Guide · Northern dishes

The best food in Chiang Mai, dish by dish

The best food in Chiang Mai is northern: curry noodles, herb sausage, green chili dips and slow pork curries. Here is what to order, what it tastes like and where official guides point you.

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Editorial team, chiang-mai-food-tour.comUpdated October 26, 2026Reading time 6 min39 sources

The tour this guide is about Evening street food tour in Chiang Mai 4.7 (870 reviews) 2.5 hoursHotel pickup and drop-offUp to 8 per group from$40per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hrs before

Quick answer: order these

01The signature: Khao soi, curry noodles TAT calls the city's most famous dish.¹
02Sausage: Sai ua, the herb-packed northern sausage.²
03Dips: Chili relishes such as nam phrik num, eaten with vegetables and pork rind.³ ⁴
04Noodles: Khanom chin with nam ngiao or other curries.⁵ ⁶
05A shared dinner: Khan toke, many small bowls around a low round table.⁷

What makes northern Thai food different

If you are wondering what to eat in Chiang Mai, start with the idea that northern food is its own cuisine. TAT traces its influences to Myanmar, China and Lao PDR as well as the old kingdoms of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya, and notes that the Burmese shaped the kingdom of Lanna for over two centuries.⁸ ⁹

The taste follows the climate and the forest. In the cooler north, TAT says, the warmth comes more from galangal and peppers than from fresh chili, coconut dishes are traditionally rare because there are fewer palm trees, and many dishes carry a bitter note from shoots and leaves collected in the woods.¹⁰ ¹¹

Pork runs through everything. TAT calls the local pork, fermented, fried or cured, famous, and says nearly every Thai visitor goes home with bags of crispy pork rind.¹² Sticky rice, herbs by the handful and chili dips complete the picture, and that is what sets a northern table apart from the curries you know from home.

A day of eating

From breakfast dumplings to a late roti

From 06:00

Rice dumplings

Khao kriap pak mo at Lung Khajohn Wat Ket, closed on Sunday.¹³ ¹⁴
From 08:00

Khao soi

A bowl at Khao Soi Mae Sai, open until 16:00, closed on Sunday.¹⁵
Lunch

Khanom chin

Nam ngiao at Siri Wattana Market or nam lo at Sanpakoi.⁵ ⁶
Early evening

Food tour

Pickup for at least two evening markets and 8 or more dishes.
From 18:30

Roti

Egg and banana roti by Wat Mahawan, until midnight.¹⁶ ¹⁷

Khao soi, the city's noodle

Khao soi is the dish to try first. TAT describes it as a creamy yellow curry soup with egg noodles and slow-cooked chicken, sometimes beef, topped with crunchy fried noodles and served with lime, shallots and pickled vegetables.¹⁸ ¹⁹ It is typically made with coconut milk, the exception to the northern rule.¹⁹

Its history is a trader's story. The MICHELIN Guide calls it a Chin Haw dish brought by Chinese Muslim traders along the spice route, and TAT notes that the city's most famous dish is thought to come from Sino-Muslim traders.²⁰ ¹ In 2022 CNN Travel put it on a list of 50 of the best street foods in Asia.²¹

The guide's khao soi list for Thailand names two kitchens in Chiang Mai, Khao Soi Mae Sai in the city and Lhongkhao Kitchen in Mae Rim.²² Our khao soi page goes into the bowls, the toppings and how to cook it in class. Order it with chicken first, then come back for beef, and judge each shop by its broth and the crunch of its fried noodles.

The guide's list

What kinds of kitchens the MICHELIN Guide lists

restaurants

Cuisine labels across the 54 Chiang Mai restaurants of the MICHELIN Guide; smaller categories are left out.²³ ²⁴

Dish by dish

Northern dishes and where the guide finds them

Dish	What it is	Guide-listed place
Khao soi	Curry noodle soup	Khao Soi Mae Sai
Khanom chin nam ngiao	Rice noodles, tomato broth	Nam Ngiao Yong
Khanom chin nam lo	Rice noodles, pork & chicken curry	Sanpakoi Kanomjeen
Nam phrik num	Chili dip	Kinlum Kindee
Hang le	Northern pork curry	Kiti Panit
Khao bai	Rice parcels with filling	Euang Kam Sai
Khao kriap pak mo	Steamed rice dumplings	Lung Khajohn Wat Ket
Kuai chap	Rice rolls, peppery broth	Guay Jub Chang Moi Tat Mai

Each dish as the MICHELIN Guide describes it on that restaurant's own page.²⁵ ⁵ ⁶ ³ ²⁶ ²⁷ ¹⁴ ²⁸

Taste them with a guide

An evening tour, a market tour or a short Michelin walk

Small-Group Chiang Mai Evening Street Food Tour

This site's pick

Evening markets with pickup

Northern delicacies, 8+ dishes

Hours: 2.5
Group: Up to 8
Price: from $40

See the dates

Chiang Mai: Evening Local Street Food Market Tour

Up to 10 guests

Evening market tour

Dishes vary nightly

Hours: 2.5
Reviews: 689
Price: from $40

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Taste of Chiang Mai: Michelin Guide & Street Food Tour

Up to 2 hours

Michelin stall walk

Khao soi, sai ua at dinner

Hours: Up to 2
Reviews: 181
Price: from $29

See the dates

Decision helper

What should you order first?

Start from what you already like.

Khao soi or hang le

A coconut curry noodle soup, or a slow pork curry with ginger.¹⁸ ²⁶

Khanom chin nam ngiao

Fresh rice noodles with a tangy tomato broth.⁵

Sai ua and chili dips

Sausage, sticky rice and a green chili relish.² ²⁹

Roti or rice dumplings

Egg and banana roti, or khao kriap pak mo in coconut milk.¹⁷ ¹⁴

A khan toke dinner

Many small bowls on one low table.⁷

This region has long been influenced by Myanmar, China and Lao PDR., not to mention the kingdoms of Sukhothai and Ayutthaya.

Tourism Authority of ThailandSource 8

Sausage, dips and pork rind

Sai ua is the north's grilled sausage, coiled, smoky and loaded with herbs. TAT calls it a flavorful northern sausage in its guide to the region, and both the evening Michelin walk and the truck food tour name it among their dishes.² Look for it in spirals on the charcoal grills at the markets.

Chili dips are the backbone of a northern meal. TAT suggests starting with Chiang Mai's local starters: a chili dip, crispy pork, a fried chicken sausage and vegetables boiled in the northern way.⁴ The MICHELIN Guide lists nam phrik num at Kinlum Kindee and a young chili relish at Chum in Saraphi that is not too spicy.³ ²⁹

Eat them the local way. Take a pinch of sticky rice, press it into the dip and add a piece of crispy pork or a blanched vegetable. It is a slow, sociable way to eat, and it suits the way northern meals arrive, as many small dishes rather than one big plate.

Checklist

Ordering like a local

At the table

Order sticky rice with dips and grills
Share several small dishes
Add the free herbs and pickles to noodles
Ask for mild if chili worries you

Timing

Noodle shops are busiest at lunch
Some famous stalls close by mid-afternoon
Roti and grills come out after dark

Price check

A tasting evening for your group

Choose a tour and the number of guests.

Evening, pickup2.5 hoursfrom $40 Market tour2.5 hoursfrom $40 Michelin walkUp to 2 hoursfrom $29 Truck, 15+4 hoursfrom $59

People 2

Total from$79

per guest from $40

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Each 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

Northern Thai dishes to try in Chiang Mai

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Fresh rice noodles and nam ngiao

Khanom chin, fresh rice vermicelli, is the other noodle of the north. The evening street food tour this site sells names kannom jin among the dishes you may eat, and Sanpakoi Kanomjeen at Thongkam Market, a Bib Gourmand stall established in 1977, serves it with various curries.⁶ ³⁰

The classic topping is nam ngiao. At Nam Ngiao Yong, a stall in Siri Wattana Market, the guide describes khanom chin nam ngiao with a tangy tomato broth and pork ribs.⁵ Baan Nam Ngiew Wieng Kao is known for the Chiang Rai style, a tangy coconut-milk broth with pork or beef, tomato and herbs.³¹

At Sanpakoi, try nam lo, a mix of spicy pork and chicken curry sauces poured over the noodles.⁶ The joy of khanom chin is the side plate: fresh herbs, pickles and vegetables you add as you eat, bite by bite, until the bowl tastes exactly the way you like it.

Curries, lap and rice parcels

Hang le is the slow pork curry of the north, rich with ginger and spice. The guide recommends it at Kiti Panit, in an 1880s mansion on Tha Phae Road, and at Busarin Cuisine, where streaky pork is braised in hang le for two days.²⁶ ³²

Lap in the north is a minced meat dish heavy with roasted spices. Withee Laab Charoen Muang serves it with buffalo or pork, and Laab Ton Yang offers lap nuea with pork, beef or fish, raw or cooked.³³ ³⁴ Ask for it cooked if raw meat is not for you. Lap is best with sticky rice and a basket of raw herbs and vegetables to cool each mouthful.

Khao bai is a quieter find: rice wrapped around a pork, fish or beef filling, made fresh at Euang Kam Sai on Wua Lai Road, a family kitchen for over a century.²⁷ Kuai chap, springy rice rolls in a peppery pork broth, has been served at Guay Jub Chang Moi Tat Mai since 1977.²⁸

The best street food in Chiang Mai for a sweet tooth

Some of the best street food in Chiang Mai is sweet or snack-sized. Lung Khajohn Wat Ket, opposite Wat Ket Karam, makes khao kriap pak mo, steamed rice dumplings with fresh coconut milk, and tapioca dumplings filled with pork and peanut.¹⁴ It opens early in the morning and is on the Bib Gourmand list.¹³ ³⁵

Roti Pa Day, by Wat Mahawan, makes plain roti with condensed milk and a version filled with egg and banana, every evening from 18:30.¹⁷ ¹⁶ Tue Ka Ko Na Prince fries taro to order and serves it with sweet chili sauce and peanuts until it sells out.³⁶

The evening tour this site books ends on sweet notes too: its listing names coconut dumplings among at least 8 dishes, savoury and sweet. Bua loy, rice dumplings in coconut milk, is on the dinner menu of the short Michelin walk, and the Thai and Akha cooking class teaches mango sticky rice.

Khan toke: a northern dinner to share

For a full northern meal in one sitting, book a khan toke dinner. TAT describes it as a dining tradition of old Chiang Mai and the Lanna Kingdom: a small round table with a variety of dishes in individual bowls, with diners on mats or cushions around it.⁷

The dishes typically include sticky rice, chicken or pork curry, fried chicken, vegetables, soup, fried pork skin and chili dips, and traditional dance, music and sword performances entertain the diners.³⁷ TAT also notes that Khantoke style simply means a platter people sit around to share.³⁸

In the rainy season, look for the local het pho mushroom, which TAT says is abundant in the hills and prepared in soup.³⁹ Seasonal dishes like this are the reason to eat with a guide or at a guide-listed kitchen at least once: they rarely appear on menus written for visitors. A khan toke evening is also an easy way to bring a mixed group together, from the curious eater to the cautious one.

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.

Check datesfrom $40 · cancel without a fee 4.7 · 870 checked reviews

You ask,we answer.

What is Chiang Mai's most famous dish?

Khao soi. TAT calls it the city's most famous dish, a curry noodle soup thought to come from Sino-Muslim traders.¹ ¹⁸

What is sai ua?

A northern Thai sausage. TAT describes it as a flavorful northern sausage; food tours here name it among their dishes.²

Is northern Thai food very spicy?

Warm rather than fiery. TAT says the northern heat comes more from galangal and peppers, though chili dips can be strong.¹⁰

What is khan toke?

A shared northern dinner. Dishes in small bowls on a low round table, with dance and music during the meal.⁷ ³⁷

Where can I try several dishes in one evening?

On a guided food tour. The evening tour with pickup serves at least 8 dishes at two or more evening markets.

Which dishes suit someone who avoids pork?

Khao soi with chicken is a start. TAT describes khao soi with slow-cooked chicken, sometimes beef; check other dishes, as pork is central to the north.¹⁸ ¹²

What should I eat for breakfast?

Rice dumplings or noodles. Lung Khajohn Wat Ket opens at 06:00, and Khao Soi Mae Sai at 08:00.¹³ ¹⁵

Sources