A chilled and peaceful café with beautiful lily pond views at Ma Doo Bua Phuket.
What does Ma Doo Bua mean?
The Thai translation for Ma Doo Bua is ‘to see lotus’, a perfect name. This café is set overlooking an artificial lotus pond with huge lily pads, Victoria Amazonica, covering it. They are the biggest type of lily pad and can apparently hold up to 50kg in weight. Although we didn’t fancy throwing little Elis out there to try it out! Furthermore, there is a long-tail boat and a few buildings giving it the impression of being at a local Thai village.
The café even offers a paid package to stand on the lily pads, go into the boat or hire a drone to take pictures. When we visited summer 2021 in the height of COVID Ma Doo Bua Phuket was virtually empty.
We were staying at the gorgeous Angsana Laguna Phuket during this time which is only around 10-15mins drive away from Ma Doo Bua. You can read our review on the Angsana Laguna Phuket here.
Interior at Ma Doo Bua
It is a big, open and airy building giving a colonial building feeling. With lots of pillows, hammocks around it evidently offers a very relaxed vibe. Choose from an abundance of comfortable seating to just sit back, relax and enjoy the views. There are 3 different parts to the restaurant offering a variety of formal and informal seating but only the main area overlooking the pond was in use during our visit in August 2021 during Phuket Sandbox.
Menu at Moo Doo Bua
The menu is extensive with lots of delicious sounding Thai food and not overly expensive. Additionally, there are lots of local Phuket delicacies on offer like the pork belly and lots of seafood. As well as Thai food, there is a good cafe menu on offer with lots of cocktails, juices, coffees and teas – we opted for iced coffee and tea on a humid day.
The Views at Moo Doo Bua
It is easy to spend a very enjoyable, peaceful hour here, sipping coffee whilst people watching. Nonetheless, it makes for very aesthetically pleasing Instagram shots. I can imagine that in normal times it gets very busy with people trying to get the ‘perfect shot’. We were fortunate to be here during Phuket Sandbox and experience true tranquility.
If you enjoyed reading about Ma Doo Bua Phuket take a look at fun family activities in Phuket and another fabulous restaurant Three Monkeys Phuket. Alternatively, check out a guide to Phuket Town. If you are looking for a hotel read our post on the 6 best family hotels in Phuket. Our guide Where to go in Thailand has some inspiration for other areas in Thailand too.
If you are looking for other family travel inspiration then check out our Destinations Page.
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