Chiang Rai guide · Where to eat
Places to eat in Chiang Rai, with what to order and how comfortable each is for families and older travellers.
Updated
Chiang Rai eats northern Thai food, with noodle soups, grilled meats and chilli dips. Pork, fish sauce and shrimp paste are common in dishes that look vegetarian, so strict vegetarians should say so clearly. In the Chiang Mai guide we note the phrase jay for Thai vegan-style food; ask for it, and say no fish sauce.
We list Tamachat Vegetarian Restaurant (vegan-listed on HappyCow), Boonsita Vegetarian Restaurant and India At Chiang Rai, and we found no Jain restaurant. Do not rely on that as proof that none exist: ask your hotel for current suggestions and check opening hours before travelling. Hotels and resorts can often arrange a simple meat-free or no-onion-no-garlic meal if you ask a day ahead.
Jain travellers should plan on carrying snacks, ordering fruit, plain rice and steamed vegetables, and asking each time about stock and sauces. Drink bottled or filtered water. For long hill days, take a packed lunch from the hotel, because villages may have limited choices.
Menus and kitchens change. If you follow a strict diet or have an allergy, confirm with the restaurant before you order.
897/60 Phahonyothin Road, central Chiang Rai
A small northern Thai restaurant on Phahonyothin Road, listed for pad thai with peanut sauce, chicken curry and khao soi, and able to cook vegetarian and gluten-free dishes on request.
Satharn Payabarn Road, Rop Wiang, Mueang Chiang Rai
A daytime vegetarian restaurant on Satharn Payabarn Road serving khao soi, veggie spring rolls and rice with curries or noodles. Its menu is described as completely vegetarian with many vegan options.
620/25 Thanalai Road, central Chiang Rai
A well-known Thanalai Road restaurant serving toned-down Thai food, open 10am to midnight daily per Wikivoyage. Profits go to family planning and sex education work, which is its stated purpose.
Mae Kok River bank (Pattaya Noi), outside Chiang Rai town
A stretch of the Mae Kok River outside town with about 20 cafes and restaurants on bamboo platforms, serving local food with no English menus, best in the day or early evening.
179 Moo 2, Rim Kok, Chiang Rai, near Wat Rong Suea Ten
A European-style coffee house and bistro on Rim Kok, near Wat Rong Suea Ten (the Blue Temple), serving Western and modernised Thai dishes such as pineapple fried rice, tom yum goong and coconut cake.
390 Banpha Prakan Road, Wiang, Mueang Chiang Rai
A northern Thai restaurant on Banpha Prakan Road housed in a preserved old mansion, serving dishes including khao soi. The only source for it is a Visit Thailand Today listing.
528/12 Jed Yod Road, Wiang, central Chiang Rai
An Indian restaurant on Jed Yod Road serving North and South Indian dishes, with vegan, halal and gluten-free options listed daily. It is the one Indian address we could verify from a page we opened.
541/8 Phaholyothin Road, Rop Wiang, Chiang Rai
A Thai restaurant on Phaholyothin Road with wooden furniture and an art gallery inside, listed for fish dishes such as sea bass fried with Thai herbs, and described as vegetarian-friendly.
1023/2 Jet Yod Road, opposite Wangcome Hotel
A long-listed khao soi shop on Jet Yod Road, opposite Wangcome Hotel, serving chicken khao soi, northern sausage and nam phrik num. Wikivoyage gives daytime hours of 7am to 4pm.
Trairat Road, Wiang, Mueang Chiang Rai
A khao soi restaurant on Trairat Road, listed by Take Me Tour for khao soi and khanom jeen nam ngiao. The article gives hours of 9am to 3pm.
123 Moo 22, Rop Wiang, Mueang Chiang Rai
A local restaurant in Rop Wiang listed by Take Me Tour for larb and gaeng hung lay, open 10am to 9pm. The article calls its larb the best in town; that is its claim, not ours.
188/8 Moo 20, Kwae Wai Road, Rop Wiang, across the highway from central Chiang Rai
A long-running riverside restaurant on Kwae Wai Road, across the highway from central Chiang Rai, serving northern Thai dishes such as hang lay curry, minced pork salad and sai ua, with tables beside the Kok River.
869/25-26 Phahonyothin Road, near the Banphaprakan Road junction
A large Chinese restaurant on Phahonyothin Road, near the Banphaprakan Road junction, known per Wikivoyage for khao moo deng, rice with red braised pork.
197 Sankhongnoi Road, Chiang Rai
A locals' lunch spot on Sankhongnoi Road serving nam ngiao, the northern Thai noodle soup, open 9:00 to 15:00 with no English menu, according to Wikivoyage.
Night Bazaar, between the bus station and Phaholyothin Road, central Chiang Rai
A self-service food court of around 50 stalls inside the Night Bazaar, with mostly fried snacks, a few Italian, Indian and German stalls, and a mild, tourist-friendly style.
Behind the main stage, Night Bazaar, central Chiang Rai
A vegetarian restaurant tucked behind the main stage of the Night Bazaar, next to The North hotel. Two independent guides list it for vegetarian meals, but neither gives a menu.
673/1 Thanalai Road, Wiang, central Chiang Rai
A small northern Thai restaurant on Thanalai Road with a wide menu, listed for pineapple fried rice, steamed fish with soy sauce, pad thai and khao soi, and popular with both visitors and locals.
834/3 Phahonyothin Road, Ha Yaek, Chiang Rai
A northern Thai restaurant on Phahonyothin Road, next to Krung Thai Bank at the Ha Yaek branch, known for homemade sai ua sausage. Take Me Tour gives hours of 10:30am to 10pm.
Thanalai Road, central Chiang Rai (Saturdays only)
A weekly street market on Thanalai Road, four blocks of stalls on Saturday evenings from 18:00 to 22:00, with a music-filled food area, according to Wikivoyage.
171/12 Moo 4, Soi 1 Rim Kok, Mueang Chiang Rai
An organic farm restaurant on the Kok riverbank road that cooks with farm-grown ingredients, including rose and butterfly pea petals, and is known for its herbal teas.
Api Plaza, Sanambin Road, Mueang Chiang Rai
A small daytime vegetarian restaurant on Sanambin Road serving Thai buffet dishes with rice, khao soi and noodle soups. HappyCow lists it as vegan, and reviewers describe it as fully jay food.
Sanambin Road (old airport road), about 1 km south of Banphaprakan Road
A northern Thai restaurant on the old airport road, south of Banphaprakan Road, where Wikivoyage recommends the kaeng hung lay pork curry. It has no English sign.
