Try Me Thai holds a special place as it is where I had my first meal in Thailand. This family run restaurant is a welcoming and fairly cheap place which uses great ingredients. After my first meal, I came back three times which is a testament to its great taste and varied menu. I would recommend Try Me Thai’s award winning spring rolls, Pad Thai and most of all, its Massaman curry.
Not boasting as great a menu as Try Me Thai and being almost twice the price, this restaurant makes this list for one thing and one thing only…its Tom Yum Soup. THE most delicious and biggest prawns I’ve ever tasted, which (once beheaded and detailed) melt at the first touch of your mouth. The best Tom Yum soup of my trip so far, by a long long way.
This food court in Phuket blows every restaurant on this list out of the water when it comes to price. With vendors selling noodles, fried rice dishes, curries, mango sticky rice and flavoured ice drinks, you aren’t short of choice, but coming here and not trying the spring rolls would be a crime. In a summer roll case, filled with cooked veg and topped with a nutty sauce, these are the best we have eaten so far, and we are partial to a spring roll.
railay the corner (railay)
We walked past “Railay the Corner” every night of our stay in Railay and each time weren’t let down by the entertainment of the owner's over joyous claims that he sold “the best chicken in the world”. So, on the last night, enticed by his expert sales tactics, we decided to see if there was any truth to his amusing, if not outlandish, claims. After being seated on the restaurant's roof terrace, we immediately got to ordering the half chicken. Slow roasted on a spit throughout the day and covered in Mexican style spices, this chicken was unbelievably tender and although I can neither confirm nor deny the owners claims (unfortunately I haven’t tried every single chicken in the world). It was so good it even had my “flexitarian” girlfriend's mouth watering.
If you’ve already read my piece on Garlic 1992, you know how highly I rate this restaurant. With friendly, welcoming staff who encourage you to speak Thai and a variety of authentic Thai foods at low prices, this gem among the surplus of Western restaurants on Phi Phi can’t be turned down. Garlic 1992 is well worth the short queue and once you’re in, I’d highly recommend the Khao Soi Kai or Penang curry.