The Blue Elephant has been serving Royal Thai cuisine in various world-wide capital cities including Brussels, Bangkok and London since 1980. Now Phuket can be added to that growing list.

The architecturally stunning Chinpracha Mansion in Phuket town, in which the Blue Elephant is located, was built in 1903 by Chinese Tin Baron Phra Phitak Chinpracha. It was once the governor?s residence, but then lay empty for forty years until attracting the attention of the acclaimed restaurant group.

?We spent two years repairing, restoring and renovating it,? explained Kim Steppe, son of famous Thai chef, Nooror Somany Steppe, ?We replaced the roof and managed to find an exact match of tiles from Italy. In doing so we brought a whole new source of life to the property that was well needed.?

Walking around the property now, one can?t help but admire its splendour and wonder at how such a property could remain largely unused for such a long amount of time.

Much of the original wooden d?cor, picture frames and furnishings have been restored to an impressive condition, largely due to the occupation of his Belgium-born father Karl Steppe, ?My Dad is an antique dealer, so that interest was definitely a contributing factor to him choosing this property.?

Although the official launch of the restaurant is not until later in the year, the mansion still receives a steady influx of customers. Locals and tourists alike drop by on a daily basis to have a look round and admire the magnificence.

Others have actually sought out the restaurant, like the English honeymooners who were there on the day I visited, to dine and enjoy the fabulous food.

Each of the rooms have been converted and refurbished to serve as dining rooms. The aforementioned bride at one point suggested to Khun Kim that perhaps the Blue Elephant should offer opportunities for people to stay there.

Khun Kim nodded as if he had heard that many times before and replied; ?Many people have asked whether they would be able to stay here and although I know that it would be popular, I always answer that we?ll keep it for what it is good for - which is making food.?

It is definitely hard to argue with that; the food that I sampled was of an unquestionably high quality. I especially enjoyed the lamb and sweet potato curry and tamarind duck.

The Blue Elephant offers half day (2,800baht) / full day (5,000 baht) and professional, tailored private five day cooking courses (78,000 baht) where you can ?attempt? to learn to cook as well as Khun Sombat, the resident and experienced Blue Elephant chef.
This was one of the reasons that attracted Mexican hotel and restaurant owner, Neglia Tonetto to Phuket.

Mrs Tonetto said, ?I was in S.E Asia travelling around and I wanted to do a cooking course and focus on vegetarian cuisine. It?s really intensive; today we started at 9.30pm and will finish at 3pm. Yesterday, we finished at 4pm.?

Indeed, while many restaurants and schools may profess to offer Thai cooking courses, many will be unable to compete with the thoroughness of the Blue Elephant?s courses.

The courses always begin with a lecture (yes there is a lecture room, complete with many rows of desks and chairs) then students are taken to the fresh downtown market and taught how to differentiate between good and bad quality.

Although this is not technically the Blue Elephant?s first foray into Phuket dining (it had a brief stint in Jungceylon a few years ago), the location, the d?cor, the food and Khun Kim?s vision means that very soon the Blue Elephant will be very hard to ignore, and, much like the popular Thai expression, once found the Blue Elephant will be very hard to forget.

BLUE ELEPHANT PHUKET
BE Governor Mansion Phuket Cooking School & Restaurant

96 Krabi Road
Tambon Talad Neua
Muang District
Phuket 83000
Thailand

076 354 355-7