Open: noon-midnight, Monday to Sunday.

Telephone: 076 258486

Address: 43 Yaowarat Road, Phuket City.

Style: Japanese. Adjoining Tokyo drinking bar until 2am coming soon.

Price range: Set low at lunch, much higher for dinner. Otsumami appetiser (salmon roe with radish (120 baht) raw tuna salad (120 baht) spicy chilled seaweed (80 baht) Yakimono grilled chicken skewers (100 baht) Kabayaki sea eels (300 baht) teppanyaki australian sirloin (400 baht) salmon (330 baht) lobster (preorder at market price) sea bass (220 baht) chicken breast 190 baht) Nabemono hot pot (240 baht)sashimi yellowtail (290 baht) red snapper (140 baht) combination of sashimu (220 baht) shirumono soup miso (60 baht) sushi rice ball and roll mixed (180 baht) agemono deep fried shrimp and vegetables (120 baht) fillet pork cutlet (120 baht) gohan-menrui rice noodles (120-140 baht) chicken rice (140 baht) dessert shaved ice with red bean (60 baht) ice cream with red bean (80 baht) singha large (150 baht) blended lime (60 baht) red wine glass (180 baht) hot tea (40 baht).

Specialties: Eel and other delights. Deliveries on order.

Eel is one of those distinctively fleshy tastes we crave every so often. No other fish we've encountered quite matches eel, perhaps because eel blood is toxic. Fortunately, cooking solves that little problem. Such is the appeal of eel that if we knew where to find the critters on Phuket we'd probaby go fishing for them ourselves. Ginza satisfies the eel addiction without the hard work. Almost at the heart of Old Phuket Town, this is a stylish attempt at giving Japanese food the wider following it deserves on Phuket. The problem is it's a bit pricier than most other cuisines, although the set lunch here daily is a mere 140 baht. Include the eel and dinner at Ginza Phuket falls into the sublime category. We tried a hotpot and enjoyed that, too. Does any other cuisine make cabbage and seaweed this tasty? Japanese food deserves a more prominent position as an alternative to Thai and Italian. Ginza's owner is about to open Old Phuket Town's first Izakaya and Teppanyaki Bar, right next door to the Ginza restaurant. In the style of a typical Tokyo drinking and eating establishment, it will be open from 5pm to 2am. Eel and sake may be just what Old Phuket Town needs to fuel its takeoff as a real nightlife centre. Ginza makes a good launching pad, and mighty fine eel.

How to find it: Close to Suriyadet Circle (the fresh market circle), in Yaowarat Road.

Parking: On the street, a struggle at times.

Phuketwan reviewers pay for their own meals. If we don't, we tell you. Ginza Phuket City is a candidate for Phuketwan's Phuket Restaurant of the Year 2013.