|
Food
Thai
food is a true international cuisine and enjoyed by multitude of
millions around the world.
Thai food in Phuket,
and throughout southern Thailand, is heavily influenced by the bountiful
harvest of fresh seafood from the Andaman Sea. Seafood served southern
style is unique, likely to be barbecued, and employs numerous herbs and
spices, garlic, lemon grass, chilies, mint, cumin, basil, coriander, and
shrimp paste.
Phuket has an
abundance of great places to eat. To write about or try to critique
every one of them would make this book the size of a large city
telephone directory. Included are a few, but not all, of the good places
in Phuket to eat. We will start with a few general observations about
Thai Food and introduce you to some of the more unusual dishes of Thai
food to be found in Phuket. We apologize in advance to the hundreds of
good places to eat that for the sake of brevity have not been included,
and we invite them to contact us for inclusion in future editions.
Water
Tap water is not safe
for drinking. Drink only bottled water or from a flask supplied by the
hotel. Water provided in restaurants is safe for drinking, but avoid all
shaved or crushed ice particularly from roadside fruit venders.
Thais love to
eat, and you will rarely be more than five minutes from a place serving
food. The most common Thai eating place is a roadside hawker food stall.
A local Thai will have a favorite hawker food stall for just about every
different type of Thai food. Some may look a little shabby by western
standards, but a visitor with a little sense of adventure will discover
some of the tastiest and most inexpensive food ever eaten. To locate a
good hawker stall watch where the Thais eat and join them.
1.
It is a quirk of nature; but the
most consistent method of ensuring that a restaurant, particularly a
small restaurant, will either go out of business or serve the next
customer a mediocre meal is to recommend it to a friend.
2.
During your stay in Thailand it is
recommended that you eat Thai food as often as possible. Thais are
justifiably proud of their food. It is always made from fresh
ingredients, usually purchased from the market that day and is sure be
well prepared. Most Thais rarely eat or have an interest in Western food
(except fast food like McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken). This lack
of experience is apparent in some of the Western food you will be
served. Outside of major hotels and restaurants you may encounter some
rather bizarre and expensive attempts at Western food.
3.
Most Thai food is not spicy or hot.
The condiments and sauces served with your meal (mostly for dipping food
into) can be very hot and spicy. Simply control the use of these and you
will generally be able to enjoy a wide array of Thai food and not have
an unpleasant experience.
4.
Phuket Town is a gourmet food lovers
delight. Food is generally both considerably better and cheaper in
Phuket Town than in the tourist areas. Going into Phuket Town for a few
meals during your stay will be well worth the taxi fare (150 baht each
way), and the time and effort.
>Back to Top<
The following list is
of Thai dishes that are worth going out of your way to experience during
your stay. For the most part you will not find them served in Thai
restaurants overseas.
Khanom Cheen
Is arguably Phuket’s most famous dish.
This popular Chinese breakfast is a plate of rice noodles covered with a
spicy fish flake curry and served with plate of fresh vegetables, herbs,
and fruit.
Som Tam
(papaya salad) A northeastern Thailand specialty that many consider the
national dish of Thailand. Thin slivers of green papaya combined with
peanuts, dried seafood, and vegetables all mixed into one spicy salad
that is eaten with sticky rice and fresh grilled chicken. It’s very
tasty but can be very spicy. Ask the cook to make it my pet, (not
hot) if you are concerned about the chili content.
Khao Mok Khai
fragrant yellow rice served with chicken. It is a Muslim specialty
usually served for lunch, consisting of roasted chicken on a bed of
saffron rice, mixed with ginger which has been fried lightly to make it
crispy. Khao Mok Khai is not spicy unless you dip the chicken into the
sweet hot sauce provided.
Nam Prik Kung Siap.
Dried prawn on a stick. It is grilled and served with chilies, kapi (a
pounded shrimp paste) and lime. This is a very popular dish and must be
tried to be appreciated. The Tung-Ka Café in Phuket and the Kang Eng
Restaurant both serve excellent examples of this specialty.
Khao Yam
Rice with kapi (shrimp paste) is
another example of a dish you just have to try to appreciate. The Kaw
Tyam Restaurant in Phuket town specializes in this dish.
Hokkien Mee
Yellow noodle soup served with shrimps, a Chinese specialty. Can be
served as a dry noodle dish or as a soup. Also served as Hokkien Mee
Phat or fried noodles.
Bo Pia Sot
(Spring roll) A regional variation found only in Phuket Town. Can be
found in several of the small Chinese restaurants you will encounter if
you take the Phuket Town walk-about, and also at the Night Market.
>Back to Top<
|
