Phuket guide · Where to eat
Places to eat in Phuket, with what to order and how comfortable each is for families and older travellers.
Updated
Vegetarian and Indian food is easier here than in most Thai beach towns, but it pays to know what each word means. Patong has the main cluster of Indian kitchens, many of them along Rat Uthit Road and Thawewong Road. Chotivala is the one we tag as pure vegetarian; several others use the phrase in their names, but we could not confirm it for all of them, and one guide's tags suggest egg at Kailash Parbat. Places change fast: Shree Ganesha and Pure Vegetarian Gopal, both still widely recommended online, were reported closed in 2026, so check before you set out.
For strict Jain food there is no kitchen we can vouch for. Directory listings describe Chotivala and Shree Gangour as Jain, but we found no statement from either restaurant on how onion, garlic and root vegetables are handled, and the masala dosa recommended at Chotivala normally contains potato. Ask directly, and tell the restaurant in advance. Ask your hotel in advance whether its kitchen can prepare meals to your rules.
Thai jay food is the useful local alternative: it leaves out meat, dairy, eggs, alcohol, garlic, onion, shallot, chives and leek, and is marked by a yellow flag with a red character during the Vegetarian Festival. It does not exclude potato, carrot or other root vegetables, so it is not Jain. Jiya Chai on Ranong Road serves it all year, and Mae Orathai Vegetarian on Soi Nanai in Patong is a simple vegan Thai option that closes on some Buddhist holy days. Note that ordinary Thai dishes usually contain fish sauce or shrimp paste, even when they look vegetarian, so say so clearly when you order. Vegans do well in Phuket Town, with Ubuntu Eat and The Vegan Table, as well as Pure Vegan Heaven in Chalong and Soul on Karon Road.
Menus and kitchens change. If you follow a strict diet or have an allergy, confirm with the restaurant before you order.
Krabi Road, Phuket Old Town, in the Phra Pitak Chinpracha Mansion
A restaurant and bar in the Phra Pitak Chinpracha Mansion, a former governor's house in Phuket Old Town, serving Southern Thai and Phuket-style dishes. Menu is meat and seafood led; a vegetarian menu was not confirmed.
Rat Uthit 200 Pi Road, Patong
An Indian vegetarian restaurant on Rat Uthit Road in Patong, serving dosas, thalis and curries until late. It is a reliable first stop for pure-vegetarian families staying on the west coast.
Phuket Old Town, Talat Nuea
A no-frills Old Town stop for dry rice porridge with pork and offal and instant-noodle dishes, open at night and reported to hold a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Cash only, pork-based, not suited to vegetarians.
90 Moo 1, Soi Saiyuan, Rawai
The Rawai flagship of a small Phuket chain of Indian restaurants, on Soi Saiyuan in the south. It has a separate vegan menu alongside meat dishes and is useful after a day at Promthep Cape.
223/4 Ranong Road, at Phuthon Road, Phuket Town
A small jay restaurant across Ranong Road from Jui Tui Shrine, serving rice with a choice of prepared dishes, buffet style. HappyCow lists it as vegan, with no garlic or onion used.
Corner of Dibuk Road and Satun Road, Phuket Old Town
A long-standing breakfast stop at the end of Dibuk Road serving kanom jeen, rice noodles with about ten curry sauces and fresh toppings. Open mornings only, so go early.
Ranong Road, near Jui Tui Shrine, Phuket Town
A vegetarian restaurant on Ranong Road, near Jui Tui Shrine, with a cooked buffet of curries and stir-fries, tofu dishes and kanom jeen with vegan curry sauces. Open mornings to late afternoon.
Phuket Road, near the clock circle, Phuket Town
A Phuket Town noodle shop open since 1946 near the clock circle, serving Hokkien noodles in dark gravy with soft-boiled egg. Pork and seafood are used, so not for vegetarians.
Trisara resort, Srisoonthorn Road, Cherngtalay, Thalang
A Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurant at the Trisara resort in Cherngtalay on Phuket's west coast, built around locally sourced Thai ingredients. Reservations are needed; a vegetarian menu was not confirmed.
45 Soi Ta-ied, Chalong
A vegan cafe founded in 2016 on Soi Ta-ied in Chalong, with a wide menu of meals, juices, desserts and coffee. It is close enough to Wat Chalong to fit into a morning in the south.
48/1 Dibuk Road, Phuket Old Town
A family-run restaurant in a century-old Sino-Portuguese house on Dibuk Road, known for crab yellow curry with rice noodles and slow-braised pork belly. Menu is largely non-vegetarian.
224 Karon Road, Karon
A plant-based restaurant on Karon Road, about 200 metres from the beach, with Thai and Western dishes and a garden. It is one of the few vegan choices close to the south-west beaches.
185/5-6 Thawewong Road, Patong
A North Indian restaurant on Patong's beach road with both table and floor seating. It serves meat, so it suits mixed groups where some eat vegetarian and others do not.
93 Dibuk Road, Talat Nuea, Phuket Old Town
A Southern Thai and Phuket restaurant in a renovated century-old shophouse on Dibuk Road, serving pork and pineapple curry and fish soup. Closed Wednesdays in one listing.
Ratsada Road, Talat Yai, Phuket Town
A vegan restaurant in Phuket Town, open since 2018, serving Western and Thai dishes including wood-fired pizza. It has been reported to be under new ownership since June 2026.
Phang Nga Road, Phuket Old Town, facing the Shrine of the Serene Light
A Southern Thai restaurant in a heritage house on Phang Nga Road in Phuket Old Town, recommended by Time Out and several local guides. Crab curry noodles and pork belly stew are the dishes named. Menu is meat and seafood led.
135 Phang Nga Road, Phuket Old Town
A fully vegan restaurant on Phang Nga Road in the old town, described by HappyCow as Phuket's first fully vegan Indian restaurant, with Thai and Lebanese plates on the menu as well.
