Open: 10am-midnight

Address: Attached to the Marina Phuket Resort, Karon Road, Karon, Phuket.

Style: Fred Flintstone, Bam Bam.

Price range: seafood cocktail (120 baht) stuffed squid (150 baht) hoh mok traditional seafood (180 baht) sashimi (180 baht) tom yung koong soup (150 baht) potato salad (130 baht) tuna fish salad (160 baht) seafood basket (650 baht) steamed lemon fish (390 baht) fish and chips (390 baht) spring rolls (120 baht) chicken with lemon (390 baht) hungarian pork chop (490 baht) pepper steak (650 baht) surf and turf (750 baht) pizza napolitana (280 baht) lasagna bolognese (280 baht) green chicken with curry (260 baht) phad thai (190 baht) banana or pineapple fritter (150 baht) cream caramel (120 baht) coke (70 baht) small beer (120 baht) large beer (240 baht) cocktails (280 baht) fruit juice (120 baht)

Specialties: Jungle ambience, family fun.

We'd flashed past Phuket's Dino Park many times without really having a reason to stop until friends with children suggested a night out there. So we decided to try it: six adults, five children. There was a quick warning. We brought a bottle of wine but the waiter said it would cost us 900 baht to open at Dino Park. This seemed to us to be a primitive if not prehistoric fee, so we decided to stick with the beer. Prices, it turned out, were about three times or more what residents or tourists could expect to pay elsewhere, in less gimmicky places. We were also told by an otherwise helpful waiter that we were not allowed to review the restaurant. Tell that to tripadvisor.com, and have a nice tip. Dino Park is actually a great place to go if you want to sit and talk with friends while the kids amuse themselves. It was not long before we all relaxed under the trees amid the jungle foliage, watching the kids clamber over a skeletal dinosaur head at the base of the waterfall, or looking up into the sky as the mock volcano belched noisily. The jungle is a genuine copy: we spotted a squirrel in a tree and a turtle in the water. And after the meal, we enjoyed 18 holes of Dino minigolf at 240 baht a head (onlookers pay 120 baht to walk with you). After we finished the meal, a small elephant appeared outside, attracting everyone's attention, the way that small elephants always seem to do. Looking back on the evening, we'd say the restaurant is tourist-expensive. A friend down from Isarn said the prices for the Thai food were five times what she'd pay for the real thing back home. Quality-wise, praise was mixed. But, given the jungle ambience and the way that kids can enjoy themselves without asking ''When are we going home?'' Dino Park and the mini-golf has a traditional if high-priced place in the range of dining options on Phuket.

How to find it: On the main beach road between Karon and Kata, alongside the Marina Phuket Resort.

Parking: Some guests walk but others park in nearby lanes, often for a 30 baht fee. No parking directly out front.

Phuketwan reviewers pay for their own meals. If we don't, we tell you.