We chose a food tour from A Chef’s Tour, and it was the best we’ve ever experienced. Our tour leader, Nam, has lived in Phuket for over 25 years, loves the town and its food, and its people. She’s really knowledgeable and a great story teller.
The purpose of the tour was to introduce us to some of Phuket’s unique foods. Many are different from mainstream Thai foods. The reason for this is that Phuket is a community with a long history of regional influences, including Thai, Burmese, Malay, Chinese and Indian. Nam designed the tour so that we could experience foods from each of these communities.
The entire tour took place in the center of old Phuket Town. A few blocks look vaguely European, rather like some streets in Singapore. This is a Portuguese-style architecture, although the Portuguese were not here, at least not directly.
As far back as the 16th century, Phuket was a center of tin mining. The Portuguese and Dutch got involved in the tin trade in the 17th century. But the Old Town that we see today is a product of the 19th and early 20th century. People of Chinese ancestry came to Phuket by way of Binang, a region in Sarawak, Indonesia, to work in the mines. Entrepreneurs emerged out of this community, and they established the first hotels and banks. They wanted Phuket to be a major trading hub for the tin industry. When they started to build their civic buildings, they looked to what they’d seen in Singapore — whose architectural style at the time had been influenced by the Portuguese.
So the buildings are Portuguese — three times removed.
OK, let’s get to the food!
First stop was, of course, the food market.
In the market, we find a stand where the cook has been preparing the same pork soup with rice noodles for over 30 years. Nam, on the right, said that she found this cook and place when she first came to Phuket. They are like family now. Nam stops by often, for food and family.
Next visit was to the Roti King at Aroon Restaurant. That’s the king there at the entrance.
Roti are a pan-fried bread. The origins of roti go back to India (like paratha) and Malaysia. They are a very popular snack in Thailand, and can be sweet or savory.
Aroon Restaurant is also famous for a theatrical Thai iced tea with a dash of coffee.
On to Phuket’s first food court for fresh spring rolls. Phuket-style spring rolls aren’t fried.
Making the rice-flour wraps for the spring rolls…
…and then adding the fillings:
Along with the spring rolls, we tasted a favorite dish for Thai people, pad kra pao. This is a stir-fry with holy basil. It’s usually served with a fried egg.
Because we’re certainly not full yet, let’s have some Hokkien noodles. The Hokkien people are descendants of immigrants from southeastern Fujian province in China. We stopped in this family-run restaurant full of local memorabilia. The noodles are broad and fleshy, accompanied by pork, fish balls, peanuts and vegetables.
Penultimate stop for some naan (Indian flat bread), samosas, and Burmese curry. People of Burmese heritage make up about 20% of Phuket’s population.
Time for dessert! This dessert was the most experiential and lovely dessert we’ve ever had — worthy of three Michelin stars as far as we’re concerned. The place is Prem Dessert Bar which is housed in the front rooms of a much longer old shophouse. The rooms follow one after another through the block (they gave us a tour!). The owners and hosts are members of a family that has lived in this house for generations. Some years ago, the current host found her grandmother’s handwritten recipe book and has developed dishes based on some of those recipes. Including this superb dessert.
It’s a jelly dessert made from o-aew (which is also called Thai fig and is not at all the same as European fig), honeycomb, yuzu syrup with more honey, orange, and ice. The making of the dessert is delicious theater.
Well, that was amazing! Now, we can just barely fit between these new-year’s dragon arches.
February 2025