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Night Markets
If you’ve ever spent time in south east Asia before then you’ll no doubt be very familiar with night markets. These amazing food stalls set up all along streets, car parks, bus stations (wherever there’s space) which serve up the tastiest food for incredibly good prices.
Chiang Mai Old City is framed with the old walls and moat, making the centre of a town a square with four original entry points over bridges. There are now many more access points to the city but all four large bridge crossings serve as key night market spots where you’re sure to find something delicious and cheap.
Disclaimer alert: Of course the below aren’t the only places to eat and drink in Chiang Mai but we’d never be able to cover everything this amazing city has to offer in one blog post, part of the fun is finding out your favourite places to eat too!
Chiang Mai Gate (South)
At the south of the Old City, this night market sits pretty near the top of our list for eateries in Chiang Mai. It runs on both sides of the street and across the bridge crossing. There’s a really good mix of food on offer here, from amazing fresh frappucino style juices for 20฿ (mango was our all time favourite) to BBQ meat on skewers for 12฿ (from experience we should share that what look like lovely chunks of chicken breast are probably chicken anuses…). There’s a ton of rice and noodle options, including pad thai of course, for about 40-50฿ a plate. All in all, you can eat and drink really well here for about 60฿ (£1.20) per person.
Market Highlights
These are a few of our favourite and highly recommended stands for this market:
- Juice stand – cross over the pedestrian crossing (the one with the lights) with your back to Nu Nu Nini’s cafe. Once over the road, look for a fruit juice stand to your left, usually under a tree. Juices are 20฿, or 30฿ for mixed fruit.
- Wide rice noodles and pad thai – in the same area (i.e. before you cross the second pedestrian crossing) there’s a noodle stand that is always busy and has about 3 woks on the go at all times. Get the pad thai or rice noodles here and you won’t be disappointed. Plates range from 35-60฿.
- Pork and rice – don’t cross the road yet! With the noodle stand in front of you walk to your right up the stands until you find the man selling pork and rice. The pork has been slow cooking all day and is truly melt in the mouth. A portion of pork and rice will set you back 45-50฿.
- Crossover the pedestrian crossing and directly in front of you is likely to be a rotee stand. Banana and chocolate is one of the best choices you can make and will cost 35฿.
- Roughly next to the rotees is a samosa stand, called Madam Street Food, they sell other things but will always be known to us for their samosas which are so good. 15฿ each, good hot or cold.
Chang Phueak Gate (North)
This was actually our least favourite market, the sellers were pushy and there was an unpleasant sewage smell throughout the market.
However, this is the only place we saw selling beer at any of the markets, and at a very reasonable price of 70฿ for a large Leo or Chang. Usually we buy Leo from 7-11 for 59฿ and take it to the market which nobody minds. Standard prices for drinks in restaurants or bars are much, much higher so lots of people go the 7-11 route!
This market will do, it’s just not the best one in town in our opinion.
Tha Phae Gate (East)
While the North and South Markets are directly next to the Old City walls, the market to the East is a bit further out, but not much, about 15-20 minute walk.
The main food area is called Anusarn Market and it’s a large undercover food hall that also sells clothes and souvenirs with live music. This market is a bit different in that it’s less a street market and more substantial, so there are beer stands for 90฿ and a lot of different options when it comes to food. For instance, we ate at one of the seafood grill stands and had crab and king prawns for a total of 500฿. This is obviously more expensive than your typical street market pricing, but it’s a pretty good deal for tasty sea food and the portions were huge. You can get individual items for less and there are lots of other foodie options so you absolutely won’t go hungry here.
- Pros: good food, sells beer, live music
- Cons: no fans and undercover so can get very hot! Also double the price of south gate Market but dishes are still between 50-80฿.
Saun Dok Gate (West)
Now, there is a market near the West gate, especially on Sunday when the Sunday Night Market makes that area of town a heaving, touristy nightmare, but we’d recommend skipping that entirely and pushing a bit further out to Chiang Mai’s University area. From the centre it’s about a 40 minute walk or a 10 minute Grab ride.
Students are all alike no matter where you go; they have no money and are hungry. There’s an answer to this, and it’s Suthep Road. This was the biggest, cheapest, tastiest and most authentic-just-for-the-locals market that we found in Chiang Mai.There are very few translated menus here, just see what you like the look of, point, smile, and take a seat. Let the magic happen, the food will arrive, it will be delicious, and it won’t cost you the earth (or anywhere near it).
What we ate
There are so many options here that we’ll struggle to include directions, so the best bet is to look for the longest queues and check those places out. If you see a stand with baskets of fried chicken, highly recommended, or a pork and rice stand run by an old woman and her son – again, very much recommended. There’s also an awesome noodle stand and a lot of sweet options. The first time we went there we ate five (good sized) different deep fried chicken pieces, a large noodle and egg dish, one spring roll, one butter bread thing (insanely delicious, no idea what it was), and three macarons (unfortunately wouldn’t recommend these, they were more like biscuits).
Our total came to 126฿ (£2.80) and we were so full. There are also lots of ‘proper’ restaurants on the same street so if nothing on the stands takes your fancy, something in the restaurants will. Seriously, go here, your wallets and stomachs will thank us.
Day Markets
While the street food markets usually take place at night only, there are often morning markets which sell actual groceries, packed lunches (typically in little bags), and cakes and brioche. These open early and usually wrap up about 10am. You’ll mainly find locals here with a few rogue tourists but the food options and price reflects that too.
Chiang Mai gate market has a lot of choices for lunches, snacks, and breakfast. It also sells amazing fruit, we bought a kilo of mangoes for 40฿, they were absolutely delicious.
Top tip: morning market produce is really helpful (and tasty) for road trips and long bus journeys as well.
Restaurants
There’s a pause in market activity during the day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find delicious and affordable food for lunch! These are all the places we recommend trying (including a Netflix featured, Michelin guide Kao Soi).
- Mae Chan MheeKeao (Hong Kong Noodle) – 60-100฿
- Bowls&Breads (grilled cheese sandwiches on fresh, homemade bread) – 85-135฿
- WAKO BAKE at Old Town Chiang Mai (amazing milk bread stuffed sandwiches, with katsu, egg, and lots of other things!) – 79-119฿
- มุมอร่อย (simple and insanely delicious pork noodle/rice with soup) – 50-60฿
- Mr KAI restaurant (try the Khao Soi and spring rolls) – 60-80฿
- Khao Soi Lung Prakit Kad Kom (this place was featured in a Netflix show and is now crazy popular but it’s still full of locals and they didn’t raise their prices) – 50-60฿
Hopefully these recommendations show that you absolutely can eat well in Chiang Mai without spending a fortune. Let us know if you tried any of these places or have other suggestions to add to the list!
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