Phuket city, which is locally still called Phuket Town, is becoming increasingly popular, perfect for an exploration day away from the beach and to please selfies and Instagram enthusiasts. The architecture in the old town is beautiful, and many streets have been renovated and repainted colourfully.
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.
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.
While most tourists rush to the renovated old Phuket Town, mostly located around Thalang Road, we start to prefer the more authentic west side of Phuket Town, which is mostly around Phuket Town Central Market, Ranong Road and Krabi Road
Sam Sae Chu Hut Chinese Shrine is a modest and discreet Chinese shrine located near the intersection of Khaw Sim Bee Road and Mae Luan Road, on the way up to Khao Rang Hill in Phuket Town; opened in May 2002.
Da Moreno @ Town is an excellent Italian restaurant and Pizzeria located on Yaowarat Road in the heart of old Phuket Town. Da Moreno @ Town is the fourth and latest branch of the very popular Da Moreno family of restaurants. The original one was in Patong, the second in Kathu and the third one in Koh Kaew.
Maimorn Forest is a locally well-known Thai restaurant, hidden from view in Phuket Town, next to Bus Terminal 1. The place has been open for decades and was recently renovated. The new layout is beautiful, with a bit of a forest theme and an artificial waterfall. The place is immense and you can choose which part of the restaurant you want to sit in.
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.
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.
Hok Nguan Kong Shrine is a Chinese temple near the Surin Clock Circle in Phuket Town, founded more than 80 years ago by the Chinese-Thai community in Phuket. Hok Nguan Kong Shrine’s design features many traditional Chinese motifs, including columns wrapped with large dragon images, wall murals with tigers, and bright red and yellow colours throughout
Bang Neow Shrine in Phuket Town is one of Phuket’s oldest and most revered Chinese shrines. It’s one of the main shrines taking part in the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival It is a place of worship and merit-making activity for the local Chinese-Thai community throughout the year.
Lim Hu Tai Su is a Chinese Taoist shrine on the north side of Phuket Town, also known as Sam Kong Shrine, for the neighbourhood in which it’s found. Though not as well known by visitors as larger Chinese shrines like Jui Tui Shrine in Phuket’s Old Town area, Sam Kong Shrine is a revered place of worship for the local community. It’s become a key part of the Phuket Vegetarian Festival when it hosts several ceremonies and a procession during the annual 9-day event.
Esan Bar, despite calling itself a bar, is an excellent and affordable Thai restaurant serving Isan food from the northeast of Thailand. The restaurant sits by the busy roadside on the outskirts of Phuket town,
O Cha Rot is an unassuming local restaurant, but it serves one of the best noodle soups in Phuket Town, so good that it made it to the Michelin Guide in Phuket. The restaurant has no decoration whatsoever, white wall, stainless cooking station and stainless tables.
The Library Phuket is unassuming from the outside; it looks like an anonymous old-fashioned library and is always empty of guests.
Crust Restaurant is an excellent Italian venue located on the outskirts of Phuket Town. The food is very well priced and so good that the restaurant was mentioned in the Michelin Guide for Phuket several years in a row. The restaurant is set in a beautiful and colourful Sino-Portuguese shophouse, not far from Central Festival Phuket
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.
Day & Night of Phuket on Dibuk Road has always stood out for its striking design and buzzing atmosphere, but on our most recent visit, it was the food that really impressed.
The Memory at On On Hotel is undoubtedly the most iconic and best-known heritage hotel on Phuket Island, and this is for a few reasons. Built in 1927 and called Un Un Hotel at the time, the hotel possesses a strong Sino-Portuguese personality in a very central location on Phang Nga Road, the heart of Phuket Old Town.
Grind Cafe Phuket at Junkyard Theatre is a surprisingly beautiful restaurant and art gallery hidden on the busy by-pass road near Phuket Town. Chances are, you probably drove in front of it and didn’t know that such a special place existed, and we didn’t know either! The cafe has long been known as the Underwood Factory but only started to get noticed recently.
