Michelin – known not only for its tires, but also for its luxury restaurants and top-class cuisine (incidentally, the two actually belong together; the similarity in names is no coincidence). Restaurants with one, two, or even three stars stand for world-class food and usually prices to match.
What is little known outside France, however, is the Michelin Restaurant Guide. In addition to Michelin-starred restaurants that are unaffordable for everyday dining, it also lists restaurant recommendations that anyone can afford. So I thought to myself—I'm always on the lookout for new restaurants and food spots, no matter where I am, so why not find some simple and inexpensive places in Phuket and try them out, one main course at a time!
This post will be updated whenever I try a new restaurant, so feel free to check back!
Michelin Guide restaurant recommendations in Phuket
Nyom Salt Grilled Duck
Click here to find the restaurant on Google Maps..
First things first: this restaurant is not for veggie lovers or vegetarians. They serve grilled duck, grilled chicken, grilled pork tongue and grilled fish, with sticky rice on the side, and that's it. The duck is what made this place famous, and that's why I came. It's simply rubbed with salt and grilled, and it's sensationally good and juicy. However, you shouldn't be squeamish about bones and gristle, because the duck is really halved, flattened, stretched on the grill and chopped up to serve. Boneless meat? No . So you have to earn your food while eating. Half a duck is a pretty good portion, and afterwards I was in a meat coma. I've had enough of duck for a while, but it was really, really good!
By the way, you sit in a very simple setting in a small banana plantation just behind the restaurant!
Peang Prai Restaurant
Click here to find the restaurant on Google Maps..
This restaurant is located right next to the Bang Pae Waterfall in Khao Phra Thaeo National Park, so it was a real stroke of luck for me, as it's not exactly around the corner. You sit on the first floor, so to speak, on a large covered platform with a great view of the small lake and the jungle, accompanied by gibbon songs from the Gibbon Rehabilitation Centre.
I opted for a fresh fruit and vegetable juice, the Three Style Phuket Chili Paste and the Spicy Mangosteen Salad. The waitress warned me about the Three Style Phuket Chili Paste (‘very spicy!’), but I ordered it anyway. Unfortunately, the Mangosteen Salad was sold out, so I was recommended a Mangosteen Ice Cream Salad instead. It sounded strange, but who am I to ignore a recommendation from a local! I ordered rice on the side, just in case, because of the spiciness and all that!
Mega! Everything was really excellent. The Spicy Mangosteen Salad Ice Cream Salad actually came with a large scoop of ice cream in the middle, but also vegetables, chilli and a typical dressing. It was all mixed together and was really excellent! And the Three Style Phuket Chilli Paste consisted of three different small fish dishes, really spicy (!) with lots of vegetables, which you ate together with the fish. A few chilli tears were inevitable, but it was really delicious. Not exactly super cheap for Thailand, but totally worth the price!
This article will be continued!
