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A look at eating out in Phuket.
The first point to make about eating out in Phuket is that it is more expensive than Pattaya (as indeed is just about everything else there), at a rough estimate a good 20 percent more for the same style and quality of meal.
The second point is that as in just about any other tourist location in Thailand, the choice of places is vast as also is the variety of food on offer. However being a location surrounded by water, naturally enough sea food of one form or another tends to predominate and many restaurants feature outside their premises a tray of freshly (well hopefully freshly anyway) caught fish to choose from. Pick what you fancy and they’ll cook it for you.
The third point needed to be stated here is that we were not on a gourmet trip. Eating out was a byproduct of our various trips out, not the reason for any. Therefore we did not go in search of anywhere special to eat, even when just wandering about we ended up chosing a place purely on look (did it look pleasant and welcoming and importantly was anyone else eating there – I never like to be the only customer in a restaurant).
So with only a couple of exceptions, mostly we did not even take note of the name of the restaurant we ate at.
Therefore these notes are not meant to be restaurant reviews, just a blow by blow (or meal by meal) look at where we chose and what we ate.
So, Night 1 and a small, Scandinavian owned I think judging from the flag outside in the middle of the main street just of Karon beach.
Although the aforementioned tray of fish was on offer outside, we chose to select from the menu, and a good menu it was.
We selected several Thai food dishes including some fish and a carafe of the house white wine to wash it down with.
The meal was excellent, and we allowed ourselves one of their frozen desserts to finish it off with, to total bill coming for two to just over 1,000 Baht.
Breakfasts were all taken at our hotel, The Karon Princess on Karon Beach Road.
A self service buffet offering a selection of Thai or Western breakfast items and a chef stood behind a gas stove, frying pan in hand, waiting to provide whatever kind of egg was desired.
I chose an omelette complete with all the offerings, chopped ham, onions, etc and was impressed with the cooking style, gradually turning the omelette by a process of gripping the pan with one hand and then causing the mix to roll over by hitting his wrist with his other hand. Very effective but must have left him with a sore wrist by the end of the day.
Lunch on Day 2 simply consisted of an ice-cream in Phuket town, but quite an ice-cream.
Dinner that night was taken at another restaurant in Karon, this time along the road at the opposite end of the beach. Again chosen by the same process as before but only after sitting down did we realise it was actually attached to a hotel.
However we did not change our minds but perhaps with hindsight we should have.
Not that there was anything actually wrong with the meal, just that firstly the menu was quite limited and secondly the items ordered (in my case, rock lobster) came in less than substantial quantities. The accompanying house white wine was also not as good as the previous evening’s. And the total bill was a tad more at around 1,300 Baht for two.
Day 3 was our first boat trip complete with inclusive lunch at a beach side restaurant on Phi Phi Don island.
This was a serve yourself buffet laid out along the top of a Thai longboat with on one side, salads and sweets and on the other side several Thai dishes including a large fish from which bits had to be extracted.
Although not able to get much off the fish ,nevertheless it all added up to a good lunch and a plate of fresh sliced fruit (watermelon and pineapple) adequately finished it off.
For that night as reported elsewhere we took ourselves over to Patong beach and generally wished we hadn’t bothered. However we, by the usual process, end up at a very pleasant restaurant (the Tantawan, I think) at the North end of the beach road, where I once again ordered the rock lobster, this time receiving a more than substantial and really tasty quantity.
Again the house white wine accompanied the meal, probably the best we had tasted and we allowed ourselves a couple of their special cocktails to finish. Total bill around 1,500 Baht but we felt better value for that than the previous night.
Day 4 was our tour round the island with our only deliberate choice of eating venue, being intrigued by the look in a brochure of The Green Man pub, I decided that being a Sunday, a traditional British Sunday lunch in a traditional British pub seemed in order.
And we were not disappointed although the roast lamb I chose came a little too cut up for my preference, it was nevertheless very tasty as were the accompanying roast potatoes and vegetables (just like down at the Goose and Firkin). A pint of by Thai standards excellent draught Guinness helped wash it all down. Cost for two, just under 1,000 Baht. Pattaya can do the same meal for less but not in the same surroundings.
Not being in need of a large meal that evening we instead dined at our hotel choosing a three course set Thai meal from a menu offering a choice of 3 different mixes.
A good value meal with the only flaw being the usual Thai inability to understand that a starter course comes before the main course and not at the same time. Nevertheless the total price including a glass of wine each was only around 600 Baht.
Our second boat trip again included a lunch at a beach resort, this time the Ao Nang Resort on the beach of the same name at Krabi.
This time it was waitress service with around 6 of us seated round each table onto which were placed 4 large dishes offering a selection of Thai foods to pass round between us. A bowl of Tom Yam Kung (spicy Thai seafood soup) was also given to each of us and to finish with two plates of an assortment of fruits were placed on the table again for us to help ourselves from.
This was an excellent meal, especially considering that it was included in the price of the trip. The impression was however that this was a very upmarket resort and I would expect normal meals there not to be cheap.
For our final evening meal, again not in need of a huge amount and also being very tired and with an early start the next day, we simply walked down the small Soi (side street) round the corner from the hotel and after passing a few deserted restaurants, selected the first one we came to which actually appeared to have customers.
A quite extensive menu was offered although my first choice of starter (honeyed chicken) turned out not to be available. My replacement choice, crabmeat cocktail also turned out to be something of a mistake as it consisted of a dish of chopped salad with 1000 island dressing and three bits of crab on top which proved almost impossible to extract any meat from.
However the main courses chosen, prawns in spicy sauce and sliced beef more than made up for the disappointing starter as they were excellent, if a little on the warm side, not that I had any problem but my Thai companion seemed to be giving off steam afterwards. A large carafe of a eminently drinkable white wine helped to douse the fire a little. At a total cost of around 600 Baht this was probably our best value meal of the holiday.
And that’s our rough guide to eating in Phuket
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