Explore Thai food in Phuket with guides to local restaurants, street food, and authentic dishes. Discover where to eat classic and regional Thai cuisine on the island.
Wat Kathu, or Kathu temple, is a not very well-known landmark among tourists, but local photographers know how beautiful it is. This Buddhist temple is on the way to Phuket Town and not far from Patong, but because it stands away from the main road, most people don’t even consider visiting it.
Jui Tui Shrine (Kew Ong) is one of the oldest and most important on Phuket Island. It plays a significant role during the famous Phuket Vegetarian Festival, usually held in October and November. The festival dates use the Lunar Calendar, and the festival’s exact dates change every year.
Mae Tan’s House is an excellent local Thai restaurant in Phuket Town. It is slightly away from the old streets of historical Phuket, where the tourist crowd always go for their selfies and therefore addresses more to a local clientele, and that is a good sign!
Krua Maikhao is one of the most underrated local Thai restaurants in Phuket. It’s not fancy, the menu is not long, and lunch at Boon only costs a few baht, but the taste is unique. The restaurant is tiny, hard to spot, and so modest; we probably wouldn’t bother explaining to anyone how to go there.
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.
Laem Sai Seafood is a local restaurant hidden far away on the east coast of Phuket. The restaurant mostly consists of a vast wooden terrace over the sea or the mud, depending on the tide.
Rimpan Seafood is a small but great Phuket local restaurant hidden in plain sight in the north of Phuket Island, near the bridge that connects the island to the mainland. Thousand people drive past Rimpan each day without realising such a great place sits right here.
Wat Doi Thepnimit is a monastic residence with a fantastic panoramic view over Patong beach. You can see its iconic white pagoda from the beach, if you know in which direction to look, of course, it’s pretty tiny.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Kalim Rim Lay Restaurant is a little-known restaurant serving good honest Thai food and seafood at a good price. Best of all for some of you, it is located not far from Patong Beach, just past Kalim Beach. Rim Lay is a very relaxing spot to enjoy lunch or dinner with spectacular sunsets if you are lucky to get one as we did.
Expo Phuket is a very little-known covered bazaar found in Phuket Town, next to the newly renovated Novotel Phokeethra hotel. Expo Phuket is surprisingly vast and modern as it was also renovated recently.
Peang Prai Restaurant (Krua Piang Prai) is an excellent local venue in a green nest next to Bang Pae waterfall. Mostly unknown to tourists because of its remote location, Peang Prai is one of the two great places to have lunch if you happen to be in the area.
Wat Phra Nang Sang, originally known as Wat Takian, was built more than 200 years ago and is one of the oldest Thai temples in Phuket. This unusual temple was built when Thalang was the main city of Phuket Island and even was the scene of a battlefield during the Burma War in 1785.
The Karon Temple Market has grown steadily in popularity in the past years. Because it only occurs twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays), people start to plan their evenings around that event.
The Pad Thai Shop is a tiny restaurant on the side of the back road of Karon Beach. It’s so small and modest; you would drive past it without paying much attention if it wasn’t for its growing reputation and a large yellow signboard that says ‘The Pad Thai Shop’.
Kanom Jeen is a traditional Thai breakfast dish that’s particularly popular in Phuket and southern Thailand. It consists of fresh, thin white rice noodles served cold or at room temperature with a curry of your choice. Common options include fish curry (Nam Ya Pa), beef curry (Kang Nua), chicken curry (Kang Kai), or sweet prawn curry (Kang Nam Prik).
Chillva Market is one of the most popular night markets in Phuket, easy to spot with its colourful shipping containers and lively, youthful crowd. The market is full of local food stalls, small bars, handmade crafts, and trendy fashion shops.
