Deadly Bunny & Chubby Penguin: Loca Vore and Takieng @ Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa, Mai Khao, Phuket - โลคา โวเล และ ตะเกียง @ โรงแรมเรเนซองส์ ภูเก็ต รีสอร์ทแอนด์สปา หาดไม้ขาว จังหวัดภูเก็ต

Almost half a year has gone by and here is the last topic from the Phuket trip during December 2013. As we chose Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa at Mai Khao to stay over the vacation, we, thus had some chances to try restaurants within the hotel. The two we would like to present this time are Loca Vore and Takieng.

Cuisine: International / Buffet

Map: Loca Vore @ Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa, Mai Khao, Phuket - โลคา โวเล @ โรงแรมเรเนซองส์ ภูเก็ต รีสอร์ทแอนด์สปา หาดไม้ขาว จังหวัดภูเก็ต

Price: ~ THB700 per person without alcohol

Visited: 18 December 2013

Food: 6/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Value for money: 7/10

Services: 8/10
Scale: [ 1=poor ----- 5=average/standard ----- 10=outstanding/exceptional ]

Loca Vore is the destination in the hotel where food are served all day. In the morning, this is where hotel clients have a beautiful breakfast. The atmosphere is tremendous and we really love it. If the weather is not too hot nor to humid, al fresco is a must must thing (at least we would recommend it). What can be more relaxing than a breakfast with a nice view and good food. The place is rather big in fact. Thus, 30 guests all at the same for breakfast is sure not a problem here. The service is also great here. Staffs are friendly and helpful.

At the price of THB700 per head for buffet breakfast, we would not say it is cheap. But this is not as well so expensive for the range of food you get. Choices vary from pastry and bread counter to the counter of typical breakfast like sausages and bacon to the healthy fruit juice station. The favourite part for kids may get the ice-cream corner where there are around 10 choices of ice-cream to be chosen from. For us, the egg station has always been the must go destination. We had egg benedict which was enjoyable.

Well, this is sure another top hotel breakfast in Thailand. Still the one we like the most is the breakfast at Evason Hua Hin but Loca Vore is indeed in a comparable standard.

Open Hours: daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner from around 6am to 9pm

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Cuisine: Thai

Map: Takieng @ Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa, Mai Khao, Phuket - ตะเกียง @ โรงแรมเรเนซองส์ ภูเก็ต รีสอร์ทแอนด์สปา หาดไม้ขาว จังหวัดภูเก็ต

Price: THB850 per person without alcohol (what we paid for)

Visited: 18 December 2013

Food: 7/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Value for money: 7/10

Services: 7/10
Scale: [ 1=poor ----- 5=average/standard ----- 10=outstanding/exceptional ]

Takieng is the Thai restaurant of Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa. It operates during dinner period only. The style of this place is kind of chill and relax. There are also outdoor seats with good view of the beach. During high season, I would recommend anyone who is going to visit Takieng to make reservation as the place can be full. Hotel guests seem to like this place a lot. To be honest, the ambient is clam and relax, service is friendly, food tastes nice, and pricing is in the acceptable range. These are why Takieng can be popular amongst hotel guests though local Phuket food is very famous.

Thai food at Takieng comprises of both typical Thai food and local Southern Thai food. All of which came at moderate taste, meaning taste of herbs and spices was presented well but each dish was not too hot nor too spicy. For us, we had 3 dishes here: 1 Southern dish and 2 ordinary. The first one was phad meang goong sieb - ผัดเหมียงกุ้งเสียบ (7/10). Meang is a local Phuket vegetable that is similar to spinach but a little crispier texture and with unique aroma. When stir-fried with smoked shrimp, it can be pretty delicious. Takieng also made this pretty nicely as in those local stores.

Next was choo chee ped krob - ฉู่ฉี่เป็ดกรอบ (6/10). This dish was enjoyable. The curry paste was full of spices but not really spicy which suits my liking but might be the case for other locals. The dish came with tomato and lychee, similar to gang phed ped yang (grilled duck in red curry sauce), which helped balancing the hot flavour. Lastly, it was pla krapong with takieng sauce - ปลากะพงซอสตะเกียง (7/10). This tasted pretty much like tom kha. Instead of using chicken, sea bass was deep-fried and served with herbal coconut milk sauce. I like this one a lot.

For us, Takieng is a decent Thai restaurant that we would not mind dining every evening if we were to stay at Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa during a vacation. Driving into Phuket town from Mai Khao can take half an hour and this can be tiring, so why not at all to have decent food in the hotel.