Chiang Rai

The North

Is a restaurant in the north hotel which specializes in home made northern style food. here you can find northern thai sausage, kaeng hunglay northern pork curry and a variety of northern style dishes made by the mother of the owner. their family recipes will give you a real taste of northern cuisine. the north hotel is situated next to oasis, just in the middle of a small street between the night bazaar and fruit and flower market.

khao sawy

Po Sai, Thanon Jet Yot 1023/2 opposite Wangcome Hotel. Famous for its khao sawy Burmese style chicken curry with noodles, 25 baht and other northern dishes like special Northern Thai sausage 25 baht and nam phrik num dip made of aubergine and peppers. No English sign or menu, but some English spoken. Open early but closes by 18:00.

There is lots of good food to be found in Chiang Rai, but most tourists seem to end up eating at the Night Bazaar. There are two separate places to eat here: "Centrepoint", run by a single restaurant with a Western-Thai menu and comparatively high prices dishes 100-200 THB, and then the "actual" night bazaar food court dishes 30-100 THB. Both have free music and dance performances almost nightly. The one run by the Night Market Restaurant has comfortable wooden furniture while the food court uses rather ugly yellow metal tables and chairs. While there are over 50 food stalls to choose from, the fare on offer is mostly quite touristy, with food toned down for the farang palate. About half the stalls seem to be devoted to selling deep-fried stuff fritters, French fries, tempura, etc to accompany beer. There are also a few non-Thai stalls, offering Italian, Indian, German etc, plus the obligatory insect stall for creepy-crawly cravings.

Phetburi

Th banphaprakan. local curry-and-rice restaurant, just pick your favorites from the display. under 50 baht for a full meal. ratburi, right next door, is very similar.

Chiang Rai Beach

During the day or the early evening is an excellent spot. there are around 20 cafes and restaurants overlooking the 'mae kok river'. bring your dictionary with you for there are no english menus to be found. a bit out of town. go by tuktuk or motorbike.

Tong Tung Restaurant

no english sign serves you northern thai food. try this semi-outdoor place on the western side of the road about 1 km south of thanon banphaprakan on 1/1 thanon sanambin old airport road. their 'kaeng hung lay' curry is recommended.

Nakhon Pathom

นครปฐม, th phahonyothin, near th banphaprakan intersection. the famous khao moo deng rice with red sauteed pork, or as shown on the menu: 'rice with bbq pork', 30 thb tastes best at this big chinese restaurant. no english sign, but looks for the red sign board with large yellow font thai letters. it's opposite the lebanese shop. big cold coffee machines attract the locals to having lunch there.