The best fine dining spots in Chiang Mai

Blackkitch is best known for its contemporary approach to locally sourced food, offering seasonal tasting menus, omakase-style. Chef Black, the owner and brain behind this unique restaurant, crafts unique dishes that explore northern Thailand’s culinary heritage, injecting mad-hatter ideas and contemporary techniques from the Asian region to elevate his ideas further. His love of fermentation can also be seen as soon as you walk in the door, with rows upon rows of fermented vegetables and liquors that he regularly uses in his food. With a serious no-waste concept, everything from kitchen scraps to the tails of shrimp get used in the most curious of ways – all explained to you by the attentive and bilingual staff. With only a few seats available each night at specific dining hours, reservations are essential for this immersive dining experience.

TL;DR

Location: Nimmanhamin Road

Cuisine: Progressive Thai, seasonal tasting menu

Ambience: Intimate and exclusive (limited seating)

Contact: blackitch.com

This palace is fine dining in true Chiang Mai style. Recognized by the Michelin Bib Gourmand guide for its authentic Thai dishes, this is the place to go if you want to experience truly traditional northern Thai cuisine, rich in flavour and steeped in heritage. The restaurant takes pride in using high-quality local ingredients and age-old recipes, meaning dishes like the crab meat curry and pork in tom yum brown sauce have flavours that are simply head and shoulders above most other spots in the city. What the venue lacks in decor (it’s a very simple spot) is made up in warm hospitality and beautifully presented dishes that make it a standout for lovers of true Thai flavors.

TL;DR

Location: Chang Phueak

Cuisine: Traditional Thai

Ambience: Intimate and local

Contact: instagram.com/baan_landai

Redbox is one of the city’s more hidden away fine dining restaurants, but once discovered people return again and again. With a menu that seamlessly blends Thai and regional flavors with international techniques, every dish here is a work of art that takes pride in the exploration of culinary innovation. Chef Dan and Khun Proud recreate dishes that are inspired from their travels, an experience heightened by the warm and knowledgeable staff who guide diners through their culinary story. Highlights include Sous Vide Duck Breast with Tamarind Glaze and their Charcoal-Grilled Wagyu Steak, as well as a creative menu of cocktails you’ll not see anywhere else. 

TL;DR

Location: Huay Kaew

Cuisine: International, Thai Fusion

Ambience: Chic, modern and casual

Contact: restaurantredbox.com

Journey into Chiang Mai’s past while dining on some of the city’s most intense and flavourful Thai and northern Thai dishes. Housed in a beautifully restored family mansion on the edge of Thaphae Road, this historic trading hub for teak wallahs is a perfect scene for exploring fine Lanna cuisine. Complex smoked grills and rich Hang Le curries almost overload the senses – perfectly suited to the aromatic antique wooden interiors and dim lighting that evokes old-world charm. Creative reworks of classics are presented exceptionally well, such as Pla Chon Lui Suan, a delicate and flavorful steamed fish dish with local herbs and the seasonal fruit sorbets of tamarind and jackfruit. 

TL;DR

Location: Thapae Road

Cuisine: Traditional Thai, Northern Thai (Lanna)  

Ambience: Elegant, historic and full of stories

Contact: kitipanit.com

This one’s a Chiang Mai staple, bringing fine dining to the city decades before the rest. Self taught Chef Rinnameth Thaisuchat shows that you don’t need an expensive qualification to expertly experiment with transformative imaginations of both local and international flavours. Offering a nature-inspired gastronomic experience, the restaurant’s concept revolves around sustainability, seasonality and storytelling – taking a New Nordic concept and marrying it with Thai and international flavours. The restaurant takes pride in using locally sourced, organic ingredients, many of which are foraged, fermented or grown on-site. A true OG of Chiang Mai-style fine dining. 

TL;DR

Location: Hang Dong

Cuisine: Modern Thai, International Gastronomy

Ambience: Minimalist, New Nordic and local

Contact: cuisinedegardencnx.com