Chiangmai, Thailand: Some shots of food

I take a while to conceptualize and organize my photos into coherent stories, so much so it takes almost a year to churn these out and I decide to go with posts on food, and what to do. 

How original.

I've a fear for spicy food (Indo food can be quite a killer) so I'm usually not so into curry, except those that are sweet and rich in coconut milk - cue: Thai green curry. That aside, I do enjoy my fair share of Thai fare, and the food up north in Chiangmai is same-same yet different from what you can find in Bangkok, or the typical Thai food in Singapore. Given that northern Thailand is so close to China, it's little surprise there's a hint of Chinese influence in the food here.

Before (and during) the trip, we did have a list of to-eats. And sometimes, we just stumbled on the gems, gems that we didn't expect and didn't taste too bad. As usual, it's hard to go wrong with food in this part of the world.

1. Chang Phueak area (street side food, chances are it opens at night)

Each stall typically sets up their own dining area, so they might be reluctant to have you bring their food and drinks to another "stall". We had that issue with juices!

Khao Kha Moo Chang - pig trotters
You can't miss this, think and see feng fei fei, cowgirl, and the super efficient way they fill and clear tables.

Of course, there are other stalls to patronize, but usually you order and eat in front of the respective stalls. And you can try to request for an English (or Chinese) menu.





2. Khao Soi Khun Yai

Crispy fried noodles in a sweet curry sauce. Crispy. Fried. Need I say more? If a stall can survive on selling that one signature dish, and appeal to locals and tourists alike, you know you have a winner.

 



Here's Khao Soi from another random restaurant - okay, you can try, same-same but different.



3. Hipster Offerings 1 - Coffee Establishments

There are tons of notable hipster cafes and restaurants. Perfect to chill and watch time go by (for those disinterested in shopping and massages). #toolittletime

We had coffee at Akha Ama Coffee La Fattoria. More on our coffee journey here.

 



We also just stumbled into a hipster cafe for breakfast-lunch (read: I don't know the name of this restaurant and where it's located). They had macarons (meh) and green curry pasta. Here's a sampling:

















4. Hipster Offerings 2 - Ploen Ruedee Night Market

For your international food fixes

 



5. Sunday Night Market (or any night market for that matter)

If you can, make sure your stay covers a Sunday night! Not just for shopping, the area is peppered with food stalls for freshly prepared street side fare. Just whack what looks enticing and smells delicious.

 











6. Warorot Market

A local told us to she gets her "wares" from Warorot Market. It's also the only place we could find a good range of Srichand products. Also, random food tastes good too. Or maybe because we were hungry from the shopping.




7. Mall Offerings - MAYA Mall

With that many night markets (there is only so many harem pants one can buy), I didn't think there was much a mall can offer. WRONG. 
Not only does it have jelly bunny shoes, cosmetic stores, taokaenoi retailer, and the food court concept (all with the modern comfort of air conditioning).

 







8. The usual favourites: Bird's nest and Shark's Fin

Honestly, we just stumbled upon this around our hostel-hotel (in the Northern Gate area) and it became a must-make-an-effort-to-try-this. I just go with the flow and glow with my Bird's Nest.

 



Other (pretty) random food like thai milk tea, thai food, and dimsum





Having had some pretty authentic dim sum in Hong Kong, or Singapore for the matter, come by if you want to try the Northern Thai Chinese's take on dim some. We were hungry and popped into a random hostel for food recommendations. Our standard MO when hungry.

 







Did we eat everything we wanted? Probably not.
But could we have eaten more? Probably not.
Therefore,
We'd be back, Chiangmai!