Rawai Seafood Market

Rawai Seafood Market is a row of open-air stalls on the seafront road at Rawai, on Phuket's southern tip, where the sea-gypsy fishing community sells the morning's catch by the kilo — tiger prawns, blue crab, squid, snapper, grouper, mussels and, in season, lobster — from beds of ice with the prices chalked on boards. What makes it Phuket's best seafood dinner is what happens next: you carry your bag across the road to any of the restaurants opposite, choose how you want it cooked — grilled, steamed with lime and chilli, fried with garlic and pepper, or in a curry — and pay a cooking fee of roughly ฿100 per kilo on top of rice, vegetables and drinks. The seafood and the cooking are priced separately, so it is far cheaper and far more transparent than a beach restaurant's menu. The stalls open early in the morning, when the fish is freshest and the buyers are Thai; the restaurants serve from late morning until about 21:00–22:00, and the best evening is a table on the water after sunset at Promthep Cape, ten minutes down the coast. Expect ฿800–1,500 per kilo for large prawns, ฿300–500 for a whole fish, and haggle a little — a small discount is normal, a large one is not. Good to know: the market side is cash only. Ask the stall to weigh in front of you and confirm the price before it is bagged. Two adults eat very well for ฿800–1,200 including the cooking fee and drinks. Rawai is 20 minutes from Kata by Grab and 10 from Nai Harn; the Phuket Smart Bus ends its route here.