4 Best Restaurants in Chiang Mai, Thailand

A charming courtyard garden leads to the cozy dining room of this predominantly Indian restaurant, where you'll be welcomed as if you were at a friend's home. The menu focuses on Indian selections, with a few Thai and Western options, but everything is delicious.

Guests are invited to make themselves comfortable on plump, plush armchairs and sofas and even on large cushions scattered over the polished teak floor at this colorful restaurant, decorated like the home of your kooky bohemian cousin. The cuisine is eclectic, with plenty of Thai offerings as well as mixed Western fare like fish-and-chips. Nothing is too spicy, and everything, including rich curries, refreshing salads, and vegetable-packed summer rolls, is served in pretty ceramic bowls and plates.

This French restaurant, located in Chiang Mai's perfectly safe "red-light district," is consistently full of locals and foreigners enjoying excellent coq au vin and creamy pâtés. It's run with Gallic flair by Franco-Japanese chef Marco, and has doubled in size with the acquisition of neighboring premises, but still has a tiny, stylishly intimate, street terrace.

This handsome Lanna-style restaurant complex is next to Chiang Mai's historic Iron Bridge, and the spacious outside terrace has lovely views of the bridge and the Ping River. The chefs prepare the full range of authentic, if pricey, Thai dishes, along with a couple of continental options, including a cheeseburger.

Although the restaurant is fairly family-friendly, with a lawn on which kids can run around, there's not much on the menu for picky eaters.