The best breakfast we had in Old Phuket Town.
With their genial staff and meticulous decor filled with keepsakes that look like they’ve been collected over a lifetime, The Neighbours Cafe has more of a bed & breakfast feel to it. Rightfully so, as this charming breakfast cafe in the heart of Phuket Old Town is also a hostel.
Ambience & Amenities
There are only a handful of tables in The Neighbours Cafe, and it gets cramped when the cafe fills up. Strangers will be sitting so close beside you that you’ll be privy to each other’s conversation. The decor has a Hokkien Chinese influence. Decorative porcelain and a hodgepodge of knickknacks (like an abacus and gramophone) are behind glass along both sides of the dining room.
The curtained archway next to the coffee counter leads into a darker, secondary dining area. The toilet is at the back of the room, next to the kitchen. This small room had a sitting toilet and paper. The sink is outside, next to the kitchen service window. There was soap, but only a shabby-looking hand towel to dry my hands.
Menu
The Neighbours Cafe menu is all about breakfast. The dishes are homestyle comfort breakfast food like pancakes, french toast and fry-ups. The standout item on the menu is the croffles (croissant waffles) with a mix of sweet and savoury flavours. They are only available in the “full” size, which is the half moon shape you see in the pictures. Water costs 25 Baht for a standard-sized bottle.
Click on menu pictures to enlarge
Food
The Thai Tea Espresso (95 Baht) has foam on top like a cappuccino. Although this is such a large drink, I doubt it’s loaded with caffeine. I could barely taste the espresso until the very end, like a finishing note. This drink basically tastes like Thai iced tea.
The Coconut Latte (80 Baht) had an amazing aroma, like sweet coconut candy. It was a very smooth and rich cup of coffee. It usually includes a mix of dairy and coconut milk. We asked to omit the dairy due to Mark’s lactose intolerance, which heightened the coconut element. The last sips were the best, tasting like toasted coconut.
The Mushroom Eggs Benedict (250 Baht) had a good combination of texture and flavour. You don’t miss the meat in this dish. We had to do some reassembly while eating, since the slices of king oyster mushrooms were a little difficult to cut through at the edges. There amount of Hollandaise was sufficient so that the eggs were enhanced by the flavour, but not swimming in sauce. On the side was a mixed salad with French dressing in a ramekin.
The Very Berry Cream Croffle (90 Baht) looked even smaller than what the menu picture depicted, but it was a satisfying amount of food. The jam was chunky, and the Hokkaido cream was stiff and firm, making it easily spreadable all over the croffle. The jam provided a much-needed tartness to the sweet cream. The croffle was amazingly crispy on the outside – I could hear it crackle as I cut into it – but the inside was chewy like a french croissant. The croffles are an appropriately sized breakfast for a child but not an adult. It’s only 90 Baht though, and leaves room in your stomach for another croffle or all the tasty snacks you can find in Old Phuket Town!
Saturday Worthy?
Of all the breakfast places we tried in Old Town, The Neighbours Cafe was the best. The breakfast here was so good that we came back again on another day. The food quality was excellent and the service was warm on both visits. Even though it’s a small place, getting a table was no problem at 9:30 in the morning. The Neighbours Cafe is the place to start your day in Phuket off on the right foot.
Price for 2 Pax: 515 Baht
Thai Tea Espresso: 95 Baht
Coconut Latte: 80 Baht
Mushroom Eggs Benedict: 250 Baht
Very Berry Cream Croffle: 90 Baht
The Neighbours Cafe
Address: 93 Pnangnga Road, Tambon Talat Yai, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000, Thailand
Opening Hours: Daily, 7:30am – 6pm
Alcohol Served: No
