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Best Local Thai Restaurants in Phuket Old Town

Local Thai Food Phuket Old Town Complete Guide

Phuket Old Town is surprisingly packed with great local Thai food. The best places cluster along Thalang, Dibuk, Phang Nga and Yaowarat roads, but you will find hidden gems in almost every street around.

So to make things simple, this guide splits the choices into two parts: Thai restaurants listed in the Michelin Guide, and the others. The Michelin picks show careful cooking and regional recipes. The rest are long-time local favourites where flavours are bold and prices are fair. Expect classics like crab curry, moo hong pork, noodles and fresh seafood. Use this page to plan a tasty walk across Old Phuket Town and find the spots locals return to again and again.

Hong Khao Tom Pla Restaurant

Hong Khao Tom Pla Restaurant in Phuket Town
Hong Khao Tom Pla is a discreet and long-established restaurant in Phuket Town, named after its famous fish rice porridge speciality. Behind this modest appearance is a little gem, so good that the Michelin Guide awarded them a 'Bib Gourmand', which is a sign of good quality and good value cooking ...

Ko Ang Seafood

Ko Ang Seafood Phuket
Ko Ang Seafood is a local restaurant serving excellent seafood on the east side of Phuket Town. Ko Ang has been around for a long time and started as a modest shop with no decoration and a zinc roof. But seafood lovers always find the right places (and maybe we recommended it a lot too), and Ko Ang Seafood is now a bright restaurant and even added Chinese decoration ...

Roti Taew Nam

Roti Thaew Nam in Phuket Town
Roti Taew Nam is one of those rare places in Phuket Town that never seems to change. Set right at the entrance of the Sunday Walking Street Market on Thalang Road, this tiny shop has been around for more than 70 years—and it feels like time stood still inside ...

Chuan Chim Restaurant

Chuan Chim Restaurant in Phuket Town
A small local restaurant on Montri Road in Phuket Town, where most jewellery shops are. Chuan Chim is quite large, simple and spotlessly clean. The food is cheap and excellent. We loved the fried basil with minced pork or chicken and the seafood salad ...

Go Benz Phuket

Go Benz Phuket restaurant
Go Benz Phuket has been one of Phuket's most popular local restaurants for over 15 years. Go Benz served a relatively small choice of noodle soups and rice porridge, and by keeping it focused, they became very good at preparing them ...

Raya Restaurant

Raya Restaurant in Phuket Town
Raya Restaurant is a unique restaurant combining all the right ingredients to make it a perfect local experience. They serve great food in a superb setting in an old Thai house kept just the way it has always been, with no excessive renovation but well maintained ...

Rong Kopi Restaurant

Rong Kopi Restaurant in Phuket Town
Rong Kopi (โรงโกปี๊) is a small, always-busy restaurant tucked beside the Jui Tui Shrine in Phuket Town. It’s the kind of place you might walk past if you’re not paying attention—but once you step inside, it’s hard to forget ...

Thai Mueang Restaurant Phuket

Thai Mueang Restaurant Phuket
Thai Mueang Restaurant is set in an ancient house that is more than 100 years old and has been renovated to make it new and beautiful just next to the Chinpracha House Museum ...

Punte Phuket Local Street Food

Punte Phuket Local Street Food
Punte Phuket is a beautiful food court serving local street food, hidden in the old streets of Phuket town, tucked in a dead-end street off Yaowarat Road ...

Khun Jeed Yod Pak Restaurant

Khun Jeed Yod Pak Restaurant in Phuket Town
Khun Jeed Yod Pak Restaurant is an institution in Phuket Town and one of the best local restaurants on the island. It is open as far as I can remember, which is more than 20 years now. It became famous for a dish Thai people love called radna ...

TOH DAENG at Phuket Old Town

TOH DAENG at Phuket Old Town
Toh Daeng at Phuket Old Town is the new sister restaurant of the main Toh Daeng, which sits inside the heritage Baan Ar Jor mansion up at Mai Khao Beach. The restaurant stands out in that same dark red tone as the original, with matching red tables, no surprise since "Toh Daeng" means "Red Table." ...

Wanlamun Phuket

Wanlamun Sweet Shop in Phuket Town
Wanlamun is the most popular Thai sweets and Thai desserts restaurant in Phuket Town. The restaurant has been open for decades and serves an astonishingly large choice of local sweets you probably didn't even know existed ...

Go La Hokkien Fried Noodles

Go La Hokkien Fried Noodles
Go La Restaurant is a tiny local restaurant located at 11 Kra Road in Phuket Town, away from the busy centre and a bit hard to find. This third-generation family-run restaurant is renowned for its authentic Hokkien-style fried noodles ...

Kopitiam by Wilai

Kopitiam by Wilai Restaurant in Phuket Town
Kopitiam by Wilai is a recently renovated restaurant serves classic Thai food in an old-style Chinese shop on the most popular street in Phuket Town. Thalang Road changed from just an old busy street to a full-scale tourist attraction, bars and restaurants have started to appear like flies on honey ...

Pa Mai Kanom Jeen in Phuket Town

Kanom Jeen in Phuket
Pa Mai Kanom Jeen (ขนมจีนป้ามัย) is a modest local Thai restaurant located at the intersection of Dibuk Road and Satun Road, just next to the famous Blue Elephant Restaurant in Old Phuket Town. Pa Mai has been a popular local place for decades ...

Som Chit Hokkien Noodle Soup

Som Chit Hokkien Noodle Soup Phuket
Som Chit Restaurant is famous for its delicious Hokkien Noodles Soup, and people from Bangkok who know about it would stop here for lunch when they visit Phuket Town ...

Jok Samui Restaurant

Jok Samui in Phuket Town
Jok Samui Restaurant sits near the Jui Tui Temple intersection where Ranong Road meets Pattiphat Road in Phuket Town. The small shophouse is old and packed with character. Faded green tiles, humming ceiling fans, and two stainless steel tables set the scene for bowls of comfort that draw a crowd each night ...

Mee Jirayuwat

Mee Jirayuwat Phuket
This local restaurant appeared in a famous Korean Magazine, and many customers are now Korean. Their speciality is a Seafood Hokkien noodle soup. Order two; you won’t regret it. Choose between ‘Hokkien Mee’, a fat round yellow noodle, or ‘Ba Mee’, a thin egg noodle. The noodles can be served dry or ‘Hang’ (soup on the side). They are located on Phang Nga Road in Phuket Town ...

Kanta Phuket Restaurant

Kanta Phuket Restaurant at On On Hotel in Old Phuket Town
Kanta Phuket is a new restaurant serving Modern Peranakan Cuisine at The Memory at On On Hotel on Phang Nga Road, in the heart of Old Phuket Town, an area already known for its colourful Sino-Portuguese shophouses and lively street art ...

Natural Restaurant Phuket (Tamachart Restaurant)

Phuket Natural Restaurant in Phuket Town
Natural Restaurant Phuket looks at first a bit confusing. Locally known as 'Tamachart Restaurant' it has been a long-time favourite for many Thai and expats ...

Ko Yoon Restaurant

Ko Yoon Hokkien Noodles
Ko Yoon Restaurant is a very small and discreet place serving amazing Hokkien Noodles. If you happen to visit Phuket Town, chances are you walked passed it without noticing it, it looks like any other anonymous local hole-in-the-wall restaurant. But Ko Yoon has prepared those delicious big yellow noodles for decades and locals know how good they are ...

Mee Ko Lan

Mee Ko Lan Restaurant in Phuket Town
Mee Ko Lan, originally called Mee Lok Tien, is a legendary noodle shop in Phuket that’s been open for more than 100 years. The story of these noodles began with Ko Lan’s teacher, a Cantonese immigrant who settled in Phuket ...

Piset Restaurant Phuket

Piset Restaurant Phuket
Piset Restaurant is a fun place on Yaowarat Road in the old Phuket town that has been very popular with the young local crowd for serving creative Thai food for many years. The restaurant is run by Khun Praew, a famous local influencer and a member of one of the longest-established families in Phuket ...

Kopi de Phuket

Kopi de Phuket
Kopi de Phuket, a very small restaurant, has made its name in Phuket Town for a while. It looks strangely familiar and serves some really typical Phuket dishes in an eclectic decor, but what Kopi de Phuket does best is coffee in Phuket style ...

Lhong Khao

Lhong Khao Restaurant in Phuket Town
Lhong Khao is a charming Thai-Chinese restaurant that perfectly captures the spirit of Phuket Old Town. Located on Phuket Road in the heart of the historic district, this welcoming family-run restaurant has become popular among both locals and tourists looking for authentic flavours in a nice, casual setting ...

Mae Ting Kanom Jeen

Mae Ting Kanom Jeen in Phuket Town
Mae Ting Kanom Jeen is one of Phuket Town's popular breakfast destinations, serving traditional rice noodles with curry (Kanom Jeen) to locals for decade ...

Cue Bar in Phuket Town

Cue Bar Rooftop Bar and restaurant in Phuket Town
Cue Bar is a friendly place to enjoy live music and pool in the Phuket Old Town area on Phang Nga Road. The bar is split into two sections, with its main bar, pool table and stage found on the air-conditioned ground floor space with a sports bar vibe, and an open-air rooftop bar ...

Tantitium Restaurant

Tantitium Restaurant and Spa in Phuket Town
Tantitium is an attractive Thai restaurant on Dibuk Road, part of the historical centre of Phuket Town. The unusual name and the location at the very end of Dibuk Street make Tantitium a little difficult to locate, but if you walk by, your eyes won’t miss it ...

Kaeng Liang Restaurant Phuket

Kaeng Liang Restaurant in Phuket Town
Kaeng Liang Restaurant is a small place in a beautifully decorated old shophouse hidden on Krabi Road in old Phuket Town. The name Kaeng Liang is the name of a traditional spicy shrimp paste soup from central Thailand ...

Dok Bua Vegetarian Restaurant Phuket

Dok Bua Vegetarian Restaurant in Phuket
A vegetarian restaurant in Phuket Town Dok Bua Vegetarian Restaurant is a modern restaurant kept cosy and it is located on the corner of a T-junction in Phuket Town. A beautiful front porch full of colourful plants and a small water fountain catches your eye when you are approaching the restaurant, this makes a comfortable outdoor sitting area with a neat table setup. The interior design also features a modern look with its bright wooden tables and colourful seats, it is dominated by two large wall paintings depicting flowers and greenery. This is an Instagram-worthy setup and décor. On the Dok Bua Vegetarian Restaurant menu, authentic Thai food options from street food style skewers to more complex curries are up for grabs here. They also have a variety of salads and nutritional dishes; however, the Thai dishes stand out specifically their veganised street cart skewers, which are usually meat-based. Oddly enough they use chicken, fish and pork names for their dishes e.g., "fried pork" and you may be tempted to double-check but rest assured what they refer to as chicken or pork is actually tofu or tempeh, this is a fully vegetarian restaurant. I got up three times and actually ...

Loukthor Vegetarian Restaurant in Phuket Town

Loukthor Vegetarian Restaurant in Phuket Town
Loukthor Vegetarian Restaurant, located near Jui Tui Shrine in Phuket Town, is particularly popular during the famous Phuket Vegetarian Festival. There are a few vegan and vegetarian restaurants on that same Ranong Road, but this one is excellent. They offer cook-to-order dishes such as fried rice and stir-fried noodles ...

Baan 109 Bar and Restaurant in Phuket Town

Baan 109 Bar and Restaurant in Phuket Town
Baan 109 is a fun vintage looking restaurant as well as a casual bar on the popular Thalang Road, the historical street of Old Phuket Town where the famous Sunday Walking Street Market is held every weekend. The name 'Baan' means house and the number 109 is the street number ...

Kota Khao Mun Kai – Chicken Rice Restaurant in Phuket Town

Chicken Rice Kota Khao Mun Kai Phuket
Kota Khao Mun Kai is an excellent and famous Chicken Rice restaurant in Phuket Town. Everyone in Phuket knows this place, expats of locals. It has been open for more than two decades and is still running strong without having changed a thing. That might be why it is still so popular; once you have a simple winning formula, don’t touch it. If you ask a friend if he feels like having chicken rice for lunch, he will probably picture this place ...

Mee Ton Poe Hokkien Noodles in Phuket Town

Mee Ton Poe Hokkien Noodles in Phuket Town
Mee Ton Poe (Mee Ton Poh) has served some of the best-known Hokkien noodles on Phuket island for many years, since 1946 to be precise. It used to be a tiny, modest restaurant at the clock circle in Phuket town ...

Uptown Restaurant in Phuket Town

Uptown Restaurant Phuket Town
Uptown Restaurant in Phuket Town Phuket Uptown Restaurant is not exactly what we would call a 'local restaurant', it's just a little too clean and too westernized to be considered so and a good third of the customers are usually farangs (foreigners). But the food is good, the prices are right and the staff is always friendly. Located just across the road from Novotel Phokeethra, the restaurant is very easy to find, just next to the very large 'Expo Market' which in fact is just a big bazaar. Their menu is very large and well-illustrated, always a plus if you are not familiar with any dish names. The back wall itself is a huge photo menu, which also helps a lot to work up an appetite. We go there once in a while for lunch, a chance to eat something different since the choice is wide and service is (usually) fast. Dishes are really Thai and not westernized, so you might want to remember that when ordering spicy. Last time we went there we had an excellent Ba Mee Tom Yum Kai (yellow noodle soup with chicken), Kuay Teaw Lord (pork, mushrooms and soya beans wrapped in rice sheet) and ...

Jun Phen Isan Restaurant

Jun Phen Isan Restaurant in Phuket Town
Like most of the great restaurants serving excellent good old-fashioned Thai food in Phuket, Jun Phen didn't bother much with the design ...

Map of Local Thai Restaurant in Phuket Old Town

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Willy Thuan

Willy Thuan

Willy Thuan is the founder of Phuket 101. After travelling through 40+ countries and working with Club Med and Expedia, he settled in Phuket in 1994. He shares real travel insights and original photography from across Thailand.View Author posts