PRU Restaurant, Phuket – One Michelin Star Restaurant in Trisara Resort

24 December 2023 Gwendolyn

Phuket’s only one-Michelin-starred restaurant, PRU, has recently shifted to a new open-dining concept venue within Trisara resort. On top of the prestigious accolade that it has achieved and retained since 2018, PRU has also attained the Michelin Green Star award in 2021 and held it to date.

PRU follows its ‘Plant, Raise, Understand’ philosophy, with continual effort in sustainable cooking. Throughout the courses, discover a variety of Thai ingredients and seafood either grown in its Pru Jampa farm or sourced from local communities. Each dish tells a different story based on its origin as guests would later learn.

The man behind PRU is Dutch chef Jimmy Ophorst, whose culinary finesse and commitment to sustainability present reimagined modern European cuisine bearing the restaurant’s visionary.

The menu offers two set courses, Gaia THB 6400 and PRU THB 6900, furnished with Wine Pairings (from THB 5000) and Non-Alcoholic Fruit Pairings THB 2500.

Guests are first brought to a welcome room and lounge, commencing with delicate snacks of smoked cauliflower steak and kimchi pancake.

Another flight of stairs leads to the main dining room and a theatre-style kitchen.

An incredible presentation of The King of the Fruits, durian, marks the start of the night, Roasted for five to six hours to give a caramelised smoky flavour, the creamy sweet durian is cleverly paired with glistening Thai caviar for a touch of savouriness. The combination is simply mind-blowing.

The Coconut & Cashew Nut plays on various profiles, from the fibrous coconut ceviche, crunchy radish and nuts to the sprinkles of fermented, smoked coconut powder on top.

The Black Crab and Fermented Tea is likened a tasty soup with surprising pops of greens, served with chewy fried focaccia and a ring of smoked butter.

As straightforward as it looks, the Fennel & Vanilla, as chef Jimmy puts it, showcases the simplicity of a piece of vegetable.

Salt-baked, caramelised and glazed in passionfruit, the fennel is soft, sweet and delicate.

Also as unpretentious is the Coral Grouper & Turmeric – a pleasant slab of fish, that flakes apart at the tip of the fork, is firm on the bite and blessed with smoky singed edges from being hung over open fire for two to three days.

Resembling noodle strands are these squiggly squids, cured in salt and spices, to give a texture and flavour similar to pastrami, then doused in an earthy blue cheese-infused sauce.

The Squid & Blue Cheese creation is nothing short of spectacular.

The main course, Aged Duck & Trang Pepper, presents three different peppercorn (red, white and green) from Trang, a city South of Thailand.

Meanwhile, the duck, dry-aged and smoked over open fire, is richly flavoured and tender, accentuated by a layer of crispy thin skin.

The cutlery is of your choosing, from a box of four knives made from recycled steel.

Ending on a refreshing note are the sweet Pink Guava & Celebes Pepper and tangy Banana & Umebushi, followed by an amazing round of petit fours.