Huen Muan Jai is an enormously popular Northern Thai restaurant in Chiang Mai. The owner is a celebrity chef in Thailand and it is affordable. Usually people post rave reviews about the food, but my experience was underwhelming.
The visit
My first approach was on a Sunday evening in early February 2020 with still a lot of tourists in town. I had to sign my name and there were probably 30 people before me. But I gave up since I was not in the mood to wait up to two hours for a soup.
I went back later at the beginning of March for lunch and there was no line.
The restaurant is housed in a large teak structure.
The menu did not excite me. Two thirds of the dishes were soups. I reckoned that a classic Thai omelette would have been a safe choice. It was ok.
Then I had one of their soups: a gaeng cha-om sai hed sai pla heang. It was a relatively spicy soup with cha-om stems (a type of tropical acacia). mushrooms, and dried foods. I really did not like it.
The check
At least it was cheap. The two dishes and a bottle of water cost 170 THB (5.15 USD). Probably you need to know the menu inside out to find the really good dishes. I do not know. I do not think I will go back, for this kind of menu I would prefer Han Thueng.
Where in Chiang Mai:
24 Ratchaphuek Alley, Tambon Chang Phueak, Mueang Chiang Mai District.