Newly arrived on Rawai Beach, towards the southern tip of Phuket, Azzurro may be small in size, but it puts what it has to good use.

The Italian restaurant takes heavy cues from the island's Sino-Portuguese heritage with an interior painted in the greenest of tropical murals.

The menu spotlights flavorful pasta dishes like angel hair pasta with blue swimmer crab (B390) and corkscrew pasta with artichoke and asparagus cream topped with crispy prosciutto (B360).

For those craving more protein, there's always the grilled Australian flank steak (B580) or the pork fillet crusted with herbs served with mashed potato and lemon butter (B390). 

Diners can choose to sit in one of the semi-circular booths next to a stage which hosts live music or head for the more refined, white tablecloth zone beside the indoor pool. 

To drink, there’s plenty of wines, available by both the glass and bottle.