Chiang Rai

Down in Long Beach, there’s no better place for Northern Thai cuisine than Chiang Rai, a casual spot in the city's Eastside neighborhood that serves harder-to-find dishes like sai oua—a pungent housemade pork sausage—and khanom jean nam ngew, a lemongrass-rich noodle soup topped with cubed pork blood that’s similar to Vietnamese bun bo hue. Of course, Chiang Rai’s khao soi is top-notch as well; the now-ubiquitous Northern Thai dish comes in multiple versions, including dry-style, which we’d recommend over the others. Though delivery staples and street food dishes are done well here, we recommend sticking to the Chiang Rai Specials section of the menu; the dishes here are the strongest, and most surprising, of the bunch.