Blue Elephant Restaurant, Phuket Town

The Blue Elephant Restaurant in Phuket Town is located with a grand mansion house which has previously been used as an official residence of several former governors of Phuket.

The Blue Elephant Restaurant, or Blue Elephant Phuket Restaurant and Cooking School, is not open to simply visit, to gain entrance you need to book a table in the restaurant or book a cooking course.

About the Blue Elephant Restaurant

The mansion within which the Blue Elephant Restaurant is housed was built in 1940s by Prapitak Chinpracha. Mr Chinpracha was born in Phuket into family which had immigrated from China. The Chinpracha family had achieved significant success in business, particularly tin mining in Phuket which at the time was the island’s major industry, and this mansion was the second one he had built. The first was the Chinpracha House which is next door, originally on the same plot of land. The Blue Elephant Restaurant mansion is larger and more ornate than the Chinpracha House although the two buildings are stylistically similar using what is normally described as the ‘Sino-Portuguese’ architectural style combining European architecture of the late 19th Century with Asian architecture to re-purpose buildings intended for use in a temperate climate to function as comfortable living spaces in a tropical climate. The interiors of the building are ornate, combining marble tile floors with exposed wooden ceiling beams, wooden door and window frames, and 1920s style Parisian furniture. The bar of the Blue Elephant Restaurant is notable for its use of wooden panelling, mirrors and distinctive checked black and white marble tile floor.

The Blue Elephant Restaurant in Phuket is part of an international restaurant chain with branches in Bangkok, Phuket, Malta, Paris, Brussels and Copenhagen. The food is mostly classic Thai dishes prepared with skill and flair, and the menu is similar in all the branches. The most popular and best known dish is the lamb massaman curry, which is slow cooked Muslim dish originating in Southern Thailand bearing some similarity to an Indian curry. The Blue Elephant Restaurant costs around 1,000 THB per person for a 3 course meal not including drinks. Cooking courses are more expensive. A half day cooking course as part of a group costs 3,296 THB per person preparing and consuming four dishes.

Location of the Blue Elephant Restaurant

• Blue Elephant Restaurant is located 1.5 km walking distance from Phuket Bus Terminal 1.