Tag: khao soi

Michelin-recommended khao soi in Chiang Mai

In 2019 the Thailand Michelin Guide (2020 edition) covered Chiang Mai for the first time listing 50 restaurants either as “tables” (a generic good meal) or “Bib Gourmands” (great value, up to 1000 THB). There were no stars. Four of them were joints specializing in Khao Soi, the quintessential Northern curry noodles. I visited them between January and February 2020. Here’s my take. (I will not bother to distinguish between “tables” and “Bib Gourmands” since the distinction as far as Chiang Mai is concerned makes little sense).

The gentrified one: Khao Soi Nimman

Nimman is the posh area of Chiang Mai, a sort of gentrified entertainment district, so no surprise that the eponymous Khao Soi Nimman offers a sanitized version of a classic khao soi diner.

One upside is the menu offering the noodles with a variety of toppings not normally available (the big ones are usually chicken, beef, and pork). I had one with a Northern Thai sausage. The sausage was really good, but the curry sauce and the noodles were just bland. The restaurant also offers other dishes; the Thai omelette with minced pork I tried was fluffy and a very good specimen of this ubiquitous Thai dish.

This khao soi was 105 THB (3.30 USD). Still cheap, but almost twice as much the price in conventional joints.

Address in Chiang Mai: 22 Nimmana Haeminda Rd Lane 7.

The thick one: Khao Soi Mae Manee

Khao Soi Mae Manee is located a few kilometers North of the Old City. It is a 10 minute drive and it is totally worth.

It is located in a shack in the middle of a residential area. It is clearly a family-run eatery. In my visits I could identify both locals and tourists. Their bowls come in normal and big size (in the picture the normal size is light blue and the big one is white).

Their broth is very thick and delicious. Also the beef and the chicken are super-tender. The big bowl carries more meat. You can choose among various meats, including pork intestine and sausage. In my big bowl I mixed beef and chicken. I also appreciated the generous amount of pickles (most people put them in the bowl, I like them as a separate snack).

A standard bowl with one meat cost just 40/50 THB, the big one with two meats was 120 THB.

Address in Chiang Mai: 18 Chotana Rd, Chang Phueak.

The temple one: Khao Soi Samoe Chai

Khao Soi Samoe Chai (sometimes spelled Samer Jai) is located next to Wat Fa Ham (if you have trouble finding it on the map, just look up for Fa Ham or Faham temple). It is a large restaurant and offers a lot of dishes besides khao soi.

I had the chicken khao soi and I was a bit disappointed. The chicken leg was not as tender as in other joints and the curry soup was less tasty. One characteristic of this khao soi was the relatively thick fried noodles (fried noodles are always on top of a khao soi bowl by the way).

I also tried other dishes, including grilled chicken, and I was not particularly happy (it came half-cold). Also, their keeping the food on display in the kiosks throughout the restaurant does not seem very hygienic.

The khao soi is 50-60 THB.

Address in Chiang Mai: 391 Moo 2, Charoenrat Road.

The balanced one: Khao Soi Lambduan

Also located on Charoenrat Road, not far away from Khao Soi Samoe Chai, Khai Soi Lambduan came up in some discussions with locals apart than from the Michelin Guide. It occupies a fairly large shack without any English sign; they have a handy picture menu with English translation.

The best feature of this Khao Soi was the drumtick: a falling-off-the-bone type of drumstick that was really satisfying. It appears that they cook different meats in separate pots with the sauce and this helps. Overall, it was a well-balanced soup, not too spicy.

The Khao Soi is priced 50-60 THB.

Address in Chiang Mai: 352/22 Charoenrat Road.

Also read my comparison between a luxury khao soi and a street khao soi.

Disappointing lunch at Le Grand Lanna in Chiang Mai

I had only one disappointing meal in my first trip to Chiang Mai. That happened in one of the supposedly best fine dining venues in town: Le Grand Lanna, the Thai restaurant of the five-star Dhara Dhevi resort.

My experience is limited to one lunch. So, obviously, it just may be that they had a bad day or I was unlucky. However, I think useful to share the experience so you can judge by yourself. Even if I collected a single data point, there were some big red flags.

The visit

I reached my destination by Grabcar, it took me around 15 minutes to arrive from the Northern part of the old city. The restaurant is accessible from the parking lot in front of the resort (so you do not have to step inside the resort proper).

A receptionist dressed in traditional garments greeted me and escorted me to the dining room.

I was seated on the veranda. I guess this was the place where they have their performances with traditional music at night. The restaurant was very quiet. I found odd that they did not ask me whether I preferred to seat inside their air-conditioned room… but it was not too hot so I did not complain.

What compelled me to try a lunch at Le Grand Lanna was their selection of beautiful lunch sets, reminiscent of bento boxes. I knew about them because I had looked at their website, but weirdly enough I was not offered the menu featuring the lunch sets; rather, I had to request it.

The main dish was a bowl of the traditional khao soi with chicken. I have described this khao soi in another post and I found it a softball: ok, but not particularly tasty (especially the noodles).

The set contained some vegetables fritters and crispy pork. I enjoyed the crunchiness of the dish, but to be honest I could not really taste the pork.

Then there was a side of herbal rice. Totally tasteless. I could not finish it.

What really ruined the meal was this soup: chicken broth with minced pork and soft bean curd. It was a very harmless soup, but when I chewed I could feel something wrong… there were some small fragments of something in the soup! Something not edible and impossible to chew! I explained the situation to a waitress.

Shortly after the manager came and explained that the fragments were residuals from clams used to make the broth better… The manager admitted that this was a mistake. Clearly, in the kitchen they were unable to prepare a simple broth. What a disappointment.

The check

These lunch sets were priced 620 THB plus service charge (10%) and tax (7%). Since they messed up big time, the manager offered me a 10% discount and did not include the drinks (that would have been another 140 THB or so).  So in the end I paid 646 THB (19.50 USD). Normally, including drinks, would have been close to 900 THB (27 USD). I think they should have given me even a larger discount, but I was not in the mood to negotiate. Fool me once, shame on you.

The bento box was appealing to the eye, but it was remarkably tasteless (and actually came with a failed dish). A perfect example of image over substance.

Also, while the personnel was nice and I appreciated the manager taking responsibility, honestly I felt that they processed me without much care (I was not even asked if I wanted to seat inside the air-conditioned room).

Given the super-inflated prices (for Thai food), I would certainly not go back to Le Grand Lanna. There are so many better places where to spend your money in Chiang Mai for fine food: The Redbox and Baan Landai were my favorite during this trip.

350 THB luxury khao soi vs. 40 THB street khao soi: which is better?

In my trip to Chiang Mai of course I had to try the khao soi, one of Northern Thailand’s iconic dishes. Khao soi is basically a curry soup (but in the curry there is also coconut juice) with deep-fried crispy egg noodles on top and normal boiled egg noodles soaked in the soup. It comes with either beef, chicken and pork and it is usually served with a side dish of  pickled mustard greens, shallots and lime as a condiment, along with chili paste. Normally it is a mildly spicy dish, but the level of spiciness can vary depending on the establishment.

The street khao soi: Khao Soi Khun Yai

Following food youtuber and blogger Mark Wiens’ advise, I tried my street khoi soi in a diner located along the northern perimeter of Chiang Mai’s old city called Khao Soi Khun Yai.

The diner is open only until 2pm, so I went for a breakfast. I was not the only tourist, I guess Mark Wiens can really make a difference with his recommendations! They are tourist friendly with an English menu now:

I am not a fan of noodles, ramen and such, but I found this khao soi a delicious dish. Mixing the soft boiled and the crispy fried noodles gave the dish a particular texture. I chose to have chicken in mine and I enjoyed every bite. I finished the soup. (Looking back with more experience I can add that the fried noodles were a bit soggy and that overall this was a very spicy khao soi, which may be good or bad depending on your taste.)

Special bonus: I enjoyed their longan juice too!

Total price: 40 THB for the small khao soi, that would be 1.20 USD (plus 20 THB for the drink).

The luxury khao soi: Le Grand Lanna

Le Grand Lanna is a luxury Thai restaurant located on the ground of the five-star resort Dhara Devi. It is around 8 km outside the old city.

Their khao soi was pretty much the same size as the one tried in the other restaurant and came with the usual pickles, lime and chili paste.

What to say? I enjoyed this bowl as well, but I found it more of a soft ball. The soup was less tasty, less spicy and the egg noodles gave me the impression to be cut by a machine, if not bought ready-made (I am pretty sure that at Khao Soi Khun Yai were hand-made).

The khao soi was part of a set menu, but the cost from a la carte menu (after service charge and tax) was a little over 350 THB, around 11 USD.

The verdict

Was the luxury khao soi worth the extra money? While I am not a khao soi expert by any stretch of the imagination, I do not think it was worth. Clearly you are paying for the ambience, not for the food.

To be honest, the two dishes were quite similar, but I found the soup of the khao soi served at Khao Soi Khun Yai more tasty and spicy. Also, their noodles, especially the dried noodles on top, presented a better texture.

For other reasons, I would not recommend Le Grand Lanna as a destination in Chiang Mai. On the other side, khoi soi is really a dish to try while visiting the city and the multitude of diners serving khoi soi are certainly more interesting than the glossy environment of Le Grand Lanna.