Phuket Eats: The Pad Thai Shop

You guys, I totally messed up. I forgot to post about my absolute favorite meal in Thailand. But you'll forgive me if I tell you now, right? RIGHT?!?!?

Now that the groveling has been settled, let's get back to The Pad Thai Shop. Not only was the food at this road side stop ridiculously good, the bowls of pad thai were only a mere 50 baht each. That's $1.52 USD. We stuffed ourselves silly and spent under $8 for four people.

I'll be honest with you, this is not a fine dining establishment. It's a cheap, local dive that serves up authentic fare for low prices. There are no waiters or cloth napkins, just a friendly staff and self serve sodas in the coolers near the entrance.

The staff at the counter speak English and have an English menu available. Simply order at the counter and then pick up your food when it's ready. You pay at the end of your meal.

We sampled the pad thai and promptly ordered seconds. We also had the pad kee mao. While good, the shop's namesake dish is what stands out (I'd also ask for the flat noodles in this dish next time).

Finding The Pad Thai Shop can be a little tricky. It's located on Patak Road, just before the Baan Karon Resort on the way from Karon to Kata. Look for the hoardes of people if you happen to head there around lunch.

Phuket: Muay Thai

I'm not a violent person. Really. But for some reason, going to a Muay Thai fight was on the top of my list for Phuket. While there are numerous spots to see a fight, we opted for a Sunday night event at Bangla Boxing Stadium in downtown Patong.

Muay Thai is a lot like traditional boxing, only with knees, elbows, kicks, and punches thrown in. I was a big fan of the kicking.

I was also a fan of the ceremony surrounding the event. To be honest, I knew very little going into the match but was fascinated by the practices.

Before the fights began, each boxer walks the perimeter of the ring to seal it off and protect them from evil during the fight. The fighter then goes to the center of the ring and kneels down facing the direction of his home, placing his hands in a praying position to begin the Wai Kroo. The Wai Kroo is a ritualistic and traditional dance carried out before Muay Thai fighters engage in the ring to show honor to the fighter's teacher, sport, and country.

The dance, as well as the fights themselves, are accompanied by a Thai band. The band's music will speed up throughout the fight to match the pace of the action.

When the first fighter walked into the ring, my mother audibly gasped. He was roughly seven years old and tiny. Were we about to be front row for a Hungry Games style throw down? Thankfully the referees were wonderful and never allowed the fights to get out of hand, checking in regularly with all the fighters to ensure they were in top shape.

As the night went on, the fighters became older and more intense. We saw knock outs, blood, and even an underdog victory from an Aussie with questionable hair choices. Yes, he had a rat tail.

My entire family found ourselves caught up in the event and cheering along with the throngs of other fans in the stadium. If you find yourself looking for some uniquely Thai entertainment (and the kind that doesn't involve men in drag), a Muay Thai fight should be a definite addition to your vacation's itinerary. 

Phuket: Rainy Day Activites

Rough seas on Saturday meant that we had to change our plans of visiting Ko Phi Phi Island. Thankfully, we were able to book a private driver for the day through Mr Chai (we also used him for our airport transfers). Our driver, Joseph, was wonderful and knowledgeable about Phuket. He also didn't mind serving as our photographer throughout the day.

We started the day at Karon viewpoint which I am sure is spectacular on a sunny day. This was not one of those days. Nonetheless, it was still a pretty spot to stop. 

My mother's one wish in Thailand was to see an elephant. We aren't huge fans of animal tourism so we skipped riding the elephants and instead stopped to feed some bananas by the side of the road. My mother was elated to say the least.

Then it was off to the Big Buddah. Measuring over 45 meters tall and covered in marble, Phuket's Big Buddah is rather impressive though still under construction.

Perhaps feeling the need for a little more religion, our next destination was the Buddhist Chalong temple. Dedicated to the monks who led the fight against the Chinese rebellion in 1876, this impressive temple is a familiar tourist stop for many in Phuket. Again, I found the temples to be much more colorful than their Chinese counterparts.

My dress was deemed too short to enter the temple so a kind woman at the entrance provided me with a sarong to wear. You are also asked to remove your shoes before entering.

After Wat Chalong, we stopped for a quick break at the Methee cashew nut factory. While not worth a trip on its own, it was interesting to pause for a few minutes to see how cashews nuts are grown and processed. And of course to try the samples. We made good use of those.

From the cashew factory, we headed north to visit Bang Pae Waterfall. A local swimming spot for children, the waterfall was rather silent thanks to the rain we experienced throughout the day. A short hike through the woods took us to the waterfall which was beautiful and which I did not accurately document. So instead, here is us walking through the woods.

And located just at the base of the trail to the waterfall was one of my favorite Phuket attractions. The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project helps to reintroduce gibbons to the wild after they are snatched up by poachers. I didn't get an photos of the gibbons but we were able to snap a picture of these two monkeys.

While not the sunny day I pictured on an island, we had a blast exploring the many attractions Phuket has to offer. 

Phuket Eats: Nok Noi

I'm a big fan of eating as local as possible whenever I travel. Sure, it's nice to have an English speaking staff and cloth napkins, but it's also fun to play charades with your waitstaff and feed the stray cats that roam under your table.

Nok Noi was one of those places. The menu boasted both Thai and Western food, though I'm not sure why you would bother to try anything from the second category. Their Thai food was top notch.

Our entire family ate here our third night in Phuket. We noshed on tom yum soup, yellow curry, and pineapple fried rice. Throw in a few beers and our total bill still came in at under $14 USD.

Matt and I returned here again on Saturday night for dinner. This time for green curry and rice noodles with basil. Both excellent as well.

Want to go there? Sadly, I don't have a very accurate address. It's on Patak Road, across from the Karon Temple, about half a kilometer from the beach. Look for the large sign outside.

Phuket: Karon Siteseeing

We awoke to rain showers on our third day in Phuket. Not wanting to waste the day, we ventured to Karon Beach to explore.

The first stop of the day was the obligatory fish pedicure. What's a fish pedicure? You simply stick your feet in a tub full of tiny carp who then nibble away the dead, callused skin on your feet. Only my mom was willing to try out this Thai specialty. She said it tickled.

After picking up a few trinkets, we lunched at Bai Toey, which I would classify as fine but not exceptional. We had much better pad thai at other spots for a fraction of the cost. But service was good and it was a nice spot to wait out a rain storm.

With our bellies full, we wandered through the Karon Temple, a Buddhist Temple in the middle of Karon. Compared to Chinese temples, there is much more glitter involved.

Then it was back to our villas for pool and napping. I didn't take any photos of that. You'll just have to trust that is happened.

Phuket: Phang Nga Bay Tour

Our second day in Thailand started early with a trip to Phang Nga Bay. We arranged our tour through Phuket Sail Tours, another company I will happily recommend to others. Even when one of the motors died on our speed boat, our guide was quick to alter our course and ensure we did not miss a single spot.

We were picked up at our hotel and arrived at the pier around 7:45 AM. Boarding our boat, we were fed donuts and other snacks as our guide went over our day's events.

Our first stop was the white sand beach of Krabi. We were itching to get into the water so we quickly donned snorkeling masks and paddled into the sea. The visibility was hindered by a rain storm which had come through earlier in the morning but we were still able to see tropical fish and enjoy the beautiful location.

After swimming until our toes were pruned, our next stop was cave canoeing around Hong Islang. We were met by our oarsmen who expertly navigated us through caves and under hanging rocks.

A quick stop by the iconic James Bond Island, where Man With The Golden Gun was shot, and then it was off to lunch. We headed to the fascinating Kho Panyi Fishing Village, a village of over 1,700 people built entirely over the water.

After exploring Kho Panyi, we boarded the boat again and were off. As we passed Kao Kee-un, known as Drawing Mountain, we saw 1,500 year old paintings of fish, dolphins, and monkeys.

Our last stop of the day was Phanak Island. Thanks to a low tide, we were easily able to walk into one of the caves. Hidden inside was a large lagoon known as Mangrove Hong. The area was covered with mangrove trees, fiddler crabs, and even a few frisky monkeys. I'm not a fan of monkeys so despite the photo, I was happy to keep my distance. They were rather active while we were there, if you get what I mean, so I apologize in advance that the last picture is a little NC-17.

We had a wonderful time exploring Phuket by boat and each family member voted it their favorite Thailand activity at the end of the week. Yes, I make all my guests rank their visits. Consider this your warning.

To book a tour to Phang Nga Bay, contact:

Phuket Sail Tours Co., Ltd. 

199/20 Moo 5, T. Srisoonthorn

A. Thalang, Phuket 83110, Thailand

Telephone from within Thailand: 087-8970-492; from outside of Thailand: +66-87897-0492

Phuket: Kata Thai Cooking Class

So that vacation I mentioned to Thailand? I figured you wanted to hear a little about it. We spent a week in Phuket, soaking up the sun, frolicking in the water, and eating copious amounts of food. Thai food happens to be a favorite among my family members and in order to get out fill, we decided to take a cooking class our very first day.

 

We signed up for classes through the Kata Thai Cooking Class and I cannot recommend them more enthusiastically. The owner Kelly responded quickly to my inquires and picked us up directly from our hotel. We were taken to her classroom where we learned how to make Tom Yum soup, Green Curry, and Pad Thai. Pretty much my three favorite Thai dishes.

Kelly was wonderful at explaining not only the steps required but also elaborating on the types of ingredients we were using. I can honestly say that I never cooked with shrimp paste before.

After tasting and prepping our ingredients, we were off to the kitchen to try out our new skills.

Once our dishes were complete, we were allowed to taste (or in my case gorge on) our creations. Hands down, the best food we ate throughout the entire trip. It was perfection.

Interesting in the Kata Thai Cooking School? Contact Kelly at:

5 KetKwan Road, Karon, Muang
Phuket 83100 - THAILAND
 Tel.: +66 (0)76-284510 | +66 (0) 81-7875895
E-Mail: katathaicooking@gmail.com