It's important to know where good pizza can be found. It's one of those key facts that could save your life...ok, make your life worth living anyway.
The Cook Restaurant on Phang-nga road in Phuket town offers some great real Italian pizza and also, arrestingly, Thai-Italian fusion pizzas using Thai food toppings.
Not many essentially Thai places do Western food quite like it should be, but this is one place you'll feel a genuine western taste in your food. Consequently, it is also a home away from home for a number of expats, both tourist and resident, drawn back again and again for the food and also the warm welcome from the restaurant owner Khun Boontham Boonyarit.
Khun Boonyarit, who used to be a chef at Le Meridien is responsible for the excellent food that comes out of the kitchen; he makes it all himself. He spent a few years working with an Italian brother-in-law in an Italian joint, and that's where he learned the secret to great pizza.
My first bite in to the Ham and Mushroom pizza took me straight back to my sojourn in America, when I hung out with my American friends, fighting over the last piece of pizza, after a day's work. It's good pizza.
And if the idea of Thai toppings put you off, trust me, they do it with pizazz. The Pizza Chicken Green Curry is simply irresistible, as are the Ka Praw Kai (pizza with chicken in basil leaves), Pizza Panaeng (pork or chicken curry) and if you are brave enough, I dare you to try the Durian pizza or the Banana pizza!
The pizzas are priced at around 120-180 baht, sitting as nicely on your wallet as in your tummy. Add-on toppings such as such as vegetables tomato, sliced pineapples, sweet papers, red or green peppers etc., cheeses, meat, sausages come for between 20 -30 Baht.
I'm hooked. After my first time there alone, when I demolished exactly one piece of my truly delightful pizza (as Thais discovered years ago, it is impossible to eat unless you're with a gang of friends) I've been back a few times, with friends and colleagues to try more western and Thai dishes...now it's just a regular haunt.
The Thai food is absolutely delicious, The Chicken Green Curry is yummy for both Thais and foreigners...not too spicy but very, very flavourful.
The restaurant is a family business...Khun Boonyarit's sister helps him manage the place, and this reflects in the great service. She goes out of her way to chat with all her customers, Thai and foreign, making them feel comfortable and at home.
The Cook opens daily from 8.00 hours – late evening. Tel: 076-258375, 076-258376
101 Phang-nga Rd., T. Taladyait A. Muang Phuket.