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Kuala Lumpur–born Dax Lee has the touch of a showman. Once the king of KL nightlife, he built a string of influential clubs and bars before seeking a slower pace in <a href="https://destinasian.com/travel-guide/thailand/phuket">Phuket</a>. He has since renovated the 1902 home of a Phuket mining tycoon into <a href="https://babamansion.com/?DestinAsian">Baba Mansion</a>, a combined restaurant and café. Here, Peranakan flavors take center stage, revealing the distinctive blending of Malaysian, Chinese, and Western cultures that evolved during the 19th century.
The mansion’s façade, awash with LED lights and swaying spotlights, echoes his club days but belies the elegant, relaxed experience of dining at the restaurant Baba Lee—an homage to the food of his late grandmother and mother. Past the sleek bar lounge and up the stairs, is the luxurious and calm dinner foyer. Cocktails with Thai flavors, such as a salted plum sour, are served as you settle into oversized club chairs for the first two bites of the evening’s ten-course menu.
All of the dishes at Baba Lee are distillations of the family’s favorite foods, rooted especially in Dax’s childhood memories. These are interpreted through the fine-dining techniques of Luca Brozzu. The dishes arrive in creative, polished assemblages that reflect a stellar career in Europe. Yet if Auntie Pat—Dax’s mother—feels the essence of an original dish has been lost, it is reworked. Standout moments include an amuse-bouche that distills chicken rice into a single bite; a multi-day reduction of lamb broth with lamb dumplings, topped by a delicate coriander cracker shaped like a Chinese dragon; and a dessert of small beignets filled with gula melaka cream, riffing on the coffee-flavored crusted buns of Malaysia’s iconic Rotiboy bakery chain.
The restaurant has many of the hallmarks of a Michelin-minded operation, but the owner describes it first as an homage to family gatherings, historical tastes, and an educational project—one that shares the flavors of his youth with visitors and local Phuket gastronomes alike. — Christopher Wise
babamansion.com                                                                                                                                                             175 Yaowarad Rd, Talat Nuea, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000 
Phone: 098 015 4712

The impressive facade of Baba Mansion Phuket.

Baba Mansion: Peranakan Adventure

Phuket Dining