Phuket's food scene blends mainland Thai cooking with a distinct local Peranakan (Chinese-Malay-Thai) tradition unique to the island.
Phuket specialities
- Moo hong — a slow-braised pork belly dish, sweeter and less spicy than mainland Thai pork dishes
- Mee hokkien (Hokkien noodles) — thick yellow noodles stir-fried with seafood and pork, a legacy of Phuket's Chinese mining-era immigrants
- O aew — a local shaved-ice dessert unique to Phuket Town
- Oh tao — a fried oyster and taro omelette, another Peranakan-influenced local dish
Beyond the local specialities
Standard Thai staples — pad thai, tom yum, green curry, som tam — are available everywhere, alongside excellent fresh seafood given the island's coastal location.
Regional Thai influences
Southern Thai cooking, which shapes much of Phuket's non-Peranakan food, tends to be spicier and more turmeric- and coconut-forward than the cuisine of Bangkok or the north — dishes like gaeng tai pla (a very pungent, very spicy fish-organ curry) are a genuine local specialty for those wanting to go further than tourist-menu staples.
Spice levels
Restaurant dishes served to tourists are often toned down by default — ask for it "Thai spicy" if you want the dish as locals would order it, but be ready for a real jump in heat.
Where to actually eat this
See our street food guide and night markets guide for where Phuket's local specialities are most reliably found, since they show up on far fewer sit-down restaurant menus than the standard Thai staples do.