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The best Vegetarian restaurants in Chiang Mai

The best Vegetarian restaurants in Chiang Mai

Last Updated on October 6, 2023

With over 30 all vegetarian restaurants, Chiang Mai is a paradise for vegetarians! We made an effort to try them all, but slowly starting frequenting our favorites more often instead. Here are our favorite vegetarian restaurants in Chiang Mai:

The five best vegetarian restaurants in Chiang Mai

Pun Pun Organic Cafe

Pun Pun is a vegetarian restaurant in the back of an impressive temple, Wat Suan Dok, which is outside of the moat, west of the town center.  Hop in a Songthaew (red covered pick-up public transportation) and get out to sweet spot set up by a Thai-American couple whose focus is on serving organic vegetarian food.  The menu is huge  (it took us ages to order the first time) and features a large variety of classic Thai dishes not seen on menus at other foreigner-friendly spots in town. The price is also nice – most dishes are between $1.10 – $1.30 (35 to 40 baht). You eat in a courtyard underneath a big Boddhi tree while monks walk to and from all those things that busy monks do. PunPun opened up a second location earlier this year, but we found the menu much more limited and many of our favorites of the original location at Wat Suan Dok were not on the menu.

chiang mai vegetarian food punpun
AUM

AUM is next to the Black Canyon Coffee Shop just inside of Tha Pae Gate. Attached to a second-hand bookstore with loads of English books, there is an upstairs sitting area with low tables and cushions, as well as downstairs seating. The restaurant offers mainly Thai – but also some Western – dishes and a huge selection of vegetarian sushi. AUM was surprisingly good, especially the vegetarian Khao Soi and an interesting appetizer here: big, crispy, deep-fried (basil?) leaves with a sweet’n’sour dip – delicious!

Address: 65 Moonmuang Road/Mun Mueang Road (next to the Black Canyon Coffee Shop, inside Tha Phae Gate)

Khun Churn

Khun Churn is located in a small soi (alley) off Nimmanhaemin Road, and we went once for an a-la-carte dinner and returned to try the lunch buffet. The lunch buffet offered much better value, as many of the items in the menu are part of the buffet so you can essentially sample the entire menu in one sitting. There is a big salad bar, various soups (including a version of Khao Soi, though we prefer AUM’s version), tofu and grilled vegetables, different rice dishes, noodles dishes and a large selection of herbal teas and fresh fruit water are also included in the price of the buffet. If you go to Khun Churn, definitely go for the lunch buffet. It is THB130.00 – not necessarily cheap for Thai standards, but a fresh, vegetarian buffet for just over US$4.00 is hard to beat.

Address: Nimmanhaemin Soi 17

chiang mai vegetarian buffet khun churn

DADA Kafe

The Dada Kafe is also inside the old town, just one block south of Tha Pae Gate on Ratchamankla Road. Run by a German-Thai couple, it has a huge selection of solid dishes, both Thai and Western and of course, some German dishes, too. DADA has interesting creations like ‘Carpaccio’ of pineapple, basil and ice cream, fried potato & cheese balls, avocado on toast or fried breaded tofu balls. The prices here are high for Thailand, however, like a German breakfast for $6 (190 Baht), and some of the healthier smoothies sell for $6.40 (200 Baht) which could easily be your entire food budget for the day in Chiang Mai. Everything we ate here we loved, though, from German cakes and sweets to the veggie burger and side of German Potato salad. Plus, the smoothie selection is easily the biggest in town and cure anything from hangovers to acne, to stress, bad vision or sleeping problems. Most cost $2.70, or 80 Baht, including our favorite, the Brainstorm Me. You can also get wheat grass shots or wheat grass smoothies here. Dada Kafe also has free wi-fi and a selection of international newspapers.

chiang mai vegetarian restaurants dada kafeAddress: 20/1 Ratchamanka Road (near the corner to Moon Mueng Road, opposite Juicy4u)

Juicy4U (update 2023: sadly, this place has closed)

Despite the funny name, Juicy 4 U is one of the best vegetarian restaurants in Chiang Mai. It is located opposite the Dada Kafe on Ratchamankha Rd. They have a large choice of vegetables (including wheatgrass shots) and fruit juices for $1.60 (50 Baht), Thai dishes (starting at 70 Baht), breakfasts and a decent veggie burger for $2.55 (80 Baht). We especially love the pick-your-own-ingredients sandwich, where you can choose up to 10 ingredients for a sandwich on fresh whole-wheat bread.

Address: 5 Ratchamanka Road (near the corner to Moon Mueng Road, opposite Dada Kafe)

chiang mai vegetarian food juicy4u
Beetroot Stories (update: permanently closed)

I am leaving this part in the article, even though, sadly, Beetroot Stories has permanently closed since my last visit to Chiang Mai. It will, however, live on in my memory, and this little tribute to what was one of the very best vegetarian restaurants in Chiang Mai:

Beetroot Stories is a central staple in the popular Old Town section of Chiang Mai on the corner of Ratchadamnoen and Ratchapakinai Rd. One of several restaurants in the courtyard of the Kad Klang Wiang Plaza. The menu features a variety of Thai dishes, western cuisine, breakfasts, fresh salads and sandwiches, plus giant smoothies for $1.60 (50 Baht). We can happily recommend the chocolate banana coconut or peanut butter banana chocolate smoothies.  The Thai curries are excellent, but we found the vegetable stir-fry a little bland. As the name indicates, Beetroot Stories has quite a few dishes that feature beetroot, such as salads and also several beetroot juices (mixed with other vegetables or fruit). All rice dishes are served with brown rice.

Address: Ratchadamnoen Rd (on Kad Klangwiang Plaza behind the Wawee Coffee Shop)

chiang mai vegetarian restaurants beetroot stories

Have you been to Chiang Mai? Share your favorite vegetarian restaurants in Chiang Mai in the comments below!

Ritesh

Saturday 16th of December 2023

Thanks for the article. It has helped travelers like me who are vegetarians in

Vicky

Wednesday 20th of March 2013

OOoo we have one more day left in Chiang Mai so will have to check that place out - thanks for letting us know! Can't believe how expensive those the smoothie are in South America! We just got 5 20 baht smoothies from Mrs Pa's stand by the south gate (3 to go to enjoy later tonight)! : ) Sorry to make you jealous!

Dani

Sunday 24th of March 2013

Five smoothies??? Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, so jealous!! We have to head back to Asia soon, we just miss the fresh fruit so much! Sadly, there are no tropical fruit in the southern part of South America, but we've heard great things about the fruit in Colombia, apparently they are amazing! Did you make it to that restaurant before you left CM?

Vicky

Friday 15th of March 2013

Just went to Dada Kafe for lunch today and loved it sooo goooodddd! The peanut lover smoothie was incredible as was the veggie juice I got! Got to get over to the other places in this list!

Dani

Friday 15th of March 2013

Oh you just made us sooooo jealous!! We could really do with some good smoothies - haven't found any under 5 Dollars so far in Chile and Argentina; we miss the cheap food and drinks in Thailand :) You'll have to let us know which veggie restaurant is your favorite. We just read about a new organic vegetarian restaurant in Chiang Mai here: http://www.boundingoveroursteps.com/anchan-vegetarian-restaurant/ - this place looks great, too!

P.S. I think Beetroot Stories also had a great smoothie with peanut butter, if I remember it right :)

Eloise @ Am I Nearly There Yet?

Tuesday 1st of January 2013

I'm in Chiang Mai now and went to Taste from Heaven for dinner. We had the papaya salad, morning glory and brown jasmine rice, with vegan cake for dessert! Everything was delicious! Did you go there too?

Dani

Wednesday 2nd of January 2013

Eloise - Glad to hear that you liked Taste From Heaven! We have to admit that neither one of us liked what we ordered there, so we never went back to try something else. We know that lots of people love it though - maybe we just ordered the wrong dish :(

Eloise @ Am I Nearly There Yet?

Tuesday 1st of January 2013

I'm in Chiang Mai now and went to Taste from Heaven for dinner. We had the papaya salad, morning glory and brown jasmine rice, with vegan cake for dessert! Everything was delicious! Did you go there too? I