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| Pumpkin humous at Mai Kaidees. Yum. |
There are lots of vegetarian places to eat in Chiang Mai - I can't recommend the food there enough. In fact, I got offered a job which was better paid in another part of Thailand, but turned it down because I knew the food wouldn’t be as good!!
I certainly can't say I've travelled the entire world, but I can confidently say that Chiang Mai has the best food options of anywhere I’ve ever been.
So, what does Chiang Mai offer for vegetarians? So, so much! You can get everything from delicious, traditional Thai curries to amazing burritos and all-you-can eat buffets laden with hundreds of veggie options.
Here’s my guide to the best traditional Thai veggie options in Chiang Mai….
1. Mai Kaidees
Two years after leaving Thailand, I still dream about the taste of a Number 10 (curried tofu with noodles)at Mai Kaidees. It’s mainly traditional northern Thai dishes – Khoa Soi, curries, spring rolls etc – but she manages to make them taste so fresh and different to anywhere else. There is also tasty pumpkin humous on the menu and you must get something that involves her fabulous peanut sauce. It’s all veggie and very cheap at around 50/60baht a dish (£1 ish/ $1.60). The only thing I would say is that the service can be quite slow – I used to see countless people sit down for 15 minutes and then decide to leave because their order hadn’t even been taken. Persevere, I promise it’s worth it! There are also two Mai Kaidees in Bangkok which are just as good.
46/32G Ratchawithi Road, Sri Phum (inside the old moat)
2. Aum
It was the first place I ever ate in Chiang Mai and I must have gone back at least 40 more times. I would recommend the veggie burger (70b/£1.40/$2.20) which is homemade and comes in a lovely granary bun and their Khoa Soi (60b/£1.20/$1.90) which was the best I tasted. If you’ve never had Khoa Soi then you must have it while in Chiang Mai – it’s a curried noodle dish which Aum serve with tofu and potato. They don’t have air con so it can get hot in here, but it’s worth sweating it out just to taste the Khoa Soi. (See my recipe for Khoa Soi here)
65 Th Moon Muang (inside the old moat)
3. Pun Pun at Wat Suandok
This is a little gem. It’s quite far out the centre and is best reached by moped, but I promise it’s worth it. It’s located behind pretty Wat Suandok and only opens for limited hours (until around 3pm if I remember rightly). The food is really cheap – about 45b a dish (90p/$1.40) – and incredibly fresh. They do lots of traditional Thai dishes but also have beautiful salads with interesting ingredients such as bean sprouts and papaya. Just make sure you take some insect repellent as the garden location means you get eaten alive.
On Suthep Road, west of the old city
4. Khun Churn
Located in the trendy Nimmanhemin area, where all of the university students hang out, Khun Churn is outside out the old moat but don't let that put you off. The most popular thing about Khun Churn is the lunch buffet which was 80b (£1.60) when I was there – I’ve got a feeling it’s probably gone up since then though. Still, even at 100b or slightly over, it’s a complete bargain as there is so much veggie food on offer. You can get fragrant soups, curries, salad and even make your own Khoa Soi. It’s also lovely in the evening when the menu is a la catre – try the penang curry. Yum. This is definitely not street food, it’s nice food in classy surroundings.
Nimmanhemin, Soi 17 (50200)
5. Blue Diamond
The previous four were without doubt my favourite places to eat while living in Chiang Mai, but I’ve included Blue Diamond as it was always lovely but slightly expensive for me (I tried not spend more than 60baht on each meal!), however, I’m sure tourists can afford to be a bit more generous. Here you can get really fresh salads and rice dishes. They also have a bakery selling fresh bread and lovely cakes at a reasonable price. The dishes used to be around 90b (£1.80) which sounds cheap by British standards but was positively extravagant by my tight Thai standards!
35/1 Moon Muang Road, Soi 9 (inside the old moat)
