Auntie Spoon had a mission: to drive all the way to Chiang Rai to find this fresh-noodle khao soi everyone has been talking about.
Kati is known for its khao soi noodles made entirely by hand, Japanese-style, with a broth richer and more intense than your standard northern Thai bowl. But chat with owner Ple for five minutes and you’ll quickly discover that the real origin story begins next door at Paam, a contemporary northern Thai restaurant that has been building its reputation as a sai-ua destination for over a decade.
Paam isn’t doing sai-ua the way your grandmother does sai-ua. They’re taking that deeply aromatic northern sausage and adding what they call a
Miracle egg: a whole soft-boiled egg wrapped entirely in sai ua and cooked until the casing turns fragrant and golden. Simple in concept, delicious in taste.
Then there’s the Paam cheese ball — sai-ua wrapped around mozzarella, swaddled in bacon, fried until the outside cracks and the inside pulls apart in long, herby, spiced strings of molten cheese. Equal parts northern Thailand and happy accident. It’s a crowd-pleaser for Thai and foreign diners alike.
The sai-ua pizza where home made prik noom stands in for tomato sauce as the base is topped with the house sai-ua and a generous blanket of cheese. The fire and the herbaceous punch of the north gets gentled by the dough and dairy.
And for something simpler, the crispy shrimp fritters — light batter, good crunch, dangerously easy to finish.
The sai-ua’s journey doesn’t end at Paam’s door, either. It crosses the kitchen into Kati next door, where it finds its way into a bowl of sai-ua khao soi: house sausage from Paam paired with Kati’s handmade fresh noodles and that deep, rich broth. Two restaurants, one bowl—a fantastic collab.
What Auntie Spoon appreciated most wasn’t just the food — it was watching northern Thai cuisine grow without losing itself. From one sausage: a boiled egg, a cheese ball, a pizza, a bowl of khao soi, and a dozen other dishes that each say something about the people making them.
Paam and Kati aren’t just restaurants. They’re a conversation about northern food.
Paam sai ua x Kati, Chiang Rai
123/20 San Kok Chang Road, Rob Wiang, Mueang Chiang Rai
Paam sai ua: open daily, 8am–9pm
Kati: open daily, 10am–4pm
Tel: 052-020499 / 063-535-1499
