When you like something so much, have you ever felt overwhelmed when you have such a vast varieties to choose from in so little time? I feel like that on a weekly basis, such as when I walk around the Food Floor at Paragon wondering what to eat for dinner. But I was even more “culinarily” overwhelmed in Phuket. It’s been a long time since I went there last, so I had a list of places that I want to go back to and new local dishes that I wanted to try. Let’s see what I had!

As soon as we arrived, I made sure that we stop by at my favorite noodle joint before we head over to Sri Panwa. Every time I go to Sri Panwa, I have to make a stop here at “Andaman Noodle.” It’s something about the combination of their extremely spicy “tom yum” broth and the crispy fried fish that accompanies it that keeps me going back for more. I have to warn you though that their tom Yum is not for the faint-hearted. Those who are not well versed with spiciness should opt for the normal fish ball noodle soup instead.

The next meal that we ate outside of Sri Panwa was lunch the next day. We first went to “Ta-lang” St., which is n area in Phuket with well-preserved Chino-Portuguese-style buildings. The patterned tiles and colorful buildings were very pretty. Too bad we went on a Sunday so almost every shop was closed! Here are some pictures from Talang.

Our lunch destination was at “Mee Sapam.” Mee Sapam is a famous local dish that is a “must eat” for Phuket tourists. Although we’d been warned that it’s nothing particularly special, we felt the need to go try to see what the fuss was about. We went expecting for it to be bad, and it was just that. Nothing about the Phuket-style egg noodle, the raw eggs, and the sprouts were particularly appetizing. Good thing the other dishes were pretty good so we didn’t have much to complain. What’s interesting is their “Hoi Todd” (mussels in fried dough and sprouts) was deconstructed! The fried dough came separated from the gooey mussel concoction, which was perfect for non-seafood-eater like me!

For dinner, my family wanted to go eat Seafood at “Gun Eng” restaurant. What we didn’t know was that there’re two Gun Engs – “Gun Eng @ Pier” and “Gun Eng 2.” The GPS took us to “Gun Eng 2” while our reservation was made at “Gun Eng @Pier. However we were SO starving that we decided to stay here instead, even though the other place is only on the adjacent street. Ha Ha

The dishes we had were very nice and flavorful. My family said the seafood was fresh also. My favorite dish was actually “Yum Puk Good.” Puk Good is a wild green similar to a fern, it’s not that easy to come by especially in a city like Bangkok. So I was excited to see it on the menu here. The way the restaurant prepared the Thai salad is the same as “Yum Tua Plu” or winged bean salad – with coconut milk and toasted coconut flakes. What an interesting combination! The only dish that was not good was the oyster omelet, which was extremely oily.

We spent the rest of Monday morning  at Sri Panwa and came out for a late lunch before heading to the airport. Our friend, P’Plawan, at Sri Panwa suggested for us to try an Italian restaurant in the Kata Beach area called Cappannina . The restaurant’s menu was very extensive. Again, I was overwhelmed by the choices of pastas and pizzas. Good thing P’Wan already listed out his favorite dishes for us. The food here was VERY flavorful. If you like heavy seasoning, which we do, I would really recommend this place. My dad really enjoyed the Seafood in red wine sauce. I, myself, also enjoyed dipping my bread into the succulent sauce in the bowl as well!  The quality of the cold cuts was impressive. We were not expecting to find such fresh cured meats here, what a pleasant surprise. I would say that the only average dish was the risotto. Although it was flavorful, I like my risotto more creamy with shorter-grained rice. At the end of the meal we (By “we” I meant my mom and I) couldn’t resist the urge to order something sweet despite being stuffed.  The panna cotta and the tiramisu added a nice refreshing touch and wrapped up our last meal in Phuket nicely.

Here we are, back in Bangkok, and a couple of kgs heavier, wishing we had more time to spend in Phuket. So many other local dishes are out there still waiting for us to sample, I guess another trip is in order?

Bon Appétit!

Andaman Noodles,

1 Tilok-U-Thit2 Road, Muang District, Phuket
Phuket, Muang District
Thailand 83000

Tel : 66-76-211-954 Fax : 66-76-318-5115

Sapam Noodle

53/2 Thep Krasattri
Muang, Phuket, 83000

Gun Eng2

9/3 Jao Fah St, Muang, Phuket

Tel 0 7638 1323

Capaninna

30/9 Moo 2. Kata Rd

Tel: 076 284 318