The Big Chicken Restaurant

The Big Chicken has been a favourite place of mine to eat since 2008. This blog post was originally posted back then, but it has now been updated. We used to eat there a lot, since it's pretty close to our house, prices are good .. very convenient for us, but a couple of weeks ago we realised that we'd not eaten there for maybe 2 years, as we have found other favourite places and sometimes the older places get forgotten. If you drive on the normal bus route between Patong and Phuket Town, after passing through the area called Tungtong, and passing the Phuket Country Club you'll see a restaurant that is also a local landmark. Everyone knows where the Big Chicken is! You can't miss it. There is a big chicken outside.



The actual name of the restaurant is Krua Tungtong. Not sure how many years it's been open, must be at least 20 years. I remember the first time we ate there - we figured it was a slightly fancy local place as the decor is quite decent (I mean wooden chairs instead of plastic!) and there always seemed to be nice cars parked outside. We thought it might be a bit more expensive than some other local places. Well, yes, a little bit, of course there are places to eat for 40 Baht, but although many of the customers do often seem to be well-off locals (with a fair few local foreigners) the restaurant is quite cheap. Thai dishes go for 80 - 120 Baht. You can get simple things like fried rice or chicken fried with garlic for 50 - 60 Baht. It always seems to be busy, and with a good trade you can keep the prices down.



(above) At the Big Chicken in 2016



(above) And my family eating there in 2008! It's hardly changed at all. Same decor, decent food at a good price. After a bit of a gap, I think it'll be back to being a regular place for us. You see, with this kind of restaurant, we can eat out as a family and the bill might come to 700 Baht. Can be less. Can be more. Depends of course what you order and how much you eat! I think our last bill was 790 Baht, but that included a couple of beers and a lot of food!



(above) Tom Yum with chicken and lots of mushrooms. My kids like to order it with extra mushrooms.



(above) Chicken with lime sauce (like mayonnaise with lime) served with fried seaweed. Yum! Good if you don't like spicy food.

Aside from normal Thai food, they have a long, long list of Isaan food (northeast Thailand), and (they say) Vietnamese food. Having never been to Vietnam I can't say if this is authentic, but I had a "Vietnamese" noodle and sausage soup which was very tasty (and only 70 Baht!). The menu is about 10 pages. There's also a healthy supply of grilled chicken (Gai Yang) - which I guess is the house specialty and is why you find a 30 foot chicken outside! And grilled pork (Moo Yang) which I think is very good. A simple dish I like is Moo Yang with fried sticky rice.



(above) Gaeng Om, a kind of Isaan spicy, herby soup. You have to try something different sometimes!



(above) Laab with beef. Super tasty. I have also had the laab with fried fish and want to try more. The menu has a whole page of laab options!

Sometimes local restaurants open and close within a couple of years. There are at least 8 that I have blogged in the past that have closed down. Big Chicken is an old time favourite, very popular and I can say, to the best of my memory, that I have never had a bad meal here. Simple and tasty and here to stay.

More of our favourite places to eat in Phuket...

• Laem Hin Seafood
• Kopitiam in Old Phuket Town
• The Beach Bar
• Dairy Hut
• More Phuket Restaurants

Big Chicken - Location Map