Phuket's Seafood Galore

I love Phuket and for me it's rated number one as the most beautiful island ive ever visited. Not surprising that i would make a return to this wonderful island paradise like i did recently as it charms seem to keep calling for my return :)

For me Phuket has it all, from the wonderful sandy beaches and crystal clear turquoise water, everlasting mountain range with greeneries, shopping arcades and malls and not to forget its crazy nightlife. Not to be distracted by the other attractions, part of me (large part of it actually) was craving for its fresh and cheap seafood offerings. It goes without saying that you can easily find fresh seafoods in Phuket, being an island in abundance of sea-life caught daily from the surrounding sea and relatively they are cheap compared to other places ive visited before.

The first place that ive chanced to visit to satisfy my seafood hunger was P'lek Seafood located in Patong. The landmark to this place is it is located adjacent to a Tesco store in Nanai Road. It is just a small stall in a row of stalls selling, i believe similar seafoods offerings but this one is Halal. We were informed of this restaurant by our hotel reception and conveniently it is located around 5 minutes drive from our hotel.

The menu:

We ordered:

Tom Yum Koong-Prawn Tom Yum

Fried Morning Glory in Oyster Sauce

Sweet & Sour Seabass

The foods were all fresh and delicious albeit the price is of the higher range.

If you are looking for more atmosphere and dining experience by the sea, i suggest visiting Laem Hin Seafood, located in Laem Hin Pier in Phuket Town, almost 30 minutes drive from Patong. Laem Hin Seafood has been touted as the best and famous seafood restaurant in Phuket and i can't agree more to that after visiting this place.

The restaurant was built by the seaside and when the tide sets in, the restaurant becomes a floating restaurant creating wonderful dining experience surrounded by fresh seabreeze.

The menu here is more extensive and they have one special purpose building housing aquariums to keep their live seafood.

We ordered:

Stir Fried Venus Clams with Holy Basil

Sweet and Sour Garoupa

Deep Fried Squid

Prawn with Glass Noodle

Tom Yum Koong

It was definitely an overkill ordering 5 dishes for only 2 people, but we truly enjoyed the foods as they were all fresh and delicious. I particularly love the clams and the garoupa. They even served one whole bowl of the sweet and sour sauce on the side and did not pour it over the fish which i found to be thoughtful as some people wanted to retain the crispiness of the fish. The bill came out less than THB 2000 which i also believe was very affordable, having regard to the quality of the food and the generous portions. This restaurant really lived up its hype and ill definitely make it a must-go place next time.

More Halal Foods In Bangkok

Bangkok is truly a food heaven and you can find food practically anywhere in this " City of Angel". Ive ventured wide enough of this wonderful city and sometimes even off-the beaten track to find there are more hidden or not well known places serving halal foods around the city. Some are even right next to your place of accommodation but we may missed them along our way, and thus need highlighting for which Im doing it in this post, featuring more halal eateries for you to visit the next time you are in the vibrant city of Bangkok.

i) Nadia Halal Food

Location: Sathorn-Suan Plu Soi 6 (adjacent to Marriott, Sommerset & I Residence Hotel)

Serving: Local Thai Cuisines and also murtabak

Price Range: Around THB 40 per dish

This restaurant was spotted by chance as we drove along the Suan Plu Soi 6 on our way to our usual eating place. The "Halal" sign was largely and clearly displayed at the door and the reason why it could easily be seen. The restaurant is small with only 5 tables inside and one or 2 makeshift plastic tables outside, however it is airconditioned and very clean. Do note that it can be very crowded during weekdays lunch hour with university students having their lunch here as the restaurant is located adjacent to nearby aviation university.

No complaint on the foods as the ones that we tasted were fresh and tasty and could even give a run for money to other higher priced restaurants.

Menus

Seatings

we ordered:

Seafood Padkaprao

Tom Yam Koong

Blackpepper Beef

The entrance

ii) Khrua Muslim Kap Ton Mai' @ Muslim Kitchen

Location: Rankhamhaeng Soi 142

Serving: Steamboat Buffet

Price Range: Around THB 149 per person

This place may be well out of your way as it is situated in the outskirt vicinity of Rankamhaeng. Needless to note, Rankamhaeng area is one of the most populated are by Muslims in Bangkok whereby you can easily find many mosques, halal restaurants and food stalls and shops run by Muslims around this area. I highly recommend for you to at least have a visit and walkaround this area to see how the local Muslims live their daily life here

On this eatery, it serves only steamboat buffet and readily cooked side dishes such as fried noodles, fried rice, spaghetti,macaroni, local dishes to be eaten with plain rice, salads and even somtam. Not to forget, they served varieties of desserts options.You need to come here with an empty stomach to really enjoy each and every dish served here and also to try every ingredient made available for your steamboat buffet.

I love the vast selections offered for the steamboat especially that they do offered squid and mushrooms in addition to the usual meat and chicken. Further, the eating area is divided into indoor and outdoor area whereby the outdoor eating area is set in a garden like setting giving a touch of difference to your eating experience.

iii) Halal Beef Noodle/Chicken Rice/Satay/Murtabak 

Location: Rama 9 roadside (enroute to Suvarnabhumi airport)

Serving: Beef noodle, chicken rice, satays, murtabak, roasted chicken

Price Range: Around THB 50 per dish

This is my favourite place to stop and have a hearthy bowl of delicious and piping hot beef noodle on my way to the airport. I cant say enough of how delicious the noodle is and one needs to really try them to agree. The beef broth served here is so flavourful and the generous chunks of sliced beef and meatballs really make the noodle a complete meal to be craving for. The noodle is garnished with fresh cuts of spring onion and cilantro and you have to eat this with splash of preserved chilli and the dried chilli powder for that extra kick or additional fish sauce or sugar served together with this noodle.

The chicken rice is served in a rather large portion and delicious too. Ive tasted the satays as well but they were too sweet for my liking though.

Halal Foods In Rayong

During the recent holiday i visited the seaside city of Rayong and its now infamous (for the recent oil spill) nearby Samet Island.

Prior to my departure i did some researches on available halal/muslim eateries in and around Rayong but the search results came out minimal and not much resources could be obtained from the current info available in the net apart from their address and contact number. No reviews of the food offered were available-as far as my search results are concerned. Hence I am more than happy to share my experiences in the few halal/muslim eateries that I visited during my trip to Rayong.

i) Muslim Restaurant at the Bangkok-Pattaya Rest Stop Area

Well this place is not actually situated in Rayong, rather on the way to Rayong whereby you may feel hungry along the 2 hours plus journey time. It's located at the main rest stop area by the highway to Pattaya and I believe it can be easily found as there's only one rest stop area that i remember along the journey. You may find many eateries here such as the usual Mcd's, KFCs and even 2 Starbucks stores!

As for this halal restaurant, it's also easy to find as it's located opposite one dedicated washrooms building on the right side of the access road and can be easily identified with its signboard depicting the halal word.

It serves mainly simple dishes such as noodles and soups and also Indian Muslim food such as murtabak and bryani. I ordered the Oxtail soup which was delicious and alarmingly spicy. Im totally happy to see they served one big chunk of oxtail in the soup rather than few small pieces of oxtails that we usually find in Malaysia.

menu and the nice and clean interior of the restaurant

ii) Halal Chicken Rice-Pad Thai-Murtabak 

Ironically i did not even visited those eateries that ive searched in the net earlier but end up in other places serving halal foods in Rayong. This was mainly due to the Eid holiday and most of the restaurants that ive located in the internet were still closed.

Regardless, it was a blessing in disguise indeed as we chanced to find there are halal stalls among the many line up of stalls opposite Rayong Laemthong shopping centre. There are 2 halal stalls here, one serving chicken rice and the other padthai and murtabak.

As always, you can expect fresh and delicious foods anywhere in Thailand and these stalls are of no exceptions. For the chicken rice, i opted to have the deep fried chicken, whereby there were also barbecued and steamed option. 

The rice was so fragrant and the chicken was crispy on the outside and moist in the inside.The chilly could have been more spicier I hoped.

As you can see for the padthai below, i could have said that this was served in a proper restaurant instead of a roadside stall and people would believe it just for its wonderful presentation and arrangement of the condiments.

It was mildly spiced, which was quite disappointing however i could easily taste the freshness of each and every ingredient used therein especially the sweetness of the shrimps.

iii) Chillie's Chalie Steakhouse

With all the wonderful authentic local Thai foods around, ive never wanted to order any western option whenever i was in Thailand (except for the usual Mcd sometimes) however this place was totally an exception and what a great found it was. Ive tasted one of the most succulent steak and the best sauce ever here.They also served chicken rice and noodles here. Free hot coffee are available at the self-service counter.

The menus

I ordered the very delicious and generous portioned black pepper steak. I would prefer crinkle cut fries though.

This restaurant is easily located opposite the entrance gate of  the U-tapao Airport. It is not located in the city centre.

Hope the above may help you dine well in Rayong and have a jolly good time there.Cheers-Kay 2013