Food Diary - Raya House, Phuket

On our first day in Phuket (28 Jan), we roamed Maeluan Road for a lunch spot. As mentioned, we tried looking for Siang Can (the name of which we didn't remember at the time) and Blue Elephant but gave up and went to Raya House, which was also a recommendation by an ex-colleague.

Raya House, Phuket

Raya House is an establishment in Phuket, known for its ambience and food, and is apparently well-loved by locals and foreigners. It is housed in a renovated double-storey 90-year-old Sino-Portuguese mansion that was built in the early 20th century.

Decor of a bygone era, Raya House

Inside, the emerald-green shutters, ceiling fans, vintage posters, antique cabinets with ceramics and the mosaic tile floor, all with the patina of age, created an atmosphere of a bygone time.

The architecture and decor of the mansion is reflective of Phuket's history as a town populated by the Siamese, Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians, and sea gypsies. Phuket also had a distinctive Baba community (generally known in Southeast Asia as the Peranakan community), formed from the early unions between Chinese immigrants and the Siamese. A lot of this shows up in the architecture of Old Phuket Town, like some of the shop houses along Yaowarat and Thalang roads remind me of our own Chinese and Peranakan heritage shop houses here in Singapore.

Ambience and heritage aside, the food at Raya is also authentic and delicious. We ordered quite a few dishes for the 4 of us.

The first dishes to arrive was the gaeng boo bai chaplu kab sen mee (แกงปูใบชะพลู กับเส้นหมี่) (or at least that's what I think the crab coconut curry is called); tom yum goong (ต้มยำกุ้ง); tam mamuang (ตำมะม่วง) piled with dried squid; and the goong pad sataw (กุ้งผัดสะตอ).^{Note 1}

We loved the gaeng boo bai chaplu kab sen mee (crab curry) - generous portion of de-shelled crab chunks, sweet coconut milk with hints of turmeric, kaffir lime and lemongrass, and a whole lot of peppery betel leaves - called bai chaplu (ใบชะพลู) in Thailand. Clusters of steamed sen mee (เส้นหมี่) served on the side, and made a perfect accompaniment to the curry.

Our feast at Raya House

Also, FL and I love petai beans so we voraciously tucked into the goong pad sataw (กุ้งผัดสะตอ), i.e. stir-fried stink beans.^{Note 2} Called sataw (สะตอ) in Thailand (petai beans in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia), stink beans (Parkia speciosa) are so named because they stink and are a popular culinary ingredient in Southeast Asia. At Raya Houe, the petai beans were stir-fried with chopped garlic, chili, and some juicy fresh prawns. Absolutely delicious - salty, shrimpy, and fragrant with a nice kick of spice. But not so spicy that it drowns out the slight bitter and nutty flavour of the beans.

The rest of our feast soon arrived - the khao phat sapparot (ข้าวผัดสับปะรด) and pla sam rot (ปลาสามรส).^{Note 3} The khao phat sapparot (pineapple fried rice) was okay, but the pla sam rot was delicious. Pla sam rot (or "three-flavour fish") is one of my favourite ways to eat fish - the fish is deep fried, then covered with a spicy, sweet and sour tamarind sauce. It was served under a mound of deep fried julienned ginger and dried chili padi. Divine....

If I'm ever in Phuket again, I'll come back and also have the moo hong (หมูฮ้อง), a steamed pork dish that was highly recommended in reviews. (E.g., see Mark Wiens' post on Raya House.)


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Note 1
Gaeng boo bai chaplu kab sen mee (แกงปูใบชะพลู กับเส้นหมี่): crab coconut curry with rice vermicelli
Tom yum goong (ต้มยำกุ้ง): prawn tom yum soup
Tam mamuang (ตำมะม่วง): green mango salad

Note 2
Goong pad sataw (กุ้งผัดสะตอ): stir-fried stink beans (aka petai beans)

Note 3
Khao phat sapparot (ข้าวผัดสับปะรด): pineapple fried rice
Pla sam rot (ปลาสามรส): "three-flavour fish", a dish of deep-fried fish with sweet, sour and spicy tamarind sauce