Shopping / Windows and doors

Daily 11am-11pm

Number of people served: 1

Ingredients

• 150g wild king salmon
• 10g NZ lemon kelp seasoning
• Olive oil
• Lemon wedge

Method

Marinate the king salmon with olive oil & lemon kelp seasoning. If you don’t have this you can easily substitute with lemon pepper or your favourite seasoning mix.

This is then grilled on hot charcoals for a smokey /BBQ flavour for 4-5minutes. Lastly, a squeeze of lemon juice on top then let the salmon rest for 30 seconds for its juices to settle. Serve with your choice of side sauces and salad.

About the chef

Chef Ray
Culinary Director and Executive Chef Rey, is a dynamic and innovative New Zealander with nearly 20 years of experience in the fine dining segment of hospitality.

He developed his profession with guidance from industry leaders, taking his craft to Australia, Malaysia, Abu Dhabi and Vietnam, working for well-known luxury restaurants and hotels, including the award-winning ‘2016 Top 50 restaurant’, Bracu, in New Zealand, under the watchful eye of renowned Chef, Peter Thornley, before joining the team at The Pavilions Phuket.

Chef Rey’s unique method starts from understanding the culinary roots and culture of where he is, the history and traditional techniques that were used, then sourcing local ingredients and preparing the dish with ultra-modern cooking practices.

+66 76 371600
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We are fortunate as residents of Phuket, and indeed those who vacation on our island too, that we are spoilt for choice when it comes to dining options. Our restaurants truly encompass all cuisines and as one would expect, the majority of those offer Thai cooking.

Deciding where to go to enjoy our renowned Southern Thai specialities and classics is already complex enough and even more difficult when we accept that many Thai restaurants, even those owned for decades, no longer ‘offer the real McCoy’, over time having adapted original recipes to accommodate the non-Thai palate. To add to our dilemma, there is an emerging trend towards ‘modern’ Thai cuisine. I remain to be convinced by this trend; can one really improve the classics? Classics are classics for a reason. When choosing where I visit, I inevitably seek out the truly authentic. So, where should one go for ‘original’ Thai cooking? Twenty years ago, hotel guests did not venture out, preferring the ‘safe’ seclusion of their hotel. Today however, guests desire to experience the ‘real’ Phuket rather than eating in the more sanitised environment of their hotel, coupled with a belief that for veritable heirloom recipes, you must walk the streets. Unsurprisingly, I do not totally share this myth. The chefs I will meet today helm two Thai restaurants, both firmly anchored in deluxe hotels.

I begin with a visit to the Angsana hotel, a stunning five-star sanctuary. Tucked within lies my destination, Baan Talay, which translates to ‘House by the Sea’: an accurate description. I am to meet the legendary Chef Wannee Kalasri, who has been with the restaurant since 1992, joining as an apprentice and heading up Baan Talay for the past 10 years. Hailing from Nakhon Si Thammarat, she developed a love for cooking at an early age. Her menu is peppered with classic dishes such as Tom Yam Goong and Kai Jiew Poo, the former a spicy yet balanced soup with prawns, the latter, a traditional crab omelette. Both of these, whilst commonly seen, are incredibly complex to get right, requiring a deft touch and difficult-to-master techniques. Khun Wannee informs me, “These are amongst the most popular dishes with my returning diners who are on their second or third visit.” She adds, “On arrival, often before going to their room, they seek me out to greet me and discuss dishes they want to eat throughout their two-week stay; this is their second home.”

I ask her about competition and she replies, “We compete with local restaurants on authenticity by strictly adhering to the traditional ways of cooking, the only compromise being an adjustment in spice in a dish,” and with a mischievous smile she finishes, “This for Thais as well as non-Thais.”

An example of this is her Gaeng Kiew Wan Gai – a green chicken curry which she insists “should only ever be medium spiced.”

Chef Wannee continues, “I do introduce new dishes to satisfy curiosity in our regular diners, such as Lobster Khao Soi, a combination of north and south with the northern speciality of a deeply aromatic curry soup of cooked and fried noodles accompanied by the celebrated king of the Andaman, Phuket lobster.”

On my frequent visits to the island, one of the ever-present conversation topics is what new eateries have sprung up and next, which are worth a try? The island’s gourmets also ruminate over our burgeoning reputation as a culinary destination. But, is this reality or myth? Are chefs truly pushing the boundaries and creating offerings that set the island apart?

To address this quandary, I have arranged to meet two chefs who helm recently launched innovative restaurants. I plan to delve a little into how they conceptualise their signature dishes to maintain their leading-edge positions on the island.

I begin with a welcome morning coffee and croissant with Mark Jones, Executive Chef of the iconic, The Nai Harn. Mark joined the hotel in 2016 and has been a pioneer in evolving the hotel’s restaurants which include the beachfront, Rocksalt, Japanese Hansha, and the less publicised, but equally standout, Cosmo – which for an all-day dining restaurant offers us an insight into the painstaking research Mark undertakes in all his offerings; from the now legendary chicken sausage at breakfast, through to evening and the stellar Rangers Valley Black Market Wagyu Sirloin, marble score 6.

This penchant for great beef and chargrilling was one of the shared sparks which led to the recently launched Prime, a labour of love undertaken by both Mark and his effervescent General Manager, Frank Grassman. It is their flagship restaurant and I am keen to hear Mark’s philosophy behind his thoughtful and clever menu. “We began, wanting to create an experience restaurant, affording spectacular oceanfront views, as all our outlets do. We set our hearts on an exclusive, 14-seat eatery with an open kitchen containing a custom designed chargrill, where we would cook in front of the diner a variety of premium fish and meats.” Mark is exceptionally pleased with the end result and one of his personal favourites, his cold smoked native Hebridean salmon. “In my opinion it is unequalled on the island; it grows in cold and stormy waters which results in a robust, lean and firm flesh; this breed’s ancestral blood line stretches back a millenia. Our preparation is incredibly labour intensive and accompaniments, such as fresh root wasabi mayonnaise, truly accentuate. When I recommend it to diners, it never fails to impress!” Of course, at the heart of Prime is quality beef. But Mark surprises me by pointing out that, “In addition to premium steaks, we also love to showcase secondary cuts such as lesser seen flank. Our Stanbroke Diamantina, from a family owned farm, is grain fed for 400 days, resulting in an uber tender and flavourful cut, perfectly matched with duck fat cooked potatoes and chimichurri sauce.”

Mark adds, “Another uncommon cut is my short rib, pasture raised and aged for 120 days. Firstly, I marinate it in salt, brown sugar, smoked Spanish paprika, red capsicum flakes, star anise and a secret ingredient for four days and then it is cooked in sous vide for 48 hours at 61 degrees Celsius. It is then glazed with signature BBQ sauce and baked in our wood-fired oven, resulting in a crunchy caramelised bark on the outside and meat so tender it falls off the bone.”

In the high season, for the true meat aficionados, he also adds a unique 1kg+ 45-day dry-aged côte de boeuf which has been grain fed for 270 days. Whilst assigned a relatively low marble score of 3, Mark informs me that, “even Chefs tend to rate it around 6 or even 7!”

I look forward to ordering on my next visit, however for now must head north to The Pavilions, where I have a meeting with Chef Rey Arboleda, yet another passionate kitchen wizard! Arriving, I am escorted into an intimate salon – the venue for Rey’s recently launched Picasso Dessert Table, about which I will later solicit details. Rey joined The Pavilions as Culinary Director to implement an innovative new concept for the hotel’s signature restaurant, The Plantation Club, in addition to raising culinary standards across the resort.

Phuket is a diverse island. Popular for its plentiful beaches, the island boasts a wide variety of activities to please holidaymakers. Beyond the beaches, Phuket is most famous for its party scene and glitzy lifestyle, however, there is another side of this tropical paradise that is well worth exploring. Phuket truly has a unique culture and an interesting history. During the 18th century, much of Phuket’s booming tin mining was carried out by Hokkien Chinese. It was the Hokkien Chinese who became most invested in building the part of the island that is now referred to as Phuket Old Town. Two styles of buildings were popular during this time: shophouses and mansions depicting the Sino-Portuguese style of design and architecture.

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