Thai Food and Phuket eating out guide

Food and Cooking

Thai food is a true international cuisine and enjoyed by multitude of millions around the world.

Thai food in Phuket, and throughout southern Thailand, is heavily influenced by the bountiful harvest of fresh seafood from the Andaman Sea. Seafood served southern style is unique, likely to be barbecued, and employs numerous herbs and spices, garlic, lemon grass, chilies, mint, cumin, basil, coriander, and shrimp paste.

Phuket has an abundance of great places to eat. To write about or try to critique every one of them would make this book the size of a large city telephone directory. Included are a few, but not all, of the good places in Phuket to eat. We will start with a few general observations about Thai Food and introduce you to some of the more unusual dishes of Thai food to be found in Phuket. We apologize in advance to the hundreds of good places to eat that for the sake of brevity have not been included, and we invite them to contact us for inclusion in future editions.

1. It is a quirk of nature; but the most consistent method of ensuring that a restaurant, particularly a small restaurant, will either go out of business or serve the next customer a mediocre meal is to recommend it to a friend.

2. During your stay in Thailand it is recommended that you eat Thai food as often as possible. Thais are justifiably proud of their food. It is always made from fresh ingredients, usually purchased from the market that day and is sure be well prepared. Most Thais rarely eat or have an interest in Western food (except fast food like McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken). This lack of experience is apparent in some of the Western food you will be served. Outside of major hotels and restaurants you may encounter some rather bizarre and expensive attempts at Western food.

3. Most Thai food is not spicy or hot. The condiments and sauces served with your meal (mostly for dipping food into) can be very hot and spicy. Simply control the use of these and you will generally be able to enjoy a wide array of Thai food and not have an unpleasant experience.

4. Phuket Town is a gourmet food lovers delight. Food is generally both considerably better and cheaper in Phuket Town than in the tourist areas. Going into Phuket Town for a few meals during your stay will be well worth the taxi fare (150 baht each way), and the time and effort.

back to top

The following list is of Thai dishes that are worth going out of your way to experience during your stay. For the most part you will not find them served in Thai restaurants overseas.

Khanom Cheen Is arguably Phuket’s most famous dish. This popular Chinese breakfast is a plate of rice noodles covered with a spicy fish flake curry and served with plate of fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit.

Som Tam (papaya salad) A northeastern Thailand specialty that many consider the national dish of Thailand. Thin slivers of green papaya combined with peanuts, dried seafood, and vegetables all mixed into one spicy salad that is eaten with sticky rice and fresh grilled chicken. It’s very tasty but can be very spicy. Ask the cook to make it my pet, (not hot) if you are concerned about the chili content.

Khao Mok Khai fragrant yellow rice served with chicken. It is a Muslim specialty usually served for lunch, consisting of roasted chicken on a bed of saffron rice, mixed with ginger which has been fried lightly to make it crispy. Khao Mok Khai is not spicy unless you dip the chicken into the sweet hot sauce provided.

Nam Prik Kung Siap. Dried prawn on a stick. It is grilled and served with chilies, kapi (a pounded shrimp paste) and lime. This is a very popular dish and must be tried to be appreciated. The Tung-Ka Café in Phuket and the Kang Eng Restaurant both serve excellent examples of this specialty.

Khao Yam Rice with kapi (shrimp paste) is another example of a dish you just have to try to appreciate. The Kaw Tyam Restaurant in Phuket town specializes in this dish.

Hokkien Mee Yellow noodle soup served with shrimps, a Chinese specialty. Can be served as a dry noodle dish or as a soup. Also served as Hokkien Mee Phat or fried noodles.

Bo Pia Sot (Spring roll) A regional variation found only in Phuket Town. Can be found in several of the small Chinese restaurants you will encounter if you take the Phuket Town walk-about, and also at the Night Market.

back to top

Water

Tap water is not safe for drinking. Drink only bottled water or from a flask supplied by the hotel. Water provided in restaurants is safe for drinking, but avoid all shaved or crushed ice particularly from roadside fruit venders.

Copyright © 1998-2005 Plain Paper Guide Book Co., Ltd.
Web design by Andaman Graphics

Published by the Plain Paper Guide Book Co., Ltd. by Gary L. Ebsen