Koh Samui Restaurants

The wonderful thing about Samui is that you can eat superb food for a very reasonable price. Whether you eat at a basic local caf or at a gourmet upmarket restaurant, chances are you'll get a great meal. Samui is gaining fame, not just for its tropical beaches and friendly people, but lately for its culinary excellence. In the last few years, some exceptional chefs have settled on the island, attracted by the lifestyle and the range of fresh ingredients. They have produced some excellent restaurants with some unusual and mouth-watering menus.

Where to eat

Almost all of Samui's restaurants are outdoors, or at least have a section for outdoor eating. Many are located either along the main beach roads, with Chaweng and Lamai beaches being the most popular places to eat. For a touch of the exotic, there are a host of beachside restaurants where you can recline on cushions while you sample a tray of tempting goodies, wafted by the sea breeze. Or sit at one of countless simple candlelit tables which seem to materialise after dark, where youll find some particularly good seafood and banana flower and shrimp salads.

Local cuisine

Koh Samui is naturally famous for its seafood, and the delights of fresh shrimp, crab and fish should not be missed. Many of the other famous spicy Thai foods from other regions are available here too, such as tom yum kung, a spicy bitter Thai soup; som tam, a spicy papaya salad and kaeng keo wan, a coconut milk curry.

For the really adventurous, some of the spicy sour southern curries, which are reputed to be the hottest Thai dishes, may be worth trying. For the less adventurous, western food is widely available and tourist-frequented restaurants will tone down the spiciness of Thai food for you. A variety of non-spicy fried rice dishes are also widely available and omelettes and fried or grilled chicken are also staple Thai dishes.