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Gourmands won't be disappointed in Rawai. Everything - from noodle
stands to five-star dining - is available in this area and it's
a remarkably easy place to get around in.
Northern Rawai
Three hundred metres south of Chalong's traffic circle on the right-hand
side of the road is La Cabane, a French restaurant.
La Cabane serves hearty fare with reasonable prices
and is a well-turned out eatery. Further down on the same side of
the road, just before the turn off into Soi Sai Yuan, is The
Drunken Monkey, a restaurant specializing in Sunday brunches
and daily traditional English food with free WiFi access. Diagonally
opposite, down Soi Mittrapap, is Friendship Beach
where Sunday brunches are also served up as well as Thai and American
food. Its beach/poolside dining location draws many expat families
on weekends.
Heading south there are many cheap eateries nestled between bars
and shophouses, each sporting their own logos and selling points
('Soft drinks and Real drinks here').
Follow the sign on the right to the Mangosteen
Resort and you will discover yet another popular Sunday
Brunch venue, but one with a fabulous 360-degree view of southern
Phuket. This attractive resort also has a competent wine cellar
and good cuisine.
A fascinating but out-of-the-way restaurant in this area is Laem
Ka Noi Seafood. To find it, pass Soi Saliga on the left-hand
side of the road and continue south, looking for the signage then
turn left and drive as far as the road will take you ... and it
will take you quite a distance. The quaint, isolated seaside setting
is the starting point for an enjoyable evening's dining.
As for a five-star fine-dining experience, you can't go wrong at
Evason Resort - further
to the south. You will have to park at the resort's car park, walk
up to reception and take a shuttle bus down to the lower level where
there are three excellent restaurants and a buffet hall.
On the lowest level, accessed by stairs, Into the Beach features
seafood and is a sand-between-your-toes experience. Into the Med
has fine dining with a spectacular easterly facing view over Chalong
Bay to Koh Lon, a jungle-covered island opposite. Into Thai features...
you guessed it already, Thai food. Into the View (strangely enough,
without much of a view) has a nightly changing regional buffet.
Strolling musicians provide the ambience and the hotel's wine selection
is exemplary.
By the Beach
Rounding the bend at the bottom of the road, a plethora of dining-out
options waits. Freedom Bar does English pub grub,
Maggie and Mario's serve up excellent and affordably
priced Italian fare (including possibly the best pizza in Phuket!).
The smaller eateries on the right-hand side of the road deal mostly
in seafood.
On your left as you head down this road you will see a cluster
of cement/porcelain tables and chairs but no restaurant. What's
going on? Well, the restaurant serving diners here is actually on
the other side of the road! They should have called it 'A Road Runs
through It' but its real name is Sala Loi. The
theme is reproduced in kind all along the beach except without tables
and chairs: diners sit on mats place on the beach and eat off short-legged
tables under the causarina trees. It's all very rustic, very charming
and the food is good, too - mostly barbecued fish and chicken with
glutinous rice and fresh veggies.
The furthermost restaurant on Rawai
Beach is Baan Haad Rawai - a large seafood
affair dealing mostly in tourist groups. Don't let this put you
off though, as it really is quite good and actually has a wine list.
Some two kilometres up the road at Laem
Phromthep (the most well-known of Phuket's viewpoints) is another
large seafood restaurant. This place is nothing if not well-ventilated,
with breezes flying in from the Andaman Sea and (daytime) views
across the sweep of Nai
Harn Beach.
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