Fresh food, antique decor at Phuket’s Chicroom Cafe

PHUKET: As you are driving down Phuket Road toward the Surin Circle clock tower in town, you may have noticed on the right-hand side a beautiful, modern looking building called the Chicroom Cafe.

This cafe doubles as a gallery of all things eccentric and antique. The decor resembles a fancy secondhand store with all the treasures that you always wanted to find, such as old toys, phones, jukeboxes and an entire car.

This eccentricity even spans to the antique furniture you sit on while you dine.

The Chicroom Cafe’s menu is quite broad, from traditional Thai cuisine such as fried pork with Thai basil to western classics such as spaghetti bolognese. Whatever it is you are craving, there certainly will be something on the menu that catches your eye.

A good start to any meal, whether breakfast, lunch or dinner is the cafe’s potato baked with cheese. You can still hear the butter and cheese sizzling as the waitstaff bring the plate to your table. The potatoes are perfectly tender while the melted cheese is abundant and golden brown on top. On the bottom of the plate is just the right amount of herb butter to add a little flavor.

If it is breakfast you want, I recommend the eggs benedict, served with both bacon and ham. This morning’s favorite is served with a bit of a twist, as the beautifully poached eggs smothered in hollandaise sit upon two very thick pieces of melt-in-your-mouth toast, as opposed to your traditional English muffin. It is the perfect amount of food to start your day right.

If it is lunch you are after, try the spaghetti bolognese. The pasta is al dente and perfectly supports the hearty and flavorful bolognese sauce. With an excellent sauce-to-meat ratio, this classic is served with your own sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and will leave you brimming with happiness.

For dinner, please do yourself a favor and order the stuffed pork with pepper sauce. Plated with steamed asparagus, carrots and broccoli, this meal is massive and beautifully presented. The pork chop, still on the bone, was oozing with cheese and mushrooms and covered with a sweet and savory pepper sauce. The meat was impeccably cooked and the flavors melded together without question.

If there is any one dish that stands out from this meal, it would have to be the potato baked with cheese. It was undoubtedly the star of the menu and a group favorite. It is the perfect size for an appetizer, small meal or large snack and fills you up in the same way as any other home-baked meal.

After your food, grab one of the cafe’s excellent coffees and walk around to view all of their spectacular treasures. This alone could take you an hour, and you won’t be disappointed, but rather, filled with nostalgia.

So, if you are in town and crave a little eye candy with your meal, stop into the Chicroom Cafe, open from 8am to 11pm.

— Sylvia Joy