Phuket's Seafood Grill Club, Lower Ground Floor, 30-32 Robinson Road, Mid-Levels, tel: 868 9672; hours: noon to 3pm lunch; 3-6pm drinks; 3-11pm dinner daily.
DRESS casual at Phuket's. Beach shorts would not feel out of place at the Thai restaurant with sunset-mural walls and a palm tree logo, the kind one might see on a wet T-shirt contestant.
The emphasis is on sun and fun in this small split-level restaurant. The bright, customer-friendly menu has a short introduction about Thai cooking and appetising photographs of some of the dishes. They are prepared by Thai chefs, veterans of local Thai restaurants. The hottest dishes are marked with chilli logos, but you can regulate the temperature on request.
The menu is pretty standard, seafood being the speciality - crabs, prawns, mussels, lobsters and fish - and can be grilled, steamed or fried, served usually with a spicy sauce or in a curry. The wine list veers towards the New World; a glass of Woodbridge chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon, sells for $29. Most of the wines have been chosen to complement seafood and vegetables. Our bottle of Brown Brothers chenin blanc ($190) was a perfect match for the prawns.
The beer list reflects an international flavour with brands from Japan, Holland, Austria, Germany, Ireland and France. A glass of Thailand's Singha goes for $24. As you would expect from a beach bar, there are several cocktails (around $40) including, surprise, surprise - Eric's [Kee's] Pride and Long Sex On The Beach ($80), a potion evolved from Long Island Tea and Sex on The Beach.
To get in the beach mood we kicked off with a mango colada ($55), served in a coconut, then moved on to solid prawn cakes ($45) and rich and juicy chicken, wrapped in leaves ($40). The grilled tiger prawns ($55 each) were of man-eating proportions. The clumps of garlic made them even more deadly and delicious.