Somtam Banthoeng - ส้มตำบันเทิง

Somtam Banthoeng is certainly a restaurant which took me away from where we normally visited.

We drove to a restaurant which was situated next to a large lake. We arrived for lunch and there was absolutely nothing in English - apart from the sign.

 So I was happy to let Chuen order everything.

As the ordering began we were given a bowl of fish food and spoons - glad that I did not think think that they were peanuts. We were then told to throw the fish food into the lake where we would be visited by a great number of fighting catfish!

We were visited by a lot!

We fed the fish whilst we waited for our food to arrive. I perused the restaurant whilst we waited and thought that it may be busier in the evening as there were karaoke signs pointing upstairs. The food arrived and we had to make our way to the toilets (a bit crude) before we started at our food.

The food was certainly spicy - the Tom Yam Goong was fabulous!

The beef something was great - spicy and full of flavour.

The chicken wings were certainly little and the sticky rice was great - but the fish liked eating the leftovers!?

The Som Tam was exceptional (almost as good as Nong Soy) but we had too much crab in this one for my tastes.

The beer was cold and wow the bill was small.

 

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Phone Number: 084 064 3172

Approximate Price: $$$$$

Address: ถนนหลิมซุ่ยจู้ ตลาดใหญ่ , เมืองภูเก็ต , ภูเก็ต 83000

Hours: 11am - midnight

After Beach Bar

After Beach Bar is a place which is in the hills above Kata and Karon - follow a twisting, turning road and you will hear reggae music as you approach - this is it!

If you have been reading blogs and visiting Phuket then this destination is something of a 'Historical Monument' - it has been here ever since, well as far as I can remember.

So when we managed to park the car - if you are on bikes or in a taxi this is much easier we wandered in to grab a seat. 

The beer was served very cold and as we watched the sun begin to set I lost my appetite completely and cold beers were enough for me.

There was a newer bar next door (North) and a newer building past that - but the After Beach Bar decided to extend their deck the furthest and the other bars / restaurants have not yet responded (Baan Chom View and Small Viewpoint). Jamie's Phuket blog has some great pictures of them from here.

We did order some food - just nibbles - som tam and grilled squid - both of them were lovely - I was impressed because these are dishes which are really quite simple but are sometimes not always the best. I even found a review from Lonely Planet.

There is a lot of seating and on following visits we have been surprised by the amount of people that do make their way up here to have a few drinks....

Hint: Check the time of sunset and be there approximately 30 minutes before this to try to ensure you get a seat in the front

Phone Number: 081 894 3750

Approximate Price: $$$$$

Address: Above Kata Beach

Hours: 11am - midnight

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Janjira Dim Sum - จนทรจรา ตมซำ (closed)

Janjira Dim Sum is a most unremarkable restaurant on the side of the main road (Tesco, Central Festival, BigC and next to Index).

This meant that it was a wonderful place to stop and was I happily surprised when I went in - I have subsequently visited here again and written a post on the Cape Panwa Blog  regarding the 6 best Dim Sum restaurants in Phuket (the map is at the bottom).

It is always a good indicator when the restaurant has a continual flow of local residents and this is certainly one of them.

When I sat down I was immediately approached by a waitress who asked me (in English) if I wanted a drink - 'Cha Yen' (iced tea) was immediately ordered.

Within two minutes I was approached by another member of staff who presented me with (what was clearly) a hot tray of an assortment of different Dim Sum. This is where one could immediately feel  worried - what is everything? This I have got no idea. Then I was presented with the most wonderful Chinese tea - so wonderful that this is my Chinese Green Tea to compare all other Dim Sum restaurants to!

But the beauty was that they were not expensive! I think that when I actually visited the cappuccino across the road was more expensive than my dim sum breakfast! After watching for a while I was also aware that it did not only serve Dim Sum but also traditional Thai food.

 

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Approximate Price: $$$$$

Address: Chaleamprakieat Rd.,Muang (adjacent to Index)

Hours: 5:00 - 14:00