Chiang Mai, one bowl of khao soi at a time.

The dish

What khao soi is.

Khao soi is a coconut curry noodle soup: soft egg noodles in a rich, gently spiced curry broth, usually with chicken or beef, a nest of crispy fried noodles on top, and pickled mustard greens, shallots and lime on the side. The MICHELIN Guide traces it to Chin Haw — Chinese Muslim traders — and it is a staple across northern Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

Chiang Mai’s other classics: sai oua (a herb-packed grilled pork sausage), nam prik noom (a smoky green chili dip eaten with vegetables and pork crackling), and khao kha moo (pork leg slow-stewed in five-spice, over rice with an egg).

Six stops

Six Chiang Mai stops and what to order.

Several of these sell out or open only part of the day. Check the day you go.

The day

A day that works.

1. Morning: khao soi number oneStart at Khao Soi Mae Sai while the pots are full. Order one bowl each — this one you won’t want to share.
2. Late morning: Warorot MarketChiang Mai’s big market, running since 1910. Buy sai oua and a tub of nam prik noom, and snack as you walk.
3. Lunch: khao soi number twoKhao Soi Khun Yai opens for lunch and closes when the pots are empty. Compare it with the morning bowl. Huen Phen nearby is the alternative, with northern dishes too.
4. Afternoon: restThe Old City is hot at midday. Cafe, nap, temple — then eat again.
5. Evening: the North GateGrilled chicken at SP Chicken, or walk to the Chang Phueak Gate, where the pork leg stall sets up in the evening and the queue tells you which one it is.

Take home

What to bring back from Chiang Mai.

• Nam prik noom — the green chili dip, sold in tubs at Warorot.
• Dried fruit — longan and mango are the classics.
• Sai oua and cap moo — perfect for the hotel room. They are meat products, so check your home country’s customs rules before packing them; many restrict meat.

Timing and getting there

How to do Chiang Mai well.

• Eat khao soi early. The famous shops cook a set amount and close when it runs out.
• Stay near the Old City. The moat-ringed centre is walkable, and the North Gate, Warorot and the khao soi shops are all a short ride apart.
• Halal option. Khao Soi Islam in the Ban Haw Muslim quarter serves beef khao soi and biryani, and its food is all halal.
• Bring cash. Markets and small shops prefer it.

Sharing math

How to share a Chiang Mai day.

• Khao soi: one each. It’s a soup. Share the condiments, not the bowl.
• Northern dishes: family style. At Huen Phen, order one dish per person plus sticky rice, then pass everything round.
• Market: one bag, many hands. Buy one sausage and one dip for the group and taste before committing to more.
• Pork leg: one plate per two if you’ve already eaten twice that day. You will have.

Copy this

Your khao soi scorecard.

Three bowls in a day calls for a scorecard. More scoring ideas in how to rate food.

• ☐ Khao Soi Mae Sai — broth out of 5: ___
• ☐ Khao Soi Khun Yai — broth out of 5: ___
• ☐ Crispy noodles: soggy or crunchy by the end? ___
• ☐ Sai oua — herbs I could taste: ___
• ☐ Nam prik noom heat: ___
• ☐ Pork leg — cowboy hat spotted? ___
• ☐ The bowl I’d fly back for: ___

Keep the trip

Three bowls, side by side.

The fun of a khao soi day is comparing bowls, and that only works if you remember them. Snap each one in PlateDiary: every bowl is cut out on your phone into a save, named however you like, and pinned to the map. Later your Places pages line up which shop you visited and what you had there.

Add each shop to Stamps, the stamp book of places you’ve eaten, so the khao soi stall gets its own page next to the fancy dinner. Capture works offline, so no data plan is needed to snap.