Phuket Town is a very cute city a couple of miles inland from the coast. The old part of town is dotted with mansions from the days when it was a major stopping point along the trade routes between India and China. Hip coffee shops and art galleries occupy renovated Sino-Portuguese shop-houses and graffiti murals adorn alleys where local restauranteurs leave fish to dry in the sun.
After a lovely coffee at Bookhemian, we high-tailed it to Natural Restaurant for lunch.
As you can see, somebody couldn’t quite wait until the photo shoot to dig into the goods. 🙂
Clockwise from the left, Natural’s version of Hor Mak, Phuket style: steamed fish custard garnished with coconut milk, peppers and makrud lime zest. This is similar to the Cambodian dish, Amok, but tends to be spicier – especially on Phuket. Note how the banana leaf packet is held together.
Next up is bitter melon with preserved beans and eggs. The bitterness is somewhat off-set by the saltiness of the beans and the overall effect is softened by the eggs. These melons were not quite as bitter as the karela we normally eat, but the overall effect was very satisfying.
Last but not least, the green mango salad. We’d asked for the peanuts to be served on the side, but something got lost in the translation. The cashews were lovely, and the peanuts not too hard to pick out. You can see a small pile of them on the edge of Mary’s plate. 🙂