Khantoke dinner (traditional Lanna cuisine)
The khantoke is a small, round tray-table — about 35 centimetres across, made of wood or rattan — and everything about the dinner that takes its name from it is built to that same human scale. You sit close to the food, close to the floor, close to other people. Around you, bowls of northern Thai dishes arrive together rather than in sequence: nam phrik noom (a roasted green chilli dip), gaeng hang lay (a slow-cooked pork curry with Burmese roots), crispy pork rinds, sticky rice in a woven basket.
The experience unfolds over roughly three hours at a venue like the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center on Wualai Road, where dinner at 19:00 is followed by performances of Lanna dance and hill-tribe music. It is an evening format, nothing else.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who've done it more than once tend to book a floor cushion close to the stage rather than the raised tables at the back — the sightlines are better and it feels truer to the original format. If your knees won't cooperate, request a chair table when you book, not on the night; there are only a few.
The story behind Khantoke dinner (traditional Lanna cuisine)
The word khantoke refers to the tray-table itself, a piece of domestic furniture used across the Lanna Kingdom — which governed much of northern Thailand from the late 13th century into the 18th — whenever a meal marked something: a wedding, a festival, a son's ordination into the monkhood. It was never everyday eating; it was eating that meant something.
In 1906, Kraisi Nimmanhemin began formalising the tradition of hosting khantoke dinners as a deliberate cultural practice. The leap from private ceremony to ticketed evening happened in 1971, when the Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center staged the first commercial khantoke dinner show — pairing the meal with Lanna dance performances for the first time.
Good to know
Doors open at 18:30, dinner at 19:00, and the whole evening wraps by 21:30. The Old Chiang Mai Cultural Center on Wualai Road runs daily and is about ten minutes from the airport by Grab. Entry at that venue is around THB 570 per person, inclusive of food and water.
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What travellers say about Khantoke dinner (traditional Lanna cuisine)
Lovely experience! The staff was really helpful in accommodating us, we had to book through email because we need a mixed menu table (veg and standard). The dancer were amazing, and the price of the dinner plus the tip for the dancer and staff was totally worth the money! The only negative thing we experienced was the table near ours where some Chinese kept talking extremely loudly for almost all the duration of the show, in some moments we could barely hear the music or the singer. It would be nice if moderation in talking would be observed during the performance.
A very nice place to chill out and see the Thai show. Nice show with beautiful traditional dances. The food was ok but nothing special. Everyone was very helpful and the atmosphere is really nice. It was a little bi5 inconvenient for me ro sit down in pillows but ok is a different way to eat your food. If you have ever seen traditional dances of Thailand i suggest you visit this place . Do not expect something outstanding , but something more relaxed and entertaining. The drinks are extra and the sweets also. Water is offered with the food for free.
Big event restaurant with dance and music performances and pre set meals. It‘s ok if you here on a company trip or so. But if you are traveling to Chiang Mai this is just a bit too much. They clean up your table before the event is actually over. And the good quality is ok at the best. If you travel Chiang Mai for the food (which you should) then there are hundreds of better places.
Food: Beautiful presentation but the food itself was mediocre. Service was good, servers responded quickly to replenish the empty saucers. Coconuts were fresh and we ordered extras (85 baht/each) Show: The atmosphere was great! Our kids enjoyed the part where the “animals” interacted with them for the tips LOL!
A very unique restaurant in Khum Khantoke. We were dished with original Thai dishes. Also greeted with traditional Chiangmai dances.
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