**Phuket** boasts a remarkable culinary diversity, with its signature local cuisine featuring unique flavors and secret recipes passed down through generations. These dishes are often exclusive to Phuket and cannot be found elsewhere. In 2015, UNESCO designated Phuket as Thailand's first and ASEAN's first City of Gastronomy, recognizing its exceptional culinary heritage and innovative food culture. This prestigious title places Phuket among 18 cities worldwide renowned for their gastronomic excellence.

This review introduces four restaurants in Phuket, each with a distinct style, that I recently had the pleasure of experiencing. If you're visiting Phuket and seeking culinary inspiration, this review might help transform your ordinary meals into memorable and satisfying experiences.

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Grandma Jeaw's Mee Sa-Pom

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Let's start with "Grandma Jeaw's Mee Sa-Pam" restaurant. This establishment has been serving authentic local cuisine in Phuket for over 50 years. They offer a wide variety of dishes, and the restaurant itself is a spacious, single-story building. Be warned, it's incredibly popular, so expect a crowd!

To reach Grandma Jier's Mee Sa-Pam restaurant, if you are coming from the Thao Thep Kasattri Monument, drive straight towards the city center until you reach the bypass intersection on the right. Continue driving straight for a short distance, and the restaurant will be on your right. Make a U-turn at the Mitsubishi showroom and park parallel to the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.

When visiting the Mee Sa-Pam restaurant, the "Mee Sa-Pam" is a must-try. This dish, the star of the restaurant, is a Hokkien-style stir-fried noodle dish. It features yellow noodles stir-fried with Chinese flowering cabbage, along with fish, shrimp, squid, and fish balls. The dish is available with or without an egg.

"Oh-taw" is a dish similar to oyster omelets found in central Thailand. However, this version uses "hoy tib" (small, wild oysters) instead of farmed oysters. These are stir-fried with steamed taro, eggs, and a mixture of wheat and tapioca flour. The flour is combined with the taro water, resulting in a sweet and chewy texture. The dish is topped with crispy pork rinds and fried shallots and served with raw bean sprouts. It is typically enjoyed with chili sauce. I personally found this dish to be very delicious. It is believed that eating oh-taw will bring harmony and unity to families, just like the dish's chewy and cohesive texture.

Next up is "fried mussels". The fried mussels here are different from those in central Thailand, which are mixed with flour, mussels, and bean sprouts and stir-fried together with eggs. Instead, they use small mussels stir-fried with bean sprouts and served with a separate plate of thin, crispy rolled dough. They are eaten with chili sauce, which complements the flavors perfectly.

"Fresh spring rolls with crab meat" are truly delicious.

This dish, "fish maw soup," is not a local dish. It was ordered out of a desire to eat it.

"Although fried dumplings are not a local dish, I couldn't resist ordering a plate after seeing it on the table next to me. It was a delicious snack."

To conclude, indulge in "Oh Aew," a unique dessert exclusive to Phuket. Oh Aew is crafted from the mucilage of soaked "Oh Aew" seeds, combined with the mucilage of "Kluai Nam Wa" bananas to create a jelly-like consistency. The Oh Aew is then cut into pieces and served with refreshing syrup and shaved ice, offering a delightful and satisfying treat.

In addition to the aforementioned dishes, the restaurant also offers other local specialties such as braised pork bone noodles with Chinese herbs, loh bak, and o-cha. However, I was unable to sample these dishes as I was already full. The restaurant is open daily from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

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Moo Dong's Clinic

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The second restaurant, "**หมอมูดง Restaurant**", serves southern Thai cuisine with a rustic touch. While the name may sound peculiar, suggesting a doctor as the owner, it actually refers to the owner's name, "หมอ", and their location by the Moo Dong canal. This combination likely inspired the restaurant's name, "หมอมูดง".

To reach Mor Moo Dong Restaurant from Phuket Town, take the Chao Fah Road, the same road as the Phuket Zoo. Drive straight until you reach the Pa Lai Intersection. Turn left here, where you will see a sign pointing to the restaurant. Once you turn left, continue straight until the end of the alley. If you are unfamiliar with the route, it is recommended to use GPS for a more accurate and stress-free journey before enjoying your meal.

Look for this sign and turn right to enter. There is parking available inside.

The restaurant boasts a rustic garden-like ambiance, featuring several thatched pavilions nestled along the banks of the Mo Dong Canal.

Enjoy your meal while taking in the beautiful scenery of the mangrove forest.

After ordering food, the waiter brought out a fruit platter with pineapple, guava, and mango, accompanied by a condiment that resembled sweet fish sauce. I only realized it was sweet fish sauce after I had finished the fruit. Curious about the condiment, I asked the waiter, who informed me that it was called "salt-preserved shrimp paste" in their local dialect.

"Seaweed Salad" The seaweed served at the restaurant is a type of grape seaweed. The seaweed and dressing are served separately. The seaweed itself has a slightly salty taste, especially at the tips, which have small, round water sacs. If you eat the seaweed fresh without the dressing, the water sacs will burst in your mouth, releasing a salty flavor. However, when you add the dressing, it creates a perfectly balanced and delicious taste.

This dish, "Stir-fried Parkia speciosa with shrimp," features the rich, buttery flavor of Parkia speciosa beans and the savory notes of shrimp paste, creating a harmonious and well-balanced taste.

"Stuffed Mackerel" is a dish where the flesh of the mackerel is scraped out, mixed with curry paste and seasonings, and then stuffed back into the fish's body before being deep-fried. This dish evokes a similar feeling to the "Pla Tod Mun" of central Thailand, with a moderately spicy flavor and pleasantly firm fish texture. It's a must-try dish at this restaurant, and skipping it would be a big miss.

"Fried Long Eggplant with Spicy Fish Curry" is a dish where the restaurant grills long eggplants and spreads them out into flat sheets. They then top them with a mixture of roasted fish and curry paste. The sweetness of the eggplant perfectly complements the spiciness of the curry paste, creating a truly harmonious flavor profile.

"Salt-roasted pork" is made from pork belly and has a perfectly balanced salty flavor. This dish helps to cut through the sourness of seaweed salad and the spiciness of other dishes.

Deep-Fried "Ching Chang" Chili Paste

This dish features deep-fried "ching chang" fish as the star ingredient. The chili paste boasts a delightful flavor, perfectly balanced by the accompanying blanched vegetables that offer a refreshing contrast to the spiciness. The result is a truly delicious and satisfying meal.

"The turmeric-steamed sea bass was truly delicious, with a sweet and sour flavor. Another excellent dish!"

The food at Mam Moo Dong restaurant is spicy and flavorful, perfect for those who enjoy a kick. Be prepared to exclaim "So delicious!" after every bite. The prices are reasonable, and the restaurant is open daily from 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM. However, be aware that mosquitoes might be prevalent in the evenings due to the restaurant's garden setting and proximity to water.

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Rice porridge 25 hours.

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The third restaurant, "Khao Tom 25 N.", is a classic Thai rice porridge eatery, perfect for a late-night dinner.

The majority of restaurants located on the beach far from the city center are primarily pubs and bars. Finding restaurants that focus on serving food is relatively difficult, and most cater to foreign tourists, resulting in higher prices. The restaurant I will recommend is a "khao tom" (rice porridge) style restaurant located near the sea in the Bang Tao Beach area. It is situated on the main road, Sri Sunthon, and is called "Khao Tom 25 N."

Although the name of the shop is "Rice Porridge", it does not only sell rice porridge. It also focuses on cooked-to-order dishes that can be enjoyed with rice porridge or plain rice.

A Spicy Start: "Yum Woon Sen" with Shrimp and Squid

The meal begins with a vibrant "Yum Woon Sen," a spicy glass noodle salad bursting with fresh shrimp and tender squid.

"Stir-fried Chinese kale with salted fish is a delicious accompaniment to both rice porridge and hot steamed rice."

"Stir-fried stinky beans with shrimp" in my opinion, the taste that Moo Dong experienced is more memorable. However, the taste here is not much worse.

"Stir-fried Three Kinds of Mushrooms" Shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, and straw mushrooms stir-fried together. Carrots are added for sweetness. This dish is ordered to balance the spiciness of other dishes.

"Boiled turmeric chicken" has a well-balanced flavor, with a slightly sour and salty taste. The aroma of the herbs is delightful.

"Stir-fried cockles with roasted chili paste" Large cockles stir-fried with roasted chili paste. The sweetness of the roasted chili paste permeates the flesh of the cockles, making it a delicious dish.

Grilled cockles

The grilled cockles were neither too small nor too large, and they were absolutely delicious with the spicy seafood dipping sauce.

The overall taste of the food is acceptable. The price is not as high as I expected. I think this restaurant mainly caters to local people and Thai tourists, so the price is not expensive.

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Self-defense 2

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For the final restaurant, both the food and the atmosphere were delightful at "Kan Eng 2".

The Alluring Flavors of Kan Eng 2: A Culinary Gem in Phuket

Kan Eng 2, a haven for discerning palates, boasts two branches, with the Phuket location captivating my taste buds time and again. This culinary gem offers a tantalizing array of Thai, seafood, and authentic Southern Thai delicacies, promising an unforgettable gastronomic journey.

To reach Kaneng 2 restaurant from the Five-Way Clock Tower, follow Chao Fah Tawan-Ok Road towards Phuket Town for approximately 600 meters. You will see a large sign for Kaneng 2 on the right-hand side, indicating a soi (alley). Turn into the soi and continue for about 500 meters until you reach the restaurant.

The ambiance of the restaurant is quite pleasant, with lush greenery and a stunning view of Ao Chalong Bay.

Starting with "Stir-fried Shrimp Skewers with Leang Leaves," I had only tried Leang leaves stir-fried with eggs before. This time, I tried it with shrimp skewers, and I must say, it was quite good.

This dish deserves a big thumbs up! The "Crab Curry with Rice Noodles" features a rich and flavorful crab curry, packed with generous chunks of crab meat. Paired with rice noodles, it's a truly delicious combination.

"I ordered the sea bass in sour soup with coconut shoots. The sweetness of the coconut shoots perfectly balanced the sourness of the soup. It was delicious with hot steamed rice."

"Spicy Mango Salad with Salted Duck Egg" This dish is refreshingly sour from the sliced mango and has a rich texture from the salted duck egg. It's another delicious option.

"Oyster Omelette" served on a hot pan. This dish is a great way to cool down your palate after spicy food.

"Steamed crab" Fresh crab with sweet meat, served with seafood dipping sauce. It's absolutely delicious!

The oysters are very large.

Overall, this restaurant is a must-try, despite the slightly high prices. I believe the quality, taste, and ambiance justify the cost. It's no surprise that I always make a point of dining here whenever I visit Phuket. Kan Eng 2 is open daily from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM.