Amazing Thailand (Chiang Mai)

It has been said that food near to schools are usually affordable, hearty and tasty. One such street stall located near to Chiang Mai University is Kaprao Nuea Nuea (look for the yellow signage along the food street). Eat like a local and sit at one of the empty tables under the trees and enjoy a plate of holy basil stir fry pork with rice, with an added fried duck egg. While enjoying your meal, do keep a heightened alert for birds flying above you.

With a limited quantity per day, come late and you will miss out on SP Chicken. While the birds are not incredibly huge, the flavours and juiciness make up for it. Underneath the skin, you will find the chicken has being marinated with lots of Thai herbs and aromatics. Dip the meat into some of the nam jim jaew and it elevates the chicken to another level.

Rotee Pa Day is a roti food stand that was inducted into the Michelin Guide. With a variety of flavour combinations, each roti is uniquely cooked in the healthier coconut oil. As it is solely cooked by a single lady while she has helpers to prep the ingredients, the wait can get quite long during peak periods. My recommendations will be to get the egg+banana+Nutella or egg+banana, each having a good drizzle condensed milk before serving.

When you are in Northern Thailand and especially Chiang Mai, make use of any chance you have to eat khao soi, a dish with 2 different kind of egg noodles (crispy and boiled) in a spicy coconut broth. It is usually paired with chicken and always add the finishing touches of a squeeze of lime before mixing in raw onions and pickled mustard greens.

Going into Aunt Aoy Kitchen is like stepping into someone’s home for some comforting homecooked food. Most of the dishes are one-dish meals that are quick stir fries, fuss free and inexpensive. What got them to fame is their signature Chef Omelette which if you eat in most Thai restaurants, the egg is crispy on the outside and fluffy inside. What is different is that Aunt Aoy adds minced pork, salted egg and pork crackling to bring it up to another level.

Ristr8to is one of the legendary cafes in Chiang Mai that won the 2017 World Latte Art Champion. Aesthetically the latte arts were great but the coffee deserves special mention as the coffee was not overly roasted and has a mellow chocolatey flavour profile to it. Very easy to drink for all coffee drinkers.

Our first dinner in Chiang Mai was at Ginger Farm Kitchen that specialises in a farm-to-table concept using produce from their own farm. The signature Crispy Pork Belly comes with three dipping sauces of varying flavours and homemade pickles. The perfect more fats to meat ratio melts in your mouth while the crispy skin makings a crunching sound you wouldn’t want to miss.

In Bangkok, there’s the famous Yaowarat toasted bun, and here in Chiang Mai, you can also get toasted buns at Ai Pang at One Nimman. Upon order, the buns are toasted over charcoal and then given a generous spread of your chosen sauce which we got the Thai tea and strawberry. The former tasted much better with the floral fragrance and drizzle of condensed milk.