Brunch in Phuket is not a meal so much as a way of spending an afternoon. Somewhere between long lunch, pool day and party, the island’s best brunches run for hours and are, for a great many residents and returning visitors, the fixed point of the week. The choice is wide and the styles differ enormously, so it is worth knowing what you are booking. Here is how to choose.
Why brunch matters here
Phuket took to brunch with more enthusiasm than most places, and the reason is climatic as much as cultural. A long, unhurried meal that begins at midday and drifts into the late afternoon suits a hot country and a slow weekend perfectly. Add a pool, a sea view and a few hours with no plans after it, and the appeal explains itself.
It has also become the way people mark things here. Birthdays, reunions, farewells and the last day of a holiday all tend to end up at a brunch table.
The three styles
Broadly, the island offers three. The classic hotel brunch is an indoor affair of generous buffets and free-flowing wine, comfortable and reliable. The beachfront brunch trades some polish for sand underfoot and a laid-back mood. And the pool brunch, which is where Phuket has made its name, turns the whole thing into an afternoon: music, a pool to swim between courses, and an atmosphere that builds as the day goes on.
None is better than the others. They simply suit different Sundays. A family gathering wants the first or second. A celebration with friends almost always wants the third.
What to look for
A few things separate a good brunch from an expensive lunch. Ask what the package actually includes, since free-flow arrangements vary widely in both duration and quality. Check how long the sitting runs, because the pleasure of brunch is time. Find out whether the food is cooked to order or held on a buffet, which matters more than any menu description. And consider the setting, since you will be there for several hours and the view is doing a great deal of the work.
Timing your Sunday
Most Phuket brunches run from around midday into the late afternoon. Arrive at the start rather than drifting in halfway, both because the first hour is the calmest and because you have paid for the whole of it. Pace yourself deliberately: the classic error is to treat the first table as the only one. And leave the evening free. A brunch that ends at five o’clock rarely wants a dinner reservation after it.
Brunch season
There is a rhythm to it. The island’s brunch calendar comes into its own from November, as the dry season settles in and the weekends fill, running through the festive period and into the first months of the year. That is when the special editions appear, the Christmas and New Year brunches among them, and when booking ahead stops being optional.
Brunch at Kata Rocks
Our brunch happens on the last Saturday of each month on the cliffs above Kata Beach, beside the infinity pool with the Andaman Sea below, served by the team from our oceanfront restaurant. It is a pool brunch in the fullest sense: long, generous and built to run into the evening light.
Visitors who are not staying with us can join through a our event page, which makes an afternoon of it. Brunch books out through the festive season, so it is worth choosing to reserve well ahead.