CHIANG MAI FOOD

Overview: Like any good tourist destination, Chiang Mai doesn't disappoint when it comes to scintillating culinary offerings. Matter of fact, a substantial part of visiting exotic places in the world is treating your taste buds the same delights and awe as you would sightseeing at fascinating places. Chiang Mai offers anywhere from authentic street corner vendors with fruits and fish patties to bars that serve food to high end restaurants and all the modest restaurants in between.

Food in Chiang Mai can be tailored to your taste and spice threshold. Traditional spicy Thai noodles, green curry chicken, spicy jumbo prawns, pork bits in cabbage - you can have it all and request to have the food made any way you like. Chiang Mai also has expat restaurants and bars where you can get yourself a good old fashion hamburger or chicken sandwich (there is a McDonald's as well). Mexican food, pizza and coffee bars are also present in Chiang Mai.

The popular area of Chiang Mai is on the eastern side of the Old City. There are a host of bars and restaurants on Moon Muang Road, which is the street just inside the eastern wall or Tha Pae Gate and running north and south. Just east of the Tha Pae Gate are restaurants and bars - some tucked away and some that stand out. In addition, there is a sort of small marketplace surrounding the Tha Pae Gate with sidewalk vendors. The food is delicious and costs maybe 30 baht.

Aroon Thai

Notes: Aroon Rai should be your first forray into Chiang Mai food. This restaurant is a modest but extremely popular restaurant with tourists and locals. Aroon Rai is an open air restaurant on Kotchasan Road just half a block north of Loi Kroh Road. Why is Aroon Rai one of the most popular restaurants among both the locals and tourists? Aroon Thai has great food at great prices.
Location: A block north of Loi Kroh on Kotchasan Road
Cost: 30 to 80 Baht for food and drink (fried rice with a separate chicken curry dish and a coca cola costs 65 Baht)
Accessibility: Aroon Rai Restaurant is an open air restaurant so you can enter directly from the sidewalk. There is about a 3 to 4 inch step up to the restaurant patio eating area, which is protected by a thick canvas above. There is lots of room to move around.

Bake and Bite
& Koh Lanta House: Pizzeria and Authentic Thai Food

Notes: I know this is kind of a funny name and concept (as in Frankfurt where the most seemingly disparate foods are fused together). Not sure about their pizza, but you their Thai food is tasty and they have some great coffee and sandwiches.
Location: Near Raming Lodge Hotel on a street (Soi) a block or two south of Loi Kroh Road.
Cost: Apprx 50 - 120 baht
Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible. You enter by going up the short driveway and there is patio seating.

El Toro

Notes: This is a small Mexican restaurant on Loi Kroh with great chicken chimichangas.
Location: Next to Raming Lodge on Loi Kroh Road
Cost: Apprx 50 - 80 baht
Accessibility: Not very accessible as you have to climb one of the high, slanted sidewalks. But, get on the sidewalk from Raming Lodge and make your way to El Toro. The sidewalk to El Toro does get a bit uneven, however.

Night Bazaar Vendors

Notes: Bar none but the best pad Thai (Thai noodles with sprouts, eggs, chicken and/or shrimp, green scallions and a bit of crushed peanuts sprinkled on top) I had in Chiang Mai was from a modest vendor in the night bazaar. He and his wife set up an outdoor, portable kitchen area and some small tables. They fire up some mean food in their woks. Plus, the atmosphere is rustic and charming. See the picture and when you visit the night market in Chiang Mai, eat at their station.
Location: About 100 yards east of Chang Kleng Road on Loi Kroh Road in the night bazaar.
Cost: 35 baht for pad thai and water
Accessibility: Wheelchair friendly

Raming Lodge Restaurant

Notes: Raming Lodge Restaurant has quite a nice arrary of Thai and western foods available. Their breakfast is quite tasty and their dinners are very reasonably priced. As usual, I recommend the Pad Thai.
Location: See Raming Lodge Hotel for location details
Cost: 30 Baht - 150 Baht
Accessibility: Wheelchair friendly

Coffee Shops

Family friendly Chiang Mai has coffee shops all over for families and backpackers and the like. Among the ones that stand out is Black Canyon Coffee just inside the Tha Pae Gate on the corner of Moon Muang Road and Ratchadamnoen Road. There is also a very nice and popular Café de Siam at the start of the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar on the corner of Loi Kroh Road and Chang Khlan Road.