Raya might have ruled Phuket cuisine for decades, but now there’s a new contender. Mali (090-324-6351, goo.gl/lz6ZK6) sits a bit out of the old town on Chaofah Road and serves dishes under the tagline “traditional Phuket food.”

 

The new spot has plenty of Sino-Portuguese referencing touches, and space for 10 tables indoors and six on the terrace.

 

The menu charts all the Southern hits—crab meat curry with rice noodle (B300), moo hong (braised pork belly, B150), nam prik goong siab (chili shrimp paste with crispy dried shrimp, B140) and kua kling (stir-fried spicy pork/beef, B160)—as well as experimenting with its own dishes like chicken curry spring rolls (B120) and pla long nam (a hot pot of deep-fried seabass or garupa with coconut curry, B420).