Where to Eat and Drink in Chiang Mai
And how not to get sick
If you’re anything like me, you’re terrified of getting sick when travelling. Because let's face it, there’s nothing worse. Here’s a list of places we ate that were delicious, reasonably priced for a backpacker’s budget, cute for insta photos, oh and safe of course.
Street Food Markets
You can and most definitely should eat street food whilst travelling Asia. Trust me when I say I have a huge phobia of vomiting, so I certainly would never take chances with food I didn’t 100% trust. When there are renowned street food markets that are super busy and bustling, there cannot be a safer option than seeing your food being cooked right in front of you. Stay away from meat that you can see has been sitting there for who knows how long, but if they cook your meal to order, go for it!
These street vendors do this every day of their life and making their customers sick will be terrible for their business, so they will ensure this doesn’t happen for their own good. We’ve eaten street food every day and I've stuck to a vegetarian diet because of extra caution and touch wood - I haven’t been sick once.
Stay away from salads and fruit and veggies that are unpeeled, because they might have recently washed them in the tap water and left them wet, and you want to stay away from the tap water completely. Overall the number 1 rule is always trust BUSY places. Our favourite street food markets in Chiang Mai were the Pae Walking Street Market on Sundays, the Saturday Night Market, Anusarn Market and Night Bazaar.
The Good View Restaurant
Located on the Ping River, this adorable restaurant was probably the only one we could afford on the river next to it’s rivals.
THC Rooftop Bar for Drinks
This one’s for the gram. What says authenticity more than sitting on the floor listening to reggae?
The Travel Cafe
So great for travellers who need to catch up on their social media or charge their laptops. They’ll even let you sit and use their wifi and power points for free for an hour before you have to order something, but the food is so good and soooo big. An example, the toasted cheese I ordered came with 4 slices of bread, and the Mango smoothie literally came in a jug.
All of this came to around $13 US
Cute coffee shops
Too many to mention, walking around the vibey streets of Chiang Mai you won’t be able to miss all the adorable cafes. A good coffee will set you back roughly THB50-60.
