Nimmanhemin -- or Nimmanheminda -- Road and its surrounding sois form Chiang Mai's rapidly growing chic quarter of town, and indeed the whole area itself is now known as Nimmanhemin or commonly Nimman. Located on the west side of the city in Suthep district near the foot of the mountain, it was until some 20 years ago still just a dirt track on the outskirts of town, but has since seen a meteoric rise to trendiness. Nimmanhemin goes from the Rimcome junction with Huay Kaew Road to Suthep Road in the south, though most of the action is in the northern half of the road and the sois that lead off it. It's actually where the six-lane superhighway comes to an abrupt stop, so the road is unfortunately very busy traffic wise.

Commonly pronounced 'Nimman'.

Nearby Chiang Mai University (CMU), with its large student population, probably helped the area's growth but now it's also become a sought-after location for well-heeled locals and Thais fleeing hectic Bangkok, as well as Chiang Mai's large expat community. The kilometre or so of Nimmanhemin Road itself plus the sois to the east and west have become absolutely packed with coffee shops, tea houses, wine bars, sushi joints, live music restaurants, art and craft shops, trendy clothes stores and boutiques with silly names.

See what we mean?

In fact we wouldn't mind betting there are more cafes with free WiFi and blueberry cheesecakes per square kilometre here than almost anywhere else in Thailand, and we do wonder how the population supports quite so many -- though it has to be said that they do open and close with bewildering regularity, and what was last week a designer clothes shop is probably this week a specialty tea outlet.

'94 Coffee', Soi 9.

A Starbucks is on the corner of Soi 9 -- though we're pleased to see it often fares far worse than local coffee chains -- and an outlet of Chiang Mai's own Mike's Burger on the main drag. Other usual suspects are Black Canyon and local chains 94 Coffee and Wawi Coffee (both on Soi 9), plus the expat and increasingly upmarket Thai fave Kasem store.

Restaurants and bars abound; the most famous and a magnet for trendy tourists from Bangkok is the famous Monkey Pub in Soi 9, though you'll find many more in the same vein -- that vein being inside chic bar space, outside garden seating, live bands and big screen TVs for showing mainly EPL football matches. The bars and restaurants are predominantly aimed at rich young Thais and though you'll find a smattering of expats this area hasn't really caught on among tourists yet (though it's only a 10-minute/100 baht tuk tuk ride from, say, Tha Pae.)

Brightly coloured buildings on Nimmanhemin Road.

Restaurants include numerous Japanese, Thai, North Thai, Chinese and Italian joints , the latter including Lanta Pizza on Soi 5. There are also increasingly good evening street stalls along the main drag offering the usual array of Thai snacks. Apart from the action on Nimman itself, Sois 1 and 3 have plenty of handicraft shops and fashionable boutiques, while the restaurants and bars are concentrated in odd-numbered Sois 3 to 11.

All in all, this is a good spot to waste an evening browsing the boutiques, taking in some live music with a cold beer in hand and choosing from the myriad eateries to dine at -- or you could do a coffee-shop crawl in the afternoon, stuffing your face with mango meringue pie while checking your e-mails and browsing the stores in between.

A fraction of the size of Chiang Mai's more famous night bazaar, the mini version in downtown Chiang Rai is still a pleasant place for an evening stroll and an excellent option for snacks and a beer or dinner.

Entrance to the small night bazaar in Chiang Rai.

The offerings are similar, though much reduced in choice, to the Chiang Mai version: hill-tribe handicrafts, pirated DVDs, T-shirts, carved soap candles and so on -- though how many Hmong shoulder bags can one possibly need?

Same same, but not different.

What we do like at the Chiang Rai market and we feel make it a worthwhile evening destination are the excellent eating and drinking areas -- a nice alternative to Chiang Rai's other eating spots.

Crickets, beetles, worms or ants?

There are two adjacent sections, one comprised of nice wooden furniture and waitstaff wearing north Thai costumes, and another more aimed at locals with aluminium chairs and staff in jeans and T-shirts. The former has all the usual Thai and north Thai dishes and a very tasteful traditional Lanna dance show (though you may have to put up with a guitarist singing Hotel California between dances), while the latter has live Thai rock and country bands, cheap draught beer and lots of fried insects and snack food.

Beer snacks for sale

Both areas are reasonably priced and fun and personally we like to have a couple of pre-dinner drinks and snacks in the local area, move to the nearby "tourist" section for dinner then perhaps head back over the soi to catch a local band or game on the big screen TV.

North Thai traditional dance.

The night bazaar's open daily from dusk until midnight-ish, and is located off the main drag, Phaholyothin Road (see map).

Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours?

Tags: Hotel California, Lanna dance, markets

The vast majority of visitors and expats appreciate the delights of Thai cuisine (which incidentally can help with life's trials and tribulations) but every now and then most people are going to fancy a change from street and market food. Now while Thais will happily eat rice at least three times a day (indeed the Thai words for 'eat rice' and simply 'to eat' -- kin khao -- are one and the same), many Westerners unused to such a diet can get "riced out" sooner or later -- and even Thais want a change every now and again as well.

Rice, rice and more rice ...

Italian, always being popular, and pizza being a regular fave in most nations on the planet these days, we thought we'd suggest as a change one of the best Italian restaurants in Chiang Mai, the excellent Pum Pui.

Now there are quite a lot of Italian eateries and pizzerias in town among the huge array of eateries to begin with, with good value, backpacker fave Roberto's, and the upmarket (though we have found somewhat erratic Piccola Roma being worth mentions too.

Tubby Italian Trattoria.

Pum Pui -- the name is a polite way of saying overweight in Thai, kind of like tubby or podgy -- falls between the two; it's not the cheapest in town nor the most chic but it's a good value for money, mid-range establishment. The excellent thin base and very large pizzas at Pum Pui go for 200 to 300 baht depending on topping, and you'll find an extensive menu of salad, pasta, fish and meat dishes too and an extensive drinks and wine list. Dishes are nothing flashy but well prepared, hearty servings of classic Italian dishes.

Still life with pepper grinder.

Another big plus at Pum Pui is their very pleasant, tree-filled dining area, which with its terracotta tiles adds a definite Italian-ness to the place. There's an inside seating area for rainy season and tables on the balcony in the old wooden house at the rear of the garden. The restaurant is located down a quiet soi in the old city, so it's central but peaceful, with no tuk tuk fumes to spoil your rosemary and oregano aromas.

Think that's the diavola?

Pum Pui
24/1 Moonmuang Soi 2
T: (053) 278 209
Open lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday

Tags: Italian, Piccolo Roma, Pum Pui, Roberto's

As we all know some of the best Thai food can be found in markets and street stalls. In Chiang Mai, the night market at Prathu Chiang Puak or Chiang Puak Gate market, is one of the best food markets we know of in town. It's located on the exterior side of the northern moat road, Sri Chum Road, immediately west of the Gate itself (see map).

You can just make out the gate -- rear, top right.

Food is no-frills, traditional Thai market fare. You'll find fruit vendors, juice and coffee stands, and dishes including a range of noodle soups and fried noodles, all the usual chicken, pork and duck dishes, and cooked-to-order classic stir-fries such as pak boon fai deang (morning glory -- either vegetarian or with crispy pork), pat kha pao (the ubiquitous stir-fry with chilli and basil), pat prik gaeng... (hot and spicy...), tom yam, and standard fried rice. And that's just for starters.

That has got to be good!

Check out the khao kha moo (stewed pork shank); above you can almost see the patiently waiting customers' mouths watering, which may not be surprising as some say this khao kha is reputed to be the best in Chiang Mai.

Pad Thai specialist warms up.

Some stalls specialise in one dish, such as the pad Thai one above, and as that guy cooks only the popular Thai style fried wheat noodles day in, day out you can pretty much be guaranteed he knows what he's doing and his version will blow most Chiang Mai guesthouse versions away. (Price: 30 baht or 40-50 baht if you want fresh prawns.)

Seafood, crispy pork, mushrooms and... pink eggs.

Other stands will have a variety of vegetables and fish/seafood, crispy pork and so on on display, with English menus available for those not familiar with the Thai combinations. Just FYI: even though we're a way from the sea up here we've never had any problems with the seafood.

"Where are the clams for table 5?!"

With short order cooks such as the above, you'll wait all of five minutes for your dinner, even at the busiest times.

"Watch out for the farang with the camera at table 7 -- he's got to be from Michelin!"

Order stir-fries "on rice" -- rat khao -- which is a one-off dish that will set you back all of 30 baht, or order a selection of larger dishes with rice on the side to share. We paid, for example, 40 baht for fried butterfly clams in roasted chilli paste and basil sauce.

Mix and match.

Taste-wise, we reckon many of these dishes, served up on aluminium tables while you're seated on plastic chairs -- are as good as you'll find in any top hotel restaurant.

We also couldn't help feeling that the noisy, brash, bustling atmosphere, scented with oily wok fumes and with a soundtrack of revving tuk tuks, waitresses yelling out orders and the obligatory blind karaoke singer, fit perfectly with and add to the taste of the  fiery, intensely flavoured, brash dishes being unceremoniously flung onto tables.  (No tomato rose decorations, no kow-towing, Lanna-style clad waitresses -- nope!)

The hustle, bustle and smells of a Thai street food market.

And your dinner is going to set you back all of 30 baht if you're moderately hungry up to say 80 baht if you're really starving. Most stalls will actually give you free drinking water, served from large plastic demi-jars, so you don't even need to pay for the bottled water.

... and here's the market's star cowboy cook!

The market sets up late afternoon and continues until late, so you can still get a good feed at midnight. Bon appetit!

Tags: Chiang Puak, markets, night markets, pad thai, street food, Thai food

Mon Cham is a restaurant and "camping resort" situated in the Nong Hoi Royal Project in a remote corner of Chiang Mai's Mae Rim district.  Numerous Royal Project agricultural sites are scattered across Northern Thailand, (such as Mae Fah Luang) and are generally devoted to  assisting villagers, in particular hill-tribe people, to diversify their farm production into high income, temperate crops. Many, what for most of Thailand are, exotic crops can be grown at cooler high altitudes and fetch good prices in expat supermarkets and hotels of Chiang Mai and Bangkok.  Hmong and Akha tribes aren't traditionally familiar with say strawberries or brussel sprouts, so the projects aim to educate the locals in these new forms of cultivation.

View looking east.

Nong Hoi is a perfect example of a typical Royal Project, being situated on a 1,400m-high mountain ridge slightly above the Hmong village of the same name. The project grows strawberries and certain temperate fruits and vegetables as well as herbs and aromatic plants such as lavender. An additional form of income comes from the tourists that visit these sites and Nong Hoi is particularly popular with Thai tourists -- it doesn't seem to have cropped up on the farang map yet. Yes, it seems Thais are as inclined to drive a way to see a field of brussel sprouts as many Westerners are to photo a pineapple plantation! You can stroll around the herb, flower and vegetable gardens -- check out the myraid butterflies -- but there is much more to Nong Hoi.

The Mon Cham restaurant.

Firstly the view! It's worth getting to the top of the mountain for the tremendous view alone but also worth it for the awesome and vertiginous restaurant that Mon Cham have constructed right on the ridge line in the centre of the project grounds.

Wouldn't want to suffer from vertigo in this restaurant.

Most products are fresh out of their garden and as well as the usual classics such as fried rice and fried pork with chilli and basil there are some imaginative offerings, such as "UFO eggs" or the dish we sampled, aubergine tempura in spicy black-bean sauce. All are excellently prepared and, with prices from 40 to 100 baht per plate, also reasonably priced. (If you're not hungry just check out the view with a fruit juice or cold beer.)

The terraces, looking back towards Mae Sa.

The camping part of Mon Cham refers to their "VIP" tents situated just below the ridge line. They go for around 2-3,000 baht a night. The price is a bit steep as is the ridge, but they'd be frequently booked out for weekends and holidays with local tourists anyway. The restaurant can get very busy, particularly at weekends -- it is open in the evenings if they have guests staying but otherwise it's open lunch and afternoon only.

Imaginative garden features.

Getting there can be a bit tricky if you don't have your own transport (and do not attempt the steep climb with two people on a small Honda!). Tuk tuks can't make it up there so your only choice really is to hire a red songthaew/pick-up. (We paid 600 baht return for the afternoon visit.) If you do have your own means of transport then take the Mae Sa turn-off on the Chiang Mai-Mae Rim road and keep going past the ATV hires, orchid farms and elephant camp until you see a sign on the right hand side for Nong Hoi/Mon Cham. From there it's a well signposted but steep climb for another 12 kms or so until you reach the mountain top and you can't go any further -- that's it!

Nong Hoi butterfly -- we think it's a Great Windmill (Parides dasarada).

Opening times are variable but in theory it's open daily until late afternoon. Contact nonghoirpf@gmail.com for further details or call (081) 806 3993.

Bon appetit!

Tags: Hmong, Mae Rim, Nong Hoi, Royal projects, VIP camping

The Food Factory is a food hall located in the Huay Kaew branch of Central shopping mall -- but possessing a slightly more imaginative name than you might expect for Central. Now the food offerings aren't frankly the most imaginative, but it does have several advantages: cheap prices, bilingual menus, it's clean and bright and on offer are a wide range of classic dishes, so you get to sample Thai "street food" in conditions that ought to reassure even the most nervous eaters.

This, the Food Factory.

You'll find all the classic Thai street and market choices available here: roast duck, chicken, crispy pork, red pork, stewed pork leg, a zillion variations on fried noodles and noodle soups, som tam, khao soi and so on and on, at prices ranging from 25 to 35 baht. Overall it isn't a bad spot to grab some lunch, with the disadvantages being you'll probably have to put up with Thai soaps on their omnipresent TV screens and if you don't then you'll wish you did, since it probably means their live house band is playing instead.

Metallic grey industrial chic.

For those not familiar with Thai food halls, you buy coupons then exchange them at any stall you wish and consume your choices in a central seating area. Juices, sodas and beers are also available and when you've finished you simply exchange your remaining coupons for cash.

Now if there's nothing there that tickles your fancy then you can move 10m around the corner to another food-hall -- the 'Tops Flavours' version.

Same, same but not very different.

This enlarges your noodle possibilities to a zillion and 27 choices plus there's a good bakery and fruit juice options. With similar prices, English dish names are noted though seating is slightly more cramped. Both are open seven days a week from around 10:00 to 21:00.

Plenty of foreigners, so some basic English spoken.

If neither of these appeal, then you can always nip 10m in the other direction where you'll find Mike's Burgers, Subway, a German sausage outlet and the odd Curry Pot 'Indian fusion' restaurant -- which despite having eaten at on several occasions (their rotis are quite good) we've never worked out what the fusion is supposed to be with, exactly.

Indian and ?

This is the Huay Kaew Central outlet we're referring to by the way -- not the airport one -- and is located at the start of Huay Kaew Road on the northwest corner of the old city moat. (Find our map on this page.) Bon appetit!

Tags: Central, Huay kaew, noodles, Thai street food

On our ongoing search for Chiang Mai's best khao soi we checked out a new spot on fashionable Nimmanhemin's Soi 7 with the promising name of Kao Soy Nimman.

Kao Soy, Khao Soi -- whatever!

Spellings may vary but it's a standard -- signature really -- north Thai and Chiang Mai dish; both soft and crispy wheat noodles in a curry broth. (See earlier post.) Checking out Kao Soy Nimman was definitely a good move since this excellent effort reached a commendable 8.5 on our khao soi-ometer -- rare indeed!

The noodles tasted fresh, the stock was spot on -- intense, rich and with a good kick to it -- and options included crispy pork, seafood, classic chicken or fish. The price is 50 to 75 baht depending on your choice, so a bit pricier than the standard market version, but worth the extra few baht -- and it's a good sized portion too.

This simple looking soup reached the dizzy heights of an 8.5.

Kao Soy isn't just about khao soi though. Their extensive menu displayed a huge range of northern Thai specialties including a whole page of nam phrik (chilli dips) at 30 baht each, and plenty of mouthwatering traditional delicacies, all at reasonable prices and with no added MSG. A few unusual dishes will tickle tourists' fancy, such as red ant salad.

The setting is pleasant in a quite spacious garden and service is polite and efficient -- we'll be heading back very soon. Might be a 60 baht tuk tuk ride from downtown, but if you want to sample good, authentic north Thai food in agreeable, non-touristy surroundings, this is worth the fare.

Might just go back again tomorrow.

Kao Soy Nimman
Nimmanhemin Soi 7
T: (053) 894 881
Open daily 11:00-22:00

Tags: kao soy, khao soy, Nimmanhemin, North Thai food

Suan Chari, or as it is sometimes spelt, Jarin, is a resort and restaurant located in Mae Suai district of Chiang Rai province. It's located at a highly scenic spot on the banks of the Mae Lao river, set in extensive and well-tended gardens -- and it's probably our favourite stop-off/lunch place on the road between Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai. Regular buses don't stop there but it's a popular break for tour groups plying this route and ideal if you're travelling under your own steam. The resort is around 40 minutes outside of Chiang Rai and around 20 from the popular Wat Rong Khun.

Rustic and relaxed.

The restaurant's eating area is a wooden terrace overlooking the stream itself so you can check out the birds -- and water snakes -- while you're tucking in. A selection of simple, classic and well-prepared Thai dishes are available and the surroundings are well worth the extra few baht they charge. Most one dish noodle and rice selections go for between 40 and 60 baht.

Spot the water snake that swam by as we took this pic!

Their speciality however, is their justifiably renowned bakery, producing a wide and mouthwatering selection of pies, tarts, gateaux and cakes.

Admit it -- you're tempted.

Their banana meringue pie, blueberry cheesecake or mocha gateau are certainly a potentially fatal temptation to anyone with a sweet tooth, who may book a room there immediately just to spend the next week of their north Thai trip sampling all the offerings. A selection of local coffees and teas is on offer to accompany your sweet gooey things so in fact forget about our lunch recommendation -- come here anytime, whether for morning coffee or afternoon tea.

Flora's as sumptuous as the patisserie.

Now the restaurant itself is draped in orchids and exotic plants but to walk off your slice of pie you could waddle around the garden a bit and there's a funky bamboo suspension bridge to take you across the river to the main garden area. It's a great tropical garden full of orchids, helliconias, bromiads, ferns and so on. The gardens are actually worth a stroll around in their own right even if you don't like cake.

Warning -- not suitable if you've eaten too much cake.

Suan Charin
T: (053) 717 272 / (052) 722 322

Tags: bakery, gardens, orchids

Khao man gai, the Thai variant of the original Hainanese chicken rice, is hugely popular in Thailand and found just about anywhere you go in the kingdom. Known in China as wenchan chicken it was brought to Southeast Asia by Hainanese merchants and sailors, so presumably spread out from ports frequented by traders from the Chinese island of Hainan (Singapore, Penang, Phuket, Bangkok and so on.) Local variations are indeed common today throughout Malaysia and Singapore, too.

Paltry display. Geddit?

The Thai name literally means oiled chicken rice since the rice is boiled in a mixture of water and oil -- but it tastes a lot better than it sounds! Very simple but tasty, a plate consists of slices of the said boiled chicken breast on a mound of rice with a few slices of crisp cucumber. It's accompanied by a small bowl of clear soup that comes from the chicken stock.

A 30-chicken-a-day woman.

Specialist khao man gai restaurants typically only sell the chicken dish plus related offerings, such as crispy chicken, duck and perhaps red pork, so it's not a common restaurant menu offering. Our favourite is Nan Talam, which is located in Thanon Srimankhalajan -- to get here, go up Huay Kaew Road past Central and turn left at the first set of traffic lights -- see map here. It has the classic chicken version, a crispy fried alternative and optional side dishes of pork sate.

Sate your appetite with a plate of this.

Now you won't see many tourists in there but it's well known among locals -- at lunchtime you can sometimes be hard-pressed to find a table there. It's open from 07:00 to 14:30 daily except Sundays.

A standard plate of chicken and rice is 30 baht but our favourite for 45 baht is half and half, boiled chicken/crispy fried chicken, pee set -- (extra large) -- so that'll fill you up for the equivalent of US$1.50, which is rather affordable even by Chiang Mai restaurant standards. Pork sate sticks go for 3 baht each and though locals think I'm a crazy farang I'll order the sate for the peanut sauce alone since it just seems to go really well with the chicken! The standard sauce for boiled chicken is known as tauchoo, a mixture of soy sauce, ginger, chilli, garlic and vinegar, while crispy chicken comes with a sweet chilli sauce.

Eddy!

... Our favourite waiter is Eddy, who not only speaks decent English but also gives guitar lessons in his spare time.

Bon appetit!

Tags: chicken and rice, Chinese food, Hainanese chicken

The Blue Diamond health-food cafe in Chiang Mai's old town is hugely popular with expats, locals and tourists and has a reputation for being perhaps the best Western breakfast spot in town. It is actually open all day -- 07:00  to 21:00 -- so it's a lunch, afternoon tea or dinner option as well, with plenty of Thai food options to choose from, but as the sign below indicates, it's breakfasts that made it famous.

Blue Daimond The Brekfas Club.

Now the emphasis is on healthy eating, with organic-only fruit and veggies used and plenty of vegetarian and vegan choices, so think lashings of muesli, yoghurt and fruit salads for breakfast, and oodles of salads for lunch.

We were pleased to see that there were still plenty of unhealthy -- but tasty -- English-style fry-ups too, so you don't actually need to have a beard and Grateful Dead T-shirt to eat here.

Dinner options include Western dishes as well as Thai classics (peruse the menu below...), though we're a bit dubious about some of their cross-over dishes such as Massaman curry and spaghetti!?

Doors of perception.

Coffee's also important at Blue Diamond (as the below indicates), so there's a wide range of local brews and teas, as well as fruit juices and shakes too. The restaurant also incorporates a shop and bakery, so you can also stock up on organic fruit and veg, teas, coffees and so on while you're here.

Nothing makes sense before coffee.

Blue Diamond is tucked away down Moonmuang Soi 9, so just past Somphet market on the left as the traffic flows (see map here). All in all, a great -- yes and healthy -- eating and drinking spot and not for nothing one of the most well known in town so we'll leave you with a last shot of some happy eaters:

Look no (well not many) beards ...

Tags: bakery, health-food, Moonmuang, organic vegetables, Somphet