A chilled Friday.

After quite a packed couple of days (we arrived in Phuket on Wednesday evening), we are taking it easy and chilling out at the villa today.

On Wednesday night we went for dinner to Baan Rim Pa (one of the "must-go-to" restaurants in many guides) that sits on the cliffside. The food is Royal Thai, but I think you really go for the atmosphere - good bar, live music and the sound of waves coming in. The food was good, but not spectular (we ordered the usual Thai dishes which the waiter would probably have guessed we would order).

Last night was more interesting. Keith Floyd had opened a brasserie in Patong - the only restaurant in Asia that bears his name - so we thought we would give it a go. As you know DB and I are celebrity-chef groupies. It turns out that KF will be visiting this very restauarant for a week - but we had arrived a day early. Anyway, we tried the signature dishes: crispy aromatic duck leg on herbed salad (quite tasty, not too dry as some duck legs can be) and lobster thermidor (superb, a good size lobster with succulent pieces of flesh and a nicely balanced but not too overpowering cream sauce). The restaurant was quite busy with Europeans who, like us, were probably drawn to the KF name. As a kid, I had grown up watching KF on TV at home in England, and even now DB and I watch his shows on NowTV.

BTW, we're a fair distance from the main restaurants and areas of nightlife (30 to 45 mins by car!) so today we're going to chill out at the villa.

One last tip: the Luxe Guide is a great travel guide. Combine that with a Canto guide (for some maps and pictures), and you have a winning tourist guide combo. With Luxe, we managed to find a cool bar (Phuja Nirvana) for lunch on Thursday and a great massage place (Privilege Spa) nearby.

As for the non culinary bits of the holiday, more from DB by separate blog post.

-- BB