It’s about time we started showcasing some of our favorite delicious Thai food with you all! After all, one of the reasons we chose to move to Thailand was because we absolutely love Thai cuisine. So for all you food lovers, feast your eyes on our first Thai food contender, Khao Soi.
Ok, So What is Khao Soi?
Khao Soi is a deliciously creamy and slightly spicy yellow curry dish unique to Northern Thailand. It will satisfy your craving for a Thai curry dish while still being delightfully out of the ordinary. We stumbled upon it within our first week of moving to Chiang Mai.
What makes Khao Soi shine is its savory curry broth. Made with a blend of yellow and red curry spices, coconut milk, chicken broth, soy sauce, and sugar, the ingredients are slowly simmered to develop flavor. Chicken drumsticks and thighs are typically slow cooked in the broth and served as part of the meal.
Khao Soi begins with a bowl of fresh long cut egg noodles, which is a great alternative to the traditional rice or rice noodle based dishes served in Thailand. Then a hearty piece of the slow cooked chicken is added to the bowl along with a large spoonful of curry broth. The bowl is topped with a tangle of crispy noodles and freshly diced cilantro and is typically accompanied by a small dish of freshly diced red onion, pickled greens, and smoky chili paste on the side. Though not necessarily traditional, some restaurants and food stalls will even put their own spin on Khao Soi by adding ingredients such as carrots or pumpkin!
Delicious! So What is the Proper Way to Eat Khao Soi?
Khao Soi is traditionally eaten with chopsticks and a Chinese soup spoon. Not to worry, though. The slow cooked chicken should come right off the bone with the chopsticks and the Chinese spoon helps to scoop up every last drop of the broth. This dish is a must-have if you are visiting Chiang Mai!
How much Does Khao Soi Cost in Chiang Mai?
Khao Soi is definitely a budget priced meal coming in between 35 and 80 Baht. That’s only $1.15 to $2.50 USD a bowl.
Where is the Best Place to Eat Khao Soi in Chiang Mai?
We haven’t completely settled on one single place yet, but we have a couple of contenders. Aroon Rai and Kafe are both on the eastern side of the Old City and offer the more traditional style Khao Soi. The Birds Nest and Blue Diamond offer Khao Soi with their own signature spin and are filled with vegetables. Blue Diamond actually serves up the biggest bowl we have seen to date! Lampang Lern Rot is a hidden little place that you will find frequented by many locals. Go there if you want an authentic Thai experience. Please let us know if you have any of your own recommendations for Khao Soi in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We would love to check them out and add them our map. Enjoy!
View Khao Soi Hot Spots in a larger map
Khao Soi Lamduan or Khao Soi Samer Jai in Fa Ham are both very good. Lamduan is definitely my favorite khao soi place in CM. Nice thing is that they’re very close to each other…so you could try them both in one day!
Ooo thanks! Will put those on our list. Thanks for sharing :)
There is a great Khao Soi place not far from Kad Suan Kaew – our Thai teacher told us it was the best in Chiang Mai and it doesn’t disappoint! No idea what the name is, but it’s opposite a bodybuilding place on Soi Ratchaphuek. Here’s a map if you want to check it out: http://tinyurl.com/lun9thh
Thanks, Jenny!
You can find asian food here, in Menorcan/asian restaurants. What makes it different is if you are in
Thailand you can enjoy other things but not only food
If you love Khao Soi as much as I do, I say try the restaurant next to Black Canyon Coffee. Mmmmm…. I make sure to stop there every time I’m in Chiang Mai. I’ll try Aroon Rai when I’m up there for Songkran in 2014 If all works out according to plan. Maybe we’ll share a few bevies.
Are you referring to the Morradoke Thai Restaurant? It’s directly right of the Black Canyon Coffee at Thapae Gate. We’ve heard on several different occasions how great that place it. It is on our soon-to-dine-at list! We wish you good luck on your next trip to Chiang Mai. Drop us a line when you are in town.
I really can’t remember what the name of the place is but yes, if you are in Black Canyon, it is to the right. If you are looking at BCC, it is to the left. Next to it is a travel agent. Amazing is all I can say about that place.
I will drop you a line. I hope to meet up with Johnny Vagabond out there as well. Total man-crush on him and his blog. LoL.
Excellent! We will be sure to try it out.
My favorite Khao Soi joint is on the inside of the north moat just past Soi 8 if heading west. No English name, but there is an orange sign with white Thai writing on it. She only is open until 2 pm, if she doesn’t sell out before then, so go early. Just spent a month in Chiang Mai, definitely going to miss it!
Awesome! Thanks for the recommendation. Always ready to scope out reader recommended spots around town! Don’t stay away too long :)
My wife and I are so trying to figure out our plan to change direction in life and move abroad. Thailand is at the top of the list. We will be calling you.
Good for you guys, Adam. Let us know if you need anything or have any questions. We’d be happy to lend you a few pointers.
It is hard to find decent khao soi in Bangkok, let alone the US. When you do find it, the price is much higher than other noodle dishes. The best place I ever had it was a roadside restaurant on the highway leading into Mae Sai in Chiang Rai province. In the country side, the best way to find Khao Soi is to look for a restaurant that has an Islamic banner or flag. This is a Moslem dish.
Yea, we were lucky enough to live right by the only Thai place in Virginia that served Khao Soi! After we tried it here in Chiang Mai on our honeymoon I would order every time I had lunch there until we moved finally moved here earlier this year. From what we are hearing it definitely seems like the closer you get to Myanmar the better the Khao Soi gets! If you can think of the roadside restaurant we would love to know! Take care :)
Khao Soi was definitely one of our favorite discoveries when it came to food in Thailand. We thought we had a pretty good handle on Thai food but there’s a bunch of northern dishes that, although delicious, have just not made it to North America and I have no idea why! We had some good Khao Soi in Chiang Mai, but actually the very best bowl that we tried was in the little city of Phrae—absolutely no English and we had to order using the good old “point & cross our fingers” method, but it was INCREDIBLE and the portions… Read more »
Nom nom noms. We think we could eat two bowls each of this stuff. We agree, why isn’t it on Thai menus back home more? Maybe we can promote it at a few of our favorite restaurants in Virginia…
Haha, and we know what it’s like to do the point and cross fingers method!
This is one of the first dishes on our list to find. Thanks for taking on the food challenge. Looking forward to every last drop.
You are going to love it when you try it. Make sure you go to a few different places before you decide on a favorite. A lot of places make their Khao Soi completely different than others. Food challenge is moving forward full steam ahead. Hope everyone enjoys it!
Have you ever been to Huen Phen? This neighborhood corner place used to only be known among the locals . Now the foodies of the world are discovering it. Whenever I’m in Chiangmai I go there for the Northern dishes including the Khao Soi. This past June I was surprised to see that it had expanded to at least double its original size and packed with customers of all nationalities. Huen Phen is located at 112 Rachmankha.
Nice! Just checked it out of tripadvisor and it gets great reviews and looks delicious. We are definitely going to have to check it out and add it to our list. Thanks for the tip, Sam. We really appreciate the contribution!