Chiang Mai takes its recess early and holds it late: a teak kitchen inside the moat, a press room, a jazz corner by the north gate, and two rooms out east that both had to survive something to still be here.
- 1 · The Cold Open
Huen Phen
เฮือน is the northern word for house, so the name says what it is: Phen's house, cooking Lanna food since 1964 in a teak room hung with a century of other people's things. Be clear about what this is, because we were not: it is a kitchen that will sell you a beer, not a drinking room. It passes, and it is the best eating on this road. Nam prik ong, sai ua, khao soi. Four sources give four different sets of hours, including its own Facebook against its own Instagram, so ring first.
est. 1964, and the name is Lanna for Phen's house · contradictory across sources, ring ahead · verified Aug 2026
- 2 · The Detour
The Writers Club & Wine Bar
Bob Tilley reported out of Rhodesia and South Africa, came home in 1968, then worked for the Telegraph and Radio Free Europe, and in early 2004 he and his partner Tong opened this. He died on 5 March 2015 and Tong and the family have run it since. Fodor's calls it the city's unofficial press club and that is about right: one small room, a full drinks licence, a glass of wine at Chiang Mai prices, and whoever is in town telling you what they are working on. No website, no Instagram, nobody has even claimed the listing.
opened early 2004 by a Telegraph man · day into evening, till about midnight · verified Aug 2026
- 3 · The Anchor
North Gate Jazz Co-Op
Pharadon Phonamnuai, who everybody calls Por, opened this on the corner by the Chang Phuak gate. The New York Times dates that to 2007; the bar's own anniversary post implies a couple of years later, and we are not going to pick for them. Music every night from half seven until one, and a beer, and Tuesday is the open jam, which is the night to come and the night you will not get a seat. It has grown a fourth floor and a whole extension building, so it is not only the hole in the wall any more.
the New York Times says 2007, the bar implies later · nightly, music 7.30pm till 1am, jam on Tuesdays · verified Aug 2026
music every night from half seven until one; Tuesday is the open jam
- 4 · The Wildcard
Boy Blues Bar
It survived. Boy, whose name was Thirasak Konchanthet, played guitar in this bar for years and died of cancer in May 2023, and it kept going without him. Then the Night Bazaar was rebuilt and it had to move out of Kalare. It is now upstairs in the main bazaar building on Chang Khlan, about a hundred metres from where it stood, doing three bands a night, every night. Beer Lao Dark and gin and tonics, and a proper beer list for a blues bar. Our pin is new and rests on a single source, so look up rather than at your phone. Second floor.
the founder died in 2023, the bar moved in 2026, it is still here · nightly, bands from about 8pm till midnight · pin is the lane, not the door
- 5 · The Last Call
The Riverside Bar & Restaurant
On the Ping since 1984, and that one the house confirms itself rather than us guessing at it. Two rooms, a terrace over the water, draught beer and cocktails, and live bands every night of the year. The dinner cruise still runs at two hundred baht a head on top of what you eat, and they will tell you to order before the boat leaves the bank, because the bar on board is small. It sits on a river in a flood country, so in late summer check they are open before you build an evening around it.
est. 1984, on the water · daily till 1am, live music nightly · verified Aug 2026