Phuket and Chiang Mai, Thailand Restaurant Reviews

Reviewer: Foodnut.com

Phuket SeafoodWhere does a San Francisco Foodie eat in Thailand? Follow our journey and learn from our experiences.

Here is a compilation of more casual restaurants, snack places we visited during our 2020 Asia trip. Our goal was to find good eats at reasonable prices, primarily restaurants where locals go. We have no interest sampling cuisine that is done better at home in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is challenging on an expensive ‘island’, full of pricey tourist traps.

Useful Websites

Our Trip includes visits to

  • Restaurants
  • Snack Shops
  • and more

Food Focus:

  • Chicken Rice
  • Local Cuisine

Phuket Thailand

The restaurant scene here is very chaotic and touristy. It is hard to find true foodie quality restaurants. We went to top rated Trip advisor spots and found them fair at best.

December 30, 2019

 

Red Duck Restaurant

Khoktanod Rd. 88/3
Kata Beach, Karon
Phuket 83000 Thailand

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1210687-d2335875-Reviews-Red_Duck_Restaurant-Kata_Beach_Karon_Phuket.html

Red Duck is a Thai restaurant in touristy Phuket. It is listed in the Lonely Planet tour book so it is pretty popular. We found the food pretty average though. There does not seem to be any real food restaurant in this area, just a bunch of tourist restaurants that serve everything from French fries to pizza to Pad Thai!

Prices are reasonable. This city is pretty cheap to eat in.

Food Picks:


Fresh tiger prawns cooked in garlic

Pad thai

Overall – Good
Food – Good
Decor – Very Good
Service – Very Good
Value – Very Good

Would we come back – No

============

December 31, 2019

Palm Square

88 / 29 – 30 Kata Road.
Kata Beach, Karon
Phuket 83100, Thailand
+66 88 765 3515

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1210687-d7219887-Reviews-Palm_Square-Kata_Beach_Karon_Phuket.html

Our hotel suggested this ‘restaurant’, which is more like a courtyard of street food stalls. Everything from pizza to Thai food to BBQ seafood. You order from each stall and sit in a common area. They had live much when we ate. The food was fine, better than expected, but not spectacular. Prices are cheap.

We actually found a better spot near the corner of Kata Rd. The lady cooks Thai dishes well but is really slow.

Even the food we got on a boat tour to James Bond Island had better food.

Food Picks:
Fresh prawns cooked on the grilled

Grilled chicken skewer

Corn on the cob grilled

Roti with curry

Overall – Good
Food – Good
Decor – Good
Service – Very Good
Value – Excellent

Would we come back – Maybe

=========

Chiang Mai, Thailand

January 1, 2020

Sirichai Khao Man Gai

Si Phum Sub-district
Mueang Chiang Mai District
Chiang Mai 50200
053 210 944

We tried to eat at the famous Kiat Ocha for now man Gai (Hainanese style boiled chicken), but they sold out early. A block away we found Sirichai with a line out front. They serve Hainanese Chicken Rice, so we decided to eat here instead.

The food here hit the spot. It was cheap and good. Someday we will try Kiat Ocha. If they are closed or sold out, come here instead.

Food Picks:


Chicken combo served over rice steamed and crispy chicken (50 baht – USD$1.75) comes with some slightly spicy chicken soup. The chicken was very well done and flavorful. The lightly breaded fried chicken was also very good. Cheap eats and great quality.

Overall – Very Good
Food – Very Good
Decor – Good
Service – Good
Value – Excellent

Would we come back – Yes

====

January 1, 2020

Samsen Villa Chiang Mai
201 Charoenrat Rd.
Rim Ping Condominiumม Wat Gate Subdistrict
Chiang Mai 50000, Thailand
+66 53 240 455

Home – 2020

Samsen Villa was recommended in a Chowhound forum thread. The restaurant, founded in 1978, is located on the side of the river in a nice area. The spot was packed with lots of locals.

We found the food just slightly above average, nothing particularly exciting. They have an English menu. Service was slow.

Food Picks:
Royal Thai Style Pork Satay (120) is a signature dish. Interesting pork flavor. Peanut sauce was very weak.

Royal Thai Crispy fried rice noodle with signature sauce (100) was a cool crispy, sweet dish. Interesting and good.

Morning glory vegetables (100) was average

Pad Thai was average

Overall – Good
Food – Very Good
Decor – Fair
Service – Good
Value – Excellent

Would we come back – No

—-

January 3, 2020

Oxygen
X2 Chiang Mai Riverside Resort
369/1 Charoenraj Road
Chiang Mai, Thailand
0 5393 1999

We stayed at the X2 Chiang Mai Riverside Resort. This is a wonderful modern hotel that is not ultra expensive. Our room included free breakfast. A combination mini buffet with 2 entrees from the menu.

The entrees we got were excellent. From Chiang Mai sausage to fried rice to French toast.

We’ve read great things about their dinner menu, so give it a try and report back.

Also check out
https://www.timeout.com/bangkok/restaurants/the-best-restaurants-in-chiang-mai

 

January 3, 2020

Kiat Ocha
43 Intrawarorot Road
Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
+66 53 327 262

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293917-d6966508-Reviews-Kiat_Ocha-Chiang_Mai.html

We finally ate at the famous Kiat Ocha for Khao Man Gai (Hainanese style boiled chicken). It sold out at 1:30pm the previous day, so we went at Noon. (6am-3pm hours) If it sells our go a block away to Sirichai. This spot is right near the Three Kings Monument and next to the Instagrammable Wat Inthakhin Sadue Muang.

The food here hit the spot. The food was instantly delivered. It was cheap and good. Far better than our favorite place, Rooster and Rice in SF.

Food Picks:


Chicken combo served over rice steamed and crispy chicken (Medium size 100 baht – USD$3.50) comes with some super hot chicken soup. Be sure to order a bigger size so you can mix and match styles. The chicken was very well done and flavorful. The lightly breaded fried chicken was the best. We ordered even more. Cheap eats and great quality. 8.5/10

Rice (10) was really well done too. Lots of fatty flavor. 8/10

Chicken Satay (Small 50) was good, but you can just stick to the chicken. Dipping sauce was a bit bland. 7/10

Thai ice tea (20) was good. Avoid the ice if you are cautious like us. 7/10

Overall – Excellent
Food – Excellent
Decor – Fair
Service – Very Good
Value – Excellent

Would we come back – Yes

Restaurant Map:


Come Back?

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