Nam Yoi Restaurant – Best For Spicy Southern Thai Food in Phuket!

Nam Yoi is a fantastic restaurant in Phuket Town serving southern Thai food.

I’ll tell you right now, it’s my favorite restaurant in Phuket. Well, at least in my top five.

Especially if you love the spicy and vibrant taste of real southern Thai food, Nam Yoi Restaurant (Nam Yoi Restaurant) is a must when you are in Phuket.

Here’s what you can expect…

Nam Yoi Restaurant (Nam Yoi Restaurant) – Phuket, Thailand

The restaurant is located in Phuket Town, towards the north of the city, on the Monkey Hill side (so even though you’re in the city, you feel like you’re in the jungle).

There is a small but sufficient car park. Step inside and you’ll be greeted by a series of low canopy-style roofs, with an outdoor dining area, including wooden tables and batik-draped tables.

The menu is full of southern Thai cuisine classics: all kinds of curries, stir-fried dishes, fried seafood and some Phuket-specific dishes.

Luckily, it’s the kind of menu and restaurant where you can’t make a bad decision.

Ok, let’s get to the food.

Splitgill Mushroom Curry

I always love splitgill mushrooms in southern Thailand. They have a deep flavor and a texture that really feels like shredded meat.

The split gill mushroom curry at Nam Yoi was nothing short of exceptional, and I think it was Southern Thai gaeng khua. The curry paste was vibrant and spicy, the coconut cream was thick and rich and there was a mixture of splitgill mushrooms and prawns. Highly recommended.

Melinjo leaves with egg

Melinjo leaves stir-fried with egg (bai miang (or bai liang) pad kai) is a classic dish.

And I’m not afraid to admit, I end up ordering it for almost every meal when I’m in Southern Thailand. It’s simply good, especially when it’s cooked well.

Here at Nam Yoi restaurant it is very good, dry, smoky and not sticky or spicy oyster.

Moo Hong

One of the Phuket-specific dishes I was talking about that you can order from Nam Yoi is Moo Hong (หมูฮ้อง).

Moo hong (หมูฮ้อง) is especially famous at Raya Restaurant and is one of the best Chinese Thai dishes with braised pork belly that you will only find in Phuket.

This version was well seasoned and melted tenderly in your mouth, but the sauce wasn’t as rich or thick as the other versions, so it had a slightly different style, not as standing out to me.

I would stick with the spicier curries, but you can order it if you need a non-spicy dish.

Fried sand fish with turmeric (Fried sand fish with turmeric)

Another dish we tried is sand fish marinated with turmeric and garlic and fried (ปลาทรายทอดขมิ้น). They were crispy and light, as sand fish are, but I prefer the southern Thai version where they really pile on the fried garlic and turmeric ( here’s a recipe ).

Stinky beans with shrimp

Another Southern Thai food not to be missed at Nam Yoi Restaurant is the stinky beans and shrimp, stir-fried curry (pad ph Spicy Stir Fry ) – you might know about mine by now obsession with stinky beans.

Ask for it extra spicy (phed mak), and they won’t disappoint you. Full of spice, balanced with umami of stinky shrimp paste and beans that had just the right crunch and freshness.

It’s one of my favorite dishes in Thailand and they do it well.

Chicken khua kling (chicken khua kling)

I also ordered the khua kling with minced chicken (ไก่คั่วกลิ้ง), a dry, slow fried curry from southern Thailand. It’s essentially minced meat stir-fried with curry paste, minus the liquid, so all that curry paste gets coated on every morsel of meat.

They also added extra crushed chilies, green peppercorns and a handful of finely chopped kaffir lime leaves.

Another EXCEPTIONAL and spicy dish at Nam Yoi.

Total price

For this meal, all the dishes pictured above and also a minced pork omelette for my son (not pictured), and our total bill was 1,185 THB for everything.

However, on another evening, we ate at Nam Yoi restaurant and I wanted to share with you some noteworthy dishes:

Fried fish with soy sauce

I can’t remember what fish it was – I don’t think it was king mackerel as is often the case. Either way, it was delicious, flaky, moist, crunchy and salty.

Fried aubergine

If you love eggplant, one of the dishes commonly available in local Phuket restaurants is fried eggplant with curry paste (Father Yao Tod Kreung Fried Eggplant (Fried Eggplant) You taste the flavor of the curry paste, dried chillies, prawn paste and all that flavor is absorbed into the slimy eggplant.

It’s good here, but not as good as the crispy version at Mor Moo Dong.

Chilli sauce and shrimp paste

A staple dish in any Southern Thai meal is a chili sauce (No thank you chili paste).

We tried the chilli sauce and prawn paste with fresh prawns (I got Prik Goong Sod นำ้พริกกุ้งสด), is a dish that my mother-in-law often prepares. It’s shrimp on top of shrimp and is delicious with veggies and rice.

Sour curry with coconut sprouts

Wow, that’s a lot of food, but in the end, sour curry with coconut sprouts (gaeng like yord maprao sour curry with coconut sprouts), and I think it was barramundi (pla kapon) fish.

Again, a dish you will find in every Southern Thai restaurant in Thailand and another one of my favorite dishes.

While as usual is typically sweeter in Phuket, Nam Yoi’s version was not too sweet, but spicy and sour and full of turmeric.

In conclusion, you will love Nam Yoi Restaurant (ร้านอาหารน้ำย้อย) for real southern Thai food in a relaxed atmosphere. For most dishes, the flavors are bold, spicy and use local Phuket ingredients.

Once again, for me, it is one of the best restaurants in Phuket.

Nam Yoi Restaurant (Nam Yoi Restaurant) – Phuket Town, Thailand

Address: 63, 250 Rumpattana Rd, Ratsada, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000 (Phuket Town, on the edge of Monkey Hill, Google Maps)
Opening time: Tuesday – Saturday (closed Monday and Sunday) from 10.30am to 8.30pm
Prices: Most dishes are between 100 and 200 THB, but larger fish dishes can cost more, perhaps a little more expensive than other similar restaurants, but in my opinion also better quality.