Spice House, Central Festival, Phuket
Open: 11am-10pm
Address: Central Festival Phuket, Jungceylon, and Soi Metadee Resort, Kata
Telephone: 076 319101-9, 085 8883024
Style: A little cossack, a touch of Thai.
Price range: borsht (150 baht); chicken soup (120 baht); beef davidoff (220 baht); fresh salted salmon (180 baht); boiled russian ravioli (150 baht); chicken potato (220 baht); traditional russian beetroot-fish salad (130 baht); fried royal mackerel (180 baht); fish ivan and mariya (190 baht); vodka snack for jolly crowd (250 baht); cesar salad (120 baht); eggplant rolls (120 baht); khao pad phuket (150 baht); khao pad gai (120 baht); massaman gai (120 baht); pla krapong (350 baht); spring rolls (70/90 baht); pancakes (90 baht); honey cake (95 baht); lemon mint (100 baht); pineapple juice (100 baht); singha beer (90 baht); smirnov vodka (120 baht).
Specialties: We like the sound of ''vodka snack for jolly crowd'' and suspect the festivities probably start for some before noon.
What Phuketwan says:
Rasputin, Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Cuban Missile Crisis, Sputnik, Yuri Gagarin, Moscow, Vladivostok, Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, Gorbachev, Red Square, Perestroika and vodka. We knew all about Russia, except for Borsht. Now we know about red soup with sour cream and what McDonalds might have looked like if the USSR had won the Cold War. Thanks goodness, there are salads and no clowns. We have not just one Spice House on Phuket but three, all offering Russian and Thai food. The Central Phuket outlet is where we tried Borsht, Steak Davidoff, and assorted delicacies. A friend once flew off to report from Moscow and never came back. A second reliable correspondent was sent, and the same thing happened. They just loved the life and did not want to ever leave. Russians on Phuket encountered before 6pm may not opt to give strangers they encounter bear hugs and free cigars, but we are informed by trusted spies that those sometimes-gruff exteriors hide hearts brimming with glasnost. While we are enjoying our potatoes with just about everything and giving the honey cake a big thumbs up, the Russian chef pops out to talk to other customers not once, but twice. A couple of diners at a nearby table hop into cigarillos and beer. They're both women. It is, after all, close enough to afternoon, and Phuket is pretty much like home these days. How to find it: Central Festival, in the outdoors section.
Parking: Plenty of room underground at Central Festival, except during big sales.
Phuketwan reviewers pay for their own meals. If we don't, we tell you.
