Discover Local Taste Of Phuket: Your Ultimate Food Adventure
Phuket Restaurants Eating Guide
Recommend the best Phuket restaurants and dishes. These eateries have been popular among Thais for over a decade and will continue to be so, yet most foreigners are clueless of them. Local foods, delicious and reasonable price.
Table of Contents
1. Go Benz (dry) Rice Porridge - street food
If you ask Thai people what the most famous restaurant in Phuket is, I’m sure that most of them will say Go Benz. It’s the most popular classic street food in Phuket old town.
Dry rice porridge served with aromatic soup is the signature menu. I particularly like the soup and the fried garlic. They smell so good and enrich the flavor when mixed with the rice.
The crispy pork is a little too juicy for me, I prefer a less juicy one because it is crunchier. However, many people praise that crispy pork menu, so I still urge you to try it.
I actually ordered crispy pork for a side dish but was disappointed, so I didn’t take the photo haha.
Please be aware that if you come during Thailand’s holiday season, the queue will be extremely long. You may have to wait for up to two hours in line.
The first time, I arrived at about 9 PM and waited about 15 minutes to get a table. And waited another 30 minutes to get my order. It was last year, due to COVID, there were not many tourists yet.
The second time, I arrived at about 6:30 PM and was waiting in line for an hour but barely made it halfway. My girlfriend, she still want to keep waiting, but I insisted on leaving. So we left.
My recommendation is not to come to Go Benz during Thailand’s holiday season. Or come late at night, maybe around 10 PM, when the line is significantly shorter.
- Price per head: 150 – 200 THB
- Operating Hours: Tue – Sun 5:30 PM – 1:00 AM
- Map
2. One Chun - casual dining
This casual dining restaurant served authentic southern food but it’s a bit more expensive than many restaurants I have tried in Phuket, but still reasonable price because of good quality. Furthermore, all foods are delicious.
The dishes are flavorful, especially fried grilled pork neck with chili, pepper and garlic (165 THB), and the stir-fried Malindjo leaves with egg and dried shrimp (165 THB). Both menus are exceptional!
Traditional Phuket-style steamed pork belly (215 THB) is also good. This menu is famous in Phuket, so it becomes a mandatory dish to try once when visiting Phuket.
I ordered only 3 dishes + 1 fried rice because I don’t want to eat too much. There are many more restaurants on my list (and also my girlfriend’s list lol) that I’m going to try today and next few days.
- Price per head: 300-500 THB
- Operating Hours: Daily 11:00 AM – 8:30 PM
- Map
3. Mor Mu Dong - local restaurant
A famous local restaurant that is quite remote from main attractions, about 30 minutes from Phuket Old Town by car.
I arrived before 11 AM, tables were still empty but many were already booked in advance. However, after 30 minutes, every table was occupied, and long queue at noon. So, make sure you come early during the weekend or holiday.
My most favorite dish is Steamed Seabass with Lime and Chilies (480 THB depending on the weight of the seabass). I have eaten this menu hundreds of times in hundreds of restaurants before, but none of them likes Mor Mu Dong’s recipe.
The dish looks different, has a darker soup, and tastes different, but still mainly sour. It’s heavenly delicious! The BEST of the best. A MUST-TRY.
I also love Stir Fried Pork Belly with Salt (110 THB). It’s a simple menu, and because of that, it’s not easy to make the food taste fantastic, yet it’s really good here.
- Price per head: more than 500 THB (if ordered seafood)
- Operating Hours: Daily 10:00 AM – 9:30 PM
- Map
4. Boonrat Dim Sum - Chinese food
A shophouse restaurant that’s located right in the middle of Phuket Old Town. A great choice for breakfast at a fair price. I would like to say it’s cheap but in fact, Dim Sum is served in small portions, so you have to order a lot of dishes.
So, it turns out to be not as cheap as you expected.
I stayed in The Memory at On-On hotel, which is only a few minutes walk to Boonrat Dim Sum. I woke up late and arrived at about 9.15 AM and there were like 10-15 queues. Almost gave up but my girlfriend said WE WILL WAIT…haha
30 minutes later, we finally got a table.
Honestly, Dim Sum is Dim Sum. Most Dim Sum restaurants that offer cheap to mid-range prices are pretty much the same. Good to try a local Dim Sum but the taste is typically average.
I ordered many dishes. Can’t remember each price but ranging between 15-40 THB per plate, including the congee 35 THB only.
- Price per head: 200-250 THB
- Operating Hours: Daily 5:30 AM – 10:30 AM
- Map
5. Hun Dim Sum - Chinese food
Another Dim Sum restaurant lol. We like this Chinese food so we like to try more to compare haha.
This one is in Thalang District. It’s midway between Phuket International Airport and Phuket Old Town.
The taste was average as expected. But Dim Sum is always my favorite, so I’m willing to try it every time I visit different provinces.
But the fact is if you want great Dim Sum in Thailand you must go for higher-tier restaurants.
Anyway, I prefer Hun Dim Sum over Boonrat Dim Sum because Hun offers more menus and is also more comfortable to dine in due to more space and bigger tables.
Each Dim Sum plate cost about 20-40 THB. I also ordered Bak Kut Teh (pork ribs in herb soup 100 THB) and a breakfast set (100 THB).
- Price per head: 200-250 THB
- Operating Hours: 6:00 AM – 1:00 PM
- Map
6. Mee Sapam (Sapam Noodle) - local restaurant
Mee Sapam is one of the most famous noodle restaurants in Phuket that open since 1952. The popular dish is Hokkien style stir-fried egg noodles with seafood.
It’s my first time trying Hokkien noodles and the taste is totally different from Thai noodles. The restaurant offers excellent ingredients at a cheap price. It’s rare to see such a price in Phuket.
The menu has an array of choices, however, the Hokkien dish is a must-try (70 THB). I also ordered many appetizers, pork satay (70 THB), steamed fish ball (80 THB), gian deep fried (25 THB), and a set of deep fried (40 THB).
The set included fried dumplings, fried tofu, fried spring rolls, and Phuket-style fish cakes.
To be honest, I dislike fried dishes, the gian and fish cake. I usually love deep-fried menus, but not these.
I’m not familiar with the flavor or texture. It’s difficult to explain, but they’re just different from what I’m used to eating in Bangkok and other cities. Perhaps these are authentic Phuket recipes.
Anyway, this is only my opinion. Others might love the fried dishes, considering Mee Sapam restaurant is super crowded.
However, if you are not that familiar with Thai fried dishes, you might not know the difference.
- Price per head 100-200 THB
- Operation Hours: Daily 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM
- Map
7. Ma Doo Bua - café & restaurant
Ma Doo Bua is quite a weird name because in Thai “Ma Doo Bua” means “Come to see lotuses”…
This restaurant is a popular café in Phuket. It offers an outstanding view of a pond that is full of Victoria Lotus (or maybe waterlily I’m not sure) and surrounded by Thai-style houses and trees.
It’s a chill atmosphere with unique scenery. However, the place can get really crowded during lunch on a holiday. So, I suggest you avoid peak hours, otherwise, it might not chill anymore lol.
I ordered Pineapple Fried Rice with Prawn (195 THB), Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables, Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup 250 THB), and Deep-Fried Seabass with Aromatic Fish Sauce (450 THB).
Ma Doo Bua’s selling point is the scenery, not the food, but the food is actually delicious with nice garnishes.
Therefore, as a whole, my opinion is that the food is good, the view is amazing and the price is reasonable.
By the way, you can pay extra to get on the boat for drone photos. 500 THB for one person on a floating boat, 800 THB for two, and 1200 THB for four. A bit pricy for me, so I didn’t try.
- Price per head 300-500 THB
- Operating Hours: Daily 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
- Map
8. Yoy Pochana - local restaurant
“Khao Tom Kui” or a Boiled Rice with Side Dishes restaurant is a type of Thai food that is well known for its cheap price.
However, nothing cheap in Phuket, so I didn’t expect cheap but I expect flavorful dishes at a fair price.
Yes, Yoy Pochana is good and still pretty cheap.
What are the menus then? There are many menu options. Generally, they serve stir-fried vegetables and meats. It could be chicken, pork, and seafood, but not beef.
Most side dishes have strong tastes because the tastes go well when you mix them in boiled rice. If you don’t eat spicy food, make sure you ask for no spicy or mild.
I ordered Stir Fried Chinese Olives with Minced Pork and Salted Egg (120 THB), Stir Fried Morning Glory (60 THB), Shrimp Sashimi with Spicy Fish Sauce (130 THB), and Tom Yum Goong (120 THB)
By the way, this kind of restaurant is typically open in the evening till late at night.
- Price per head 200-250 THB
- Operating Hours: Daily 5:00 PM – 2:00 AM
- Map
9. Khun Jeed Yod Pak - local restaurant
Located right at the center of Phuket Old Town. There are only three main dishes, Noodles in Gravy Sauce (Radna), Stir-Fried Noodles in Black Soy Sauce (Pad See Ew), and Fried Rice. Start at only 50 THB, very cheap in Phuket.
I stayed in the Memory at On On hotel for four nights and walked past this restaurant every day because it’s only 100 meters away. I didn’t plan to eat here because it’s not on my list and I never heard about it before.
However, every day when I was walking back to the hotel, I saw a lot of Food Aggregators waiting in front of the restaurant, and a lot of people dining in. So, I decided to give it a try.
Surprised! Discover a hidden gem and it’s right next to my hotel. The noodles are delicious and super cheap. Don’t really expect such a low price in this area.
However, the portion seemed to be a little bit small but I’m fine with that because it’s delicious.
- Price per head 50-100 THB
- Operating Hours: Daily except Wednesday 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM
- Map