Looking for a break from the tourist spots on Phuket’s west coast – and the best pizza on the island? Follow the locals to Salvatore’s, a rustic 'trattoria' in Phuket Town. Salvatore offers traditional Italian cuisine using only the finest fresh ingredients, such as linguini alla bottarga, sea bass in salt crust, gnocchi with fresh sausage and pizza baked in a wood-burning oven.

Other specialties are created with local shellfish, like mouth-watering lobster ravioli and fettucini with crab. Start with the bruschetta, with delicately skinned tomatoes and fresh herbs and beef carpaccio with olive oil.

The food is prepared under the careful eye of the Sardinian executive chef and owner, Salvatore Cossu, a fixture on Phuket’s restaurant scene for his cooking skills. He personally shops for the vegetables and fish in local markets. The bread is baked daily; the pastas and sausages are home-made.

Ask him about daily food specials as well as wine suggestions. Salvatore offers about 60 labels, including Sardinian wines.

The service is warm and the ambience is friendly. But the real star is the food.