Say what you want about Patong, but…
Go on, say it; we’re thinking it too. But perhaps the best thing you could say about Patong is that it knows what it is. It’s brash. Bawdy. Coated in ganja smoke and talc. And unsurprisingly, owing to the haze, and blinded by the lights of a cluster of golden arches, it can be tough to find anywhere really good to eat. At least, on Bangla and its web of sois, it can be.
But Patong is bigger than its central nightlife premise. Head north towards Kalim and the clifftop dining scene rivals anywhere on the island: fine French tasting menus, award-winning Italian, Royal Thai cuisine with panoramic Andaman views. Duck inland, past the 7-Elevens and the tailors, and you’ll find Isaan shacks and southern Thai curry rice joints feeding the construction workers and hotel staff who keep the whole machine turning. And increasingly, Patong’s resort restaurants aren’t phoning it in either. Quite the opposite, in fact.
The hungry have to work a little harder here than in the Old Town or Bang Tao, sure, but the rewards are there. With that in mind, here are the best restaurants in Patong, Phuket.
Kaab Gluay
Ideal for southern Thai food done right, away from the tourist strip…
Phrabaramee is the road where tourist Patong gives way to something more residential, and negotiating it to eat at Kaab Gluay feels like a small act of commitment. A member of staff stands outside to help you do so, ushering you across like you’re an old lady who needs help with her shopping. But crossing the threshold rewards the curious.
Kaab Gluay has been a family operation on Phrabaramee Road for over 25 years, and it remains one of the very few restaurants in Patong where the food is uncompromisingly Thai and regionally focused. So, that’s southern Thai dishes with genuine, nuanced power, and a commitment to freshness that means the freezer and microwave aren’t in constant rotation like back there on the strip.
The family’s son, chef Suwijak ‘Mond’ Kunghae, grew up in this restaurant before going on to open the Michelin-listed Royd in Phuket Old Town, one of the island’s most hyped modern Thai restaurants. The roots of that cooking are in this kitchen. There’s an exacting standard and obligation to freshness that you can taste in the signature prawns in tamarind sauce and the snail coconut curry, both of which are rippers from a seriously sprawling menu.
The kitchen is tiny, but that menu covers enormous ground, with over 30 salads and a full roster of southern Thai curries. The moo hong is textbook, one of the best we’ve had on an island full of the stuff, and the Peranakan snack game is strong; the signature lor bak is a highlight. Most other dishes fall between 150 and 250 baht, which is great value for the quality.
‘Southern Taste in Comfy Place’ is their tagline, and the space reflects it: a high, pitched timber-beamed roof, stone and brick walls, polished concrete floors, open-sided to the evening air (and that busy road!). Still, it’s not exactly suffering for a fine feed, and Kaab Gluay emphatically delivers on the latter. The dining room is primarily Thai, usually in large, convivial groups. In Patong, this is rare enough to denote something; this is ‘proper’ southern Thai in the best possible way.
Kaab Gluay is open daily from 11am until midnight.
Address: 58/3 Phrabaramee Rd, Pa Tong, Kathu District, Phuket
Facebook: @kaabgluaypatong
Tambu
Ideal for Michelin-recognised Indian fine dining in a Mughal rooftop tent…
Tambu sits on the rooftop of Avista Hideaway, an MGallery property in the forested hills south of central Patong, about ten minutes’ drive from Bangla Road. Featured in the Michelin Guide Thailand for 2026 and named Asia’s Best New Restaurant at the World Culinary Awards 2024, it serves ‘progressive Indian charcoal cuisine’. Their words, though it’s a fair description; everything’s cooked entirely over tandoor (specially made in India and shipped over), sigdi and tawa. You won’t see a sly induction hob or combi oven here, just plenty of smoke and plenty of flavour.
The setting is modelled on the tented palaces the Mughal royal family used when they travelled, with sweeping views across forested hills to the Andaman Sea. A grand chandelier hangs from the white canopy, Mughal-era paintings line the tent walls, and the tableware throughout is in the Meenakari style, the ornate Rajasthani enamel craft that has its origins in the Mughal courts. It all adds up to a place that feels cohesive and carefully put together.
It’s almost too much, but a breeze floats by, the setting sun dapples across the tent, and everything falls into place. On any given evening, big tables of Indian families who’ve driven across from other parts of the island sit alongside solo diners, and the range of people this place draws is as expansive as those views.
Staff in lovely flowing white welcome you gracefully. The evening begins at a wooden spice box near the entrance, labelled ‘The Great Indian Spice Trail’, where each of the spices you’ll be eating that night is laid out in compartments, from stone flower and vetiver root to green cardamom and rose petals, with a map showing where in India each originates. A wonderful masala-based welcome drink follows, balanced and savoury, and the scene setting is done.
Seated and ready now, and Iron Chef Thailand winner Saurabh Sachdeva offers a ‘Roots’ seven-course tasting menu at THB 3,190 (around £70) alongside a shorter four-course set and a full à la carte. We had the four-course, which opened with a yoghurt sphere over khakra – energetic, eye-opening – then a shiso leaf chaat made tableside with dry ice, theatre and frivolity.
The tandoor course arrives on perhaps the most beautiful plate I’ve ever seen. Its contents weren’t half bad either; lamb chop barrah, Tambu barbecue chicken and butter garlic Andaman prawns, with chutneys and pickles alongside. It’s the small touches – a tiny smear of mango puree on the chicken, a gold dot on the lamb, an exacting char that is pronounced but keeps things juicy on the prawns – that signal the finesse at work here.
The main spread is generous, the bread basket alone worth a trip up the Patong hills and then an elevator ride up to the rooftop. A selection of grilled naan, chapati and paratha this handsome is crying out for some clinging sauces to dredge through, and just as you think that, slow-cooked overnight urad dal enriched with cream and Amul butter, and a Delhi butter chicken are ceremoniously lowered onto the table.
They like a trio here at Tambu, and dessert is dark chocolate paan, malai tres leches (thought it said ‘testicles’ in the fading evening light) and masala chai choux. A lovely, light conclusion, though in truth the main course had finished us off. Would have loved to approach these with an empty stomach for a more faithful appraisal of the kitchen’s pastry work. Next time, next time…
Do go for the Chai Milk Punch, a surprisingly stiff cocktail served in an attractive Meenakari glass alongside homemade biscuits. That said, a Kingfisher beer is a pleasing companion throughout.
This is a more serious restaurant than a Patong hotel Indian might initially denote, and it’s fair to say that Tambu could comfortably hold its own against the acclaimed Indian restaurants of Bangkok, for a fraction of the capital’s prices. You wouldn’t get these views in the Big Mango either…
Open for dinner only during the week, and for lunch and dinner at the weekend.
Address: Avista Hideaway Phuket Patong, 39/9 Muen-Ngern Road, Patong, Kathu, Phuket
Website: tambuphuket.com
Sizzle Rooftop
Ideal for sunset steaks and Andaman Sea views from on high…
Sizzle shares the Avista Hideaway rooftop with Tambu but operates in an entirely different register. Where Tambu is tented and tasting-menu, Sizzle is more open to the whims of the elements and diner, its à la carte offering built around a brick charcoal grill and a live lobster tank. It shared a spot with Tambu on the same page of 2026’s Michelin Guide too, which is a hugely impressive one-two punch of hotel dining, and a credit to the Avista Hideaway for the thought clearly invested in their food operations.
In case you skimmed over the Tambu bit to get here, we’ll repeat: the views here will have you staying far longer than planned. The panorama over the Andaman is uninterrupted and enormous, the dining room entirely open-sided, no walls, and the sea breeze renders air conditioning irrelevant. A fire show once the sun has set draws your gaze away briefly, which has the happy side effect of giving your steak the time it needs to rest.
Chef Alvaro de la Puerta, from Almería in Andalusia, brings over a decade of experience across kitchens in Spain, the UK and the Cayman Islands to this esteemed vantage point. His Spanish instincts are all over the earlier courses: Iberico croquetas with 24-month ham and aioli, a crab salad built on a pert tomato gazpacho and tomato gel, a hamachi ceviche with tiger’s milk and crispy corn, and whole grilled dayboat fish finished with slivers of fried garlic and an olive oil and vinegar emulsion.
The Australian Black Angus ribeye that follows is unadorned in a way that takes confidence: a puck of garlic butter, a rectangle of deep-fried polenta, and nothing else. The aging is serious, pushing into that funky, almost blue-cheese depth, and it’s beautifully cooked. Sauces are available (gorgonzola, bearnaise, bordelaise, a Japanese BBQ glaze) but the beef is good enough to go without.
The cocktails belong at sunset. The Sunset Passion, fresh passionfruit with vodka and lime, and the Oaxaca Picante, tequila, mezcal, jalapeño and passionfruit with genuine heat, are both excellent. Dessert was not on our agenda until Simona, the restaurant’s wonderful host who sets the tone for the whole evening, insisted. A basque cheesecake, a tiramisu assembled tableside, and a limoncello over dry ice close off an evening that’s now cascaded into the early hours with us barely noticing.
Starters from THB 350 (around £8), steaks from THB 2,200 (around £50), and the tomahawk at THB 6,000 (around £130) for two to three. Open for dinner only, daily.
Address: Avista Hideaway Phuket Patong, 39/9 Muen-Ngern Road, Patong, Kathu, Phuket
Website: sizzlerooftopphuket.com
Read: Where to find the best steak in Phuket
Smokestack BBQ & Grill
Ideal for American-style BBQ across the road from Patong Beach…
In this part of Patong, you’ll notice green dispensaries everywhere. But a badly judged blunt isn’t the only thing being smoked here. At Smokestack, part of the Courtyard by Marriott directly across from Patong Beach, chef Christopher Tuthill billows an even denser fog over handsome terrace seating.
This is a man who knows what he’s doing. A California Culinary Academy graduate who spent years training between San Francisco and Hong Kong, and has built the kind of American smokehouse that takes its format seriously: fruit wood smokers, house rubs, low-and-slow cooking measured in days rather than hours. A massive, element-beaten smoker sits outside the semi-open kitchen, and the haze of hickory carries out towards the beach. It’s not unusual to see heads turn on Thaweewong Road, noses leading their owners to the dining room.
Before your beef brisket arrives, a tuna tartare with sriracha mayo and rice crackers is sharper and more delicate than the smoker outside would have you believe. A grilled octopus with crispy potatoes and chorizo does a good job of teleporting you to somewhere on the Med. More Marbs than Monte Carlo, perhaps, but nonetheless…
Let’s allow the brisket room to rest for even longer. The cornbread with its beef tallow candle, spread as it melts, costs almost nothing and should be ordered without hesitation. A wedge salad with blue cheese dressing is there to cut through the richness when you need it.
It’s time. The 240-day grain-fed Angus brisket at THB 740 (around £16) is the headliner: deeply smoky, dark and yielding, served with house pickles and a choice of sauces including a Carolina-style vinegar and the house golden BBQ, which has a pleasingly creeping heat. The menu goes wider than straight barbecue too: charred Andaman seafood, whole grilled snapper with romesco, and a 1.4kg wagyu tomahawk for sharing if you’re feeling extravagant. A Saturday night all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet pulls a crowd, too.
The wine list is thoughtfully put together, with a Banfi Chianti Classico and an Alvaro Palacios Rioja among the reds, and decent by-the-glass pours from around THB 295 (around £6.50). The whole thing is cracking value.
Address: Courtyard by Marriott Phuket, 44 Thawewong Road, Patong Beach, Kathu, Phuket
Website: smokestackbbqandgrillphuket.com
Baan Rim Pa
Ideal for Royal Thai cuisine on a cliff, with a wine cellar to match…
Just about every resort reception desk on Phuket’s west coast will suggest Baan Rim Pa when you ask for Thai food recommendations, which says a couple of things. One, that there is an overarching assumption that Royal Thai food is the most pleasing to the tourist palate. And two, that Baan Rim Pa does deliver, even if its incredible views are its chief appeal.
The name means ‘house by the cliff’, and that about says it. Except that it’s a restaurant, not a house, but anyway. This house/restaurant sits on the rocks at Kalim, just north of Patong Beach, with waves crashing below and panoramic views across to the bay. Founded by the late restaurateur Tom McNamara, who converted his own clifftop house into a restaurant (ah, that explains it), it has been serving Royal Thai cuisine for over 30 years, making it one of the longest-standing fine dining restaurants on the island. The original Patong location started as a 32-seat operation and grew to 200; when the restaurant consolidated to its Kalim site, the craftsman who built the original polished wood bar was brought back to recreate it in the new building. Nice touch.
The interior is old school in the best sense: a two-and-a-half-storey teak house with Thai silk, white tablecloths, napkins folded into elaborate sculptures, and a grand Steinway where a pianist plays jazz, blues and Broadway standards nightly. The menu is enormous, as a Royal Thai court’s table should be.
Bird-shaped chormuang dumplings filled with crabmeat and chicken, architectural prawn sashimi hidden under sea grapes, noodle-wrapped tiger prawns with chilli sauce and local honey, steamed whole snapper with spicy lime and garlic sauce: these are dishes that were once reserved for the Grand Palace, and the kitchen treats them with corresponding care. Carrots are carved all over the shop, but the prices are gentler than the intricate work with the paring knife suggests: most dishes fall between THB 345 and 500, which isn’t half bad really.
Executive chef Khun Wan, originally from Chaiyaphum in Isaan, joined as a kitchen hand in 1991 and trained under celebrated chef Charlie Amaatyakul from the esteemed Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok. He has worked his way through every level of the kitchen since.
The wine cellar has held Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence every year since 2002, a distinction that requires at least 350 selections with breadth across regions and depth of top producers. For a Thai restaurant on a Phuket clifftop, this is a considerable achievement.
Do we even need to say you should book for sunset? Open daily from noon to 11pm.
Address: 249/4 Prabaramee Road, Kalim, Pa Tong, Kathu District, Phuket
Website: baanrimpa.com
Acqua
Ideal for award-winning Sardinian-Italian fine dining on the Kalim clifftop strip…
The accolades say it all. Michelin Plate. Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence. Iron Chef Thailand. Asia-Pacific’s Top Chef at the NOW Travel Asia Awards 2024. An acclaimed follow-up in Bangkok.
Acqua, the Phuket original, has been the island’s benchmark Italian restaurant since Sardinian-born chef Alessandro Frau opened it in 2009, and sixteen years on, the awards keep coming. But Frau didn’t open Acqua to collect trophies. Before hitting 30, he was already executive chef at the Sheraton Grande Laguna, overseeing 130 chefs across 12 outlets – a management role, not a cooking job. Acqua was his way back to the stove and to his homeland.
The restaurant sits a few minutes north of Patong on the same clifftop stretch as Baan Rim Pa and lauded L’Arôme by the Sea. The interior is Frau’s own design: black and white, clean lines, with a ceiling installation of what looks like hundreds of sheets of scrunched paper or parchment with lights glowing through it. It lends the room a theatrical, almost sculptural quality.
The cooking is rooted in Sardinia but sourced globally and restlessly: Sicilian red prawns from Mazara del Vallo served raw with Sardinian sea urchin and Siberian caviar, wild mushroom risotto, burrata-stuffed tortelli with wagyu beef cheek ragout braised for 72 hours and finished with 25-year aged balsamico. A sweat forms on your brow in anticipation of the bill when you read that roll call of ingredients, but this is a special occasion sort of place, so come prepared to submit.
A degustation menu at THB 4,300 (around £95) with optional wine pairing is the fullest expression of the kitchen, but the à la carte covers serious ground too, from wood-fired pizza with a 72-hour proved dough through to lobster à la Rossini with pan-fried foie gras and truffle bisque.
Front-of-house Joy has been there for years and is widely considered one of the best in Phuket. She’ll guide you through the enormous wine list, which is deeply, proudly Italian, with a strong Sardinian section (Argiolas Turriga, Capichera, Agricola Punica Barrua) alongside Sassicaia, Ornellaia and Tignanello, and by-the-glass pours via Coravin for those not committing to a full bottle.
Open daily from 5.30pm to 11pm.
Address: 324/15 Prabaramee Road, Kalim Bay, Patong, Kathu, Phuket
Website: acquarestaurantphuket.com
Gai Yang Khao Suan Kwang By The Shellfish Guy
Ideal for Isaan, shack-style grilled chicken…
Khao Suan Kwang is a district in Khon Kaen famous for its grilled chicken, and gai yang restaurants across Thailand carry the name as a mark of pedigree.
Back in Patong, and the full signage at this Phra Metta Road joint reads ไก่ย่างเขาสวนกวาง by ผู้ชายขายหอย — ‘Khao Suan Kwang grilled chicken by the shellfish guy’. It’s a typically idiosyncratic Isaan restaurant name that – alongside the cartoon snowman-adorned blue plastic tablecloths, metronomic ‘pok pok pok’ and molam soundtrack – actually tells you everything you need to know.
Though, even after eating here loads of times, we’re still not confident who the shellfish guy is. Or, indeed, if the shellfish is good here. Best to stick to the Isaan classics, we think – as everyone else is. Out front, whole tilapia turn over charcoal in their salt crusts alongside the flavoursome, though a touch gnarly, gai yang. Inside, the laap is juicy, the som tam pla raa is fiery, and the beers are cold. Whether Khon Kaen or Patong, it’s just the ticket.
Address: 9/26 Phra Metta Road, Tambon Patong, Kathu District, Phuket
Saeb Raeng Saeng Khong
Ideal for an Isaan chilli hit and a certain amount of sass…
Hey, speaking of idiosyncratic Isaan restaurant names, how’s this one for size? ‘แซ่บแรง แซงโค้ง‘
‘Saeb raeng’ means intensely spicy; ‘saeng khong’ means overtaking on a bend, which, if you have driven Phuket’s hill roads, you’ll know is something of a national sport. Put them together and you get something close to ‘so fiercely spicy it overtakes you on a corner’, which is one hell of an image. Though we’d caution against driving at all after a plate of the tam taeng kwaa (pounded cucumber salad) here; it’s head-spinningly assertive.
Saeb Raeng Saeng Khong is on the same road as the shellfish guy, if you fancy a little Isaan restaurant-hopping.
Address: 89 Phra Metta Road, Tambon Pa Tong, Kathu District, Phuket
Mae Mee
Ideal for a three-curry lunch for the price of an Evian back home…
Another budget baller on Phra Metta is Mae Mee (แม่หมี ลูกหมี ข้าวแกงปักษ์ใต้). The format here is raan khao kaeng: pre-made curries in trays behind a counter, served over rice. The clientele is primarily office and construction workers, drawn by satisfying, homestyle curries here; a brusque khua kling (dry toasted pork mince curry) is the pick of the bunch.
It’s extraordinary value, with three curries over rice costing just 65 baht (£1.50). There’s even complimentary nahm chub and fresh vegetables for scooping, both self-service, and free water, too. Superb stuff.
Address: 3/6-8 Phra Metta Road, Tambon Patong, Kathu District, Phuket
Chang Thai
Ideal for a hotel Thai restaurant worth leaving the pool for…
Chang Thai is a new addition to the Phuket Marriott Merlin Beach. It was born out of a straightforward gap: guests kept asking for good Thai food, and the resort, like most on the island, didn’t have a dedicated restaurant offering it with wine and full table service.
Hotel manager Khun Aof, a genuine food enthusiast, created the concept, and chef Green, whose passion for the stories behind each dish is infectious and frequently funny, brought it to life with dishes that deserve attention beyond the hotel’s guests.
The room is beautiful. Elephant motifs run through the decor, Thai silks dress the space, and the crockery is thoughtfully chosen. It’s unmistakably Thai without tipping into theme restaurant territory. Cooking classes run during the day in the same room (perfect for eavesdropping on recipes), and there’s a smaller lunch menu for those staying at the resort.
The pomelo salad was bright and clean, and a soft shell crab with green mango had the requisite crunch and punchy heat. A gaeng garee of prawns and a deep-fried seabass under a sweet and sour sauce sharpened by Phuket pineapple followed, though it was the panang of beef, thick and fragrant, that kept pulling us back across the table. Chef Green insisted we order a Thai omelette to balance the table. We thought he meant putting it under a wobbly leg. Of course he didn’t, but it did the job he intended, cutting through the richness of the curries alongside.
Dessert is where the kitchen pulls away. A Phuket pineapple crème brûlée with dried coconut and honey, bua loy with Thai tea ice cream, and a coconut ice cream loaded with sweetcorn and lychee were all genuinely excellent, and better than anything the savoury courses had prepared us for.
All in all, Chang Thai presents a refreshing alternative to much of the high-end hotel Thai fare in Patong; the ingredients sing with freshness, and the seasoning is on point. Someone in the kitchen clearly cares here.
Open daily for lunch and dinner.
Address: 99 Muen-Ngern Rd, Pa Tong, Kathu District, Phuket
Website: marriott.com
Ta Khai
Ideal for a sustainably-sourced Thai dinner that feels nothing like a resort restaurant…
Ta Khai (meaning ‘fishing net’) is the signature Thai restaurant at Rosewood Phuket, a couple of kilometres south of central Patong. It feels like a different world entirely: timber pavilions lit by wicker lanterns, wooden decking with plump cushions, the lights of Kamala visible across Patong Bay. You feel you can breathe a little easier here.
Chef Nun and chef Yai, a married couple with 30 years of experience in southern Thai cooking, are in the kitchen, and it’s one that takes its sustainability very seriously. Ta Khai’s Partners in Provenance programme names every supplier on the menu: white pigs from Sampran Farm, chicken and duck from Klong Phai Farm, organic eggs from Koh Yao Noi, pink pomelo from Mae Tao Farm, salt from Samut Sakhon.
Live fish and shrimp come from the on-site pond, supplied by Eco Aquaculture through what is claimed to be Asia’s only closed-loop aquaculture system, with fish-free feed and no hormones or chemicals. You choose your fish from the pond and it arrives steamed with lime and chilli or grilled over banana leaf with native herbs and tamarind sauce. Commendable, indeed, but with the big blue just over there, it feels a little strange.
It’s not something we care to dwell on. The Ta Khai Experience set menu at THB 1,850 per person (around £40) is the way in: pomelo salad with prawns, peanuts and dried coconut, chicken fried in pandanus leaves, fresh Phuket spring rolls, a spicy grouper soup with young tamarind leaves, steamed seabass, beef cheek massaman, moo hong (soy-braised pork with black pepper and garlic), stir-fried native melinjo leaves, and a Phuket pineapple sorbet with chilli and salt sprinkles. It’s one hell of a spread.
There is also an Explorers Menu of simpler dishes (satay, fried rice, pad see ew) for those wanting something less committed, though it undersells the kitchen considerably. Another dish that celebrates the island’s pineapple is Subparod Chuam. It’s slow braised in brown sugar until its natural sweetness deepens into a warm, caramel note. Silken cubes of grass jelly provide a cooling contrast. It’s mighty good and a refreshing end to your meal.
Open for dinner only, weather permitting.
Address: Rosewood Phuket, 88/28 Muen-Ngern Road, Tri Trang Beach, Patong, Kathu, Phuket
Website: rosewoodhotels.com
No 6 Restaurant
Ideal for cheap, cheerful Thai food that Patong can’t get enough of…
No 6 has been doing its thing on Rat-U-Thit Road for four decades now, and the queue outside it every evening has become as much a part of the Patong landscape as the tailors and the tuk-tuk drivers. It is not the best Thai food in town, Kaab Gluay and the backstreet Isaan joints have it beat, but it is cheap, the portions are enormous, and the pad Thai, yellow noodles and pineapple fried rice have kept tourists and a fair share of locals happy since 1985. That’s got to count for something.
The restaurant is cramped and loud, and you will share a table with strangers. If the queue is too much, a free shuttle takes you to the second branch, No 6 Up The Hill, which has the same menu and prices but with a panoramic view over Patong and a touch more elbow room. That’s one way to deal with the overflow!
Address: Rat-U-Thit Songroipi Road, Patong, Phuket
Website: @No6-Restaurant-Patong
