Laab Kai Meuang Phan Waen — Restaurant in Chiang Mai Province

2025 update: still amazing.

This wonderful local spot has taken a special place in our hearts during our six weeks in Chiang Mai. The Northern Thai cuisine that the ladies here serve is easily some of the best food we’ve had during our time in Chiang Mai.

Their cooked laab is still very tasty. But it’s their reputation as specializing in the hard t find raw chicken Laab that brought us here. It is superb, but very spicy we order it everytime and we have to convince our server we know what we’re ordering and love it - everytime. They’re always worried about foreigners ordering it. (*Note: it’s not on the English language menu; it’s the first item on the Thai language menu posted on the wall in the front of the resto).

We loved having the Ha Leng Curry as we don't see it on menus very often. It originated in Myanmar, but slowly adapted to a Thai dish. It is now considered a dish particular to Chiang Mai- it’s rich, slightly sweet, spicy, and herbacious. Probably our favourite thing on the menu.

The Phar Kad Jor is a mildly sour vegetable soup (mostly morning glory, bok choy, cabbage), with tamarind for a bit of tang cooked with pork ribs.

The fried fish is fantastic. Delicious, light, crispy batter, juicy, silky meat. Served with a sweet dipping sauce.

Everything here is what we refer to “sneaky hot”; you’re not asked what spice level you want. You get what they know is the right balance of sweet, sour, bitter and hot - and believe us when we say that you can trust them to prepare absolutely delicious dishes.

We were not fans of the Pork Aum Curry, it just fell flat compared to everything else we had here.

Prices are Thai-friendly (aka: very inexpensive), and service is casual, prompt and friendly.

Highly...

This is a restaurant I stumbled upon while walking around in chiang mai. I had the day exploring the city on my own because my friend got food poisoning from the night before. What immediately stopped me was the delicious smell of bbq in the front of the store. I saw a couple of foreigners sitting in front and the Thai ladies too busy even to welcome me in the restaurant. As soon as I walked in, they were immediately excited and greeted me to the back of restaurant that was full of locals. I ordered the bbq pork, chicharon, juice and a bowl of rice. This meal was about 110 baht. But the lady there was so nice she just took my 100 and said forget about the 10. This was probably my favorite meal in chiang mai. I was welcomed with kindness and...

I stumbled upon this place while heading to the South gate. What caught my eye is that there were many locals eating here. Don't be put off by the three tables that you see, there's a lot more space inside. I got the cooked chicken laab (฿65) which was so flavourful, especially when eaten with the fried shallots. Be sure to get a plate of rice (฿10) to go with it. One should also try the Sai Ua (฿75) which was a rather large portion and was fragrant. I was also excited to try the ab moo (฿40) which is grilled pork in banana leaf. The strong taste of lemongrass and shrimp paste reminded me of the Peranakan dish otah. Overall a very good and affordable meal here, though I wished there were some vegetable options to balance out this very...