Casuarina Beach Restaurant & Pub - Phuket

Where Is It?

On gorgeous Bangtao Beach, on Phuket's famous west coast. Casuarina is located within the grounds of the Dusit Thani Resort in the Laguna Complex.

There's plenty of parking space at the front gate and if you're staying in one of Laguna's hotels simply catch one of the free shuttle buses. Walk through the lobby down to the beach and take a left. You can't miss it.

Décor

Casuarina offers interior dining in spacious and elegant surroundings but just about no one chooses it over the beach right outside under a starry sky.

The interior also features a bar and a TV showing sports channels while outside, brown faux-hyacinth furniture (very hardy against the elements) is plunked into the sand with parasols with very little else by way of décor.

If you can accept newly planted palms, a setting sun, waves lapping up to the shore and the whisper of the sea breeze through casuarina trees as décor then you'll be delighted.

Atmosphere

The heady cocktail of sun, sea, sand, fine dining and good wines makes for some pretty happy campers so the atmosphere at Casuarina is naturally very convivial.

Tables are spaced far enough apart to ensure privacy but all the same diners chat to each other and the experienced staff members help the atmosphere along with great service and a humorous approach to their work. 

Wine

You can trust Dusit to come up with a rock-solid, good range of wines and in fact the house red – a cheeky Californian Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 (Domaine St. George Dusit Thani Select Reserve), is available throughout all Dusit branches.

We opt for a Chilean Shiraz and, slightly chilled, it provides a strong presence throughout the meal. With a wine list of about 60 labels from all over the world you're not going to go wanting for a quality tipple with your meal here. 

Food

Just because it's beach it doesn't mean candy floss and ice cream. Far from it – Casuarina's menu is a veritable cornucopia of gastronomic delights. We opt for starters of warm pita bread and humus with a tabule salad (not unlike Mexican salsa) along with sensational minced lamb kebabs with yoghurt and a couscous salad.

This is tasty stuff and along with the wine, a cooling breeze, a sensational location as well as good company, it really is the stuff that golden memories are made of. Barbecued Angus tenderloin and red snapper are next with the appropriate accompanying dishes – proving that half an oil drum and red hot charcoal is a winning combination in the right hands.

Casuarina's menu has had a lot of thought put into it and the result is a gourmet selection in one of the most laid-back settings possible. 

Service

Good. Dusit's staff members are past masters at this sort of stuff and know that good service means happy customers and that happy customers are nice people to be around. A highly competent staff.