Phuket Thai Food Guide
Thai food is one of the best reasons to visit Phuket. The island’s cuisine blends southern Thai traditions with Chinese, Malay, and Indian influences, creating flavours you won’t find anywhere else in Thailand.
Local Restaurant
Find local restaurants in Phuket with guides to authentic Thai dining, noodle shops, and hidden gems. Explore places for affordable meals with sea views and local dishes.
Tatum Timsum (ตาตั้มติ่มซำ)
We recently discovered Tatum Timsum (ตาตั้มติ่มซำ), a small breakfast spot on Wichit Songkhram Road in Phuket Town. The sign says “Since 2544,” which means they’ve been around since 2001.
O Tao Si Yaek Jui Tui
O Tao Si Yaek Jui Tui sits right at one of the busiest intersections in Phuket Town, next to the famous Jui Tui Shrine. Finding the place is easy. Stopping to eat there is the tricky part.
Chuan Heang Dim Sum Restaurant
Chuan Heang is a locally famous dim sum restaurant located in Phuket Town that has been serving traditional breakfast fare for over 100 years. This historic establishment represents one of Phuket’s most enduring culinary traditions and is considered arguably the oldest breakfast restaurant on the island.
Pink Boat Restaurant
Pink Boat is a small seaside restaurant on Phuket’s east coast, located just before the well-known Laem Hin Seafood restaurant. This casual spot offers southern Thai kanom jeen noodles with generous portions of fresh veggies and a panoramic sea view, all at wallet-friendly prices.
Best Local Thai Restaurants in Phuket Old Town
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 hiddhen gems in almost ever street around.
Mae Ting Kanom Jeen
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
Lertrod Kitchen
Discover Lertrod Kitchen near Phuket Airport, a Michelin-listed restaurant serving authentic Southern Thai cuisine in air-conditioned comfort just 5 minutes from the terminal.
Mook Manee Restaurant
Mook Manee is one of the many restaurants that show Rawai Beach’s massive transformation from a relatively unknown fishing village to a hungry tourist dining magnet.
Kluay Mai Thai Restaurant
We heard about Kluay Mai Thai from local chefs and Michelin‑starred friends, so we booked, pre‑ordered, and drove to Chalong. The GPS ended in a quiet lane where a small Thai house sat behind trees.
Ko Tee Sangkasi Restaurant
Ko Tee Sangkasi, listed in the Michelin Guide for Phuket, is a small restaurant on the outskirts of Phuket Town. The place has a red‑brown zinc roof, plastic chairs, and Pepsi‑Cola table covers, as is often the case in local restaurants. It’s always busy because the food is simple and really good.
Jok Samui Restaurant
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.
Ekachai Kai Ob Restaurant
Ekachai Kai Ob is the kind of local restaurant people often recommend when you ask where to find good Thai food in Phuket Town. Located right along a busy roadside, it might not look like much from the outside, but the tables are always full by dinner time.
Krua Praya Phuket
Krua Praya Phuket Restaurant is a hidden gem that offers an authentic Southern Thai dining experience. Nestled in a beautiful garden setting under the shade of small trees, this restaurant provides a casual yet charming open-air atmosphere.
Go La Hokkien Fried Noodles
Go La is a small noodle shop on Kra Road in Phuket Town, away from the tourist streets. I’ve been going for years. It’s been in the same family since the early 1900s, now run by the third generation.
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Southern Thai food is a fiery fusion of flavours. We use a lot of turmeric, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and of course, an abundance of chillies that will make your taste buds scream
South Karon Roadside Restaurants
Just before reaching the hill that leads to Kata Beach, visitors can see a line of small seafood restaurants. The fresh seafood is kept on ice in front of the restaurants and you can pick what you want them to cook, or choose and Thai dish directly from their menu. It’s quite cheap and has a fun local feel to it.
Seafood Restaurants near the Beach in Karon
For seafood or Thai food, you can choose one of the many small restaurants near the beach, and by the lake at the north end of Karon. They are relatively cheap, and while they are not serving haute cuisine, they have a unique exotic charm and a beach view.
Royros Restaurant
Royros is a lively local restaurant located along the roadside of Ya Nui Beach in Phuket. With its large outdoor seating area shaded by tall trees, it’s an excellent spot to enjoy a meal or a drink after activities like swimming, snorkelling, kayaking, or relaxing on the beautiful beach
Ya Nui Restaurant
There are two or three restaurants around, which also rent basic bungalows. One is called Ya Nui Restaurant, and it’s just across the street from the beach, set in the welcome shade of tall trees; it is a perfect place for lunch. They serve excellent Thai food at the right price, so don’t hesitate.
Star Mountain Sunset Restaurant
Star Mountain Sunset Restaurant is another tiny open-air restaurant where we occasionally stop for the sweeping views of the bay of Karon below. The cafe is located just before arriving at the Big Buddha and serves drinks and simple Thai food.
Chuan Chim Restaurant
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.
Mee Jirayuwat
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.
Cue Bar 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.
Khum Kathu Mookata in Kathu
Khum Kathu is a popular mookata restaurant with a unique location by a small lake. In addition to the relaxing view, the open air allows a cool breeze to flow through the dining area.
Krua Kao Kuk
Krua Kao Kuk is a hidden gem on the outskirts of Phuket Town, praised for its simple and delicious southern Thai cuisine. Founded by a Peranakan family in 1995, it’s a favourite among locals for fresh seafood dishes, vegetables with ginger, and classic Thai comfort food like omelettes and pork belly.
Kha Moo Boran
Kha Mu Boran is a very discreet and modest restaurant at a busy intersection of Kathu. It is easily missed as you drive by and not easy to park, but when you know the place, it is worth it for a delicious casual lunch.
Salaloy Seafood
Salaloy Seafood Restaurant in Phuket is located on Rawai Beach, in the very south of Phuket. Divided into two parts on each side of the busy beachfront road, the kitchen and main dining room are on one side and a sidewalk by the ocean and under the tall trees.
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.
Mee Sapam Phuket
Mee Sapam is a famous 50-year-old restaurant located on the outskirts of Phuket Town. It is owned by a local Phuketian, Khun Yai Chian, and is listed in the Phuket Michelin Guide.
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.
Green Heart Garden Kata Beach
Green Heart Garden is a superb hidden restaurant perched high on the hills above Kata Beach and blessed with incredible panoramic views of the Andaman Sea.
Pa Mai Kanom Jeen in Phuket Town
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.
Krua Pai Lin Restaurant
Krua Pai Lin Restaurant (Sapphire) is a good and real local restaurant just before reaching the Kathu Waterfalls in Kathu
Khao Tom Thanon Di Buk Phuket Town
Khao Tom Thanon Di Buk is a local restaurant famous for its morning rice porridge and noodle soup, located on Phang Nga Road in the back of Phuket Town, and only open from 6 in the morning to 12 pm. The restaurant has been listed three years in a row in the Michelin Guide for Thailand.
We Camping Phuket
We Camping Phuket is a local restaurant in Kathu, with a fun camping decor and a vast outdoor sitting area. Despite the name, the place is not related to camping at all.
Somtam Puma 2 Kathu (ส้มตำปูม้า 2)
Somtam Puma 2 Kathu is another hidden local restaurant we always enjoy in Kathu. The food is excellent and truly local, the team is great, it’s cheap, and the surroundings are fun. You can sit at normal tables, or one of those ‘salas’ most tourists find rather uncomfortable.
Red Clam Restaurant in Kathu (Hoi Pai Daeng)
Red Clam in Kathu, or Hoi Pai Daeng in Thai, is a local restaurant serving good and simple Thai food, perfect for sharing with your friends at the end of the day, the way Thai food is best enjoyed. The restaurant is modest, but the setting is fun, with a vast open-air garden with open tables and those typical bamboo huts so popular in Thai restaurants. In case of rain, there is also a large covered area in the back.
Tasak Seafood Restaurant
Tasak Seafood is a modest but excellent local restaurant serving inexpensive seafood in a beautiful seaside location in Paklok.
Wanlamun Phuket – 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.
Khrua Ohm Restaurant Phuket
Krua Ohm is a small and modest local Thai restaurant in Kathu with a mention on the famous Michelin Guide for two consecutive years.
Ta Tuay Restaurant in Phuket
Ta Tuay is a little-known local restaurant, hidden not far from the Sarasin Bridge in the very north of Phuket, near Sai Kaew Beach. Ta Tuay serves excellent local food and dishes from Phuket.
Jadjan by Ko Daeng
Jadjan is an excellent local Thai restaurant hidden on the outskirts of Phuket Town. Not many travellers know that a former chef from a 5-star hotel in Bangkok runs it.
Jongjit Kitchen Kathu in Phuket
Jongjit Kitchen in Kathu is proof that a restaurant doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive to be excellent, and even receive a Michelin Plate for fresh ingredients, carefully prepared. The restaurant is local and modest, the prices are low and the food served is excellent and truly local, making it a good culinary experience while in Phuket.
Kanom Jeen Saphan Hin in Phuket Town
Kanom Jeen Saphan Hin is a long time favourite restaurant in Phuket Town where mostly locals come for a late breakfast, lunch or even dinner.
Hong Khao Tom Pla Restaurant
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’.
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Southern Thai food is a treat for those who love seafood and want to explore intense and spicy flavours.
Ketho Coffee & Kitchen Dim Sum Restaurant
Ketho Coffee & Kitchen is a dim sum restaurant very popular with locals for their breakfast, mostly for their dim sums but also for their soups and rice porridge.
Noodle Soup in Phuket (Kuey Tiaow)
Noodle soup is everywhere in Phuket (‘Kuey Tiaow’ in Thai), and while it’s not precisely Thai food, it is entirely part of everyday life in Thailand. Small restaurants and carts will serve it on almost every street at any time of the day and night, not only for lunch, dinner and even breakfast.
Chom Chan Restaurant
Chom Chan is an excellent Thai restaurant that serves a great selection of Phuket dishes and local specialities. It’s a cosy small house with a garden almost hidden on the outskirts of Phuket Town and can easily be missed when driving by.
Nom Jeen Phuket
Nom Jeen Phuket is a beautiful and relaxing new local restaurant serving kanom jeen on the outskirt of Phuket Town. There are quite a few kanom jeen shops around the island but this one feels very relaxed and trendy in a casual young fashion, and yet, it’s not expensive!
Mae Tan’s House
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!