6 Best Restaurants in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand

Most of the modest price of your meal at this quirkily named restaurant, one of three in Thailand, goes toward the country's leading nongovernmental organization that specializes in HIV/AIDS education. The food is Thai, geared somewhat to Western tastes. There's usually live music at lunchtime and in the evenings.

Classically trained baker Nattamon Holmberg puts an emphasis on slow and sustainable food at this cozy café on the Kok River that serves a mix of Western favorites like avocado toasts, along with Thai food. The prices are a little higher than other restaurants in Chiang Rai, but the quality of its locally sourced ingredients more than make up for it.

The name of this attractive open-sided restaurant signifies the strongly perfumed frangipani trees that frame its riverside setting. The gargantuan menu embraces Chinese, Thai, and Japanese cuisine, but the specialty is northern Thai food, including fresh fish from the Kok and Mae Kong rivers.

A garden panorama of ceramic dolls and other tiny figurines greets you at this enchanting restaurant, where the tables are distributed among the shrubs and ornamental trees. The locals love the place for its excellent lineup of northern Thai specialties and Chinese-influenced dishes.

Chinese and northern Thai dishes dominate the extensive menu at this timber-built traditional restaurant in a lovely garden. They're known for khantoke dinners (northern Thai set meals, served on a tray) and their delicious khao soy noodles. A Thai traditional ensemble plays nightly.