Restaurants in Phuket
Phuket has its own cooking, which is easy to miss if you eat only at the beach. Southern Thai food is hotter and more sour than the version served further north, and the island's Chinese history shows up in the dishes it is known for. The food is good at every price here; what changes with money is the view.
Getting your bearings
Phuket Town is where the serious cooking is, inland and away from the beaches. Patong has the convenience and the views. Chalong, on the south coast, is where the seafood restaurants cluster around the pier. And the west-coast beaches carry the sunset tables. Each is a different evening and a different price.
The island's own dishes
- Mee Hokkien — stir-fried yellow noodles with seafood in a rich savoury sauce, and the dish to order first
- Tom Yum Goong — hot and sour shrimp soup with lemongrass and lime
- Massaman curry — mild and creamy, with potatoes and peanuts, and the one to order for anyone who does not like heat
- Roti with banana — a sweet street snack, made in front of you
Restaurants worth the drive
Raya Restaurant
Southern Thai cooking in a colonial-era building in Phuket Town, with the ceiling fans and the tiled floor still in place. The most serious food on this page, and the reason to spend an evening off the coast.
La Gritta
Italian and Thai in Patong, with a terrace over the bay. The cooking is good and the view is the reason to book — go for the end of the day rather than for lunch.
Mor Mu Dong
Out at Chalong, built over the water in a mangrove setting, and full of people who live on the island. Traditional dishes, rustic rooms and no attempt at polish. Take a taxi and allow the evening.
Kan Eang@Pier
Fresh seafood beside Chalong Bay, relaxed and long-established. Choose from the ice and have it cooked how you want it.
Eating at the markets
The cheapest and often the best meals on the island are at the night markets. The Phuket Weekend Market has a food section that runs from grilled meat to fruit shakes. Malin Plaza in Patong is the convenient one, a few minutes from the beach. Chillva Market in Phuket Town is the young, designed version of the same idea.
Beachfront tables
Rock Salt at The Nai Harn for Mediterranean and Thai cooking with the sunset in front of it. Catch Beach Club at Bang Tao for a long lunch that turns into a long afternoon — it is as much a bar as a restaurant, and works either way. The Boathouse at Kata for seafood and a wine list, a few steps from the sand.
Practical notes
- Spicy here means spicy. Ask for mild if you are unsure; nobody minds.
- Family-run places are often cash only.
- The fruit stalls are worth stopping at — cut fruit for very little, everywhere.
Eating on a budget
A full meal at a market stall costs a fraction of the same food in a beach restaurant, and is frequently better. The pattern that works is one restaurant evening and several market ones, rather than trying to eat cheaply in expensive places. Lunch is where the saving is largest: most of the good kitchens are half the price at midday.
Practical notes, again on heat
- Southern Thai cooking is hotter than the food further north; 'Thai spicy' is a real category
- Book the sunset tables, particularly in high season
- Vegetarian food is easy to find and not always marked as such