Phuket Town Restaurants

Often overlooked as a dining venue, what Phuket City restaurants lack in sophisticated ambiance and award-winning wines they more than make up for in local colour, value and taste.

If Phuket's tourist beaches are the first class cabins of the Titanic, then Phuket City is the steerage. This is where the regular Thai folk eat, drink and live. The food is as authentic as it gets and you will be floored by the fantastic meal you can get here for the price of a cup of coffee at a resort restaurant.

Watermark Bar ∙ Restaurant (Phuket)

241109

Opened 2002, Watermark has become an institution - recent renovations with chic cocktail lounge make a cool & elegant setting, the dining deck with its millionaire’s yachts is one of the truly unique dining locations. Anywhere! Professional, friendly staff & new chefs serve Modern International cuisine with emphasis on quality, creating special dishes using seasonal produce, keeping variety levels high for returning regulars & tourists. Don’t miss this one.

Samkong

This area is the mother lode of delicious Thai food for no more than what you have in your pockets (minus the lint). Yaowarat Road from the edge of old Phuket to the Bypass Road is lined with tiny little restaurants that serve quick and cheap food that can easily equal (or exceed) the food at some of the nicer restaurants near the beaches. By being a little adventurous and peeking into some of the street side stalls you can find some excellent dishes.

One good tactic is go where the Thais go. Thais love food and word of a tasty stand spreads like wildfire. If it's packed, it's probably tasty. You might run into a little difficulty as many of these places don't have menus in English. It's a good idea to memorize the names of some of your favourite dishes but if all else fails, simply point to whatever looks good.

Samkong has a high concentration of Muslims so be on the lookout for fried chicken and Kaao Moek (turmeric-flavoured yellow rice). The kebab vendor in front of the 7-11 next to Idea Bar is especially popular. There are also a few larger restaurants with English menus that cater to foreign visitors as well as local Thais. Try Steak Samkong, Chewy's Steakhouse, Mae Porn or E-Sarn Terrace if you're having language barrier issues.

Radsada Road

For a more upscale experience with nicer ambiance and a wider variety of international foods, check out the area just east of the Song Thaew (local bus) station. This is rapidly becoming the most fashionable area of Phuket City, with numerous specialty shops and several classy and delicious establishments within an easy walk of one another.

For some of the best authentic Italian food around treat yourself to Salvatore's which serves fantastic pizza from it's wood-fired oven. Next door is Anna's, a popular Bangkok chain which has finally made its way to Phuket. For Indian there's Kannasutra, which is a lavishly decorated spot that hosts several parties each month. For a little bit of everything there's The Taste, Indigo Siam and the casual Circle Café all of which have a good mix of Thai and international favourites. And let's not forget the long-time favourite Ka Jok Sii, which becomes a lively dance club after 22:00.

Around Town

Aside from these areas you can find lots of good food at the market near the local bus station, and tucked a short distance away you'll find the uniquely decorated Tammachat, aka the Natural. This is some of the best value and tastiest Thai food going.

Near Robinson's department store there are a few gems such as Uptown, as well as a number of western fast food chains like McDonald's, KFC and The Pizza Company. Central Festival Mall has lots of upscale eateries serving all sorts of international foods, as well as a few familiar favourites.