Early morning, I walk in through Chiang Mai Gate and head north through the old city, looking for my first coffee. The streets are quiet. Monks in saffron move from door to door, collecting their morning alms. Down a side lane, a small temple sits in the shade of the famous ones. An auntie is setting out stools and pots for the breakfast crowd before they head to work, and kids pedal past on their way to school.
This is the Chiang Mai I come back for. Most of your days here will go to the temples and the markets. This guide is for the gaps in between: where to eat in Chiang Mai, from first coffee to last record.
The short list
- Morning: Pimm’s Cup: Roastory Lab, Bagel Village
- Lunch: Khao Soi Khun Yai, Huen Phen (Nimman)
- Afternoon: Gallery Drip Coffee
- Dinner: Huen Muan Jai
- Night: John Lemon, Nuii Bar, Fung Record Bar
Morning in Chiang Mai: coffee and a light breakfast
Start early, before the heat and the crowds. Pimm’s Cup and Bagel Village are both a few minutes’ walk from Wat Phra Singh, so breakfast and the old city’s biggest temple fit into one easy morning.
Pimm’s Cup: Roastory Lab
Neighborhood: Old City, Samlarn Road · Best for: your first coffee · Open: 7am–4pm, closed Mondays · Google Maps
Pimm’s is the first good coffee you can get in the old town, and the best way to start a day in Chiang Mai. It’s quiet, airy and green, a calm corner in the middle of the old city before the streets fill up.
What makes it more than a pretty café is the coffee itself. The owner, Pimm, buys green beans directly from farms in northern Thailand and Laos, and a lot of the city’s roasters and cafés source through her. Pimm’s Cup is her own small shop, so you’re drinking it close to the source. Order whatever’s on as a single origin, sit down and let the day start slowly. It’s small, so get there early.
Bagel Village
Neighborhood: Old City, Rachadamnoen Road near Wat Phra Singh (second shop by Chiang Mai Gate) · Best for: a light breakfast · Google Maps
A fresh bagel next to your Pimm’s coffee, and you’re set for the morning. You’ll be eating rich, spicy northern food the rest of the day, so start light.
Where to eat khao soi in Chiang Mai
Khao soi is the dish of Chiang Mai: egg noodles in a coconut curry broth, crispy noodles on top, pickled mustard greens, shallots and lime on the side. The best of it is a lunch thing, and the good stuff runs out by around 2.
Khao Soi Khun Yai
Neighborhood: Old City, Sri Poom Soi 8, near the north moat · Best for: the best local street food in Chiang Mai · Open: 10am–2pm, closed Sundays · Google Maps
This is the one. Khun Yai only makes khao soi, in three versions: chicken, pork and beef. If you’re with a friend, order all three and share.
It’s as local as it gets: an open-air yard with fans, not air-con. You order and pay at the counter, find a seat, and leave when you’re done. The broth is rich and smells of coconut, and the meat is cooked until it’s tender. It’s the best street food in Chiang Mai. Come early, because the line builds and it closes at 2.
Huen Phen, Nimman
Neighborhood: Nimmanhaemin Soi 5 · Best for: braised pork rib khao soi · Open: 11am–10pm · Google Maps
The other khao soi, in a different setting: Huen Phen is a sit-down northern Thai restaurant in a Lanna-style house, and you can choose air-con or the open-air side. The one to order is the braised pork rib khao soi, ribs slow-cooked until they’re falling apart into the curry. It’s worth the trip across to Nimman.
Afternoon: shade and drip coffee
By early afternoon the old city is hot. Find some shade, get a good coffee, and recharge before heading back out to the temples at sunset. Gallery Drip’s old town shop is inside the Chiang Mai City Arts & Cultural Centre, a short walk from Wat Chedi Luang. On weekends, the second shop is at Jing Jai Market.
Gallery Drip Coffee
Neighborhood: Old City, Prapokklao Road, inside the Chiang Mai City Arts & Cultural Centre (second shop at Jing Jai Market) · Best for: a slow afternoon of reading or work · Open: Wednesday–Sunday · Google Maps
There are two locations, and both are great for drip coffee. They carry beans from northern Thailand and from abroad, and the staff are patient and know them well, so ask for a recommendation and they’ll walk you through it.
The old town shop has seats inside and in a small garden. It’s the place for a sloooow afternoon: reading, resting, or getting some work done between meals. The team ran a drip coffee shop in Bangkok for more than a decade before opening in Chiang Mai, and it shows.
Dinner: northern Thai food at Huen Muan Jai
Huen Muan Jai
Neighborhood: Chang Phueak, Ratchaphuek Soi, just north of the old city · Best for: northern Thai food · Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025) · Closed Wednesdays · Google Maps
Amazing northern food, and worth the wait. Expect a queue. It’s in an old Lanna-style house, and the menu runs deep into Lanna cooking.
The dish I’d go back for is the gaeng hang lay, the northern pork belly curry. It’s built on ginger, garlic and tamarind rather than coconut milk, so it’s richer and darker than the curries most people know from Thailand. The khao soi is excellent too, good enough to stand next to the khao soi specialists. If you have the appetite, add the sai oua, the northern herb sausage.
Chiang Mai at night: vinyl bars in the old city
After a day of wats, I’m not looking for loud. I want something smooth, something with melody. That’s where the old city’s side streets come in, away from Zoe in Yellow and the big beer halls. These are bars where you listen and talk. And since this is Thailand, you snack and drink while you do.
John Lemon
Neighborhood: Old City, Samlarn Road · Best for: vinyl, craft beer, an easy evening · Open: 6pm–midnight · Google Maps
An intimate vinyl bar with an outdoor setting, craft beer and a snack menu. The records are why you come: great psychedelic jazz and rock from Thailand, on a sound system that does them justice. You order by QR code at the table, and it’s cash only.
Nuii Bar
Neighborhood: Old City, 46 Prapokklao Soi 1 · Best for: a lively night out · Open: 6:30pm–midnight · Google Maps
A great lively vibe without being too loud. There’s always a crowd, but it’s never too crowded. It’s hipster and alternative, with guest DJs and a proper food menu. It belongs on Soi Nana in Bangkok.
Fung Record Bar
Neighborhood: Old City, upstairs at Nuii Bar · Best for: cocktails and records · Google Maps
Same building, up a wooden staircase. Fung is the listening room: all vinyl, a short cocktail list with Beatles-named highballs, and it’s for sitting and talking. Start downstairs at Nuii and finish up here, or the other way around.
Where to eat in Chiang Mai: FAQ
Khao Soi Khun Yai in the old city for the classic, from 10am to 2pm and closed Sundays. Huen Phen in Nimman for braised pork rib khao soi.
Pimm’s Cup: Roastory Lab in the old city for your first coffee, from 7am. Gallery Drip Coffee for a slow afternoon of drip.
Yes. It’s a 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand for northern Thai food. Order the gaeng hang lay. It’s closed Wednesdays.
John Lemon on Samlarn Road, and Fung Record Bar upstairs at Nuii Bar on Prapokklao Soi 1.
For slow mornings back home in Saigon, read my favorite cafés in Saigon for reading. Know a spot in Chiang Mai I should try? Tell me on the contact page.
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