Phukets

Date: 24th and 30th September 2010\

Phukets @ Soho

Phukets has been in Soho for a very long time, though I never made a trip there, so I suggested to a friend as the venue for our dinner, and it proved to be pretty great, so I went back the next week to sample a few more items before writing this review!  

Prawn Chips 

A basket of crispy prawn chips arrives shortly after ordering. 

Shrimp Salad ($88) 

Very authentic, and almost exactly like the one I had a couple months ago at Tuk Tuk Thai, this shrimp salad was highly spicy yet flavourful from the many strong-profiled ingredients including lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce, cilantro, thai basil and of course, bird chillies. Shrimps were medium sized, compared to the small ones at Tuk Tuk Thai, and fresh too. 6.5/10

Pineapple Fried Rice ($78)

Serving fried rice in the natural pineapple shell is certainly impressive when it arrives, but it always makes me think whether they use a fresh pineapple half for each order of pineapple fried rice? Anyway, the non-spicy dish of grains were fried quite well, not greasy and tasty. They could have been more generous with the pork floss on top, but on the whole a satisfying dish. 7.5/10

Green Curry Vegetables ($68) 

A good assorted mix of green vegetables as well as mushrooms and cauliflower. Flavours of sweet and spicy was very balanced, though green curry is not as mild as red so beware. They could have been more generous with the veggies though. 

Char-grilled beef fillet ($75) 

This thai-style beef was cooked to well-done (they don't ask your preference), but unbelievably tender. The spicy sauce served on the side was really spicy, but a tiny tiny dip was enough, as the beef was slightly salted anyway. Beef was also juicy and you could taste its natural flavour, yumm! 8/10

Pad thai ($68)

Phad Thai, a massively popular but easy-to-screw-up dish was chosen by my friend, but we both agreed it was a miss here at Phukets. The noodles were sweet without the extra sugar provided on the side, and not savoury enough. The fresh-looking shrimps managed to taste bland - like it has been boiled until all its flavour is sucked out. The tofu was hard and greasy too. This noodle dish definitely disappointed. 3/10

 Fish fillet ($78) 

Steamed with a bed of broccoli and served with a sweet chilli sauce on top, this rather healthy fish dish was rather unexciting. The sweet chilli sauce was not too spicy - reminds me of the sweet chilli sauce often served with fried chicken, just thinner. The bed of broccoli was vastly over-steamed, and the fish was boring old sole fillet. Taste-wise not bad, but not a dish I'd recommend. 6/10

In general I think the serving sizes here are on the smaller end, enabling diners to try several items in one go. And although the clientele is mainly expats, the chefs and waitresses are Thai, and serve authentic Thai cuisine. Definitely one of the better Thai restaurants in Soho/Central area.

Food: ♥♥♥ 

Service: ♥♥♥ 

Price: $$$

Phukets

1 Elgin Street, Soho

Central, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2868 9672