Fifteen restaurants, from Blue Elephant and PRU to Old Town's shophouse kitchens, the seafood rafts on the east coast and the cliffside dining rooms at Kalim.
Blue Elephant and PRU lead this list, with One Chun and Raya next, then L'Arôme by the Sea and The Charm. The chooser below sorts all fifteen by the kind of meal you're after, and the table has each one's area, cuisine, price and MICHELIN status.
Most of Phuket's best cooking is in Old Town, not on the beaches. Blue Elephant, One Chun, Raya, The Charm, Tu Kab Khao and Go Benz all sit in the Old Town grid, and Ton Mayom is just north of town. The east coast does seafood on the water at Laem Hin and on the Kruvit raft. On the west coast, L'Arôme and Baan Rim Pa share the cliff at Kalim above Patong, Suay is at Choeng Thale near Bang Tao, and PRU is at the Trisara resort.
Book ahead for PRU, L'Arôme, Dinner in the Sky and Three Monkeys. The Old Town places are casual and a few take cash only, and The Charm and Ton Mayom close on Wednesdays and Go Benz on Mondays.
| If you want | Go to | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Old Town Phuket food | One Chun, Raya, The Charm, Tu Kab Khao | Southern Thai and Peranakan cooking in old houses and shophouses on Thep Krasattri, Dibuk and Phangnga roads |
| Seafood by the sea | Laem Hin Seafood, Kruvit Raft | East-coast seafood over the water, with the raft five minutes out by longtail from Laem Hin |
| MICHELIN fine dining | PRU, L'Arôme by the Sea | PRU holds Phuket's only MICHELIN star, and L'Arôme is in the guide with an ocean view at Kalim |
| Cheap local food | Go Benz, Ton Mayom | Bib Gourmands in the MICHELIN Guide's cheapest price band, rice porridge until 01:30 and Phuket town classics by day |
| A big-occasion dinner | Blue Elephant, Dinner in the Sky, Three Monkeys | A set menu in a former governor's mansion, a table 50 meters above Karon, or seats in the rainforest canopy |
| Dinner near the west-coast beaches | L'Arôme and Baan Rim Pa (Patong), Suay (Bang Tao), Dinner in the Sky (Karon) | The picks you can reach without the drive into Phuket Town |
| Restaurant | Area | Cuisine | Price | MICHELIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Elephant | Old Town | Phuket, Thai and Peranakan | ฿฿฿ | Not in the guide |
| PRU | Choeng Thale (Trisara) | Tasting menu | ฿฿฿฿ | One star |
| One Chun | Old Town | Southern Thai | ฿฿ | Bib Gourmand |
| Raya | Old Town | Southern Thai | ฿฿฿ | Not in the guide |
| L'Arôme by the Sea | Kalim, Patong | Contemporary French | ฿฿฿฿ | Listed |
| The Charm | Old Town | Peranakan southern Thai | ฿฿ | Bib Gourmand |
| Go Benz | Old Town | Rice porridge | ฿ | Bib Gourmand |
| Tu Kab Khao | Old Town | Phuket | ฿฿ | Not in the guide |
| Laem Hin Seafood | Laem Hin, east coast | Seafood | ฿฿ | Not in the guide |
| Baan Rim Pa | Kalim, Patong | Royal Thai | Not published | Not in the guide |
| Kruvit Raft | Off Laem Hin, east coast | Seafood | ฿฿ | Listed |
| Suay | Choeng Thale, near Bang Tao | Contemporary Thai | ฿฿ | Listed |
| Ton Mayom | Ratsada, north of Phuket Town | Southern Thai | ฿ | Bib Gourmand |
| Three Monkeys | Wichit (Hanuman World) | Thai and fusion | ฿฿฿ | Not in the guide |
| Dinner in the Sky | Karon | Three-course set menu | ฿1,900–4,900 a person | Not in the guide |
Phuket cooking in a Sino-European mansion on Krabi Road in Old Town, once the governor's residence, with a Phuket Menu that mixes Thai, Chinese and Peranakan dishes. Open daily from 11:30, and the cooking school runs here too.
Phuket's only Michelin-starred restaurant, inside the Trisara resort at Choeng Thale, with a tasting menu built on its own farm and local produce. Dinner Tuesday to Saturday, lunch on Fridays and Saturdays, and booking is essential.
Southern Thai cooking with a Bib Gourmand in a 19th-century building on Thep Krasattri Road in Old Town. Order the crab meat in yellow curry with rice noodles and the moo hong pork belly. Cash only, and go early for lunch.
Where to stay
My pick at each price level in Phuket, going by Google's hotel class. Hotels from my ranked list of the 10 best come first, then the best-reviewed. Each button opens the hotel on Booking.com with your dates filled in.
#1Luxury · 5-star
Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket4.7 (6,964 reviews)
Upscale beachfront resort on Karon Beach with a water park, spa, fine dining, and famously warm staff.
Check rates
Southern Thai cooking with real chili heat in an old wooden house on Dibuk Road in Old Town, with no air-conditioning and no fuss. The moo hong, slow-braised pork belly, is the dish to order.
Contemporary French fine dining with an ocean view at Kalim, the north end of Patong, and listed in the MICHELIN Guide. The Vue Sur La Mer set menu is the celebration dinner, with a shorter Menu Découverte too. Open 16:00 to 23:00.
Peranakan southern Thai cooking with a Bib Gourmand on Dibuk Road in Old Town, among wood furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Try the deep-fried spare ribs with house-made oyster sauce. Open 11:00 to 21:00, closed Wednesdays.
Late-night rice porridge with crispy pork on Krabi Road in Old Town, and a Bib Gourmand. Arrive at opening and take any free seat. Open 17:00 to 01:30, closed Mondays, cash only.
Phuket cooking in a restored century-old shophouse in Old Town, and the crab fried rice is what people come back for.
An open-air seafood restaurant on the water at Laem Hin on the east coast, with live tanks, plastic chairs and fair prices. Keep the order simple and let them cook what's in the tanks. Open 10:00 to 21:00.
Royal Thai cooking in teak Thai houses on the cliff at Kalim, north of Patong, with an Andaman Sea view from every table and a pianist every night. Open from noon to 23:00.
A wooden seafood raft near Ko Maphrao off the east coast, five minutes by longtail from Laem Hin, and listed in the MICHELIN Guide. Order the sea bass and the soft-shell crab with chili and garlic. Open 10:00 to 22:00, booked by phone.
Chef Tammasak's contemporary Thai restaurant in Baan Wana Park at Choeng Thale, near Bang Tao, listed in the MICHELIN Guide. The grilled lemongrass lamb chops with papaya salsa are the signature. Dinner nightly from 16:00.
A Bib Gourmand southern Thai eatery under an old mayom tree on Thep Krasattri Road, north of Phuket Town, cooking Phuket town classics. Try the deep-fried local fish under a fragrant curry paste. Open 09:00 to 20:00, closed Wednesdays.
A jungle restaurant and bar inside Hanuman World at Wichit, with seating at different heights in the rainforest canopy and southern Thai dishes with Western and Japanese touches. Open 10:00 to 01:00, and book ahead on its website.
A three-course dinner at a table lifted 50 meters above Karon, with a seafood, meat or Thai menu. The 17:30 sunset flight costs ฿4,900 a person and the 19:30 dinner ฿3,900, booked online in advance.
Blue Elephant in Old Town and PRU at Trisara, Phuket's only MICHELIN-starred restaurant, are the two I'd book first. For local southern Thai food at local prices, One Chun and Raya in Old Town.
Yes. PRU at Trisara holds Phuket's one MICHELIN star, and the guide gives Bib Gourmands to local places including One Chun, The Charm, Go Benz and Ton Mayom on this list, plus Mor Mu Dong and Naam Yoi. L'Arôme by the Sea, the Kruvit raft and Suay are in the guide without a distinction.
In Phuket Town more than at the beaches. One Chun, Raya and Tu Kab Khao cook the island's southern Thai and Peranakan dishes in Old Town, Go Benz serves rice porridge until 01:30, and Ton Mayom, just north of town, cooks Phuket town classics in the MICHELIN Guide's cheapest price band.
It doesn't have to be. The site's Phuket costs figures put a street-food dish at about ฿60 and a restaurant meal at about ฿300 a person. Go Benz and Ton Mayom sit in the MICHELIN Guide's cheapest band, and PRU, L'Arôme and Dinner in the Sky, where dinner costs ฿3,900 to ฿4,900 a person, are the splurges.
Southern Thai and Peranakan cooking, the mix of Thai, Chinese and Malay food that grew up in Old Town. Look for moo hong, braised pork belly, at One Chun and Raya, crab meat in yellow curry with rice noodles at One Chun, and fresh seafood on the east coast.
On the east coast. Laem Hin Seafood sits on the water at Laem Hin, and the Kruvit raft is five minutes out by longtail near Ko Maphrao, with sea bass two ways and soft-shell crab with chili and garlic.
L'Arôme by the Sea and Baan Rim Pa look out over the Andaman Sea from the cliff at Kalim, north of Patong, and Dinner in the Sky lifts the table 50 meters above Karon. For a view across the water at lunch, take the longtail out to the Kruvit raft.
