry noodle soup. TAT describes a creamy yellow curry soup with egg noodles and slow-cooked chicken, sometimes beef, topped with crunchy fried noodles.14
Where did khao soi come from?
Chinese Muslim traders. The MICHELIN Guide calls it a Chin Haw dish brought along the spice route.2
Which khao soi does the MICHELIN Guide list in Chiang Mai?
Two kitchens. Khao Soi Mae Sai in the city and Lhongkhao Kitchen in Mae Rim are on its khao soi page.3
When is Khao Soi Mae Sai open?
08:00 to 16:00, Monday to Saturday. It is closed on Sunday.10
Can I learn to cook khao soi?
Yes, at several classes. The organic farm class lists it on its menu, and other classes offer a khao soi curry paste.
Is there a vegetarian khao soi?
In class, yes. The organic farm class says every dish on its menu can be cooked vegetarian or vegan.
Sources
Sources and evidence
- 1Tourism Authority of ThailandMuch-loved, must-eat dishes from different regions of Thailand (TAT Newsroom)↩
- 2↩
- 3↩
- 4Tourism Authority of ThailandMuch-loved, must-eat dishes from different regions of Thailand (TAT Newsroom)↩
- 5Tourism Authority of ThailandPopular Thai dishes included in CNN Travel’s list of 50 of the best street foods in Asia (TAT Newsroom)↩
- 6Tourism Authority of ThailandFill your belly while exploring the highlights of Chiang Mai’s culinary and cultural treasures (TAT Newsroom)↩
- 7Tourism Authority of ThailandMuch-loved, must-eat dishes from different regions of Thailand (TAT Newsroom)↩
- 8↩
- 9Tourism Authority of ThailandPopular Thai dishes included in CNN Travel’s list of 50 of the best street foods in Asia (TAT Newsroom)↩
- 10↩
- 11↩
- 12↩
- 13Tourism Authority of ThailandPopular Thai dishes included in CNN Travel’s list of 50 of the best street foods in Asia (TAT Newsroom)↩
- 14↩
- 15↩
- 16Tourism Authority of ThailandThailand by day experiences: 5 must-do highlights nationwide (TAT Newsroom)↩
- 17Tourism Authority of ThailandFill your belly while exploring the highlights of Chiang Mai’s culinary and cultural treasures (TAT Newsroom)↩
- 18Tourism Authority of ThailandThailand after dark experiences: 5 must-do highlights nationwide (TAT Newsroom)↩
- 19↩
- 20↩
- 21↩
- 22↩
- 23↩
- 24MICHELIN GuideKinlum Kindee - Chiang Mai - a MICHELIN Guide Restaurant↩
- 25Tourism Authority of ThailandThailand after dark experiences: 5 must-do highlights nationwide (TAT Newsroom)↩
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