Thai Cooking in Khao Lak

"Thai Cooking in Khao Lak" is a 3-morning cooking class in the restaurant of a 3- or 4-star resort at Nang Thong Beach. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9 .00 - 13.00. 4 to 6 students can learn to prepare their favourite Thai dishes are taught hands on under the guidance of the resort chef and her staff.

A few former Beach Restaurants, managed to establish themselves along the main road. Khao Lak Seafood owned bei Penn and Chai , has made it's name even as far as Phuket, Lamuan Seafood, whose owner is always in good spirits, or Nom's Family, whose fish dishes, served in the evening, are highly praised. as is the fish restaurant Thai Seafood, which is situated in the Soi by Lah Own Plaza. A priceworthy meal can be enjoyed in the Happy Lagoon which is 200m from the beach, where the occasional fresh seabreeze refreshes. Apart from the delicious sea shrimps, and the legendary and great Coconut milk, tasty cakes are offered for 70 Baht. Many dishes are designed to please the palettes of Skandinavian tourists. One of a kind in Khao Lak, is the Ruen Mai Restaurant, which serves many special dishes cooked with jungel herbs and are said to positively influenz the health. Many Thais who dislike the tourist influenzed Thai kitchen eat here. The Phu Khao Lak Restaurant is usually fully booked every evening. We often visit here later in the evening to enjoy an ice cream, and we can recommend the " Chocolate Chip Special", which is Ursula's own creation.

A more fancy, air conditioned restaurant , serving good wines with tasteful Fusion Food creations, is the Candle Restaurant, which is a little more expensive. It is sitauted near the beginning of the beach road leeding down from 7/11.

Meals in the beach restaurants at Bang Niang Beach are generally, good, sufficient and price worthy. Outstanding is the Beach Restaurant, which in a short time has built itself an excellent reputation.

The appealing Chef Jimmy Restaurant, situated about 150m from the beach, recently built with natural materials, serves good food at very reasonable prices. Cook Jim is known to many Khao Lak friends as an excellent chef, who formerly cooked in the Ton Son Restaurant at Bang Niang Beach.

"Mama" prepares excellent meals in the Sabai Sabai Restaurant.

At the South End of Bang Niang Beach, just before the river near the Ramada Resort, where the beach is still wide, are a few romantic,Thai style beach bars and restaurants.

The Ton Son Restaurant, run by Kim, the Aroy Restaurant, the My Friend Restaurant and a new Swiss Beach Restaurant serving Thai dishes, all serve good meals reasonably priced.

Khao Lak Phang Nga

Restaurants
to be recommended
along the beach:

Indigo Restaurant

Khao Lak Green Beach

Nang Thong Bay

Khaolak Friends
(Suwan Palm)

Jade Cafe

Wassana Restaurant

The Beach Restaurant

All red dots in the map
are restaurants

Khao Lak Thailand     

Ruen Thai
Khao Lak Seafood
Phu Khao Lak
Lamuan Seafood
Nom's Family Restaurant
Happy Lagoon
Jui's Bistro
Stempfer Cafe
Chef Jimmy Restaurant
Candle Restaurant
Sawasdee Restaurant
Pinocchio Pizzeria
Jasmin Restaurant
Rabeang Restaurant

Copyright
Khao Lak Promotion
2011

Nang Thong Beach

At Nang Thong Beach all restaurants apart from the Green Beach Restaurant belong to resorts . This being the reason why a more upmarket clientele has established itself here. Only the small, simple and reasonably priced Green Beach Restaurant, situated directly by the beach, has kept it's original flair. This is an excellent place to enjoy a small meal or snack, but is not comparable with the neighbouring restaurants, which of course are more expensive.

For an a romantic evening dinner on the beach, my favourite is the Indigo Restaurant next to the Ocean Breeze Resort, where the owner himself grills delicious seafood for his guests. Prices are somewhat higher than restaurants by the road, but are definitely justified. Why Holidaycheck claims prices in the Indigo Restaurant are 3 times the average, is incomprehendable in my view, and simply not true. Why this restaurant concept, which works very well in other places, like Koh Samui, Koh Lanta, and are always full, has not been copied in Khao Lak yet, is a mystery to me.

Authentic Thai Food

Really authentic Thai food is not so easy to find. In Nang Thong we only found 2 restaurants that offer Thai cooking not adapted to the tourist palate, namely Muanlai
E-Sarn Dining and the price worthy Orchid Cafe, which si situated towards the Northern End of Khao Lak.

Also on the left hand side about 500 m further on, at the beginning of Bang Niang is the Takua Pa Restaurant, which is without doubt the most visited Restaurant by local Thais. Many a tourist sweats at the mere sight of the amount of chillies in these dishes! But don't worry, most Thais sort the chillies out on their plates too.

In Bang Niang along the main road, there are quite a few restaurants offering authentic

Thai dishes. From North to South ;

Kao Niew and Phat Thai on the west side of the street, Isarn Palmblatt Huette and Bingo
( open in the evening until the early morning hours ), Jae Juea , which is only signed in Thai across from the Petch supermarket on the east side of the road. Also the Sawasdee Restaurant on the road to the beach, gets praised for it's authentical Thai food, especially the duck dishes, which are tasty, but not really large enough for the price. The Lucky Restaurant next door, serves much larger portions for very hungry guests.

If you know a more authentic Thai restaurant suitable for tourists, we would be happy to be informed.

European and Western Restaurants in Bang Niang

About half way down the Bang Niang Beach Road at the road junction. you will find the well known and much visited Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria Pinocchio, which was one of the first foreign Restaurants here. Manager "Ramon" also runs a second Restaurant by the same name on the island of Koh Kho Khao,which lies about ca. 25 north of Bang Niang.

The Amici Restaurant and Pizzeria, which opened in 2012 is connected to the Monochrome Hotel. It is professionaly run by the North Italian Chef "Davide". This is probably the most expensive but qualitatively best Restaurant in the region."Davide" cooks with a personal flair and manages a flawlessly run kitchen and service. A large selection of noble wines are on offer in the house owned vine store.

UNFORTUNATLY WE MUST WARN ABOUT SEAFOOD CONSUMPTION.

The seafood, which proudly prestended in Styro-foam boxes with ice, is not really cooled enough to to preserve and garantee the seafood's freshness, which was explained to us by Dr.Seree, who has treated many patients with food poisoning.

Statistically it is unclear wheather the boxes with glass lids are better or not.

If you visit Seafood Restaurants, where the seafood and fish is consumed by the early evening, you should be on the safe side.

A few typical Thai dishes, especially recommended for Khao Lak

( pronounciation; ae is spoken like enter, ue and eu is spoken like blue)

Most Thailand tourists enjoy the local Thai food. Some menus have no comprehendable translation for their dishes, so here are few Thai dishes explained;

Kao Plao : Rice, the most common basic food in Thailand as here in Khao Lak, is mostly boiled, steamed or fried and consumed as a side dish or together with chicken or other meats with vegetables and herbs.

Curries

Thai Curries : various curries from mild to very hot and spicy are served in large metal pans in local restaurants at midday along the main road. It is custom to open the lid and take a look, before ordering!

Gaeng Garih : a relativly mild Indian Curry with boiled potatoes.

Gaeng Masaman : a yellow, spicy curry with boiled potatoes and chicken, cooked in coconut milk. Very tasty is the Gaeng Masaman Gai at the Lamuan Seafood Restaurant.

Gaeng Khiau Wan : This is a green curry, which in many restaurants has been made more mild to please the tourists palete.

Various Dishes

Kao Nieo : Sticky rice. is mainly consumed in the North and in rural areas. In Khao Lak it is found at street stands, motorbike sidecars, and at the markets. Kao Nieo Gai with chicken pieces (25 - 40 Baht), Kao Nieo Mamuang with mango and sweet sauce (40 Baht ), also Som Tam is served with sticky rice. ( see below )

You really can't go wrong having lunch in Khao Lak;

Phat Thai : ( pronounced Padd Tai , photo bottom left ) are fried rice noodles with tofu, vegetables, egg and peanuts. This is a very tasty and popular dish, when it's not made with precooked noodles. ( about 40 Baht ) The Phu Khao Lak offers a special variation, which is not only delicious, but beautifully presented. The original recipy is seldomly served, as it requires much preparation time.

I usually have this favourite dish of mine, for breakfast in Khao Lak, or in the afternoon at the market. ( Monday, Wednesday and Friday )

Khanom Chin : as the word says, originated in China. This is an assortment of various side dishes, inkluding dried fish, gurkins, pickels. banana blossims and uncooked soya beans, which are added to garnish the nudels. ( about 20 Baht ) An extra cooked egg costs about 10 Baht. Now there is also a Khanom Chin stand at the Bang Niang market. So, Monday, Wednesday and Friday is Chanon Chin day!

On the way, the following Snacks can be found between Midday and late Afternoon ;

Som Tam : is a salad made with unripe papayas, honey, viniger, grated peanuts, tomatoes, red chillies ( only order one! ), and dried crab, together with cabbage of which the green leafs are peeled off ( careful! ). This dish is well accompanied by a piece of grilled chicken breast.

We always enjoy this dish on the way to Krabi, at the Thanboke Khoranee National Park, where one can sit peacefully by the river.

Yam Nuea : is a cold dish made with marinated beef, various salads, coriander leafs, mint, garlic, chillies and a sour sauce, which is so hot, that hopefully no bacteria can survive! This dish is mostly too hot for my palate!

Tom Yam Gung ( photo bottom right ) : this is a very hot, and spicy, sweet and sour Thai soup, with shrimps, lemon grass, lemon leafs, chillies. tamarind, ginger and other ingredients, which are not all edible! Tom Yam is also cooked with chicken ( Tom Yam Gai ), or with fish and seafood ( Tom Yam Thale )

Whoever thinks the shrimps in Khao Lak come from shrimp farms, are greatly mistaken, because ALL restaurant owners in Khao Lak declare, that their shrimps are from the sea.

Breakfasts

A Thai omlette may please too, as long as it's not the this one ! :

Khai Yad Sai : is a tasty omlette cooked and swimming in oil with meat or vegetable filling, accompanied by rice. (More like a lunch dish.)

Dim Sum : is a typical Chinese breakfast, with many small bowls containing steamed delicasies. One only pays what one eats. ( about 70 Baht p.p.)

This breakfast can be enjoyed next to the Bang Niang post office in Khao Lak. Takua Pa has a few restaurants near the PTT gas station and bus station, which serve a large choice of dishes.

We Farangs enjoy American Breakfasts or buffets, where one can choose one's food as wished. The Chong Fah Beach Resort offers a fantastic breakfast buffet for 300 Baht, which is not cheap, but they display a large selection of varios delicacies, which makes this breafast worth it's price.

But, what do the Thais eat for breakfast apart from Khanom Chin?

Kao Tom : is a tasty rice soup with chicken, pork, crab meat or shrimps. Kao Tom Gai , Kao Tom Muh, Kao Tom Gung

A Thai omlette may please too, as long as it's not the this one ! :

Khai Yad Sai : is a tasty omlette cooked and swimming in oil with meat or vegetable filling, accompanied by rice. (More like a lunch dish.)

Dim Sum : is a typical Chinese breakfast, with many small bowls containing steamed delicacies. One only pays what one eats. ( about 70 Baht p.p.)

This breakfast can be enjoyed next to the Bang Niang post office in Khao Lak. Takua Pa has a few restaurants near the PTT gas station and bus station, which serve a large choice of dishes.