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Antique House
Set in a two-storey teak house filled with interesting antiques, the food here is beautifully presented and predominately northern Thai. There is also a garden seating area. There is no smoking allowed in the house.
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Anusan Night Market
In Chiang Mai Night Bazaar, this buzzing food market is best known for its seafood, and its lively atmosphere. Stalls surround a large cluster of tables where each 'restaurant' has a section allocated with their own waiters - head to the parts that look most crowded. Most have English menus.
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Aroon (Rai) Restaurant
Look for Chiang Mai specialities such as kaeng hang-leh, kaeng awm and kaeng khae . The latter two dishes are more like stews than curries, and rely on local roots and herbs for their distinctive, bitter-hot flavours. The spacious open-air dining area upstairs is favoured by night-time clientele, and in hot weather it's cooler than downstairs.
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Black Canyon Coffee
This contemporary styled place is great for people watching, especially on Sunday's, when the Walking Street is on. Delicious ice coffee and teas, plus the usual Thai and Western food suspects are on offer here.
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Cafe de Nimman
Located at the front of the 'Room - boutique mall' (an open-air walkway with a row of shops and bars). Sit in the pleasant outside seating area or the small air-con section and choose from a large menu of Thai rice dishes, spicy salads and curries.
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Café Souvannaphoum
This new, Swiss-Thai run, hip looking café and wine bar stands out in this budget backpacker area. Real coffee, good breakfast, sandwiches and salads are served in a chic décor of rattan-and-cream easy chairs. Wine is a big focus of this place, with regular wine-tastings. Expect a bigger menu by the time this guide is published.
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Dalaabaa Bar and Restaurant
This trendy eatery, with subdued lighting washing over orange and red silks, brings a Bangkok-style sophistication to Chiang Mai dining with a clever Thai fusion menu.
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Galare Food Centre
There's a big indoor/outdoor cluster of permanent vendors at Galare Food Centre, opposite the main Chiangmai Night Bazaar building. Free Thai classical dancing is featured nightly.
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Good View
Good View offers open-air areas in a contemporary setting. The huge menu covers everything Thai, and there's a Japanese sushi stand at the back. There's also live music.
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Heuan Phen
Highly regarded for its northern Thai food, the house specialities include khâo sawy (egg noodles in a curried broth), lâap khûa (northern-style minced-meat salad), náam phrík nùm (a chilli dip made with roasted peppers) and kaeng hang-leh (very rich Burmese-style pork curry). Daytime meals are served in a large dining room out the front, while evening meals are served in an atmospheric antique-decorated house at the back.
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Hong Tauw Inn
This intimate, charming place has got an old-fashioned feel, with 1940s pendulum clocks, scattered antiques and traditional tablecloths. Particularly good are the northern Thai dishes, like the intense phanaeng curry and the yummy banana flower salad. The set menu is for two people, and includes seven dishes.
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Just Khao Soi
This is the gourmet version of khâo sawy . Served on a wooden artist's palette you can create your own noodle broth with several condiments, including coconut milk, to thicken it at will. Two different noodle shapes are offered, Chiang Mai style and Mae Salong style.
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Khao Soi Lam Duan
This place serves large bowls of beef, pork or chicken khâo sawy . Also on the menu are kao-lǎo (soup without noodles), mǔu sà-té (grilled spiced pork on bamboo skewers) and khànǒm rang phêung (literally beehive pastry - a coconut-flavoured waffle).
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Khao Soi Prince
This is regarded by many locals as their favourite spot for authentic khâo sawy . The khâo mòk kài (Thai-style chicken briyani) is also well worth trying.
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Khrua Phuket Laikhram
Khrua Phuket Laikhram, a small family-run restaurant near Chiang Mai University, is worth hunting down for its delicious, cheap, authentic homestyle southern Thai cooking. It has an upstairs dining room. There are no English menus so you may have to improvise with your phrasebook.
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Khun Churn
This new place, in a pleasant covered outdoor setting, has more interesting vegetable choices than most. Start with crispy rice with coconut dip or try the pomelo salad with deep fried coconut, limejuice and chilli. Lots of tofu and fresh veg are used.
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Le Grand Lanna
Part of the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi complex, Le Grand Lanna is a 4000-sq-metre complex of restored northern Thai buildings filled with antique furniture, high-end art and handicrafts. The cuisine can be wonderful, especially the upmarket versions of northern Thai specialities.
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Mangsawirat Kangreuanjam
Look for the difficult-to-see English sign that reads 'Vegetarian Food'. The cooks put out 15 to 20 pots of fresh, 100% Thai vegetarian dishes daily. The dishes feature lots of tofu, squash, peas, pineapple, sprouts and potato, and the desserts are good.
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Palaad Tawanron
Set by a waterfall, this buzzing new restaurant draws in Thais and foreigners alike for the fantastic Thai food and the spectacular views over twinkly Chiang Mai. Try the fiery tôm yam (spicy and sour soup) or any of the delicious fish dishes. Entry is via rear gate to Chiang Mai Zoo; go to the end of Th Suthep, then at the zoo follow the signs.
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Riverside Bar and Restaurant
This rambling set of wooden buildings has been the most consistently popular riverside place for over 20 years. The food - Thai, Western and vegetarian - is always good, and it's as popular with Thais as with faràng . The atmosphere is convivial and there's live music nightly. Choose from the indoor and outdoor dining areas or pay more for a seat (extra for food) on the nightly river cruise.
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Rot Sawoei
This unassuming open-air spot is famous for its delectable kǔaytǐaw kài tǔn yaa jiin (rice noodles with Chinese herb-steamed chicken) that practically melts off the bone.
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Si Phen Restaurant
This inexpensive stopover specialises in both northern- and northeastern-style dishes. The kitchen prepares some of the best sôm-tam (spicy papaya salad) in the city, including a variation made with pomelo fruit.
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Suandok Vegetarian
This tiny stall just west of the entrance to Wat Suan Dok offers a simple array of inexpensive, wholesome Thai vegetarian dishes and brown rice.
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Talat Somphet
This market sells cheap takeaway curries, yam , lâap (spicy minced-meat salad), thâwt man (fried fish cakes), sweets and seafood.
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Talat Warorot
In the upstairs section are a number of basic stalls for khâo tôm (rice soup), khâo man kài (chicken rice), khâo mǔu daeng ('red' pork with rice), jóhk (thick rice soup) and khâo sawy , with tables overlooking the market floor. It's not the best cooking in Chiang Mai by a long shot, but it's cheap. A set of vendors on the ground floor specialise in inexpensive noodles - this area is particularly popular.
