Restaurants, Food and Drink

You are really spoilt for choice in Phuket. You want cheap local food, you got it, you want a juicy steak, you got it, you want Italian food, Mexican food, Arabic food, Indian Food ... whatever, you can find it. We tend to avoid the really touristy places, but even in Patong there are a few places I like. We do tend to eat local food, and tend to eat at home most of the time, but it can be cheap to eat out in Thailand, and it's very easy to be lazy! The following are some restaurants in Phuket that we like...

Seafood Restaurants

Many people want to eat seafood when visiting Phuket, and you'll see seafood displays outside many restaurants on the main beaches. We prefer quieter places which are frequented more by locals. Laem Hin (in my opinion) has the best food. The restaurant is on the east coast north of Phuket Town. Bang Pae Seafood is way up in the north of the island, very quiet. Near Chalong you find Danang and Kan Eang, and there's also the new Kan Eang @ The Pier which is more expensive, but very nicely - we have only stopped there for drinks so far, but I am sure will go for dinner sometime soon...

• Laem Hin Seafood
• Bang Pae Seafood
• Danang Seafood
• Kan Eang Seafood



Eating by the sea

We like to find small local places that don't have tourist rip off prices, which normaly means getting off the main tourist beaches. The Beach Bar at Cape Panwa is one of our favourite places to go and relax by the sea, watch the sunset and let the kids play on a beach devoid of jetskis and beach umbrellas. Friendship Beach is more expensive (it's American owned) but the location is great and they have a pool too. On Koh Sirey there are several small places which get almost no tourist business - inexpensive, by the sea, peaceful - just how we like it.

• The Beach Bar
• The Beach Bar again!
• Bang Rong Floating Restaurant
• Friendship Beach
• Haad Pleum Suk (Koh Sirey)
• Nakkerd Seaview (on Buddha Mountain)



Around Phuket Town

Phuket Town has a lot of dining options, but we rarely go "into town". A few of our favourie places are on the edge of town. Dairy Hut is near the Phuket Bangkok International Hospital and has indoor (aircon) and outdoor tables, live music, big screen TV's and tasty food. Leelawadee is on the road to Chalong next to the "Kajonkiet" school. Chen Long is one of many all you can eat buffet places around town, you can find it in between Big C and Central. The Chili restaurant was being run by a friend of ours - near Boat Lagoon, north of Phuket Town.

• Dairy Hut
• Chen Long Kung Kata (Buffet)
• Leelawadee
• Chili



Noodles!

If you just want a snack - a bowl of noodles does the trick and normally only costs about 25 Baht. There must be a noodle shop on every street and every corner. We have several favourite noodle shops. Another noodly favourite is Phad Thai, fried noodles rather than soup. Always a good lunch!

• Noodles in Phuket
• More Noodles in Phuket!
• Phad Thai in Phuket



There are also plenty of food options in the Phuket Town shops, supermarkets and malls such as Tesco Lotus.

Main beaches

I don't eat much around the main beaches, except for lunch in Karon, often at Mama Noi, otherwise street food. In Patong, if you want a great burger or Mexican food, try BBQ Hut, for a treat - the Ninth Floor.

• Mama Noi (Karon Beach)
• The Ninth Floor (Patong)
• BBQ Hut
• English Food in Phuket (Pineapple Guesthouse)


Phuket Food Festival

The food festival at Sapan Hin in Phuket City is on from 19th - 28th March, with a huge variety of food stalls plus live performances every night. We took a look around recently:

• Phuket Food Festival

Thirsty after all that food? About Thai Beer - just an intro - I am doing extensive taste tests at the moment... results soon.

More to come, may include a cheap local restaurant in Kathu and a few places I can recommend on the main beaches including the best pizza on the island... Of course, nothing compares to good home cooking (and I'm going to blog that soon!), but we have vowed to try and explore a few new restaurants this year.

Street Food

I will start writing more about street food, which is mainly snacks rather than full meals. You can find fruit stalls, fried chicken stalls, sticky rice sellers etc. all over Thailand. Street food is well worth a try!

• Street Food - Pa Tong Go
• A Working Lunch

More Phuket dining options can be found on the Where to Eat in Phuket web site.

For a lot more information about Thai and Asian Food and places to eat - check out Austin Bush's excellent food and photography blog: Austin Bush Food Blog.

I have started checking other people's blogs for good restaurant tips and reviews - after all, as a resident I do tend to eat in most of the time, whereas tourists and visitors will be eating out... Try these:

Tina's Phuket Restaurant Page
Kru Suwit Seafood by Precious Pea