Restaurants in Ko Samui
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Dining On The Rocks
Samui's ultimate dining experience takes place on nine cantilevered verandahs of weathered teak and bamboo that yawn over the gulf. After sunset (and a glass of wine), guests feel like they're dining on a wooden barge set adrift on a starlit sea. Each dish on the six-course prix-fixe menu is the brainchild of the experimental cooks who regularly experiment with taste, texture and temperature. If you're celebrating a special occasion, you'll have to book well in advance if you want to sit at 'table 99' – the honeymooners' table – positioned on a private terrace. Dining On The Rocks is located at the isolated Six Senses Samui.
reviewed
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Twins Restaurant
Don’t let the frump factor deter you from this eager-to-please Thai restaurant. The food-phobic Europeans get plenty of hand-holding, but the food-flexible can get fresh and fabulous Thai meals in an oh-so pretty setting.
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Five Islands
Five Islands defines the term 'destination dining' and offers the most unique eating experience on the island. Before your meal, a traditional longtail boat will take you out into the turquoise sea to visit the haunting Five Sister Islands where you'll learn about the ancient and little-known art of harvesting bird nests to make bird's-nest soup, a Chinese delicacy. This perilous task is rewarded with large sums of cash – a kilo of nests is usually sold for 100,000B to restaurants in Hong Kong (yup, that's five zeros). The lunch tour departs around 10am, and the dinner program leaves around 3pm. Customers are also welcome to dine without going on the tour and vice versa.…
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Sabeinglae
‘Everything there is delicious, ’ said our cab driver as he dropped us off. And indeed this rustic seafood shack, known for its Samui cuisine, delivered a table full of intensely delicious creations, like wai kôo·a (a coconut milk curry with octopus), yam tá-lair sà·mŭi (a zesty local-style salad) and a seaweed dish whose name has been forgotten. The Samui dishes appear in the menu in Thai only, so ask your server for recommendations. It’s south of Hin Ta Hin Yai.
reviewed
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Hua Thanon Market
Slip into the rhythm of this village market slightly south of Lamai; a window into the food ways of southern Thailand. Vendors shoo away the flies from the freshly butchered meat and housewives load bundles of vegetables into their baby-filled motorcycle baskets. Follow the market road to the row of food shops delivering edible Muslim culture: chicken biryani, fiery curries or toasted rice with coconut, bean sprouts, lemongrass and dried shrimp.
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Café Aux Amis
Usually a high-powered view like this – stretching from Ko Matlang to the tip of Chaweng Noi – should cost a lot more, but Café Aux Amis is friendly to small spenders. The open-air restaurant is casual chic with a menu that expertly, but unpretentiously, fuses French and Thai cuisine. Enjoy the poisson avec trois sauces (basically Thai-style grilled fish with a French accent) and creamy gratin dauphinois.
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Krua Bang Po
One of a string of seafood huts clustered together, Krua Bang Po fills the beachside bamboo tables with such local dishes as nám prík pŏw (a kind of chili paste) served on a coconut shell and hèt lúp pàt pèt (a stir-fried dish containing sea anemone), yam săh·rài kôr (seaweed salad) and Ъoo ním (deep-fried soft-shell crab mixed with cashews, garlic and pepper).
reviewed
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Zazen Restaurant
Bathed in the music of the ocean and the soft red glow of lanterns, romantic Zazen has created a sophisticated setting for Samui’s gastronomic visitors. The menu is a global scrapbook of dishes, totalling close to 100 items and drawing from every imaginable world cuisine. Take your time in reading through the tome or surrender to the discovery menus that make the choices for you.
reviewed
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Pee Soon
Far from pretty but decidedly delicious, Pee Soon specialises in seafood barbecues for Samui residents. The ice tray in front shows off the day’s catch and the cacophonous kitchen at the back fills the tables with a delicate balance of sweet, spicy and sour side dishes, such as green curry, garlic-pepper squid and the house speciality, clams stir-fried with chilli paste.
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Ran Kuaytiaw Leuk Lap
Looking like the ‘Cousin It’ of noodle shops, Mystery Noodles is shielded from the road by a curtain of greenery. Duck inside to find a few busy tables filled with Thai hotel workers and steaming bowls of đôm yam mŏo (pork noodles in a spicy broth). Another local favourite are the meaty lôok chín (pork balls) that taste like generic hot dogs to us.
reviewed
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Smile House
Of all the barbecue-on-the-beach spots, Smile House has the homeliest setting, just west of Fisherman’s Village. It is overstaffed, meaning someone has time to entertain the kids. And in the old-fashioned Thai tradition, the crowd is serenaded with easy listening tunes by the ajahn (teacher) and his electronic keyboard. Hardly chic, but endearingly corny.
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Page
If you can't afford to stay at the ultra-swanky Library, have a meal at its beachside restaurant. The food is expensive (of course) but you'll receive glances from the beach bums on the beach as they try to figure out if you're a jetsetter or movie star. Lunch is a bit more casual and affordable, but you'll miss the designer lighting effects in the evening.
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Kokomiko
Don’t let the ringside location beside the Ring Rd scare you off. Kokomiko is a lot like dinner at a friend’s house, if the friend is a professional cook. This is better-than home cooking with homey hospitality. Try the pepper steak, which is toothy Thai beef bathed in a signature coconut milk and peppercorn sauce. Come before 7pm to get a seat.
reviewed
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Laem Din Market & Night Market
A busy day market, Laem Din is packed with stalls selling fresh fruits, vegetables and meats that stock local Thai kitchens. Pick up a kilo of sweet green oranges or wander the stalls trying to spot the ingredients in last night’s curry. For dinner, come to the adjacent night market and sample the tasty southern-style fried chicken and curries.
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Sojeng Kitchen
Picking a good Thai restaurant is a lot like that old Motown tune about picking a pretty girl to be your wife. If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, or at least for dinner, don’t pick a pretty restaurant. Instead opt for a plain Jane, who can, like Sojeng, whip up a wonderful meal with a few clangs of the spatula against the wok.
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E-San Yam Sabb
If you’re commitment-shy when it comes to eating in a restaurant, sate your hunger at this eat-and-dash stall that fixes an assortment of Thai wok dishes, from râht nâh (stir-fried noodles with gravy) to fried rice. With this cheap and tasty food as ballast, you’re ready to allocate your caloric intake to a mountain of cold beer.
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Srinuan Thai Food Restaurant 2
If you judge your food by its restaurant packaging, then you’ll overlook such simple wok shops as Srinuan. With only a collection of plastic tables and chairs, Srinuan has expanded its bare-bones operation from the Lamai Night Food Centre to this second location, where it grills and stir-fries fish, clams and prawns like a celebrity chef.
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Lamai Night Food Centre
Eating becomes a circus sideshow at Lamai’s outdoor food centre, next door to a 7-Eleven. The vendor stalls whip up all the Thai standards – a spectacle in itself. And then the hostesses at the nearby girly bars crank up the music for pole dancing or a few rounds of moo·ay tai (Thai boxing; also spelt muay thai ).
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Betelnut
Fusion can be confusing, and often disappointing, but Betelnut will set you straight. Chef Jeffrey Lords claims an American upbringing and European culinary training, but most importantly he spent time in San Francisco, where all good fusion food is born. The menu is a pan-Pacific mix of curries and chowder, papaya and pancetta.
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Lamai Day Market
The Thai equivalent of a grocery store, Lamai's market is a hive of activity, selling food necessities and takeaway food. Visit the covered area to pick up fresh fruit or to see vendors shredding coconuts to make coconut milk. Or hunt down the ice-cream seller for homemade coconut ice cream. It's next door to a petrol station.
reviewed
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Akwa Restaurant
Cartoon art takes a beach vacation at this youthful guesthouse restaurant. Stop in for a jolt of caffeine, all-day breakfasts or a mango shake, and enjoy the restaurant’s wall art that depicts famous cartoon characters in pop-art poses. The artwork was made by Chaweng’s copy artists based on designs by the Australian owner.
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About Art & Craft Café
An artistic oasis in the midst of hurried Na Thon, this cafe serves an eclectic assortment of healthy and wholesome food, gourmet coffee and, as the name states, art and craft, made by the owner and her friends. Relaxed and friendly, this is also a gathering place for Samui's dwindling population of bohemians and artists.
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Bang Po Seafood
A meal at Bang Po Seafood is a test for the tastebuds. It's one of the only restaurants that serves traditional Ko Samui fare (think of it as island roadkill, well, actually it's more like local sea-kill): recipes call for ingredients such as raw sea urchin roe, baby octopus, sea water, coconut, and local turmeric.
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Mr Samui
Enter Baan Soi Gemstones (look for the ‘illy’ sign out front) and pass the veritable garage sale of oriental knick-knacks to find a tiny cluster of tables and cushions. Savour your nutty massaman curry amid flamboyant Chinese wall art, dripping chandeliers and gaudy geometric pillows (everything’s for sale).
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Malee Restaurant
For all of its charms, Fisherman’s Village is lean on local Thai food shops. Graded on this curve, Malee is a standout for its downhome ambiance, where you can rub shoulders with locals and have the street noise drowned out by blaring Thai music videos. Her menu is easy if the dishes lack a bit of punch.
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