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Phuket Food, Phuket Tour Travel
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Local Food
Street Food/Hawker Stalls
Day or night, you will see them everywhere. Along the beach front, the roadside, the markets and at any major event.The Hawker stalls (some permanent, some temporary) sell an incredible range of food from fruit to spicy salads. These vendor stalls may be treated warily by some visitors because of hygiene fears, but many visitors find that what is on offer is deliciously satisfying, and incredibly good value. Some of the foods offered by such vendors are not available in standard restaurants or food outlets, and offer your only chance to sample some really unique tastes, and if Thai people can tuck in with gusto - why can't everybody else? From these stalls you can get a variety of foods that include Thai, Malay, Indian and Chinese.
The simplest of vendors carry their wares in balancing rattan baskets slung on a pole, which is carried across the back. From these vendors you can buy grilled bananas, sweet potato or corn, grilled eggs (still in their shell), steamed groundnuts or corn, BBQ chicken, satay, meatballs on skewers, garlic sausage, sticky rice mixed with banana and shredded coconut or red beans wrapped in banana leaves. Some even have a tiny hotplate for grilling tiny coconut puddings! You'll see the vendors bobbing down the street dodging the crowds, or squatting on the sidewalk waiting for customers to approach, or just simply having a rest.
The next step up in sophistication is the mobile vendor selling wares from a stainless steel cart with wheels, pulled or pushed along the road. You can find a great range of natural ice creams. The cart is equipped with a stainless steel container packed with dry ice to keep the ice-cream icy cold. Often you'll hear them coming before you actually see them as they often have a small cow bell attached to their stall to attract customer's attention. Flavors include the favorite - coconut ice-cream, sometimes decorated with corn, red bean and colored noodles made from yam paste. You can also get taro flavored ice-cream, and the Thai's extreme favorite - durian. Sold as small blocks set on paddle pop sticks, or scooped into little cups and then garnished with such toppings as dried crushed peanuts and lashings of condensed milk. Some stalls offer ice-cream in a bread sandwich with a choice of toppings.
Freshly cut fruit is also widely sold by vendors who walk the streets, pulling their stall along, looking for customers. The fruit is packed in ice behind glass to keep it cold and fresh. You choose you piece and the vendor will whip out his cutting board and knife and chop it into easy bite-size pieces, pop it into a bag along with a skewer as your eating utensil. You will be offered a little bag filled with sugar and chili mix - the Thai's like to dip their fresh fruit into this for a little extra bite!
Also from mobile vendors you will find dry squid, banana pancakes made from flour and egg (cooked on a hot plate, spread with condensed milk, stacked, and then cut into wedges), smaller pancakes spread with coconut cream and topped with shredded coconut and bright orange strings made from egg yolks. There's deep fried banana, taro and sweet potato, cool desserts made from a mixture of corn, red beans, yam paste noodles, coconut milk or sweet cordial and topped with shaved ice, deep fried spring rolls, deep fried chicken and pork, Chinese flour dumplings with sweet or savory fillings, pork, chicken or beef satay grilled on charcoal and served with peanut sauce and marinated vegetables.
The most sophisticated of vendors have stalls attached to a motorbike. They usually have a favorite spot to settle in, for the day or night. There they place a few small plastic or wooden chairs and tables around so customers can sit and eat on the side of the street. Depending on the food, the stall might be equipped with a charcoal grill, hot plate and preparation area, with all the ingredients either hanging down from the top, or stacked around the sides protected by Perspex walls. Serving more than just snacks, these stalls can provide substantial meals and attract dozens of customers at busy times of the day. Often you will come across clusters of such vendors - each offering something different, so that the customer can pick and choose from a variety of stalls and have a verit./;ble feast for 40-50 Baht. You might find the following being soldk - egg or rice noodle soup, with or without broth, containing beef, chicken, pork, or fish balls, ground beef or seafood, vegetables or tofu; fried noodles with chicken, seafood or pork, vegetables and egg; Thai style sukiyaki; fried vegetables with or without tofu or meat; glutinous rice with chicken and broth; red pork or duck with rice; stewed pork with pickles and greens and boiled egg on rice; northeastern Thai food such as papaya salad, mango salad, warm chicken , beef or pork salad, grilled pork or beef accompanied by sticky rice; chicken with soup; mango and sticky rice; fruit shakes; and much more.
Thai food & Seafood
If street food isn't your choice, you can find good Thai food just about everywhere. As you would expect, Phuket, has very good seafood and fish restaurants, where your fish will be cooked just the way you want.
Seafood-Readily available at restaurants in all the main beach areas. At night, Patong's Beach Road features many seafood restaurants displaying fresh fish and shellfish at their front entrances, often using a fishing boat as a display cabinet! Most will offer a choice of preparation - either Thai style or your favorite western style, for a range of budgets. In Chalong, Kan Eang Seafood under the trees on the beachfront is a favorite of local residents. Another alternative is to take a trip into Phuket Town's Night Market, next to Robinson's Department Store on Ong Sim Phai Road and sample freshly cooked seafood from one of the many vendors set up there.
Phuket's Dishes
Phuket has a number of foods different in character and flavor from those of other areas in Thailand. The international character of the island, however, with so many different restaurants catering to a multitude of tastes, makes it difficult for non-Thais to identify Phuket cuisine. Below is a list of local dishes and shops where they can be sampled.
Mee Ton Poh near the clock tower traffic circle on Phuket Road in Phuket Town.
Mee Sapam on Thepkrasatri Road in the village of Sapam.
Mee Ao Geh on Phunphol Road in Phuket Town.Yellow noodles are also cooked in both "dry" and "wet" versions, and as a prawn soup. For these try:
- Somjit near the clock tower traffic circle on Phuket Road in Phuket Town.
- Jirayuwat near the Pearl Cinema on Phang-nga Rd., in Phuket Town.
Mee Huhn Pah Chang Dry fried noodles eaten with pork bone soup. For this try (all in Phuket Town):
- On Thanon Yaowarat.
- Near the Tessaban Ban Bang Niao School on Takua Tong Rd.
- On Vichit Songkram Rd., near the entrance to Soi Lorong.
Mee Sue Breakfast noodles served with the boiled rice dishes Khao Tohm or Johk. This can be ordered at various shops around town.
Kanom Jin
Phuket Noodles, often compared to spaghetti is usually served with a spicy curry sauce, the most common made from fish. It is usually eaten as a breakfast food and is, if you can stand its fresh character, delicious. It comes with an array of fresh vegetables and boiled eggs that are mixed with the dish by dinners at their table. It is often found with fried pastry called Pah Tong Go and a curried fish mousse called
Hor Mohk, both of which are very tasty. Some of the curries are not spicy, so try a shop that has many curries to choose from if you are sensitive to spicy cuisine. There are many shops to choose from everywhere in Phuket but the most famous are in Phuket Town :
- Kwan Kanohm Jin on Tungka Rd.
- Pah Mai on statun Rd.
- Pha Ri on Pahtiphaht Rd.
- Mae Cha-Aem on Luang Por Rd., from 3 pm.
Lo Bah
Fried sausages served with fried tofu and spicy sweet and sour sauce. For this try (In Phuket Town) :
- On The way to Spanhin.
- On Poonphol Rd.
Oh Tao Oysters fried with flour, eggs, and taro root. The best known places in Phuket Town are :
- near the circle by the Fresh Market.
Tao Sor or Kanohm Bia
Phuket Spring rolls, Chinese crepes. The best known are found at:
- Kaeng Tin near Ruam Paet Hospital on Phuket Rd. on Soi Suhn Utit, Yaowarat Rd., in Phuket Town.
- Kuhn Mae on Thepkasatri Rd., in the village of Sapam.
- Mae Boon Tahm on Surin Rd., Soi 4.
Oh Aew
An iced sweet made of flour, banana, and a little seaweed. Look for it at :
- On Soi Soon Utit, Yaowarat Rd.
- On Ranong Rd., at the entrance to Soi Lorong
Other foods held to be characteristic of Phuket include cashew nuts, which are planted along many of Phuket's highways, and pineapples though to be crisper and sweeter than elsewhere.
Cashews Nut Factory:
- Maeti on Tilok Utit 2 Rd.
- Sri Boorapa Orchid on Takua Tung Rd., and Kwang Ban Teen Kao Rd.
- Sri Supalak Orchid on Thepkasattri Rd.
Pineapples can be purchased in the Fresh Market, and are found generally.
International Fast Food Chains
Kentucky Fried Chicken:
- Patong Beach, at Ocean Department Store, Soi Bangla.
- Patong Beach, at Patong Shopping Centre, Beach Road Patong.
- Phuket Town, at Tesco Lotus Store.
- Phuket Town, at Robinsons Department Store.
- Phuket Town, Bic C Super Store.
MacDonalds:
- Patong Beach, next to post office on beach road
- Phuket Town, at Robinson Department Store.
- Phuket Town, Tesco Lotus Super Store.
Pizza Hut:
- Phuket Town, opposite Robinsons Department Store.
- Phuket Town: Tesco Lotus Super Store.
Shopping
Phuket offers a great variety of shopping, from bustling open-air village food markets, noisy night markets, street stalls and local shops to western style department stores and upmarket specialist shops.
Thailand has a wealth of local crafts - ceramics, textiles, tailor-made clothing and excellent furniture to name a few. If you simply want a few souvenirs or some inexpensive beach or sportswear, the local stalls in Phuket town and the beach resorts have masses. If you need the essentials, head for the western style department stores or the new huge supermarkets - Tesco Lotus, Big C, Phuket Central Festival on the edge of town. For specialist items like gems and jewellry, there are specialist shops like Gem Gallery offering good discounts, along the main bypass road, together with shops selling Chinese and Thai ceramics. Many local sightseeing tours will take you to these places, so check with your tour agent, or you can simply hire a car and go by yourself.
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