Khao Soi Samerjai — Restaurant in Chiang Mai Province

Really amazing local food! On a mission to try as many Khao soi here during our Chiang Mai stay. Food/price: for the two of us, we got 2 beef Khao soi (50 thb each), satay (40 thb), papaya salad (40 thb). A bottle of water they provide every table (10 thb). Total of 190 thb (around $6). Super filling! The Khao soi is delicious, definitely more curry and beef flavor compared to others we’ve tried. However sad to see that there was barely any egg noodles. The crunchy noodles on top was either not crunchy to begin with or it became soggy quickly. As always, put in the onion, lime, and pickled veggies that comes on the side for better flavoring. Satay was really good flavor and the peanut buttery sauce on the side to dip in was yummy. Papaya salad was spicy but very tasty. Glad we have water now!

Environment/ambiance: this place was busy and had decent amount of people when we went around noon time. Still available seats with lots of other people eating there at that time as well. Feel free to find seats yourself. Waitor will take order from you at your table. We didn’t have menu so good thing we looked on here to have an idea. For paying, wave down someone when done eating.

Location: we took grab taxi here without a problem. However walking around this area is tough because road is somewhat narrow with incoming cars and traffic both directions of the road. No...

Samerjai had featured on a lot of "Best Khao Soi" lists, been recommended by my Thai friend Amit, and also been highly recommended by another couple of "food-forward" people. I was starting to like sitting in the back of Grab taxis. The drivers barely talk to you, the cars are generally clean and the AC has been blasting all day. You can just gaze out the tinted windows and suffocate on life's emptiness for a brief spell.

Another out-of-the-way spot, housed in a huge canteen style building with rows of food stalls. The Khao Soi stand was right at the front, which is why the punters come here. I was served mightly quickly, but the food was steaming hot so that's always a plus. First look, I kinda knew where this was headed. It would taste good, but it would be too rich/creamy for me. Spot on.

The noodles were a solid bunch, the chicken was nice and flavoursome, the crunchy noodles on top were unsatisfactorily "sweet", and the broth had far too much coconut cream (or condensed milk) in it to deliver a deep punch. The flavours were all washed out in this creamy-sweet overload which did not abate when mounds of chilli paste were added.

I can see why people like this Khao Soi, the flavours were good but the over-riding flavour was sugar and cream. Two things I try to stay away from in...

I was really disappointed with my recent meal at Khao Soi Samer Jai. The food was bland and tasteless, the prices were unreasonable, and the service was ignorant and often resulted in miscommunication.

I ordered the khao soi gai, which is a classic Northern Thai dish of curried noodles with chicken. The broth was watery and flavorless, the noodles were overcooked and mushy, and the chicken was dry and tasteless. The only thing that tasted good was the crispy noodles on top, but even those were too sweet.

The prices at Khao Soi Samer Jai are also unreasonable. For a bowl of khao soi that was barely edible, I paid almost 100 baht. All menus are very pricy, this place is totally for tourists, who can try one time and might not come back again.

The service at Khao Soi Samer Jai was also terrible. The staffs were ignorant and often seemed confused. I had to repeat my order several times, and I was never given any updates on how long my food would take.

Overall, I had a very negative experience at Khao Soi Samer Jai. The food was bad, the prices were high, and the service was terrible. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.

I would encourage others to avoid this restaurant and try one of the many other great khao soi restaurants...