Raya Restaurant

Housed in a stately Sino‑Portuguese mansion on Dibuk Road, Raya is the Phuket Old Town address locals bring visiting friends when they want to show off the island’s real cooking. Walk past the green wooden shutters and creaky floorboards to a dining room full of old portraits and the hum of families sharing plates. It feels like you’ve stepped into a well‑kept home, because you have — just one that happens to serve some of the most respected Phuket‑style dishes in town. Start with the signature: rich yellow crab curry, loaded with sweet blue crab and meant to be twirled into tender rice vermicelli (kanom jeen). Follow it with moo hong, a slow‑braised pork belly that melts at the nudge of a spoon, and, if you like bold flavors, stir‑fried stink beans with shrimp. Portions are generous, flavors are uncompromising, and the spice levels lean authentic rather than tourist‑mild. Prices run higher than your average shophouse, but the cooking and setting earn it. Come for a late lunch to avoid the dinner rush, or book ahead for peak hours. Open daily 10:30am–10pm at 48/1 Dibuk Rd — a short stroll from Thalang Road and the photogenic streets of Old Town.