Thailand » Dining in Phuket

Phuket, already well known for its fresh succulent seafood, is rapidly gaining a reputation as a great place to find excellent Thai and international food in some very picturesque venues. You can find a range from Italian to Middle Eastern to Indian and Japanese. Places to eat vary from roadside noodle stalls, air-conditioned restaurants, open air restaurants with great views, or fast food outlets. You won't go hungry. 

The Hawker stalls (some permanent, some temporary) sell an incredible range of food from fruit to spicy salads. Some of the foods offered by vendors are not available in standard restaurants or food outlets, and offer your only chance to sample some really unique tastes. The next step up in sophistication is the mobile vendor selling wares from a stainless steel cart with wheels, pulled or pushed along the road. You can find a great range of natural ice creams. The cart is equipped with a stainless steel container packed with dry ice to keep the ice-cream icy cold. Often you'll hear them coming before you actually see them as they often have a small cowbell attached to their stall to attract customer's attention.

If street food isn't your choice, you can find good Thai food just about everywhere. As you would expect, Phuket, has very good seafood and fish restaurants, where your fish will be cooked just the way you want.

Phuket is famous for its abundant fishes, crabs, squids, oysters, and especially, prawns and lobsters, which are delicious and fresh from the Andaman Sea. However they are cooked, grilled, fried, sauteed, baked, roasted or steamed and whether they are in the Thai, Chinese, or Western style, the dishes you order will come out appetizing. 

Phuket has a number of special local dishes which are different from those of other parts of Thailand and visitors should not miss trying. Some of them are Khanom Chin, Noodles, Ho Mok, Curry, Namphrik Kung Siap, Tao So and many more. Most first and second class hotels in Phuket serve a variety of European food. For more good dishes, you can try the nationality restaurants scattered along those touristy beaches and some located in the leading hotels.