Eating Your Way Through Chiang Mai
The Gates, Markets and Walking Streets Worth Eating At

This is one of the food plazas Chiang Mai locals love most for an evening meal — the open area in front of Chang Phueak Gate on the north side of the old-city moat. As the heat drops around 5-6 pm the carts roll in, and the smell of stewed pork leg and grilling meat fills the square.

The star here is the khao kha moo cart locals call the "cowboy-hat lady" — a famous stewed-pork-leg stand whose vendor has long worn a cowboy hat while she serves. The pork is stewed until it falls apart, ladled over hot rice with a sharp chilli-and-garlic sauce, and there's a queue almost every evening. Beyond the pork leg you'll find khao soi, grilled skewers and snacks and several other stalls all in the one plaza — a great place to start a street-food dinner.

This is the answer to "where do I buy real northern Thai food to take with me?" Warorot Market — known locally as Kad Luang — is the fresh market in the centre of town, by the Ping River, where Chiang Mai families have shopped for generations. Walk in and you get dried goods, cured meats and grilled snacks all at once.

What to buy: sai ua — the northern herb-and-pork sausage, fragrant with lemongrass and kaffir lime; kaeb moo — pork crackling, with or without the fat, eaten with chilli dip; nam prik num and nam prik ong chilli dips, boxed up ready to eat; plus mu yo, naem and seasonal fruit. Prices beat the malls, and it's the one place you can pick up edible souvenirs in a single stop.

If your trip lands on a Sunday, don't miss it — the Sunday Walking Street stretches from Tha Pae Gate down Ratchadamnoen Road through the old city, the biggest and longest walking market in Chiang Mai, with food and crafts lining both sides as far as you can see.

The food clusters in the temple courtyards and side lanes along the way — sai ua, khao soi, grilled meatballs, all manner of skewers, khanom jeen nam ngiao and mango sticky rice, with northern snacks to graze on as you go. Most things cost a few baht a stick or a plate, so you can eat and shop your way along. A walking market through the old city after dark is something to do at least once.

The Saturday Walking Street is on Wua Lai Road, the old silversmith quarter just south of the old city. It's a touch smaller than the Sunday one, but plenty of people prefer it: the crowds are lighter, it's easier to walk, and the northern food is just as good.

What to try: freshly grilled sai ua, fragrant with northern curry paste, eaten with sticky rice; khao soi and khanom jeen nam ngiao in the food zones; grilled skewers and northern sweets like khao kep and khao khwop rice crackers. Along the way you can browse the silverwork and crafts of this old artisans' quarter too — a market where you can both eat and wander without fighting for space.

Honestly, on a night when you'd rather sit down with outdoor seating and live music, Ploen Ruedee is the answer — a food-truck-style night market in the Night Bazaar area on Chang Khlan Road, gathering Thai, Western, grilled and fried food and drinks into one open-air courtyard.

The difference from the walking streets is that this one is built for sitting down to eat rather than grazing on the move — ideal for a night when you want to rest your legs over a cold beer with music playing. The food ranges from khao soi and other local dishes to burgers, pizza and international street food. Prices run a little above the walking streets in the food-truck way, but the atmosphere is good and you can walk straight on into the Night Bazaar.

No street-food crawl through Chiang Mai is complete without finishing on the local sweets and snacks — and you'll find them at almost every market above. They're cheap and easy to eat on the move.

What to try: mango sticky rice — best in mango season (roughly Mar-May), with rich, fragrant coconut cream; khanom jeen nam ngiao — rice noodles under a tangy, mildly spicy tomato-and-pork broth with dried red kapok flowers, a properly northern snack; traditional sweets like khao taen rice crackers, khao khwop, khanom thian, and seasonal fruit at Kad Luang; and every kind of grilled skewer on the walking streets. Graze as the mood takes you — no need to plan.