For years, avoided by tourists visiting Phuket as the rundown local commercial centre, Phuket Town is now the most happening location on the island. No holiday in Phuket will be complete without a visit to the ‘Old Town’, particularly at night, so we booked into a downtown hotel and went exploring its darker, musical side!!
By Erika Gates
When we last visited Phuket in the naughties, we decided to spend a day in Phuket Town, the sino-portuguese buildings were worth a visit, we were told. To be honest it was kind of a disappointment. The pavements were urban assault courses, with cracks and holes every other step, many of the retail shop spaces were unoccupied and most of the famous sino-portuguese structures were in desperate need of a lick of paint.
Fifteen years later we decided to give Phuket Town another chance by booking into the Marriott Courtyard , so we could be based close to the action, with no need for early morning taxi rides.
The Mystery Bar
More on the Courtyard later, after settling into our spacious bedroom we decided to venture out at about 5.30pm, with the intention of reaching our first stop in time for the sunset. The Mystery Bar , a 10 minute walk from the hotel, proved a great place to kick off the evening. It’s in an obscure location, up on the 4th floor of a 3-star block of flats. Not the most salubrious daylight arrival it has to be said, but once on the roof you realise what a great choice it is.
Cocktails and fantastic food are their forte, so we decided to eat here after watching the sun go down, and then hit the live music bars later. Peter chose the Apsorn Cocktail , which means ‘flower’, and consists of craft Thai flower syrup, lychee liqueur and Sancha elderflower liqueur. I liked the look of the Lady Ombre because I love cocktails which have a peach element; this one was shaken, not stirred, with gin, vodka, lychee liqueur and butterfly pea syrup.
The food was so good, they had a few ‘recommended’ dishes, always worth following the advice of the kitchen. We shared the Fried Shrimp in a Mystery Sauce (before you ask, no they wouldn’t give me the sauce recipe) and the Phuket- Hokkien style Stir-fried Noodles , with a seafood medley and onsen egg. Both were yummy but the excellent seafood in the Hokkien dish swung that one for me.
As the night set in and the sunset gave way to darkness, there appeared a huge full moon in the west, hang on a minute, that can’t be real, it’s attached to the building. Illuminated from within this realistic fake moon was indeed perched on the far balustrade of the roof, it provided an amazing backdrop for instagram moments.
They offer a live band on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights between 7 and 10pm; we caught the first song, which appropriately was ‘Walking on the Moon’ by the Police, before heading out on the town.
Papazula
Once down on street level, we really appreciated how much Phuket Town has upgraded since our earlier visit 15 years ago. The pavements were immaculate, they even had yellow sight-impaired ridged tiles running along the equator of every side walk. All of the buildings seemed to have been freshly painted, and at regular intervals you came across artistic murals painted on the walls. This all reminded me of another sino-portuguese destination in South-East Asia, Penang in Malaysia, but I cannot remember Penang being this clean and creative!
The great thing about Phuket Old Town is that everything is within walking distance, no need for taxis to go between venues. Literally across the main street from the Mystery Bar is our second stop Papazula , you’ll probably hear it before you see it. This buzzing bistro style restaurant is quite new on the scene, it used to be called the Rasta Café .
Having already eaten, we were here to party, but nevertheless I wanted to see what food was on offer. We were seated on a raised area between the kitchen and the stage so we could inspect the flow of burgers, pizzas and pastas going past us on their way to the hungry diners. The couple next to us had a huge platter of something landing on their table. I found out that it was a Papaluza signature, the Mixed Kebab Platter. Perfect for sharing it consisted of 4 kinds of grilled meat kebabs (lamb, beef, chicken breast and chicken wings), along with salads and delightful Turkish hummus, yoghurt and harissa dips. I should mention that the manager at Papazula , Eddie, hails from Turkey so you can be sure the Turkish platter is the real deal.
The decor is rustic with a lot of rough wooden planks on the wall. The centre cavern is dominated by a giant red Garuda, and some of the decorations from its days as the Rasta Café remain, as we were overlooked by a giant portrait of the great man himself, Bob Marley .
When the band came on we were entertained by 70s rock classics. My request for a Bad Company standard was rewarded by an excellent rendition of ‘Can’t Get Enough’, and the Lynyrd Skynyrd ‘Freebird’ guitar solo was faultless. Quite often in Asia the best live music bands come from the Philippines, but the three musicians on the stage at Papazula were all homegrown talent from Thailand. We had to drag ourselves away, they were so good, but the night wasn’t getting any younger and we had three more venues to visit.
The Column
A right turn at the well lit Town Hall building, almost opposite Papaluza, and we made our way up the bustling main street of Phuket Old Town. After about 200 metres, at the TOPS convenience store, you turn left and you immediately realise you are on a serious music street. But across the street from TOPS look up above a fresh juice store and you’ll see a fine example of Phuket Town’s street art. It depicts a rickshaw ride for two along a path overlooking Promthep Cape, Phuket’s most southerly point.
About 20 metres down this street there are three music bars, right next to each other. The first one is Michael Angelo’s Bar (which we didn’t try), and sandwiched between it and a small intimate joint called Bebop, was The Column, our next stop.
The Column is the largest of the three, but not as large as Papazula. There are several tables outside on the wooden terrace, which is where we started as a well located table was vacating just as we were arriving. Soaking up the atmosphere generated by passing revellers we could enjoy our drinks in the path of a nice breeze. We could also pick-up snippets of the music emanating from the noisy neighbours, Michael Angelo’s and Bebop either side of us. The experience reminded me of the Stealers Wheel classic “Rockers to the left of me, Jazzers to the right… here I am, stuck in the middle with you”, Mr. Rafferty will be turning in his grave with my word substitutions, sorry Gerry!
We arrived after 9pm, which means we had missed the very attractive Cocktail Happy Hour, which is available each day between 6 and 8pm. We were told that the band was about to start, so were encouraged to move inside. The Column was busy, and we quickly noticed that 80% of the clientele were Thais, and 20% foreigners; Papazula was the other way around. The first act got underway with a heavy metal drum beat intro, and before the vocalist even got to the first lyrics in the chorus we understood why the audience was dominated by locals…The Column is a venue for Thai rock music. We didn’t recognise any of the songs, never mind understanding the lyrics, but the enthusiastic crowd and electric atmosphere made up for our ignorance, this was a very enjoyable, foot stamping experience.
A quick word about the food here, they do offer a very nice Thai fusion menu (predominantly Thai and Vietnamese plates), with a lot of spicy salads and noodle dishes. House specialities include the Crispy Pork Spicy Salad and the Rice Vermicelli and fried Mackerel tossed with The Column’s Dressing.
BEBOP
So far we’ve been walking on the moon at the Mystery Bar, air guitaring classic Anglo-American standards at Papaluza and foot-tapping to the best Thai pop-rock sounds in The Column…where to next you wonder? They say that ‘variety’ is the spice of life, so how about some smooth jazz? I told you that The Column is the meat in the sandwich of two other venues, and would you believe that one of them is a jazz joint! Yes, we literally walked out of one (rather loud) world straight into a totally different (more serene) vibe that is Bebop.
Bebop is the opposite to its noisy neighbour The Column. It’s an intimate cocktail lounge, with a grand piano, comfy seating and a small stage. It normally opens at 7pm, but this is conditional on the availability of musicians. If there are insufficient musicians available on any given night Bebop doesn’t open; it’s as simple as that; so you need to check ahead.
Luckily for us, four artists were already on stage as we squeezed our way past the piano, through the crowd to the bar. Bebop is not a place for dining, they do have bar snacks like chicken wings and spring rolls, but that’s as sophisticated as it gets. What they are really good at is specialty cocktails, particularly using the local Chalong Bay Rum as a main ingredient. I went for the intriguing sounding Chalong Bay Crème Brûlée Cocktail. Shaken with rum, amaretto, egg white, fresh Phuket pineapple and passion fruit juice. After pouring the liquid into the glass they float a crust of brown sugar on top, which is caramelised with a blowtorch. It was a totally new experience for me, and a very pleasant one.
Musicians usually start after 9.30pm and Monday nights are Jazz only nights, on other evenings different bands perform slow pop and soul numbers. Bebop is the sort of venue where musicians just turn up and join in. On our particular night this is exactly what happened. A member of the audience, who seemed to be known by the band, jumps up on stage, grabs the microphone and gives a flawless rendition of Sade’s ‘Smooth Operator’.
The bar is a labour of love for the two owners, who are themselves both musicians. For Khun Boy and his partner Khun Ao, it is all about the music and the cocktails…. in both cases the smoother the better.
Rockin’ Angels
Time to move on and find our final venue. It was approaching midnight by now and we had a 250 metre walk, through still busy streets. The heat of the day had well and truly subsided so this was a very pleasant stroll along Yaowarat Road, through the Old Town to Rockin’ Angels .
Even smaller than Bebop , Rockin’ Angels Blues Café & Band , to give it its full official name, is a legendary music venue in Phuket. Founded by Singaproean guitarist Patrick, Rockin’ Angels is similar to Bebop in so much as it doesn’t do much food, it is all about the music and the drinks in an intimate setting.
It reminded me of a small Hard Rock Café as it had so much rock memorabilia on the walls. If you are passionate about 70’s pop, blues and rock take time to browse the framed LP classics up on the wall. There were LP sleeves from Black Sabbath – Technical Ecstasy ; The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour ; Village People – Sex Over the Phone ; Alice Cooper – The Alice Cooper Show and a very rare sleeve from Led Zeppelin – Soundtrack from the film, The Song Remains the Same.
Thank goodness Pat remains the same! It’s like being invited into his private recording studio. Sometimes it is just him up on stage, but more often than not other musicians join in, which allows Pat to show-off his skills on other instruments, as the players jam their way through the classics.
The staff behind the bar were quick and efficient. Our Manhattan and Mojito cocktails were swiftly delivered, and with a great smile. Rockin’ Angels provided the perfect chords to end our evening, and with music ringing in our ears, it was time to head outside again and a 15 minute walk back to the Marriott Courtyard. Thank you for the music Phuket Town!
The Courtyard by Marriott Phuket Town
We chose this hotel because of its excellent Old Town location, just a short stroll from the Town Hall clock-tower.
The first thing you notice when you arrive is the spacious sparkling white marbled lobby, with large circular columns reaching two floors to the high ceiling. The reception desk by contrast was in dark wood, and the friendly staff efficiently checked us in.
If you don’t intend to stay overnight, the Courtyard also works well as a day-base; there is parking here and the hotel’s ground floor Talung Lounge is a comfortable and accessible starting point, serving great coffee and bar snacks.
For more substantial dining there are two signature restaurants, Krua Talad Yai, specialising in Southern Thailand cuisine, and Yue Restaurant & Bar, a Cantonese restaurant with a reputation for great dim sum.
We booked a premium high-floor twin city view room up on the eleventh floor. It was bright and spacious, about 30 sqms in size at a guess. Everything you would expect from a Marriott, including complimentary bottled water and a great buffet breakfast in the morning at the Krua Talad Yai Restaurant.
Eating much more breakfast than we should have, we decided to take it easy over the rest of the morning with some relaxation around the swimming pool; the hotel kindly gave us a later 2pm check-out, and we used every minute of this extra time doing very little.
