Where to Eat in Bang Tao and Cherngtalay: 27 Places, by the Evening You Want

Bang Tao has quietly become one of the best corners of Phuket to eat in, and the reason is density: two open-air centres at the Laguna gate, a strip of neighbourhood kitchens along Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, and a handful of genuinely serious independents a few kilometres inland, all within about ten minutes of each other. Below are 27 places worth your evening, with addresses and hours, grouped by where they are and the kind of night you want rather than by cuisine.

The Boat Avenue, Lagoon Road and Porto de Phuket entries were rechecked in October 2026, the rest in August 2026. Where a restaurant's own site and the listings disagree on hours, we print both rather than pick the convenient number.

Where is Bang Tao, and what is Cherngtalay?

Cherngtalay, written Choeng Thale on maps, is a subdistrict of Thalang in the middle-west of Phuket, just south of the airport. It takes in Bang Tao Beach, the island's longest, with Surin and Layan further up the coast. Most people call the whole neighbourhood Bang Tao, or Laguna after the resort complex behind the sand. It is greener and calmer than the south of the island, and increasingly somewhere people come specifically to eat.

The 27, at a glance

Restaurant	Where	What it is	Hours
Bisou	Bandon-Cherngtalay Rd	Modern French, plated to share	6pm to 1am, last food order around 11pm
JOYA	49/21 Boat Avenue	Modern European, all day, cocktail bar	8am to midnight
Issara	Aqua building, Boat Avenue	Thai and Japanese, wagyu, pizza	Noon to midnight
Aja Bistro & Bar	49/3 Boat Avenue	Modern bistro and cocktail bar	5pm to midnight
Little Paris	49/47 Boat Avenue	French bistro and brasserie	From 8:30am, close 10pm to 1am by listing
Uoteru Suisan Sushi	49/36 Boat Avenue	Sushi and sashimi	Noon to 10pm
Fun Friday Avenue	Boat Avenue strip	Night market, Fridays only	Late afternoon to 9, 10 or 11pm by source
Bocconcino	21/14 Lagoon Rd	Italian, lake terrace, own bakery	Noon to 10pm, or 11pm on Google
Nanami	21/8 Lagoon Rd	Japanese charcoal grill, wagyu	8:30am to 11pm, or 5 to 10pm by listing
Eden by the Lake	21/17 Lagoon Rd	Show grill, steak and seafood	4pm to midnight, closed Sunday
Mrs B Bar & Table	19/1 Lagoon Rd	Wood-fire grill and the Yard Bar	6pm to midnight
La Marée	8 Lagoon Rd	Mediterranean seafood, French technique	8am to midnight
Tatonka	34 Lagoon Rd	Globetrotter small plates, since 1996	From 6pm, closed Sunday
Mamasita Mexican	48 Lagoon Rd	Family-run Mexican	Noon to 10pm
Etna	Boat Avenue Lakefront	All-day, wood fire, award-winning wine list	9am to midnight
SōL	248 Bandon-Cherngtalay Rd	All-day Western and Thai	11am to 11pm, breakfast from 7am
The Farmer and The Fisherman	Porto de Phuket	Farm produce and seafood	11am to 11pm
Tu Kab Khao	Porto de Phuket	Phuket Peranakan home cooking	From 11am
El Gaucho	Porto de Phuket	Argentinian steakhouse	Noon or 11:30am to 11pm, kitchen to 10pm
Holey Artisan Bakery	Porto de Phuket	Sourdough and pastries	7am to 9pm
Im En Ville	Porto de Phuket	All-day Thai and Western	10am to 10pm
Black Cat	104 Bandon-Cherngtalay Rd	French-Thai bistro, since 1996	Evenings
Siam Sunset	100 Bandon-Cherngtalay Rd	Southern Thai, all day	Through the day
Chernglay Kitchen	50/77 Moo 4, Bandon-Cherngtalay Rd	Local seafood, big portions	Evenings
Suay Cherngtalay	Srisoonthorn Rd, 5km inland	Modern Thai, chef-owner	Evenings
Nitan	Srisoonthorn Rd, 3km inland	Thai-European tasting menu	Evenings
Kin-Kub-Ei	Srisoonthorn Rd, 6km inland	Southern Thai family kitchen	Daytime and early evening

Boat Avenue restaurants: the walkable centre at the Laguna gate

The best restaurants at Boat Avenue, as of October 2026, are JOYA for an all-day European room on the strip and Issara for a lake terrace and cocktails to midnight. A two to five minute walk down Lagoon Road brings Bocconcino for Italian over the water, Nanami for Japanese charcoal grilling and La Marée for oysters and seafood. Across Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, Porto de Phuket adds Tu Kab Khao's Phuket Peranakan cooking and El Gaucho's steaks. This is where most visitors to Bang Tao eat, and it is the right answer when nobody can agree.

• Where: the Laguna Phuket entrance on Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, Cherngtalay. Boat Avenue opened in 2012. Porto de Phuket, directly across the road, opened in December 2019.
• Getting there: about five minutes by car from Bang Tao Beach and the Laguna resorts. From Cassia, Homm Suites or the Hilton Garden Inn it is close enough to walk on a cool evening.
• Parking: free at both centres, with about 300 car spaces at Porto de Phuket (Phuket101, September 2026). Both fill fast on Friday evenings.
• Hours: neither centre sets hours for its tenants. Most kitchens stop between 10 and 11 PM; JOYA, Issara, Mrs B and Eden by the Lake run to midnight.
• Groceries and wine to take back: Villa Market, at 49/13 on the strip.

Boat Avenue, by what you are craving

You want	Go to	Where
Italian by the water	Bocconcino	Lagoon Road
Japanese, grilled at the table	Nanami	Lagoon Road
Sushi on the strip	Uoteru Suisan Sushi	Boat Avenue
Oysters and seafood	La Marée	Lagoon Road
A French bistro	Little Paris	Boat Avenue
Southern Thai	Tu Kab Khao	Porto de Phuket
Steak	El Gaucho, or Eden by the Lake	Porto de Phuket, Lagoon Road
Mexican	Mamasita	Lagoon Road
Wood fire and a late cocktail	Mrs B	Lagoon Road
Breakfast and sourdough	Holey Artisan Bakery	Porto de Phuket
Children in tow	Etna, which has a playroom	Boat Avenue Lakefront
Cheap, local and loud	The Fun Friday market	Boat Avenue, Fridays

JOYA Restaurant & Cocktail Bar

49/21 Boat Avenue. Modern European cooking and a cocktail bar, open every day from 8am to midnight, so it covers coffee, a set lunch (weekdays, noon to 3pm) and a nightcap at one address. On Friday and Saturday nights a DJ plays a vinyl set from 8pm. JOYA's own site names Andrey Chetvertnov, a Le Cordon Bleu Paris graduate, as executive chef; La Marée on Lagoon Road credits the same chef. Books through TableCheck. The dressier option on the strip.

Issara Restaurant & Bar

Aqua building, Boat Avenue Road 1, ground floor. A recent opening, and the second Issara after the original on Kata Noi Road in Karon. Brothers Nikola Lesar, who won MasterChef Croatia in 2012, and Filip Lesar run the kitchen and the bar. The cooking crosses Thai and Japanese with wagyu and neo-Neapolitan pizza: the crab cakes (420 baht) are the best seller, the wagyu beef lasagna (670 baht) the chef's signature. Open daily from noon to midnight, with a terrace bar on the lake.

Aja Bistro & Bar

49/3 Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, Boat Avenue. A modern bistro and cocktail bar from the Carpe Diem Collective, with chef Sithu "Paul" Swe in the kitchen. The pumpkin soup is 250 baht and the beef tartare 550, and Thursday is Steak & Sound night, with a 250 g flat iron at 790 baht. The bar opens at 5pm and runs to midnight; Google lists dinner service until 11pm.

Little Paris

49/47 Boat Avenue. French bistro and brasserie classics, with pizza and its own bakery, on the strip since December 2016. Listings agree on an 8:30am opening and disagree on the close, from 10pm to 1am, so call before a late dinner. For the rest of the island's French tables, see the best French restaurants in Phuket.

Uoteru Suisan Sushi

49/36 Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, Boat Avenue. Sushi, sashimi, rolls and donburi, open daily from noon to 10pm. The quick Japanese answer on the strip itself, when Nanami's table grills are more evening than you want.

Fun Friday Avenue night market

Along the Boat Avenue strip, every Friday from late afternoon. One evening a week the pedestrian stretch fills with stalls: whole fish barbecued in a salt crust, grilled meats, fried noodles, som tum, smoothies, a cocktail bar. Published hours disagree: Phuket101 gives 4 to 9pm on its Boat Avenue page (October 2026) and 4 to 10pm on its market page (January 2026), and SAii Laguna gives 5 to 11pm (May 2026). Arrive by 6pm and you are safe on every count. The best cheap eating in the area, and worth planning your week around.

On the lake: Lagoon Road and the Boat Avenue Lakefront

The lake side of Boat Avenue runs along Lagoon Road, where the terraces sit over the water and the rooms are quieter than the strip. Everything below except Etna and SōL is a two to five minute walk from JOYA. Moonshine, the jazz lounge at 58/4-5 Lagoon Road (Tuesday to Sunday, 5pm to midnight), is in our guide to Bang Tao nightlife.

Bocconcino

21/14 Lagoon Road, on the lake behind Boat Avenue. Open since 2012, with a wooden terrace out over the water and bread, focaccia and pastries made on the premises every day. Chef Massimo Pettinau, a Sardinian, runs it with Alessandro Pegoraro: order the linguine vongole with bottarga (580 baht). Bocconcino's own site gives noon to 10pm daily; Google lists 11pm, with the kitchen closing at 9:45pm. Online bookings need 36 hours' notice, otherwise phone or WhatsApp. The best terrace in the area for a long lunch.

Nanami

21/8 Lagoon Road. Japanese yakiniku in a lakeside villa: a charcoal grill at every table, A5 wagyu, plus sushi and sashimi, with wagyu sets from 900 baht on the current menu. Nanami's own site now opens the doors at 8:30am and serves until 11pm, last food order 10pm; Phuket101 still lists dinner only, 5 to 10pm. Call ahead for lunch.

Eden by the Lake

21/17 Lagoon Road. A show grill for Australian and New Zealand beef and seafood, with Thai and German dishes on the side and a garden lounge. The 1.2 kg tomahawk set is 4,900 baht and the surf and turf platter for two 3,900 (menu of October 2026). Open Monday to Saturday from 4pm to midnight, last order 11:30pm, closed on Sundays.

Mrs B Bar & Table

19/1 Lagoon Road. A wood-fire grill doing European comfort cooking with Asian touches, in the room that used to be Bampot, with the open-air Yard Bar beside it. The 300 g Tajima wagyu ribeye is 2,700 baht and the lamb kofta 330. Dinner runs daily from 6pm to midnight, and B Side serves lunch from noon to 6pm, Tuesday to Saturday. Until December 2026 the bar hosts a Casa Bacardi takeover, which Time Out calls Thailand's first Casa Bacardi flagship. Book ahead.

La Marée

8 Lagoon Road. Mediterranean seafood with French technique, under chef Andrey Chetvertnov. Gillardeau oysters are 280 baht each or 1,390 for six, and the lobster thermidor 1,950. Open daily from 8am, to midnight according to Time Out (August 2026) and to 11:50pm on Chope.

Tatonka

34 Lagoon Road. Chef Harold Schwarz has cooked his "globetrotter cuisine" here since 1996: small plates built to share, from Asia to Latin America, and a 220 g fillet steak at 790 baht. Dinner only, from 6pm, Monday to Saturday; closed on Sundays.

Mamasita Mexican

48 Lagoon Road, next door to Tatonka. A family-run Mexican kitchen since 2016, open daily from noon to 10pm, with two-for-one margaritas on Mondays. The guacamole is the order.

Etna

16 Soi Cherngtalay 4, on a lake Etna calls the Boat Avenue Lakefront. An all-day room opened in December 2024, with four spaces, a lake terrace, a wood-fired oven and a kids' playroom. Its own line is "Global traditions, primal fire": the wagyu ribeye is 1,890 baht, the duck leg ravioli 450, and a Friday sharing menu (6 to 9pm) 950. The wine list holds a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2026, with 140 selections by Wine Spectator's count and 156 by Etna's. Open daily 9am to midnight, with a DJ on the terrace on Friday and Saturday. Set your map to Etna itself rather than to Boat Avenue.

SōL

248 Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, about 450 metres north-east of Boat Avenue (Phuket101, September 2026), though its own pages say Boat Avenue Lakefront. An all-day room from chef Top Russell, the chef behind Mia in Bangkok, mixing Western comfort food and Thai dishes. The beef khao soi is 365 baht and the cured trout, a chef's pick, 325 (menu of December 2025). The main menu runs 11am to 11pm, breakfast from 7am; Google lists the kitchen to 10:30pm.

Porto de Phuket: across the road from Boat Avenue

Porto de Phuket faces Boat Avenue across Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, and its restaurants are Tu Kab Khao for Phuket cooking, The Farmer and The Fisherman for seafood and El Gaucho for steak, plus a serious bakery and an all-day room. It is the newer of the two centres, open since December 2019, with free parking.

The Farmer and The Fisherman

Building 2, Porto de Phuket. A sister restaurant to Chiang Mai's Ginger Farm Kitchen, from the same team, built on farm produce and the day's catch. Order the tom yum paella, a whole pan of seafood rice built on tom yum (995 baht on Phuket101's listing of December 2024), or book the sharing set for two at 1,290 baht net through Hungry Hub. Open daily 11am to 11pm.

Tu Kab Khao

Building 2, Porto de Phuket. Phuket Peranakan home cooking: crab curry eaten with thin rice noodles, moo hong pork belly stewed dark and sweet, southern chilli pastes. Open from 11am; no source we trust gives the evening close, so call ahead if you are eating late. Phuket101's Boat Avenue page still calls it MICHELIN-listed. The original Tu Kab Khao on Phang Nga Road in Phuket Town held a Bib Gourmand from the 2021 edition, but it is not in the guide's current Phuket listing, and this Porto branch was not listed.

El Gaucho

Building 2, Porto de Phuket. An Argentinian steakhouse, flame-grilled Angus and a long international list. El Gaucho's own site gives noon to 11pm with the kitchen open until 10pm; Phuket101 (September 2026) opens it at 11:30am. The lunch deal runs daily until 3pm and undercuts the dinner bill considerably, and a 2026 promotion on El Gaucho's site halves grilled steak prices on the first Tuesday of every month.

Holey Artisan Bakery Cafe

Mercado Hall, Porto de Phuket, unit FB109. Long-fermented sourdough and pastries out of the oven from 7am, with a 600 g sourdough loaf at 170 baht. The one place near Laguna for a proper loaf rather than a hotel croissant. Open daily 7am to 9pm.

Im En Ville

Building 1, Porto de Phuket. The island version of a Bangkok all-day restaurant: Thai comfort food beside burgers and quesadillas, and a khao soi gai sourdough pizza at 380 baht before tax and service. Open daily 10am to 10pm, with a Saturday brunch from noon to 3pm from 1,250 baht plus tax and service (Time Out).

The Cherngtalay strip: neighbourhood kitchens on the main road

Along Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, away from the centres, is where people who live here eat. Lower prices, longer histories, no view.

Black Cat Bar & Restaurant

104 Bandon-Cherngtalay Road. A French-Thai bistro open since 1996 under Philippe, a French chef, and his Thai wife Meow, which is why a French onion soup, a pork chop with mushroom sauce and a house crème brûlée sit on the same menu as the Thai dishes. Three decades on this road is the credential.

Siam Sunset Restaurant

100 Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, directly opposite Porto de Phuket and next door to Black Cat. Proper curries, stir-fries and Thai soups, whole fried fish, and a crispy melinjo leaf salad that is a real southern Thai plate rather than a tourist one. It serves straight through the day. Some vegetarian options, though not a separate menu.

Chernglay Kitchen

50/77 Moo 4 Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, about 2 km north of the Black Cat stretch, set back under cover. The neighbourhood workhorse: very large portions, very low prices, fresh seafood cooked to order, and a clams soup regulars come back for. Menu in Thai and English. There is a karaoke setup rather than a live band, so pick your night.

Inland, on the Srisoonthorn corridor: the serious independents

These are a five to twelve minute drive inland and are not in Cherngtalay, which most guides fail to mention. They are worth the taxi.

Suay Cherngtalay

177/99 Moo 6, tambon Si Sunthon, about 5 km inland from Bang Tao Beach. Modern Thai from chef-owner Tammasak "Noi" Chootong, who has cooked under the Suay name since opening the first one in Phuket Town in 2010, running Thai flavours through European technique. Not to be confused with the Suay at Porto de Phuket.

Nitan

177/38 Srisoonthorn Road, tambon Si Sunthon, roughly 300 m from Suay and about 3 km from the Cherngtalay strip. A Thai-European tasting menu in a genuinely serious independent dining room rather than a hotel restaurant, built partly on produce from the restaurant's own farm in Surat Thani.

Kin-Kub-Ei

81 Srisoonthorn Road, tambon Si Sunthon, a 10 to 12 minute drive inland, about 6 km from Bang Tao Beach. A southern Thai family kitchen where Khun Tipsuda "Tubtim" Khanchaijatuwit cooks her own family's recipes to order in a shaded garden room. Order the pla tod krueng, deep-fried fish with curry paste. The most local table on this list.

The beachfront: sunset rather than dinner

Along the sand you will find the beach clubs: loungers, long cocktail lists, the sun going down over the Andaman. Read them as the daytime-into-golden-hour end of Bang Tao rather than as dinner destinations, since the food is the supporting act and the view you paid for disappears at dusk.

We keep a separate guide to the best beach clubs in Phuket with who is where and what each one is actually good at.

Bisou: the modern French table in the middle of it

Then there is the dinner you plan around. A room you book, dress for a little, and settle into.

Bisou is a modern French restaurant and cocktail bar at No.4 Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, a short drive from Laguna, Boat Avenue and Bang Tao Beach, with parking at the rear via the side street. It opened in 2025, founded by chef Antoine Darquin and sommelier Théo Lavergne, with Manon Bares running the kitchen and Louis Chartier looking after the room. Everything to know before you book at Bisou, from prices to dress code, is in the Bisou guide.

The menu is plated to share, so a table orders together rather than each to their own: truffle French toast to begin, a house beef Wellington carved at the table, a whole seabass baked in salt crust and flambéed beside you. Dinner runs nightly from 6:00 PM, with the last food order around 11 PM and the cocktail bar open to 1:00 AM, which matters here: most kitchens on this list stop serving food between 10 and 11 PM.

Bread and French butter come to every table before anything else, at no charge, and the birthday plate arrives without being asked for if someone is celebrating. At Christmas the kitchen opens early and runs late: see Christmas dinner in Phuket.

How to choose, by the evening you want

The night you want	Where to go
Nobody can agree	Boat Avenue: walk the strip, then the lake side on Lagoon Road
A long lunch with a view	Bocconcino, on the lake terrace
Cheap, local and alive	Fun Friday Avenue night market, Fridays only
Real southern Thai	Kin-Kub-Ei, or Siam Sunset if you do not want to drive
A serious tasting menu	Nitan, on the Srisoonthorn corridor
Children in tow	Etna, with its playroom, or Im En Ville at Porto de Phuket
Sunset and cocktails	The beachfront, then dinner somewhere else
The dinner you planned the trip around	Bisou, Bandon-Cherngtalay Road
Anything after 11 PM	Bisou, or JOYA, Issara and Mrs B until midnight

Read next: the best French restaurants in Phuket, leaving your Laguna resort for dinner, the best steakhouses in Phuket, the cocktail bar at Bisou, and Bang Tao nightlife, from sunset to last call.

Eating as a couple rather than as a table? We ranked the 10 most romantic restaurants in Bang Tao and Cherngtalay, with the table to ask for at each one.

If it is raining, the choice narrows and the reasons are worth knowing: see what to do in Phuket when it rains.

Frequently asked questions

Where should I eat in Bang Tao, Phuket?+

Start with Boat Avenue, Lagoon Road and Porto de Phuket at the Laguna entrance, where JOYA, Issara, Bocconcino, La Marée, Tu Kab Khao and El Gaucho sit within a short walk of each other. For neighbourhood Thai, Black Cat and Siam Sunset are on Bandon-Cherngtalay Road. For a French dinner you plan around, Bisou is on the same road, open nightly from 6 PM.

Where do locals eat in Cherngtalay?+

Along Bandon-Cherngtalay Road rather than in the centres. Chernglay Kitchen does very large portions of fresh seafood at low prices, Siam Sunset serves proper southern Thai through the day, and Black Cat has been run by the same French-Thai couple since 1996. Kin-Kub-Ei, ten minutes inland on Srisoonthorn Road, is the most local kitchen of the three.

What are the best restaurants at Boat Avenue, Phuket?+

As of October 2026, the best restaurants at Boat Avenue in Bang Tao, Phuket are JOYA for all-day European cooking and Issara for Thai and Japanese plates on a lake terrace, with Bocconcino for Italian, Nanami for Japanese charcoal grilling and La Marée for seafood a short walk down Lagoon Road. Across the road at Porto de Phuket, Tu Kab Khao serves Phuket Peranakan cooking and El Gaucho grills Argentinian steak.

Is there parking at Boat Avenue?+

Yes. Parking is free at Boat Avenue and at Porto de Phuket across the road, which has about 300 car spaces, but both fill fast on Friday evenings during the Fun Friday market. On a Friday, a taxi or Grab is the easier way in.

Where can you have breakfast at Boat Avenue?+

Holey Artisan Bakery at Porto de Phuket opens at 7 AM with sourdough and pastries, and JOYA on Boat Avenue opens at 8 AM. On Lagoon Road, La Marée opens at 8 AM and Nanami at 8:30 AM, Little Paris on the strip opens at 8:30 AM, and Etna on the Boat Avenue Lakefront serves breakfast from 9 AM until 3 PM.

What night is the Boat Avenue market in Bang Tao?+

Friday. The Fun Friday Avenue market fills the Boat Avenue strip every Friday from late afternoon, with stalls doing salt-crusted barbecued fish, grilled meats, noodles, som tum and cocktails. Published closing times range from 9 PM (Phuket101, October 2026) to 11 PM (SAii Laguna, May 2026), so arrive by 6 PM. It is the best cheap eating in the area.

Where can you eat late in Bang Tao?+

Most kitchens here stop serving food between 10 and 11 PM. Around Boat Avenue, JOYA, Issara, Mrs B, La Marée and Eden by the Lake (closed Sundays) stay open to midnight, and Eden takes its last order at 11:30 PM. Bisou on Bandon-Cherngtalay Road takes its last food order around 11 PM and keeps the cocktail bar open to 1 AM. Beyond that the options are the 24-hour convenience stores on the main road.

How far is Boat Avenue from Bang Tao Beach?+

About five minutes by car. Boat Avenue and Porto de Phuket sit at the entrance to the Laguna complex on Bandon-Cherngtalay Road, with the beach directly behind the resorts. The inland restaurants on Srisoonthorn Road are a further five to ten minutes.

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