Maan Muang Entrance — *It’s like discovering an ancient ruin hidden in the forest*

Northern Thai Lanna cuisine can be hard to come by in Bangkok, which to me is a real shame as my favorite type of Thai food is Northern Thai food due to its strong pungent flavors.

Maan Muang Restaraunt has been a favorite amongst my family, and one morning my mother and I was craving some Northern Thai food. We haven’t been to Maan Muang in years and so we were very excited to eat some amazing northern Thai food in Bangkok.

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Michelin Guide Northern Thai Cuisine

maan muang michelin guide — *Maan Muang is very proud of their Michelin recommendation and rightfully so :)*

What I didn’t realize was that Maan Muang was featured on the Michelin Guide for a couple of years in a row now! Who would’ve thought, a Michelin Guide restaurant for Northern Thai food… In Central Thailand…?

It was a pleasant surprise for sure, and a well deserved recommendation as the food at Maan Muang is a truly delicious representation of Northern Lanna Cuisine.

If you are interested in trying real authentic Lanna food and would like to go straight to the source, may I recommend Tong Tem Toh in Chiang Mai. There are plenty of incredible Northern Thai food in Chiang Mai but Tong Tem Toh is my absolute favorite.

maan muang interior atmosphere — *The atmosphere transports you to the rural areas of Thailand*

Located on the outskirts of Bangkok, about 45 minutes from the city center, Maan Muang is quite difficult to get to if you don’t have a personal vehicle. I recommend you take a taxi or a Grab, a motorbike could work but I doubt they’ll want to travel that far of a distance.

Once you arrive at Maan Muang you’ll immediately notice the atmosphere is very “rural” with wooden seating, struts, and beams, as well as vintage cookery, paraphernalia, and woven silk lining the walls of the restaurant.

Even the entrance is shrouded behind a thick layer of vegetation, so keep an eye out for the Maan Muang sign or else you’ll drive right pass it.

Maan Muang Menu

The Maan Muang menu is quite extensive, you could find almost all of all of the Lanna foods you could think of.

From curries, soups, grilled meats, and fresh vegetables. There are just way too many things to list out but I’ll tell you some recommendations.

Some recommendations are:

Khao Soi - Egg noodles in a rich curry broth
Aeb Pla - Fish curry wrapped in banana leaf
Sai Ua - Northern Thai herb sausage
Nam Prik Ong / Noom - Chili dip platter with various vegetables
Larb Moo Kua - Minced pork salad with blood

What I love is that there is a menu specifically for vegetables, usually when you are eating Northern Thai Lanna food your meal will be accompanied by a vegetable basket, here at Maan Muang you can customize your vegetable order to whatever you want.

If you’re interested to learn more about Northern Thai Lanna Cuisine then check out this article where I detail all there is to know about this underrated cuisine.

Pricing

The pricing has definitely increased from a couple of years ago, back then a plate of Sai Ua sausage costs 55 THB nowadays, it’s 105 THB. Is it due to economic inflation? Or did the Michelin Guide title affected the pricing? Who knows, probably a combination of both factors.

The price of the dishes at Maan Muang are quite expensive for what it is, the portions aren’t that big either, which allows you to order many different things to try.

The price is definitely quite expensive for Lanna food.

Larb Moo Kua

You can’t have a Northern Thai feast without a plate of Larb. We ordered Larb Moo Kua, which is a variation on the classic pork Larb that you may be familiar with.

The “Kua” means to stir or combine, this is because this Larb is stirred and cooked with pork blood. Hold on, I know it might sound disgusting but the blood gives the dish a very strong yet pleasantly unique pungent flavor.

You won’t even taste the blood I promise. What I love about Maan Muang’s version is that there are chopped up pieces of crunchy fried intestines mixed in there.

It gives the whole dish a nice textural contrast with the tender pork and the crunchy intestines.

Absolutely delicious.

Gaeng Hung Lay

My favorite Northern Thai dish, Gaeng Hung Lay, a Burmese style pork curry.

Gaeng Hung Lay is a rich and thick curry made from peanuts, galangal, turmeric, cinnamon, and much more… Additionally, huge chunks of pork is stewed till tender perfection in the curry.

The Gaeng Hung Lay curry is oily and sweet, a single sip (or dip with sticky rice) will warm your soul.

Seriously, this dish is the perfect pairing for your sticky rice, each kernel will be covered in that rich aromatic curry sauce.

chunk of tender pork in gaeng hung lay — *The chunks of stewed pork are so tender you can literally smoosh it with your spoon*

I ordered the curry without fatty pork, so the chunks of pork that I got were pure meat, and let me just say, the pork was so incredibly tender even a baby could eat it. No joke, you could crush the pork with just your tongue and the roof of your mouth.

Nam Prik Ong Platter

In addition to the Larb, no Northern Thai Lanna feast is completed without Nam Prik Ong / Noom.

I ordered the Nam Prik Ong with is a chili dip made from chilis, tomatoes, and minced pork, Nam Prik Noom is also a chili dip but made with purely green chilis.

The Nam Prik Ong platter is served with a variety of boiled vegetables, like cucumber, okra, thai eggplant, and pumpkin. There is also a serving of pork rinds too.

pork rind dipped in nam prik ong — *The most crunchy and airy pork rind combined with the meatiest dip, what more could you ask for?*

From here you can just go crazy dipping anything in to the Nam Prik Ong. My favorite is the pork rinds, and even just the basic sticky rice is good with this dip.

The Nam Prik Ong was slightly spicy, like just a tiny hint. The more prominent flavor was the tomato, very vibrant and tangy. I especially love the minced pork that gave the dip a nice meatiness.

Fried Stuffed Chili Peppers

fried chili pepper stuffed with minced pork — *Anyone up for a deep fried chili?*

Deep fried foods are probably not what you expect when you think of traditional Lanna foods, and honestly I am also unsure if this is a traditional dish, but damn is it tasty.

These green peppers are stuffed with minced pork and are then battered and deep fried.

The peppers aren’t spicy and they are quite juicy as well perfectly complementing the meaty minced pork.

I like to dip this the Nam Prik Ong as well to cut through the grease of the fry oil.

Gaeng Ho

Now this is something I am not familiar with, Gaeng Ho is a sort of dry mixed curry with glass noodles and various vegetables like Thai eggplants, Bamboo shoots, and pea eggplants (which are also known as turkey berries).

This dish is very spicy and herbaceous, the glass noodles also give the dish a nice soft texture which is contrasted by the crunchy vegetables.

It’s also a bit sour, I like to eat this dish with sticky.

Grilled Ox Tongued

Ox Tongue is one of my favorite underrated meats in the world, and I was excited to see that Maan Muang has grilled Ox Tongue on their menu.

But I don’t know what happened, maybe I got the wrong thing but this Ox Tongue was very fatty, a piece is literally 90% fat and 10% meat. Some people might like that but I don’t.

The taste was alright, but man it was just wayyyy too fatty.

I think this one was an unfortunate miss, perhaps I ordered the wrong thing here.

Fried Pork Belly

Fried Pork Belly, what more could you want? A slab of juicy pork belly lightly battered and deep fried.

It’s salty, it’s crunchy, it’s meaty, what else can I say?

This dish did not come with a sauce but I dipped it in the sour chili sauce that came with the Ox Tongue and sourness helps to balance the fattiness.

Also don’t forget to dip it with your Nam Prik Ong or Noom for the ultimate finger food.

Sai Ua

Another dish you can’t have a Northern Lanna feast without is the Sai Ua sausage.

Sai Ua is a Northern Thai pork sausage packed full of herbs and spices.

Typically the Sai Ua you find at street-side vendors can be dry, but the ones a Maan Muang are grilled fresh and are incredibly tender and juicy.

Flavorful spices bombard your tongue with every bite, beware though, as the sausage does pack a spicy punch.

Highly recommend this one.

Bua Loi Kai Wan

Rounding off our Maan Muang Northern Thai Lanna ffeast is Bua Loi Kai Wan, a popular dessert in Thailand. Little glutinous rice balls simmer in a thick sweet coconut milk soup.

You can order Bua Loi with or without “Kai Wan” which are sweet eggs, imagine a soft boiled egg in your sweet coconut soup. Normally I like mine without the egg, but this time I decided to go with it.

I have mixed feelings about this one, the Bua Loi was delicious, sweet, rich, creamy, and served warm making it soothing to the soul.

What I cannot get behind is the egg, the yolk part tastes fine and combines well with the sweetness of the coconut soup, but the egg whites tastes funky, for me it’s too eggy and doesn’t fit well with the Bua Loi.

Next time I’ll order it without the egg.

Conclusion

Pros

Amazingly flavorful Northern Thai Lanna Dishes, well deserving of a Michelin Guide.
Lots of different dishes to try on their menu.
Very friendly and attentive staff

Cons

A bit over priced compared to what you can find elsewhere.
The portions are rather small for the price.

Overall I highly recommend you visit Maan Muang, Northern Thai food can be hard to find in Bangkok , so it was definitely a surprise to see Maan Muang doing it so well. All their dishes are full of flavor and their menu is varied enough that you can find almost any Northern Lanna dish you can think of. The staff is also very friendly and suggests you recommendations if you are feeling a bit lost.

The only downside that I can think of is that the price is expensive and the portions are small.

Although Maan Muang isn’t the best Lanna food I’ve had, or even the best in Thailand, it certainly is the best Lanna food I’ve had in Bangkok.

Maan Muang | 8.5 / 10

Phone: 02 729 6275

Location: 165/7 Ramkhamhaeng Alley, Saphan Sung, Bangkok 10240

Opening Hours: 9:00AM - 9:00PM | Mon - Sun

Pricing: 80 - 150 THB | $$

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