10 Best Local Restaurants in Phuket

Phuket’s floating seafood restaurants (krachang in Thai) are a novel way to dine out and can be found along the east coast of Phuket. The trip involves a fun, brief long-tail boat ride from Laem Hin Pier to the restaurants. It’s a great day out all year round, come rain or shine!

This unique dining concept was created 20 years ago by a group of friends from Phuket Town who were looking for a more relaxing place to dine. Someone suggested a brilliant idea would be for them to go to a floating fish farm off Laem Hin and ask the fishermen’s family to cook something basic and simple using the seafood they reared. Meanwhile, so the idea went, the group could just hang out, read books or fish away on the farm’s deck (the farms always have a reuan pae or houseboat, where they actually live, connected to it).

Mor Mudong is right in among the mangroves. Many of the dishes are typical fiery-hot Phuket food but there are milder dishes on the menu. What’s fascinating about this place is its location and atmosphere. Here, you can sit and enjoy your meal with the mangroves within your reach.  

If there were an island-wide competition for rustic, unusual and out-of-the-way restaurants then Mor Mu Dong seafood restaurant in east Phuket would definitely win it. Set up next to a klong, a brackish watery inlet from the sea 100 metres away and in a mangrove swamp, Mor Mu Dong is a warren of bamboo huts where diners can sit on mats and eat off low tables as well as at standard tables and chairs.

Bang Pae is one of the island’s all-time favourites and is located not far from Bangpae Waterfall near Thalang. Try their Tom Yam Talay (steamed blue crab, deep-fried tempura shrimp, stir-fried vegetables with cashew nuts and fresh oysters with local herbs. Enjoy these delights at the seaside with a lovely backdrop of mangroves.

If you feel like dining on good-quality Thai seafood, it’s really best to go where the locals go. Bang Pae Seafood is one of the island’s all-time favourite neighbourhood restaurants and is located in Bang Pae Village, not far from Bang Pae Waterfall near Thalang. Yes, it is a little bit out of the way for most visitors, but it offers diners the real deal.

Rad-na is a Thai-style wide rice-noodle dish with meat and vegetables in a gravy-like sauce: Thai fast food, if you want. At Khun Jeed’s Rad-Na Yod Pak in Phuket Town, you can enjoy this popular dish with pork or seafood. Other popular items here are pork and chicken satays. 

The restaurant is on Phang Nga Road, in the heart of Phuket Town on the same side of the road as the vintage On On Hotel and diagonally opposite the Bangkok and Kasikorn banks. Though it’s a simple shophouse just like the others in the same area, you can easily spot it thanks to its bright yellow exterior.

Discovering the authentic tastes and cuisine of the island is not difficult when you explore Phuket Old Town. Just head to the local food stands known by the collective names of ‘Lock Tien’ and ‘Old Siam Theatre’ or just ‘Siam’ on Yaowarat Road. This simple food court caters to a variety of local tastes with dishes that are hard to find anywhere else. 

Such dishes include mee hoon pah chang (fried noodles with pork bone soup), lo bah (deep-fried tripe with fried tofu and spicy sweet-and-sour sauce), mee nam Hokkien (noodles soup with prawn Hokkienese style), por phee (a fresh non-fried spring roll) and oh eaw (an iced dessert made of flour, banana, and a little seaweed.) They serve some of the best satays in town, too.

Mee Ton Poh serves some of Phuket's best-fried noodles in Hokkien style. Yellow egg noodles are stir-fried with vegetables in soy sauce, usually with different choices of meat like pork, chicken or seafood. Located near the clock tower traffic circle on Phuket Road, this shop has been run by the same Phuket family for several generations.

Kota serves mainly khao man gai (Thai steamed chicken on rice) – one of Thailand's most popular fast-food dishes. Khao man gai is rice steamed with garlic, with boiled chicken and chicken stock. It's eaten with fresh vegetables, chicken soup and a dipping sauce. Prices start from about 50 baht, which is unbelievable for such an outstanding dish.

Keawjai Bakery is a popular spot for real Thai food. Family-run and opened in 1961, the restaurant is rather small with an air-conditioned space inside and a few more tables just outside the door. Enjoy a fair selection of Thai and Thai-Chinese food as well as desserts and baked treats.

A meal at Kopitiam by Wilai in Phuket Town is like a journey into the past. The cuisine is noted for its great tastes, especially the fried chicken with basil leaves. This well-established restaurant is quite affordable, with prices rarely exceeding 120 baht per dish. If you want to give your kids the true taste of Thai cuisine, Kopitiam by Wilai is probably one of the best places in Phuket to do so.

Tamachart Restaurant in Phuket City has got to be the most unusual, out-of-the-ordinary eatery this side of Bangkok. The word tamachart translates into English as 'natural’ and many people in Phuket use the English word when discussing this oddly fitted out Thai-Chinese eating place. 

Tamachart is a veritable crazy house filled to the rafters with old valve radios, sculpted masks, seashell lamps, hanging plants, fish tanks made out of TVs and computer monitors. Try the steamed sea bass in lemon sauce, which comes especially recommended.