Try Black Cat restaurant in Cherng Thalay for good prices, excellent food and they deliver to your door. I propose them as nominees for Restaurant of the Year 2008.

Posted by Graham on December 2, 2008 09:27

May I suggest a visit to the Red Onion in Karon. The duck there is great.

Posted by Fritz Pinguin on December 2, 2008 23:43

Try Flavors, a private restaurant inside the Ban Thai Hotel Complex, All the food is fantastic, however the chocolate mousse is to die for!!!! Editor: Thanks, will do. More suggestions welcome.

Posted by Sarah on December 3, 2008 14:47

I'd like to suggest Sizzler restaurant in Central Festival, and the nearby foodcourt as well. Sizzler, if one sticks to the salad bar and avoids silly US$10 hamburgers and thousand-baht steaks, is a good value and one of the few places on island to get a wide variety of fresh fruits and veg.

The nearby foodcourt is a bit assembly-line and basic in its offerings, but has outstanding staff who feel free to "be people, not just uniformed automatons": they remember and befriend customers.

If I were to create a list of worst restaurants and their worst habits, I'd say that the restaurants catering to tourists and Farang tastes are too frequently out to rape the customers' wallets while underpaying staff. Too many restaurants seem to want to "make a killing" rather than "make a living with repeat customers".

Also, restaurants in tourist areas have two phenomenally bad habits: 1) upselling-- forcing customers into paying more than they'd planned-- and 2) not protecting customers from walk-in salesmen. A dining experience can't be relaxed and fun if the customer is constantly feeling that his wallet and peace are under attack.

One of the worst offenders in both categories is, funnily enough, "Friendship Beach". The sole time I dined there, I found that the waitress and menu combined to push purchases that my companion and I had thought included in the basic price, and we were assaulted by two salesmen while we dined-- one of them an elderly Farang who was selling massages! I'll never go back, and never forgive'em.

Posted by A nonny Mouse on December 4, 2008 15:10

Before giving my nominations - some feedback to A nonny Mouse.
As a hotel GM and F&B manager of many years, I can assure you that all professional wait staff are trained to upsell. This is to both keep the venue in business and to improve the client experience. A waitress cannot force you to order what you don't want - to blame a waitress for "pushing purchases" is pathetic. Read the menu, you idiot, and remember that you are in Thailand and your wait staff are generally communicating with you in their second or third language. Unless someone held a gun to your head, you made a free choice to spend more than you had planned. If someone offered you a massage, simply say yes or no. Take responsibility for yourself and stop blaming others who are simply offering service. I guess there is no pleasing some people.

Both my nominations for great dining out are located in Sai Yuan Road. Not far from Friendship Beach Resort, the only reason I'm not nominating Friendship Beach is because it's already so popular and I don't want any nonny mouses to spoil the atmosphere when I dine there. These other two places that deserve the same level of success because of the effort they put in to serving great food consistently. L'Orfeo and Rum Jungle - try them both, you'll be glad you did. Unless, of course, you are worried about someone suggesting something more than you planned to spend . . .

Posted by MM on December 5, 2008 16:38

MM comments are right on! A nonny Mouse should go back to his country and not spoil the Thai dining experience for others.

Posted by JS on December 6, 2008 09:13

Hey, I went and tried the Black Cat Restaurant in Cherng Thalay / Laguna and found it to be just as friendly and great, just as A suggested. The owner Philliepe is good humoured, the staff are wonderful and the service fast. Now the cruncher. The food is a delight, both Thai and falang dishes. Well presented and very tasty. Very well priced and I would certainly suggest you try them and see or taste for yourself. Have fun.

Posted by mouse on December 6, 2008 10:19

We have been dining at Sweets Restaurant in Patong since 2001. The menu caters for Thai and Western dishes and when my wife and I return to Thailand each year our first meal is here. The mixed Massaman curry is fantastic and highly recommended.

Posted by Scott Shallcross on December 6, 2008 11:33

The Farang restaurant has great food and prices, try their seafood soup. just past the Laguna turnoff on the left.

Posted by terence plunkett on December 12, 2008 19:14

I would like to vote for Riverside Restaurant on the corner of the road from Lersuang to the Surin road which brings you up to the Chedi. The family run restaurant is fantastic, the prices are reasonable, portions big, food is delicious consistently and they treat their local customers very well. The best Massaman chicken in Phuket! Khun Boom and her family certainly deserve to win this vote. I eat there possibly 4 times a week, the restaurants in Surin Beach have recently brought their prices right up to the price that Taste Restaurant and even some dishes in catch are, this is ridiculous - I would like to applaud Riverside Restaurant for not being greedy and understanding that the people who live here will eat all year round and not just in 'high' season, especially if the price is right.

Posted by Nat on December 16, 2008 15:13

I would like to recommend Nikita's bar on Rawai beach. This bar come restaurant is just what i dream about when i am away from Phuket, a thatched roof sala on the beach. Have people forgotten what Phuket and tropical islands are all about? Sitting under a tree with your feet in the sand, drinking a cold beer or sipping a coconut. I am fed up with concrete. Is no one else ????

Posted by Russell Jones on December 18, 2008 19:39