🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026
Phuket seafood comes in several styles on one island. The Chalong Bay–Rawai side to the southeast is where the fishing boats come in, so the catch is fresher and prices kinder. Over on the Patong–Kata side you get sea-view restaurants with a great setting, but the prices climb. If you want to eat the way locals really do, you head to the east side around the mangroves. This guide spells out clearly which area each spot is in, what it's known for, and roughly what to budget.
How to pick a spot and not get it wrong
- Look at what's out front — a good seafood place displays live crab, prawns and fish in tanks or basins; you pick, they weigh by the kilo, and you tell them how you want it cooked.
- Ask the price per kilo before you order — especially for spiny lobster and crab, where the price rides on the weight. Get it straight so the bill doesn't catch you off guard.
- High season (Nov–Apr) the sea is calm, so more comes in and it's fresher; during the monsoon the boats don't go out on some days.
- Popular spots are packed on weekends — waterfront places like Kan Eang or Laem Hin are best hit before dusk or booked ahead.
Want to taste deeper? Try a Phuket food tour or cooking class
Half a day with a local who knows the lanes — or cooking a dish yourself — teaches you more than just eating. Book ahead on Klook or GetYourGuide.
The 10 best Phuket seafood restaurants
Kan Eang@Pier — Chalong
A legendary Phuket seafood spot that's sat on Chalong Bay for nearly 50 years. The tables are under big shade trees catching the sea breeze, and the things to order are steamed grouper or sea bass, steamed blue crab, grilled prawns and the mixed Andaman seafood platter, grilled over fragrant coconut-shell charcoal. Lovely setting, plenty of parking, ideal for an early dinner watching the sun go down.
Rawai Seafood Market
An old sea-gypsy village where the boats come in daily. Pick your prawns, crab, shellfish and fish fresh off the stalls, then carry them across the road and hand them to a restaurant to cook — they charge about ฿100/kilo to do it, grilled, steamed, stir-fried with chilli and basil, or with black pepper. The vibe is genuinely local, and it's the best value on this list if you can haggle.
Mor Mu Dong — Chalong / mangroves
A Michelin Bib Gourmand spot tucked into the mangroves on the east side. You sit in a waterside sala looking out over the mangroves, and the must-order is the stuffed mackerel (deboned and filled with fried curry paste) alongside crab curry with wild betel leaf or a yellow crab curry that's thicker and bolder than usual. Proper southern food in a setting unlike anywhere else.
Laem Hin Seafood — Koh Kaew
A waterfront place built out over the water near Laem Hin pier — walk in along the wooden jetty. Locals pack it out every day, the menu is huge, and the kitchen turns it out consistently. Strong on steamed crab, garlic prawns, squid stir-fried with basil and steamed fish with lime. Mid-range prices, and not a tourist spot.
Savoey Seafood — Patong
An old-guard Patong seafood spot going since 1980, near the Bangla–beach road junction. Pick the fresh catch out front, they weigh it by the kilo and you say how you want it done. It's walkable from Patong Beach, so it suits anyone staying on the Patong side who wants seafood close at hand. Prices run higher than the Rawai side because you're right in the thick of the tourist zone.
Baan Rim Pa — Patong
A Thai sea-view restaurant on the cliff above Patong Beach, with a romantic feel and a piano bar. It leans into refined central and southern Thai cooking plus seafood, and the sunset view is gorgeous. Good for a special meal or a celebration — book a terrace-edge table ahead. It's the priciest on the list, but the setting earns it.
Bang Rong Floating Restaurant — Pak Khlong Bang Rong
A floating restaurant with seats right on the water on the east side — genuinely local and little-known. Strong on steamed black crab or the same crab stir-fried in yellow curry, steamed grouper and blanched cockles, with fresh catch from the boats nearby. It shares the spot with the pier for boats to Koh Yao, so it's a handy stop before or after the ferry.
Cliff-view restaurants (Rim Pa / Da Maurizio) — Kamala/Patong
A cluster of cliff-view restaurants around Kamala and Patong, all about the sunset over the Andaman. There's both the Thai side and Western-style seafood, suited to couples or a special meal where you're after the view more than the volume. Prices are high — order the seafood by what's in season and ask the price first.
Beachfront seafood at Rawai (along the shore path)
Past the Rawai seafood market and along the beach, there are local spots where Phuket folks sit and eat right on the shoreline path, easy and unfussy. Order grilled prawns, surf clams stir-fried with chilli paste, seafood tom yum and som tam with blue crab, and just chill in the cool sea breeze. Easy on the wallet, perfect for a laid-back dinner with no airs.
Seafood in Phuket Town (Old Town area)
If you're staying in town and don't want to go far, the Old Town has seafood and southern-food spots that do the catch well — squid stir-fried with salted egg, fish fried with fish sauce, sour fish curry, all great over steamed rice. Prices are friendly and it's easy to reach — handy if you've spent the day on Old Town cafés and want to carry on into dinner.
Tips for picking fresh seafood
A live blue crab feels heavy with all its legs intact, fresh fish has clear eyes and bright red gills, and good prawns have translucent shells with no blackening at the head. If a place lets you pick your own, heft it to judge the weight against the per-kilo price — usually better value than ordering a ready-made plate.
Phuket seafood dishes worth trying
Steamed blue crab / crab stir-fried with curry powder
Sweet-meated Andaman blue crab, steamed and dipped in seafood sauce, or stir-fried with curry powder and rich egg — a plate you don't skip.
Grouper / sea bass steamed with soy or lime
A whole fish steamed soft — fragrant with soy, or sharp and sour with lime, however you like it.
Grilled prawns / grilled spiny lobster
Fresh prawns grilled in the shell with seafood sauce; spiny lobster is priced by the kilo, so ask before you order.
Fresh oysters / blanched cockles
Plump oysters eaten raw with the trimmings, or cockles blanched and dipped in a punchy sauce.
Squid stir-fried with salted egg / with basil
Bouncy fresh squid in rich salted egg, or stir-fried spicy with fragrant basil — easy eating over rice.
Mixed seafood tom yum
A bold tom yum loaded with prawns, squid and shellfish — finish the meal with a hot, sharp bowl of broth.
How much to budget
Eating local at the Rawai market or a beachfront spot, around ฿250–500/person fills you up nicely. The old-timers with atmosphere like Kan Eang or Laem Hin run about ฿500–900/person, while the cliff-view places on the Patong–Kamala side start at ฿1,000/person and up, because you're paying for the view and the setting too. The trick is to go in a group and order to share — you taste more dishes and split it cheaper.
Straight talk
Some of the pretty beachfront view spots are middling on flavour and selling the setting. If you're all about taste and pure freshness, the local spots on the Rawai–Chalong side are clearly better value. Pick based on what you want most out of this trip.
Plan a full Phuket food-and-travel trip — what to eat and where to stay
See the Phuket travel guide →