Asia
Best Restaurants in Phuket
Crab curry in an old family house, dry rice porridge after dark and seasonal tasting menus: ten restaurants that show the range of Phuket’s cooking, from breakfast counters to farm-led dining.
Raya Restaurant
Crab curry with wild betel leaves, peppery mu hong pork and dried-shrimp relish fill the tables of this old Sino-Portuguese house. The cooking is the reason to book; the tiled rooms and timber shutters make the setting unusually personal.
Go Benz
Dry rice porridge arrives with crispy pork, offal and a separate bowl of peppery broth. Rolled rice noodles offer another way into the same rich stock. This is an evening supper shop, with cash payment and service running past midnight.
Mor Mu Dong
Curry-paste-stuffed mackerel and squid dressed with lime are the dishes to look for in these simple mangrove-side pavilions. Live seafood tanks and an unpolished approach road make the contrast with Phuket’s resort restaurants quite plain.
Roti Thaew Nam
Roti cooks on a charcoal-heated pan at this halal breakfast shop, ready to tear into chicken or beef curry. Egg roti and sweet versions are available too. The noon closing time makes this a morning meal.
Blue Elephant Phuket
Chef Nooror’s royal Thai menu includes Peranakan king mackerel and crab curry with turmeric and betel leaves. Dining rooms occupy the Phra Pitak Chinpracha mansion, so the ornate setting and premium prices are part of the decision.
Tu Kab Khao
Southern Thai dishes such as mu hong braised pork and wild betel leaves with egg sit behind the giant lobster sculpture on Phangnga Road. The decorated shophouse offers a more formal dining room than the town’s open-front noodle shops.
PRU
Jimmy Ophorst’s tasting menu works with Thai farmers and growers, changing dishes around the produce they supply. Fixed lunch and dinner seatings make this a reservation-led splurge at Trisara rather than an à la carte seafood dinner.
Royd
Chef Mond builds a tasting menu around ingredients and cooking traditions from Thailand’s southern coast. The intimate Old Town shophouse runs fixed seatings, including weekend lunch; booking the right service matters more than arriving during a broad opening window.
Kan Eang@Pier
Southern Thai seafood is served at shaded tables beside Chalong Bay, with fishing boats and the pier in view. Choose seafood with its quoted price in mind; this is a substantial waterfront restaurant, with a separate café breakfast service.
JAMPA
Live-fire cooking puts farm vegetables and locally caught seafood at the centre of the menu. The four-course lunch gives the kitchen room to show its seasonal approach; the lakeside Tri Vananda setting is a quieter proposition than a beach club.