Roti Pa Day
Bib Gourmand 2026

🔄 Last checked 2 Jul 2026 · details and hours can change — check the venue before you go

Ask anyone from Chiang Mai which roti stall is worth the queue, and the answer is almost always the same — the cart in front of Wat Mahawan on Tha Phae Road, selling for more than 40 years now. The story starts with "Pa Day," the woman who kneaded and fried roti in front of the temple until she became a fixture of the old town, before handing the cart to her daughter, Pa Nuch, who now stands at the pan every day. This small cart has held a Bib Gourmand in the street-food category for five years running since 2021, and it's still in the 2026 guide too — for a place that doesn't even have its own roof, that's proof the food is good enough that MICHELIN inspectors keep coming back year after year.

The secret is in the dough. This roti doesn't use egg in the batter the way many others do — instead it's fried slowly in coconut oil until the outside turns crisp and layered while the inside stays chewy, with a faint coconut fragrance no vegetable-oil-fried roti can match. The dish to start with is the plain crispy roti, since it's the purest test of the dough itself, and it's cheap too — just 35 baht — followed by the banana roti and the egg roti at 15 baht a piece, the two classics that have been on the menu from the start. For anyone wanting to go further, there are 40–50 toppings to choose from, from Nutella to seasonal fruit, with the priciest piece topping out at just 55 baht — enough to feed a whole group for less than the price of one coffee at some cafés.

Another part of the charm is that there's nowhere to sit, but standing in line is half the fun — Wat Mahawan sits right between Tha Phae Gate and Warorot Market, so a walk through the old town in the evening, a stop to pay respects at the temple, then finishing with hot roti straight off the pan is a routine locals and travelers share alike. Today the Pa Day family has expanded to four selling points around the city, including Santitham, Loi Khro, and the Night Bazaar in the mornings, but the branch MICHELIN actually recognizes is the original cart in front of Wat Mahawan only. If you're chasing the star, Tha Phae is the only stop that counts.

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Street food / Roti-dessert

Roti Pa Day

📍 Tha Phae–Chang Moi (the old town's eastern gate) 🧭 Tha Phae–Chang Moi (the old town's eastern gate) ⭐ 4.2 · 2,116 reviews (Google)

🔖 เก็บลงแผนเก็บแผน

🖼️ รูป 🗺️ แผนที่

Photo: Thapae Rotee Padae official Facebook page🔍 แตะเพื่อซูม

🖼️ แตะรูปเพื่อซูมในหน้า · แผนที่ / โซเชียลฝังจากต้นทาง (ถูกลิขสิทธิ์)

Approx. price15–55

🏨 Well-located hotels in Chiang Mai📍 View map

👍 Best forMICHELIN-chasing street food fans capping off an evening in the old town — a light, walk-around dessert

🍽️ Bib GourmandMICHELIN Guide 2026Street foodRoti

🕐Evenings to midnight daily

🥢Signature — Crispy roti fried in coconut oil, egg-free dough, crisp outside and chewy inside

Roti Pa Day sells from a roadside cart in front of Wat Mahawan on Tha Phae Road, on the eastern side of Chiang Mai's old town, a few minutes' walk from Tha Phae Gate. Prices start at 15 THB a piece (egg roti), 35 THB for the crispy roti, and 55 THB for the Nutella topping. It's open evenings until around midnight every day (roughly from 17:30–18:30 onward — as a roadside cart, the exact set-up time can shift from day to day). There's no booking system of any kind, cash only, and queue tickets are handed out at the cart.

During the cool season or on holiday nights, the queue of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese travelers runs long every evening. The trick is to arrive before 18:00 to grab a queue ticket as soon as the cart sets up, because only about 10 kilograms of dough — roughly 300 pieces — is made each day. Once it's gone, that's it, no more made. The easiest way to get there is to walk from the Tha Phae–Chang Moi area, or just tell a red-truck driver "Wat Mahawan, Tha Phae Road" — the whole city knows it. After buying, it's an easy walk on toward Tha Phae Gate or Warorot Market to keep exploring.

Must-tryPlain crispy roti (35 THB) — egg-free dough fried in coconut oil, crisp outside and chewy insideBanana rotiEgg roti (15 THB)