Papaya salad (som tam) is a quintessential Thai dish and there are restaurants specializing in it. Som Tam Udon is a popular restaurant in Chiang Mai doing just that: serving a variety of papaya salad dishes.
The visit
I went on an evening, after 6pm (the restaurant closes at 8pm) and it was a good call because I avoided the lunch crowd that can be overwhelming.
The restaurant is clearly organized to handle big crowds including tourists. First, I ordered at the kitchen counter where I was handed the menu.
At the counter they had buckets of nuts and dried herbs that I guess you could freely add to your dish.
The menu is a long list of papaya salad with different ingredients: from cockle, to seafood and meat. They also have fruit, mango, cucumber salads. The pictures above are just a part of the full menu. I opted for a seafood salad.
Then I found a table where to eat and wait for my order.
Fork and spoon were not provided at the table. You have to take them by yourself. There is also an interesting dip sauce that you can take in a self-service station.
Finally I was served my papaya salad that came with a good amount of fresh seafood: squid, prawns, cockles were there. The restaurant is famous for the spiciness of its papaya. It was spicy! But bearable. Not sure if they toned it down for a farang. There was on the menu also a spicy seafood salad that was probably the one to order if you want feel the hell’s flames in your mouth.
I noticed they had bingsu desserts. I found kind of odd to find a Korean dessert in such a traditional Thai restaurant. It looked like they were some kind of pre-packaged bingsu.
Finally I headed to the cashier to settle my check.
The check
I spent 81 THB, 60 for the salad, the rest for a drink and the extra dressings from the self-service station. That was just 2.5 USD for what was a delicious and rich dish. There was a great deal of seafood in such an affordable dish. Ironically, I spent more for the transportation to and from the restaurant, which it is not that far away from the Northern side of the Old City and Nimman area.
It is a recommended experience in Chiang Mai and I suggest you to go at the end of the day as I did to avoid crowds.
Where in Chiang Mai:
3/2 Soi Tantawan, Tambon Chang Phueak, Amphoe Mueang Chiang Mai.