Samut

Dark teak wood and Oriental lanterns fill what was once a hotel lobby, now a contemporary Southern Thai restaurant running a single set menu of more than ten courses that traces Phuket's coastline. Seafood comes from local fishermen, and the kitchen leans into island tradition, folding in local fruits and a reworked take on Phuket dim sum. It reads as a love letter to the south, written in a building that already had good bones.

One honor, in evidence: