We stumbled on a night market at Kad Suan Kaew shopping centre on Friday evening. It assembled in front of our eyes late in the afternoon and by dusk was in full swing. The choice of food there was rather mind boggling and definitely authentical Thai.

As a starter, we had a grilled Pla Nin (tilapia) served with <a href="http://www.allthaifood.com/index.asp?contentID=10000004&title=Nam+Prik+Pla+Tu+(%b9%e9%d3%be%c3%d4%a1%bb%c5%d2%b7%d9+-++Fish+Paste)&getarticle=51&keyword=&catid=5" rel="nofollow">Nam Prik Pla Tu น้ำพริกปลาทู </a>, which was roasted eggplant (aubergine) mashed together with fermented shrimp paste, garlic, chilli and coriander. The silky and sweet eggplant was nicely balanced by the pungent fermented shrimp paste and rounded out with garlic, which also helped control the fishiness. A perfect condiment for the grilled fish.

We also had a mushroom omelette baked in banana leaves to whet our appetites before going for some noodles.

Julia wanted to try the <a href="http://www.allthaifood.com/index.asp?contentID=10000004&title=Khanom+Jin+Nam+Ngiao+(%a2%b9%c1%a8%d5%b9%b9%e9%d3%e0%a7%d5%e9%c2%c7)&getarticle=215&keyword=&catid=1" rel="nofollow">Khanom Jin Nam Ngiao ขนมจีนน้ำเงี้ยว</a>, Chinese rice noodles in a spicy broth thickened with pork blood and served with cubes of pork blood, topped with chopped green shallots, corianders, fried garlic, and eat with bean sprouts, finely sliced pickled Chinese mustard, pork crackling and fried dried chilli. Not bad, especially since I love offal! Not really to Julia's taste though :P

I chose the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khao_soi" rel="nofollow">Khao Soi ข้าวซอย</a> with chicken. It's a Muslim-influenced curry served over flat egg noodles and topped with squiggly fried noodles which soak up the curry and perfectly!

We finished our dinner with some sago dumplings filled with pork, peanuts and 大头菜 preserved mustard stems, a nice balance of sweet and savoury with a chewy skin. These are eaten wrapped with some lettuce and a sprig coriander. Very light but very tasty!

Kad Suan Kaew (Central) 21 Huay Kaew Rd, Suthep, Muang, Chiang Mai +66 (0)53-224444

Kad Suan Kaew Shopping Centre: - <a href="http://www.chiangmaichimes.com/shopping_1.html" rel="nofollow">www.chiangmaichimes.com/shopping_1.html</a>