My sweet tooth is aching again!Used search but couldnt find anything. Best ice cream in Chiang Mai? Anyone?

Butter is Better's home made ice cream, but they only have a few flavors (vanilla, chocolate, caremal and some fruit flavors sometimes).

They have commercial ice cream too, so you have to make sure that the waitress understands that you want "Andrew's ice cream" which is named after the fellow who gave her the recipes. It is only something like 25 baht a scoop and tastes as good as the expensive chain places in Chiang Mai IMO and is a heck of a lot cheaper.

There is Swensen in Airport Plaza and Kad suen Keo. I like it but surely there is some better Ice cream...

Fantastic homemade ice cream near the Chiang Mai-Lampang/Mahidol Road intersection. I can't remember the name, but its in an ice cream/coffee shop attached to a restaurant. 75 Baht for 2 scoops with trimmings if I remember correctly.

Directions: If heading into Chiang Mai from Lampang along the 11, turn left onto Mahidol Road. A few hundred yards down Mahidol road, just before (I think) the footbridge, there's a restaurant with the ice cream parlor attached. Its before 7/11 and Palm Springs. Its at the entrance to Damrong Niwet Moo Bahn.

Google maps 18.763019, 99.025161

Three large tubs of your choice of flavours from Swensens 389 baht.

and of course, Buds Ice Cream of San Francisco, which is no longer available in USA since a Thai group bought them out and moved all operations to Thailand.

And Haagen Das, down by the night market, if you feel like spending a LOT of money... tastes like the real deal but puts a big old dent in the wallet.

there are a few Buds locations around town... one down the street past McCormick hospital, another in the Rimping complex at Mee Chok plaza... think i saw one or two other shops around also.

I like the italian Gelato available at Rimping main brance and practically at many places.

I enjoy the coffee ice cream at Mont Blanc--two locations in Nimmenhaemin and one at Airport Plaza.

I love mango ice cream especially when in Singapore.

I will have look for some when in CM.

I like Sesto. Many branches around town.

Marco's has some really good flavors too, but the Foie gras ice cream did not impress me.

Sesto is probably the best across the board - most of their flavours are pretty good and at 3 decent sized scoops for 85 baht not too outrageously priced. Try Chocolate, Fruits of the Forest and Kiwi together. Rimping riveside branch has a nice little sitting area and they have a pretty good website too.

Piccolo (based in Nong Hoi but don't know where exactly) had good product but the only place I found it was in the basement at Central Plaza adjacent to the up escalator. As of three or four weeks back they're no longer there - anyone seen them around?

Sergio (of Why Not? restaurant) makes and distributes his own ice cream. The chocolate is about the best to be had in CM (almost up to the standard of the original Hagen Dazs Belgian Chocolate Chocolate which, rumour has it, was discontinued because it was simply too thick and chocolaty to scoop! The desert department at Why Not is a compelling reason to eat there although not enough to persuade me to dine under those dreadful green lights.

There's an interesting little place near the university (see Interesting Little Ice Cream Joint on my map) almost next door to the always reliable Good Food, it opens at odd hours and serves an interesting selection of flavours with a very stylish presentation.

Swenson and Buds are only for desperate times - barely a step above Walls and Nestle as far as I'm concerned. Surprisingly, the bicycle vendors often sell pretty good ice cream but only if you like coconut and vanilla. I hope you made it to the ice cream Festival at Central Plaza a couple of months ago...

Kiow (??) down the street from Pa Muat market. Nice lady makes many flavors, incl. durian and strawberry, my favorite there. 25 baht for a "sunday" w/2 scoops, your choice of 4 toppings and frosted flakes (though a but stale) on top!!

Rum and Rasin anywhere for me.

john