I draw inspiration from my dual British-Thai heritage for the food I create at AngloThai - a restaurant concept that I co-run with my wife Desiree. We are opening a site in Central London later this year, and in the run-up to the opening, we decided to embark on a month-long research trip to southern Thailand; the menu we created afterwards draws on the influences of that region. The mission was to taste food from as many regions of the south as we could, speaking with food vendors, market stall owners and restaurant operators to learn first-hand from locals about the cuisine and how it differs from parts of Thailand we have visited before.
After nearly three years of not being able to travel to Thailand, the prospect of returning was tantalising – if not slightly daunting – given the brave new world we now live in. We started our trip in Phuket, southern Thailand’s largest island located in the Andaman Sea, before driving through Phang-Nga, Krabai and Trang, all situated on the west coast of the mainland, then moving onto the east coast to visit Phatthalung and Songkhla, and finally Hat Yai, not far from the Malaysian border.
Phuket has never appealed to me; thoughts of beaches packed with tourists and restaurants catering for diluted western palates come to mind. But the events of the last few years have seen tourist numbers dramatically drop and the island move its focus to the locals. It’s obvious to see the impact Covid has had on Thailand and its tourism industry, but looking past these negatives allowed us to discover the many thriving businesses that have survived and are regularly packing out dining rooms each day. Southern Thailand is most famous for its bounteous seafood, liberal use of coconut cream and fierce appetite for heat, and Phuket is no exception. The majority of the best eating can be found in Old Phuket Town, which boasts colourfully painted, century-old Sino-Portuguese townhouses and architecture.
Breakfast seemed like the obvious place to start our culinary tour. The three most popular choices include fermented rice noodles with toppings (kanom jeen), curry over rice (khao gaeng) and ghee-enriched bread normally eaten with Muslim-style curries (roti).