Top 10 Noodles in Phuket Town: Mee Hokkien and Beyond
Where to eat Phuket Town's noodles, from the clock tower shop frying mee Hokkien since 1946 to Michelin-listed noodle rooms and late-night soup bowls.
Mee Hokkien is the noodle dish Phuket Town is proudest of: thick, springy yellow egg noodles fried hard in a wok with pork, seafood and Chinese greens, then loosened with a dark, savoury gravy and usually crowned with a soft egg that you break into the noodles. The best plates taste of the wok, with a little smoke from a charcoal fire, noodles that still have bite, and enough gravy to coat everything without turning it into soup.
The dish came to the island with Hokkien Chinese families who settled here during the tin-mining era, and it is still cooked in the old shophouses around the clock tower, Phuket Road and Kra Road. A seafood version from Sapam, just north of town, goes by the name mee sapam, and many shops serve the noodles as a soup as well as fried. This list covers ten places in and around Phuket Town known for these noodles, from family shops that have been frying them for generations to Michelin-listed noodle rooms and a few places for the town's other Chinese noodle bowls, from rice vermicelli with pork bone broth to late-night guay jab.
If you are planning a wider food trip, our guide to what to eat in Phuket and southern Thailand covers the rest of the island's table.
What to look for
- The noodles: fat, round yellow egg noodles (mee leung) that stay chewy after frying. Many shops also offer thin rice vermicelli (mee hoon) or a mix of both.
- Wok heat: a smoky edge, ideally from a charcoal stove, is the mark of a careful cook.
- The gravy: a glossy brown sauce that clings to the noodles. Too little and the plate is dry, too much and it becomes a stew.
- The egg: order it sai khai (with egg). A soft or half-cooked egg on top turns the gravy rich and creamy.
- Fried or soup: the fried version is the classic, but the soup version (mee nam) with a light seafood broth has its own loyal following.
1. Mee Ton Poe
If you ask anyone in Phuket Town where to eat Hokkien noodles, Mee Ton Poe is usually the first name you will hear. The shop has been serving the dish since 1946 from its spot by the clock tower circle, and it has appeared in the Michelin Guide, which described thick Hokkien noodles stir-fried over a charcoal stove and best eaten with a half-cooked egg on top.
The noodles here come in a thick brown gravy with a soft egg, and pork satay is the usual side. It gets very busy around midday, so come a little before or after the lunch rush. There are also branches at the Kathu intersection and on Thepkasattri Road towards the airport.
Where: Phuket Road, by the clock tower circle, Talat Yai. Order: mee Hokkien with egg, plus a plate of pork satay.
2. Go La
Go La is a small family shop on Kra Road, away from the busiest Old Town streets, and one of the Michelin Guide's picks for Hokkien fried noodles in Phuket. It is now in its third generation of family ownership.
The noodles are fried over charcoal, which gives them a smoky edge, and the Michelin inspectors suggest asking for an extra egg to make the plate creamier. The menu also has mee hoon, a mix of mee hoon and yellow noodles, pork satay and small parcels of hor mok. It is closed on Mondays.
Where: 11 Kra Road, Talat Yai. Order: Hokkien mee with egg, and crackling pork on the side.
3. Som Chit
Right next to Mee Ton Poe on Phuket Road, Som Chit is where Phuket Town goes for the soup version. It is a simple shop, and much of its custom is Thai, including visitors from Bangkok who make a point of stopping here for lunch.
The original bowl is the one to order: thick yellow noodles in a light seafood broth with prawns, fish, dry wonton, bean sprouts and morning glory. Season it at the table with chilli powder, sugar, vinegar and fish sauce, and add a side of fried wonton. For dessert, the shop also serves o-aew, the island's banana jelly and red bean ice.
Where: 214/6 Phuket Road, Talat Yai, near the clock tower circle. Order: the original Hokkien noodle soup, with fried wonton.
4. Lock Tien
Lock Tien was a Phuket Town fixture for decades as a hawker-style food hall on the corner of Yaowarat and Dibuk roads. That building is now closed, and Lock Tien has reopened about 600 metres south on Bangkok Road as a single restaurant with one kitchen: you order at the hatch and the food is brought to your table.
The dish to order is still mee leung pad Hokkien sai khai: yellow noodles fried with pork, squid and greens, topped with slices of red char siu and a soft egg, with a little char from the wok. Portions have long been on the small side, so it is easy to add another plate.
Where: 59/14 Bangkok Road, Talat Nuea, opposite the Government Housing Bank. Order: mee leung pad Hokkien sai khai.
5. Go Benz
Go Benz on Krabi Road is the place for Phuket Town's late-night noodle bowl. It holds a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide, and its speciality, served for over 20 years, is guay jab: pork in a peppery broth with rolled rice noodles, a Chinese noodle soup that sits happily alongside the town's Hokkien classics.
It stays open until nearly 2 a.m. and is constantly busy, so arrive when it opens, take any free seat and staff will come to take your order. Many dishes sell out, including the dry boiled rice with crispy pork and pork offal, and the Michelin inspectors also recommend the charcoal-grilled crispy pork with sweet soy sauce. It is cash only.
Where: 163 Krabi Road, Talat Nuea. Order: guay jab with rolled rice noodles, plus crispy pork with sweet soy sauce.
6. Rong Kopi
Rong Kopi is a small, always-busy breakfast shop beside the Jui Tui Shrine in Talat Nuea, and the place to try one of Phuket's other Hokkien noodle dishes: mee hoon kradook moo, thin rice noodles stir-fried and served with a bowl of pork bone broth. Eat them side by side or tip the noodles into the soup.
The rest of the menu is classic Phuket Hokkien breakfast: peppery bak kut teh in a bubbling pot, braised pork belly, eggs cooked in a small pan with Chinese sausage and minced pork, kaya toast and fish rice porridge, with Chinese tea and local coffee.
Where: 261 Soi Phutorn, Talat Nuea, beside the Jui Tui Shrine. Order: mee hoon with pork bone soup, and kaya toast.
7. Shrimp Noodles Ao Kae
For a bowl built around prawns, head to Ao Kae on Phoonphol Road. The Michelin Guide lists it for the shrimp noodle bowls it has served for over a decade, and the broth is made from prawn heads and shells, giving it a deep, sweet seafood flavour.
Bowls come with halved prawns, pork wontons and sliced pork, wet or dry, in the original prawn broth or a tom yum version. The Michelin inspectors recommend the dry tom yum noodles, and the pork wontons are the part people talk about. It is cash only.
Where: 76 Phoonphol Road, Talat Nuea. Order: yellow noodles with prawns and wontons, dry tom yum style.
8. Meesapam Khun Yai Chian
Just north of town on Thepkasattri Road in Ko Kaeo, this is the place to try mee sapam. Grandma Chian opened the restaurant in 1952 and her descendants still cook her recipes. It is listed in the Michelin Guide, which singles out the mee sapam: Hokkien noodles stir-fried with seafood.
The menu goes well beyond noodles, with Phuket dishes that are hard to find elsewhere, so it is worth coming with a few people. The Michelin Guide also recommends the stir-fried local oysters with crispy egg, served with bean sprouts, kale and chilli sauce. It is an easy stop on the way to or from the airport.
Where: Thepkasattri Road, Ko Kaeo, Mueang Phuket. Order: mee sapam with seafood, and the stir-fried oysters with crispy egg.
9. Khao Tom Dibuk
Not every Hokkien noodle in Phuket is fried and yellow. At Khao Tom Dibuk, a spacious, casual spot with a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide on Phang Nga Road, you choose a base and build your own bowl, and one of the options is mee sua, the fine wheat vermicelli Hokkien cooks have long used in soups.
Other bases include congee made with jasmine rice, boiled rice and glass noodles, all served with a light broth. It is a good breakfast or late-morning stop, and the kaya toast, made to the owner's mother's recipe, rounds things off. Cash only.
Where: 185/11 Phang Nga Road, Talat Yai. Order: mee sua in broth with your choice of toppings, and kaya toast.
10. Raya
Raya is the Old Town's best-known family kitchen, set in a restored Sino-Portuguese house on Dibuk Road, and has held a Bib Gourmand in earlier editions of the Michelin Guide. It is famous above all for its crab curry, which is traditionally eaten with mee hoon, thin rice noodles.
It is not a Hokkien noodle shop as such, but mee hoon is the same rice noodle that Phuket's Hokkien kitchens fry and serve in soups, and this plate shows how the island's Chinese and southern Thai cooking meet. Come with a group and add the braised pork belly, moo hong.
Where: Dibuk Road, at the corner of Thepkasattri Road, Talat Yai. Order: crab curry with rice noodles, and moo hong.
Tips for eating noodles in Phuket Town
- Go early. Several of these shops are breakfast and lunch places that close by late afternoon, and the popular ones fill up quickly around midday.
- Always say sai khai (with egg). The soft egg is what makes the gravy silky.
- Decide between mee haeng or pad (fried) and mee nam (soup). If you are with a friend, order one of each.
- Use the condiments: chilli flakes, chilli vinegar and sugar are on every table, and a splash of vinegar brightens a rich plate.
- Pork satay with peanut sauce is the classic side at most Hokkien noodle shops, and o-aew makes a cooling finish.
- Bring cash, as several of these places do not take cards.
- Check opening days before you go: Go La, for example, closes on Mondays.
Leonidas Georgiadis
Leonidas Georgiadis is the founder and writer of Aroy Mak Mak. He is from Greece, has been travelling in Thailand for almost twenty years and is married to a Thai wife, so Thai food is everyday family cooking in his home.
