Lamduan Faham - chiang mai, thailand

Rating:  8 / 10

I'll go toe to toe with anyone when it comes to Khao Soi. Not only is it one of my all-time favourite dishes, I've also spent an obscene amount of time in Chiang Mai over the past 20 years and eaten countless bowls of the stuff. In the end everything comes down to personal taste, and that's the beauty of writing a blog. I'm writing about my opinion and if you disagree, then just look the other way. It's as simple as that.

Lamduan has been churning out bowls of Khao Soi since WWII. That's a substantial amount of time to hone and perfect your recipe and stick to your guns (pun intended). I made the visit after a month long outing taking cabs to random suburbs and markets and eating more Khao Soi than i'll ever admit to.

The Khao Soi here has that sweeter hit to it that I normally don't go for, but the richness of the soup and the moist chicken and good noodles had me succumbing to multiple sips. I wouldn't rank it as my favourites in this city that offers more options than you'll ever manage to try, but it's definitely in the top five I ate over the years.

Worth tracking down even tho it's slightly out of the main tourist loop where most people stay. Up further on the same road is Samerjai, but for me that place tastes as sweet as candy.

These recommendations are just personal opinions based on my palate, things change, chefs get fired or replaced, places open-close, relocate, so take it all with a pinch of MSG  and discover your own gems too. But please do try a few of these, they have been researched exhaustively.