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 Chiang Rai Restaurants: |
- A&P Bakery, 93/4 Thanon Sanambin (Old Airport Road), opposite 'Muse Bar'. Tel: +66-857231410 / 08-57231410. This is definitely the best bakery in town as it comes to whole grain bread, multi grain bread, white bread, baguette, rolls and cakes! There's even a picture book with at least 200 sorts of cakes which you can order. It is run by the very friendly Aom and Pascal (A&P).
- Chiang Rai Beach during the day or the early evening is an excellent spot. There are around 20 eateries overlooking the 'Mae Kok River'. Bring your dictionary with you for there are no English menus to be found. A bit out of town. Go by tuktuk or motorbike.
- Nakhon Pathom, Th Phahonyothin, near Th Banphaprakan intersection. The famous khao moo deng (rice with red sauteed pork, or as shown on the menu: 'rice with BBQ pork', 30 baht) tastes best at this big Chinese restaurant. No English sign, but looks for the red sign board with large yellow font Thai letters. It's opposite the Lebanese shop. Big cold coffee machines attract the locals to having lunch there. Delicious!
- Phetburi, Th Banphaprakan. Local curry-and-rice restaurant, just pick your favorites from the display. Under 50 baht for a full meal. Ratburi, right next door, is very similar.
- Po Sai, Thanon Jet Yot 1023/2 (opposite Wangcome Hotel). Famous for its khao sawy (Burmese style chicken curry with noodles, 25 baht) and other northern dishes like special Northern Thai sausage (25 baht) and naam phrik num (dip made of eggplant and peppers). No English sign or menu, but some English spoken. Open early but closes by 6 PM.
- Tong Tung Restaurant (no English sign) serves you Northern Thai food. Try this semi-outdoor place on the western side of the road about 1 km south of Thanon Banphaprakan on 1/1 Thanon Sanambin (old airport road). Their 'Kaeng Hung Lay' curry is to be recommended.
- Da Vinci is an other good place on the main road serving nice charcoal pizzas an pastas. Their lasagna is recommended.
- Oasis is a very specialized and delicious vegetarian restaurant. Behind the new main stage at the 'Night Bazaar' you'll notice a high building situated behind the small eateries which still belong to the market. It's at the corner of a street which leads to the fruit market. A 'must' for vegetarian people! Open until 20.00.
- Kad Khaw Nung is a restaurant in the North Hotel which specializes in home made northern style food. Here you can find Northern Thai sausage, Kaeng Hunglay (northern pork curry) and a variety of northern style dishes made by the mother of the owner. Their family recipes will give you a real taste of Northern cuisine. The North Hotel is situated next to Oasis, just in the middle of a small street between the Night Bazaar and fruit and flower market.
- Nova Restaurant, Th Phaholyothin, 053 740 554. Lebanese restaurant serving Falafel, Tabouleh, Hummous and other Middle Eastern delicacies.
- Siam Corner on Thanon Jet Yot. Very good Thai food, some Western dishes also.
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There is lots of good food to be found in Chiang Rai, but most tourists seem to end up eating at the Night Bazaar. There are actually two separate places to eat here: "Centrepoint", run by a single restaurant with a Western-Thai menu and comparatively high prices (dishes 100-200 baht), and then the "actual" night bazaar food court (dishes 30-100 baht). Both have free music and dance performances almost nightly. While there are over 50 food stalls to choose from, the fare on offer is mostly quite touristy, with food toned down for the farang palate. About half the stalls seem to be devoted to selling deep-fried stuff (fritters, French fries, attempts at tempura, etc) to accompany beer. There are also a few non-Thai stalls, offering Italian, Indian, German etc, plus the obligatory insect stall for creepy-crawly cravings. 
