Huen Phen

If you want one meal that explains Lanna food, this is where I'd send you. It's been the old city's benchmark for northern Thai cooking for decades, in a house near Wat Phra Singh crammed with antiques, and the evening service in the main room is the one to plan around. Candlelight, dark wood, shadows in the corners. It doesn't feel like a place assembled for tourists, even though plenty of them find it.

Order the gaeng hang lay. That slow, gingery pork curry is the version a lot of locals measure others against, and it's the dish I'd build a table around. The nam prik ong arrives with proper pork crackling for scooping, and if you're new to the region's food, a khantoke-style spread across the table is the easiest way in. Khao soi is on the menu too, and no one will judge you for ordering it.