Phuket Old Town house
Old Town detail
I have been to Phuket Island and Khao Lak, Thailand a few times before, but have never visited the town of Phuket. Mainly I have been only seeking some relaxation on the beach during my previous trips and snorkeling on Similan Islands and have not had the interest to make that two-hour trip to town.
As we were this January staying a bit closer the second week of the holiday, we decided to take a look into the old town – and were positively surprised by it. For the influence of Europeans, such as Portuguese and British, and on the other hand Chinese, you can read a good short description here.
Thalang Road
Dibuk Road
Side street of Thalang Road
My absolute favorite was the refurbished (finished in 2013) Memory at On On Hotel on the Phang Nga Road. On On was the first hotel opened on the island of Phuket in 1929. The lobby has preserved a fantastic feeling of the era of the hotel’s original opening year.
On On Hotel lobby part 1
On On Hotel lobby part 2
On On Hotel lobby part 3
On On Hotel reception part 1
On On hotel reception part 2
On On Hotel courtyard part 1
On On Hotel courtyard part 2
On On Hotel courtyard part 3
On On Hotel courtyard part 4
As it was lunchtime and many of the restaurants in town are not open before evening, there was not a huge selection fro places to eat in. One of my pre-checked favorites was however open – China Inn Café on Thalang Road. You enter to a nice Chinese antique shop and the restaurant can be found actually on the courtyard behind the building.
China Inn Café shop
China Inn Café shop
The food is rather Thai than Chinese, which I did prefer while in Thailand. The atmosphere is good (there is even a few birds in a cage to keep the little ones occupied – and you do not need to worry them running on the street as there is the shop on the way) and the food was absolutely delicious, added with a good selection of wines (in case Singha or Chang are not your preferred choice with a meal).
China Inn Café courtyard
China Inn Café
China Inn Café garden
As I unfortunately had no time to take a cooking class in Blue Elephant Governor’s Mansion nor eat in the restaurant, I had to settle for just buying some seasonings to take home. Well, some time will have to attend the class either in Phuket or Bangkok.
Blue Elephant seasonings
Phuket Old Town streets are full of nice restaurants, bars and cafés – but also full of interesting shops…
missingmiles 
I hope you will consider contributing a recipe to the Global Recipe Project – it’s for a good cause! 🙂 http://crowdedearthkitchen.com/global-recipe-project/
@crowdedearthkitchen, I would be delighted to as soon as I can spare some time to do it…
Wonderful, thank you! 🙂
I have recently moved to Phuket for work and on Sunday I took a stroll around Old Town – I love it down there, I will definitely be spending a lot of time in those little cafes and perusing those quirky little shops. It’s a real gem that so many people overlook when visiting the island. Thanks for sharing, I will be putting together my own post this week. By any chance did you find the hidden temple?
@cornishkylie, unfortunately we did not have time to look for the hidden temple… Traveling with a 4 year old daughter does not always let you do all the things you wish 🙂 Also we had no chance to try out the Suay restaurant in the old town and the floating restaurants- well, hopefully next time!
Floating restaurants? I need to get my google on, there is so much to explore!