August 2015

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CULINARY HEAVEN Visiting Samui means always having a variety of wonderful food.

It’s only natural to be a bit nervous when going on holiday, especially if it’s to a new country. Many people coming to Thailand worry that the things they’ll really need won’t be available, especially on Samui.

After all, it’s a tiny island, right? And so they bring all kinds of things, they might require - even food and drink. Favourite biscuits from home, for example, or a week’s supply of breakfast cereals for children, or some stand-by teabags. You just know that some passengers’ bags contain items that might be more suitable to a wilderness trek.

But of course once you get here, you see that at every turn, there’s an abundance of food and drink. And not only an abundance, but a huge variety of it. Everything from back home is almost always available, even the most obscure items.

If you’re at a loss, just ask around, and you'll soon find someone who will know where to find what you're looking for, or which restaurant has it on the menu.

There are literally hundreds of restaurants here – and unless your holiday spans a few months or so, then you’ll have to come back many times to know just how varied the food can be on a small island. But however long or short a time you’re here for, your real task is to savour every moment and to delight in the sumptuous food and drink that’s so readily available on Samui. The pages of this magazine detail just a little of what’s on offer.

SAMUI

Really, in the larger scheme of things, it’s not so much fun being a herring. Even the process of being born is a lonely and haphazard affair. The spawned eggs drift to the bottom of the sea where most of them die right away from oxygen starvation. Many of those remaining become breakfast for bottom feeders. And then those that make it draw further predatorial attention by cheerfully swimming around. If that wasn’t Darwinian enough, then the females have to squeeze out an average of 30,000 eggs to ensure that some survive. And that happens every year throughout the lifetime of the fish, which can be as long as 16 years or more.

Graeme Malley Editor

Preeda Tuajob (Puy) Graphic Designer

Akaphon Phongninlaarphon (Don) Photographer

Seksak Kerdkanno (Klauy) Webmaster

On the other hand, all of this seems to work pretty well, overall. The herring (clupea harengus) is the common name for members of the large and widely distributed family of ‘Clupeidae’, which consists of many species of marine and freshwater fish, including the anchovy, the sardine and the shad. Herrings are relatively small, with adult specimens attaining around 15 to 20 inches, but they’re also abundant. In fact, they are the most common of all the edible fish found in temperate climes, and particularly common in the North Pacific and North Atlantic, as well as off the coast of South America. In fact, today, herrings are easily the world’s most caught and eaten fish. Indeed their sheer widespread abundance seems not only to be guaranteeing their survival (i.e., unlike so many other species, they are actually reproducing as fast as we can eat them!) but also is sometimes hard to believe.

Characteristically they swim together in large

groups termed ‘schools’. Although impossible to measure accurately, it’s been calculated that such a school in the North Atlantic at spawning time can often attain a mass of five cubic kilometres. And if you try to work out just how many fish that is at three fish per cubic metre, you’ll run out of zeros on your calculator!

But herrings have hidden talents. With several gazillion fish all lumped together, you’d think it would be underwater chaos – the fishy equivalent of multiple motorway mayhem, with pileups occurring every few seconds and panic aplenty. Not so! During the day, herrings stay in deep water to avoid predators. But at night, when the risk of being noticed is less, they come to the surface to keep their mouths open while swimming, thus filtering the plankton on which they partly exist. Interestingly, when the school reaches a certain density, all the members of the school spread out on the surface, sometimes as far as the eye can see in all directions, and then suddenly all begin swimming in unison with their mouths opening at exactly the same time.

Their other source of sustenance is the microscopic crustaceans known as ‘copepods’.

And this is where the younger herrings have evolved a surprising system known as ram feeding. Copepods are alert and evasive. They have developed large and sensitive antennae and can sense the pressure-wave from an approaching fish. When this happens, they will jump with great speed over the distance of a few centimetres. At which point the young fish begin to swim in a grid formation, maintaining

an exact fixed distance between each of them.

However, the space between each of the exactly positioned fish in the grid just happens to be precisely equal to the length of the jump of their prey. So, whenever a copepod senses the presence of a predator, it jumps to escape, but its jump takes it right into the path of the next fish in the grid. The fish don’t break their stride, but keep on going in tight formation, with the little copepods leaping about like lunatics.

But in the meantime, while these countless millions of herrings are all geometrically breakfasting, trouble is brewing. Unfortunately, this kind of mass grouping is much the same idea as chickens queuing up to leap into a cooking pot (and plucking themselves while they wait) and a source of great delight for those who prey upon them. It’s tempting to imagine that Man, that eternal predator, is at the head of the line. But when it comes to this lot, he’s already outnumbered by . . . wait for it . . . sailfish, billfish and swordfish, all manner of sharks, several species of whales, then dolphins, porpoises, orcas, seals and sea lions, as well as salmon, tuna, cod and striped bass. Like I said – it’s not much fun being a herring.

These predators have also worked out effective schemes of feeding, and often form into co-operative groups to do so. Swordfish, for example, all raise their sails and circle the school, causing it to panic from the surface, downwards into a ball of milling fish. The swordfish then retreat to a distance and take a high-speed charge through the herring, swinging their swords from side to side. Thresher sharks

do a similar thing, but by using the upper lobe of their long tails instead. But the most dramatic has to be the spinner shark. After having similarly massed the hectic herrings into a compressed ball, they then descend to the depths, turn around, and rocket vertically upwards through the mass of fish, mouth open and spinning at they go. The momentum of this charge usually carries them up to the surface and high into the air, still spiralling in their flight.

It sounds pretty devastating, even if their predators seem to be having fun. And that’s not even counting the sardines and the sprats, which will never end up at the fish and chip shop, but are just the right size to fit in cans.

And then there’s the anchovies and the whitebait, still of the same family, which anglers and rod fishermen like to catch so that they can, in turn, use them to catch other fish. On the positive side, all those trillions of fish each laying 30,000 eggs apiece represents pretty good survival odds. So maybe it’s not so bad being a herring, after all!

Rob De Wet

Rob De Wet Feature Writer

Dimitri Waring Feature Writer

Natalie Hughes Feature Writer

Peter James Feature Writer

Nipawan Chuaysagul (Ning) Sales & Marketing Director ning@siammap.com Tel: 0 898 783 891

Henrik Bjørk Managing Director

Siam Map Company Ltd. 52/6, Samui Ring Road, Moo 3, Bo Phut, Samui, 84320 Thailand Tel: (66) 0 7742 2201 Fax: (66) 0 7741 3523 email: info@siammap.com www.siammap.com All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or pictorial content in any manner is prohibited without written permission from Siam Map Company Ltd. Whilst every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this publication, Siam Map Company Ltd. assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. c Siam Map Company Ltd. 2015

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Catch of the Day A close look at exactly what it takes to be a herring!

Romantic views, soothing sounds and classic Italian fare with a modern approach combine to please the most discerning diner.

Olivio - a must for visitors and locals alike.

Olivio ~ beachfront at Baan Haad Ngam Boutique Resort Chaweng Beach.

Free round trip transfer from Chaweng, Bophut and Choeng Mon. For reservation please call 0 7723 1500 www.siamwininganddining.com

3

Too Hot to Handle?

A closer look at southern Thai cuisine.

Variety is the spice of life and you'll definitely get both variety and spice with southern Thai dishes. While the use of chillies is common everywhere in Thailand, southern Thai food is without a doubt the spiciest food in the country.

The small birds-eye chillies that pack a real spicy punch are especially loved in this region.

Southern curries comprise of lashings of coconut milk and coconut oil, but are often boiled with sour pineapple and tamarind to balance the richness of the coconut milk.

Southern Thailand covers an area from the south of Bangkok, down the slender peninsular to the Malaysian border. It’s a region where more than one third of the population are Muslim. The border with Malaysia was a hub for traders, and over the years the region has assimilated many different tastes and dishes from the differing influences of India, Malaysia and Indonesia. In the predominantly Muslim areas close to the Malay border, you’ll find milder curries than in the rest of the region, with a use of spices reminiscent of Indian curry. Turmeric is used widely throughout the region as you'd expect in Indian cooking. The thick curries made by Thai Muslims often use ghee or yogurt instead of coconut milk, and also add spices such as

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cardamom and cumin to the curry paste, as well as the usual spices used throughout the south.

A real favourite is the roti, a round flat wheat bread descended from the Indian breads.

Savoury rotis, fried on a griddle are a breakfast treat alongside southern curries for breakfast.

Sweet rotis, filled with bananas and drizzled in thick condensed milk make for an evening snack and are often sold at night markets and by street vendors throughout the country.

But don't think that southern food is all of one ilk – massaman curry with its thick mild coconut milk based sauce is a favourite of this region among locals and travellers alike, but the food here is just as diverse as the cultures that have influenced it. As I said before, spice is loved here, so you may be wondering why I'm talking about mild curries. But it's all about variety; on the one hand you have mild, while some other curries loved in the region are likely to set your mouth on fire. A dish in sharp contrast to the mild massaman, but none the less very typical of the south, is 'kaeng tai pla', which is an extremely hot curry that is made from fish stomach, green beans, pickled bamboo shoots and potato. The fresh turmeric in the curry turns it and other curries of the region a vivid and

distinctive yellow colour. The main agricultural product of the region is coconuts and all parts of the coconut are used in the cooking of the south, the milk in the thick curries, the oil for frying and the flesh in sweets.

Surrounded as it is on two sides by sea, fresh fish and seafood are a major part of the everyday diet of the south. There are numerous fish and seafood curries with one of the favourites being 'gaeng som', which is a sour orange-coloured fish and sour pineapple curry, as well as the very popular southern-style tamarind prawns. There are numerous other ways in which the local seafood is prepared and enjoyed, the most typical is by simply grilling the fish over charcoal or coconut husk barbeques and flavoured with chillies and lime. You'll often see street vendors selling deep-fried fish along with fried chicken accompanied with packets of sticky rice and small bags of sweet chilli sauce.

The climate of the region means that tropical fruits such as papaya and mango are available all year round. These fruits are served both ripe and unripe, in papaya salads or simply on their own to be enjoyed during the heat of the day.

You'll find also the Chinese noodle dish known as 'khanom jeen', thin rice noodles. These are served either with the a spicy, rich, coconut milk based, ground fish curry called 'nahm yah', that is influenced greatly by Malay cuisine, or a sweeter, also rich coconut milk based chilli sauce with ground peanuts called 'nahm prik'. Both are accompanied by a large vegetable and herb platter and are served for any meal of the day.

In fact it is common practise for southern restaurants to have a large platter of vegetables, and herbs placed on tables for the diners to accompany their meal. These vegetables are free of charge, and their fresh flavour is a good contrast to the spicy curries.

Cashew nuts are a major agricultural crop of the region and you can buy fried or roasted cashews just about anywhere in the south. Cashew salads are also common on many restaurants menus along the peninsula.

There is truly something for everyone in this the most diverse Thai cuisine. A whole array of dishes from the hot and spicy curries of the region, to the milder Thai Muslim curries and the Java-influenced dishes such as satay, with their thin strips of meat that are served on small

wooden skewers with a peanut sauce and side plate of sliced cucumbers. However, if your image of Thai food is one of predominantly very spicy food then this is most likely the region you're thinking of. The abundance of birds-eye chillies in the dishes along with other spices truly make for a hot, hot cuisine. And since you're in Samui, you'll probably be partaking of this cuisine. Some people love it straight away, but for others it's an acquired taste. But don't forget you can always ask the restaurant to prepare your dishes mild. Just say “mai pet” or not spicy.

Natalie Hughes

Exquisteness

with a Swiss Touch The Terrace at Mövenpick Resort Laem Yai Beach Samui produces extraordinary food in an idyllic location.

The setting’s decidedly beautiful. Mövenpick is on the west coast of Samui, and as such is in one of the quieter areas away from all the hubbub. Sunsets here are golden, with views out towards the picturesque islands of Angthong National Marine Park. And since the restaurant, appropriately called The Terrace is right there by the shoreline, diners can enjoy the beautiful sea views. It’s a great spot for dining and Mövenpick brings considerable flair to any meal that you care to have here.

You may associate Mövenpick simply with food, and especially ice-creams, but they're a much bigger concern than that. They are prime movers in the resort business, and have been growing steadily. Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts is a Swiss-founded international hotel management company with over 16,000 staff around the world. You'll find them in 24 countries with 74 hotels, and more than 30 additional properties are planned or under construction. By the end of this year Mövenpick hopes to breach the 100 mark. That’s some serious expansion and to merely think in terms of targets this big, let alone achieve them, means only one thing: that they're dedicated professionals, totally passionate about what they're doing.

It’s definitely a get-up-and-go type of company, but behind it stands a surprisingly simple philosophy. Mövenpick’s founder, Ueli Prager, stood by a core principal to which he ascribed his company’s phenomenal success. "We aren't doing anything extraordinary," he used to say.

"We are simply successful because we are doing quite normal things in an extraordinary manner."

Many hoteliers and people in the hospitality industry have taken on board that idea, and it’s inspired them too to create extraordinary businesses that bring delight to thousands of travellers, guests and diners the world over.

As part of their drive, Mövenpick recently acquired the property which is home to The Terrace, and made it still better. The restaurant has also been upgraded. General Manager Emmanuel Levasseur has brought in Chef Tomas Keskitalo to look after all culinary concerns here. Tomas is the ideal choice when it comes to running an upscale restaurant such as The Terrace, as he has had so much experience in quality food and restaurants. Hailing from Sweden, he went to college at the Bergnäs School in Luleå, where he obtained a degree in hotel and kitchen management. He's been active in Thailand and has worked in resorts such as Merlin Beach Resort and Spa Phuket, Villaguna

Residence & Hotel Koh Yao Noi and Rawi Warin Resort and Spa Koh Lanta. In Sweden he was executive chef at the prestigious Sandhamn Yacht Hotel, Stockholm, as well as working in chic restaurants in the city’s popular old town.

He's also worked in an Italian restaurant in Sweden called Grappa. He’s one of relatively few Scandinavian chefs to be working on Samui and brings with him cooking skills learned from Sweden, as well as those he’s practiced for years here in Thailand. As such he’s hard to beat and brings with him plenty of creativity as well as the ability to produce just about any dish you could name.

Speaking about the new menu he’s just created, he says, “At The Terrace we’re aiming for a Mediterranean bistro style, with everything served with Swiss quality and precision. We’ll be working with a lot of daily specials according to season and availability. You can see these offers up on the blackboards we use in order to let diners know what we’re recommending. There will also be a large daily fresh seafood section that isn’t printed in the menu, the point being that we’re going to deliver only the best and freshest seafood to our guests on a daily basis.”

He’s a very flexible chef when it comes to dishes, and as you can see, he’s aiming to get the freshest tastes to the table. If you're eating à la carte, you'll have enough choices to come back several times over and still find more dishes you’d like to try. You could – and this is just one example for dinner – start with grilled halloumi cheese, cucumber, capsicum, onion, cherry tomato, black and green olives or a squid stuffed with chorizo and then move on to a braised lamb shank in red wine or grilled king prawns with grilled eggplants, chilli and fennel.

And there’s a plethora of Thai food too, including the much-loved Thai curries along with other traditional favourites such as goong sarong, or crispy shrimps in rice pastry rolls served with sweet plum sauce, and gai phad med mamuang, a gorgeous chicken dish with cashews nut, bell peppers, spring onions and dry chilli.

You'll also find there are less usual dishes on the menu. How about duck carefully smoked over oak, or an asparagus vichyssoise soup? Or perhaps an Atlantic smoked salmon carpaccio with mango and avocado ceviche? There’s an incredibly varied range of goodies on the menu to please even the most jaded of palates. For dessert you might want to try the delicious blueberry cheesecake, and of course, this being Mövenpick you'll probably want to browse their

special ice-cream menu. Naturally, children are also welcome and will be as seduced as the adults by all the tempting fare.

When it comes to theme nights, Mövenpick is keen to allow guests to experience some culture. Mondays are Thai night, with a locally and nationally inspired buffet, while on Wednesdays there’s a cabaret show which is accompanied by a western-style buffet. If you love barbecues, then come on Fridays for their BBQ Beach Night. You can enjoy an array of perfectly grilled food including – it’s an amazingly long list – squid, king prawn, sea bass, red snapper, rock lobster, Australian beef tenderloin and rib eye, slow cooked pork neck, pork loin, chicken breast, duck breast, and last but never least, lamb kebab. There's too much to try all of it and that’s not including starters, salads, side dishes and desserts.

Needless to say, there are those special times when a menu has to be not just creative, but utterly unique, too. Mövenpick also hosts corporate events, and with Samui being an enormously popular wedding destination, Tomas puts together many an individualized reception menu. He says, “There’s no set style for these at all. We work very closely with the couple to produce their dream wedding and dinner. Each menu is unique.” What’s even better is that the couple doesn’t even have to be present during the planning stage, as everything can be decided by email and Skype sessions, so that by the time they’ve arrived on Samui, the wedding planning is already complete, right down to the finest details.

You'll find Ueli Prager's words about doing normal things in an extraordinary manner resonating through The Terrace and they affect just about everything there, right down to the taste and presentation of each dish. So when you take a seat at the restaurant, you'll find that the food is amazingly delicious and that this Mediterranean-style bistro is turns out to be exquisiteness itself.

Dimitri Waring For reservations or further information telephone 0 7742 1721. www.moevenpick-hotels.com/en/asia/thailand/ samui/laemyaibeach/restaurants

Located in the beautiful Fisherman’s Village on Bophut Beach, our experienced chefs proudly present authentic Thai cuisine and Southern Thai dishes. Fresh seafood is a must with great quality at reasonable prices.

Enjoy the tranquility of the beach, the twinkling stars and the whispering waves along with the beautiful music. A superb dining experience and great memories.

(Fisherman’s Village) 16/16 Moo 1, Bophut, Koh Samui, Suratthani 84320 Tel: 077 430 030, 077 245 035 Free Parking!! Opposite the restaurant

www.siamwininganddining.com 5

Strings and Sheets Unravelling the meaning of pasta – and why it all gets tied in a knot sometimes!

“Why is everyone so confused? It’s easy enough!

Pasta are noodles and noodles are pasta – they’re both the same thing!” No – that’s not some kind of definition. It’s an exasperated outburst. And when I came across it online, suddenly everything made sense. I like to get my facts straight before I start to write. And when I got digging deep into the facts about pasta, I had a shock. After two hours, I was ready to scream.

I mean, I know what pasta is, even if I’m not quite too sure about all the Italian names. But just try to define it! Shove it into Google and the whole world goes berserk. Because the experts will tell you that pasta’s made out of noodles!

And, to a big chunk of the world, more than 300 million of them across the Atlantic, this is quite true. Because, to most Americans, a noodle is ‘pasta’. They’re the same thing. If you check different dictionaries, it’s confirmed – the definitions are different, depending on where you live. And so, we need to go global! We need to look at the whole thing objectively. These two things are similar, but they’re not the same. In Italy, there is ‘pasta’. And in China, and in all the Southeast Asian countries, there are ‘noodles’.

Pasta is made from semolina, which is the coarse, purified grinding of durum wheat. And Asian noodles are usually made from rice flour, or sometimes from mung beans; with the

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exception being the northern region of China where they’re made from a generic kind of wheat.

As a ‘food form’, both pasta and noodles have ancient origins. Probably the most amusing revelation here is that pasta is not originally Italian! There’s a belief that Marco Polo came across ‘pasta’ in his voyage to China, in 1279.

The hole in this theory is that the noodles he discovered weren’t actually pasta as we know it, i.e. made from semolina. Today, most food historians believe that the Arabs are to be credited for bringing durum (semolina) flour pasta to the Mediterranean basin during the Arab conquests of Sicily, in the 9th century. Certainly, it’s on record that, by the 12th century, the Italians had learned various ways of drying pasta to preserve it while travelling.

But those little noodles are a lot older than even this. (Interestingly, accounts by American historians fail to distinguish between pasta and noodles, weaving the history of each together as if they were both the same thing.) The oldest historical mention of noodles made from rice flour appears in a Chinese dictionary dating back to the 3rd century. However, these early Chinese noodles don’t appear as strands of dough – they were shaped into small chunks, like dumplings,

and thrown into a wok of boiling water. This kind of noodle, called ‘mian pian’, is still eaten in China today. Noodles in the form of strings didn’t appear until the 5th century. They were made from rice flour and dried before cooking, and were called ‘itrium’ by the Romans.

Another big difference between noodles and pasta is cultural - Italy has turned the whole genre of pasta into a way of life, whereas Asian nations view rice and its subsequent noodle spin-off as a basic staple, with just a few variations on the theme. There are more than 300 basic forms (shapes) of Italian pasta, with in excess of 1,300 different regional variations on their common names – the little seashell shape (cavatelli) alone is known by more than 28 names. The Italians even have their own name for Asian noodles – spaghetti cinesi (Chinese spaghetti). And pasta is used in different ways, too. It can be a standalone dish with a complementary sauce (ascuitta), as part of a soup (inbrodo) or as one ingredient of a baked dish (alforno).

There’s an urban legend that pasta, to be good, needs to be freshly made. But this is very largely down to experience, and cooking skills. The average American eats pasta once every two weeks, and prefers it to be fresh. An Italian, on

the other hand, gets through a plate of pasta six days out of seven, and for everyday meals it’s ‘pasta seca’ – straight out of a box. And, whereas most Americans expect huge portions of sauce overwhelming their spaghetti, the Italians have perfected their pasta skills so that the textures and tastes are a complementary balance.

And then there’s the ‘mouthfeel’. Most pasta will be cooked to the same al dente texture, but Asian noodles are different. Some are soft and others have a firm bite. Some are chewy. Yet others, like ramen, have a more springy texture.

And then the final difference: whereas the world of pasta is calm, sequential and very well organised and classified, ‘noodle culture’ is chaos! Dozens of identical-looking noodles come packaged, both soft and dried, from China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, and Thailand. The number of brand names alone is overwhelming. And this is heightened by the absence of any standardised noodle nomenclature, language, or even any common classification. But, when you narrow it all down, there are really only a few basic variations in all this packaging mayhem!

But, to be more analytical, when you start to poke about in noodle culture, you’ll come across 11 main types of wheat noodles and seven sorts

of rice ones. And out of these, there are 11 that are specific to China – China has a similar cultural enthusiasm for their noodles as the Italians do with their pasta. But edging away from China sees less variation at street level.

Take a look, for example, at any of the multitude of Thai noodle-soup stalls. There’s basically only a choice between five types of noodle here. The yellow stringy ones that look a bit like spaghetti are popular. These are known as ‘ba mee leuang’, with the yellow colour coming from the use of egg. The broad, flat ones are ‘sen yai’ and the smaller version, ‘sen lek’. The ones that are actually the very thin rice vermicelli are ‘sen mee’. And then there are the glass noodles made from mung beans, ‘wun sen’. And all of them are made from rice flour, apart from the glass noodles.

So there it is. The perennially confusing topic of noodles and pasta, and what they’re each all about, finally put to rest. Here, at Wining & Dining, we’re nothing if not educational!

Rob De Wet

Can’t Say No To Kantoke?

At iconic Poppies Samui, the ever-popular shared dish continues to charm diners.

Take a stroll down Chaweng’s beach road and it’s guaranteed that it will amaze you. The street is vibrant with colour; thousands of signs and logos demand your attention, and everywhere there’s merchandise for sale, be it in on street stalls or in shops. At night Chaweng has the seething feel of a medieval market place, and added to this there are still more diversions once the bars and restaurants start to open.

Everything looks bright and new, instantaneous and urban. Chaweng certainly knows how to catch the eye. Hard to believe, therefore, that there’s any history to the place.

But here and there, if you know what you're looking for, you’ll find the rare icon that’s been in place from the days when Chaweng was just beginning to attract holidaymakers to its sandy beaches. There certainly wasn’t so much back in those days, except for a few places to stay and a few more to alleviate hunger with rice and traditional dishes. One of the very first international restaurants to be established on Samui was Poppies. It hit the culinary ground running, instantly raising the bar for food, bringing oodles of quality and taste. It was no surprise that people loved the dishes – there was no competition back then, 21 years ago.

But steadily competition grew until Chaweng became the super-charged beast that it is today,

devouring many a restaurateur’s hopes of a comfortable living. The beach road is always thriving, but if you come back regularly you'll see that many of the restaurants don’t last long.

But not Poppies. It’s never closed or relocated or been sold on. It’s the brainchild of John Taylor and David Hill, who came to Asia when still young. They know a thing or two about cooking but keep most of their dishes traditional. John opened up his first restaurant in Bali over 40 years ago – it’s also called Poppies and is still in operation.

On Samui you’ll find Poppies towards the southern end of the beach road, a minute’s drive from the Centara Grand Beach Resort. From the road, you'll see the traditional-looking façade, but it doesn’t reveal much of what’s going on until you get inside.

When you step through the foyer, you'll soon find yourself in a beautiful garden, lush with tropical foliage, where you'll see the scattering of beautiful cottages that comprise Poppies’ accommodation. You might at this point start recalling fairy tales you know, because they seem magical enough to have stepped out of them. By now the noise of the beach road is gone. A path takes you over a wooden bridge with a small stream beneath, and meanders down to the sea and the restaurant. You can dine in a Burmese teak sala – it’s been here since the beginning, yet always looks totally new – or outside on the terrace or in a second sala. You're right by the water and will have a 180° view of the sea. The setting alone is guaranteed to please.

And then comes the menu. Poppies has a very wide range of international and Thai dishes, and no matter what your tastes are, you'll find plenty to tempt you. If Poppies has been doing well for itself for over two decades, then some of its traditional dishes have been getting the thumbs up for two centuries and more. One of the favourites here is the kantoke, which is a Thai shared meal, an institution that started in the dawn of Thai history and is just as popular today. It’s ideal for couples, and is a very romantic dinner. The word, kantoke, simply means ‘tray’, and is named after the round rattan tray on which the food arrives at your table.

At Poppies there are several different types of kantoke on the menu. You can opt for one of the following: Traditional, Royal Thai, Four Regions, Seafood or Vegetarian. Each tray, when brought to you, has several courses, with each dish cooked to perfection. Depending on which kantoke you choose, you'll find various delights.

It can be quite hard to choose, especially if you're not familiar with Thai food, so Poppies asked distinguished photographer Claudio Cerquetti to capture the dishes – so now you can see exactly how they look when you're browsing the menu. You'll find all manner of delights such as spicy prawn soup with lime leaf, charcoal-roast duck in red curry with grape and pineapple or white tuna fillet in ginger with chilli and Chinese brandy. Then there are fresh rock lobster medallions in green curry, beef in spicy rich red curry, or minced duck poached with shallots, mint, lime and chilli and beef in peanut curry sauce. You could say that the kantoke dinners served at Poppies collectively

represent some of the best recipes in Thailand, all tried and tested.

You'd have to make several visits to Poppies to sample everything, though. All the varieties of kantoke are extremely popular and have been ever since their inception at the restaurant. It was Khun Wantanee, Poppies’ chef for Thai food who decided which dishes to include in the menu, but things didn’t stop there. The international chef, Khun Noi, thought an international kantoke would also be popular. He wasn’t deterred by the fact that nobody had ever put one together before. The question was: if Thailand had had international food centuries ago, what dishes from abroad would have also been included in a kantoke? Khun Noi started experimenting and didn’t listen to any nay-sayers. He came up with an international kantoke, and, just as he thought, it has proved abidingly popular. So much so that he decided to add more and there are now three different versions. Thus, you don’t even have to be taken with Thai food to eat kantoke – you can enjoy Western-style delicacies, and there are plenty of them. Try the duck breast with feta cheese, strawberries and rocket salad, for example, or the grilled veal tenderloin from Australia with whole grain mustard, or the New Zealand green lip mussels in white wine, garlic and herb butter. For desserts chocolate lava cake with raspberry coulis and vanilla ice cream will prove extremely hard to resist.

being at Poppies. Every Saturday night, a stage is put up over the pool and traditional Thai dancing takes place, along with live music. It certainly adds still more atmosphere, with the dancers wearing traditional clothing and the musicians playing on traditional Thai instruments. Highly melodic, the show is mesmerizingly beautiful and well-worth catching.

For this evening, you'll need to book and arrive no later than 7:30 pm to ensure you catch the whole of the performance. At the same time you can also watch Thai craftspeople working on soap carvings, making pictures out of buffalo skin and working on other traditional items.

Over the years, Poppies has become a venerable institution, one of few on Samui, but its original appeal for great food in a romantic setting is still as strong today as it ever was. You'll certainly be seduced by the choice of kantoke, whether you opt for traditional Thai or something more Western.

Dimitri Waring For reservations or further information telephone 0 7742 2419. www.poppiessamui.com

You can come and eat kantoke on any day of the week, but if you book for a Saturday evening, you'll find there’s a further reason for

WAT

www.siamwininganddining.com 7

Tropical Pick

August’s fruit of the month – the kiwifruit.

People are very health-conscious nowadays.

Everybody’s jogging, smoking is out and a healthy diet is in. Drinking mineral water and eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables has now become the order of the day. And, of course, that means lots of fresh oranges because they’re stuffed full of vitamin C, which, as everybody knows, is good for you. Well, how about if I told you that the kiwifruit has more than twice the amount of vitamin C than oranges? And, talking of nutrition, they’ve got more natural potassium than bananas, contain fibre and vitamin E, they’re fat-free and cholesterol-free, and each one weighs in at just 45 calories.

And, of course, these little gooseberries taste nice, too. Gooseberries? Well – yes, because they weren’t always called ‘kiwifruit’. Sometime around the turn of the century, one of the boatloads of missionaries bringing light to the heathens of the New World landed in New Zealand. They’d sailed from the Yangtze River valley of northern China and, amongst other things, they were carrying a jar of ‘Yangtao’, which, translated, means ‘strawberry peach’.

These small brown fruit, botanically known as actinidia chinensis, were so common that they ran wild in parts of China, and had become

Manathai Koh Samui 8 www.siamwininganddining.com

much-loved by the English missionaries. The Chinese name was a bit of a mouthful, and so they became known simply as ‘Chinese gooseberries’.

Not that they look much like gooseberries!

Gooseberries are small, round and green with a tight, smooth skin. And they’re grumpy and sour with it – they’re one of the most miserable fruit that you’ll ever come across. The kiwifruit, on the other hand, is the fruit world’s equivalent of a partygoer. It’s big and brown and fuzzy and fun – happy and kind of sweet, too. You can be sure that the kiwis will be in the middle of the dance floor while all the gooseberries are sitting disapprovingly in a corner somewhere.

And, apart from cheerfully running riot and partying across obscure parts of China, the kiwifruit remained in New Zealand, unknown to the rest of the world, until 1962. The early sixties were the age of optimism, with new ideas and outlooks, and an eagerness to try new things. And that included new fruit, too. And this was the period that America, in particular, began to import and grow all sorts of different exotic fruit. And, amongst them, the Chinese gooseberry, now simply known as ‘the

Samui Ring Road

Lamai

kiwifruit’, made its world debut. Not surprisingly, the climate of Southern California and Florida suited its sunny personality right down to the ground. And, from here, its popularity rapidly spread throughout the rest of the world.

Nowadays, you’ll find kiwifruit growing in just about every part of the world that has a climate between temperate and semi-tropical. It just loves to drink (of course!) and needs constant attention. It can’t stand the cold, but it’s upset by constant high temperatures, too. It’s commercially produced in Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Israel, Chile, China and Japan, as well as, of course, New Zealand and the USA. And, you’ll also find it growing in parts of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. It may surprise you to know that, today, Italy is the leading world producer of kiwifruits.

But the kiwifruit is not grown widely here in Thailand, and none of the output is exported.

The only places where it can survive are the cooler regions of the hilly northern region, in the areas around Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. It’s an expensive growing process - you have to wait five years before the first fruiting, constant

Telephone 0 7745 8560-4

irrigation is needed and there’s only one crop per year. This means that the fruit is comparatively expensive and the local demand for kiwifruits is not high. However, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej has established a project, where he’s encouraged the hill tribes to cultivate certain fruits and vegetables, with a guaranteed purchase price. The once-traditional crops of opium have now been replaced by alternative products, such as coffee, lettuce, grapes, strawberries and … kiwifruit! Thus everyone gets a living wage, the dangers of the drug-lords are eliminated, and Thailand has rid itself of an international problem.

But you won’t see kiwifruit growing on Samui, unlike other curious items such as cashew nuts or the bizarre durian. It’s a vigorous, woody vine, growing up to 30 feet high. The dark green leaves shelter attractive buff-coloured flowers, which give rise to bunches of juicy, bright green fruit. The colour changes as the fruit matures, eventually settling to a dull russet when ripe. The flesh, firm until fully ripe, is glistening, juicy and luscious, and almost lime-green. Except for the white, succulent centre, from which radiates dozens of fine, pale lines. Between these lines are scattered the tiny

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black seeds, which are completely unnoticeable in the eating. But all this can vary a lot as there are over 400 different types of kiwifruit, although the vast majority of these are to be found only in China!

Usually, people eat kiwifruit either fresh or with ice-cream, as a dessert. But the fruit also contains an enzyme called actinidin, which is a natural meat-tenderiser. Just cut it in half and rub the pieces over the meat, or mash it with a fork and spread it on the surface of the meat, and leave it for about half an hour. Sadly this enzyme also breaks down the protein in dairy products, that's why, when kiwifruit is combined with ice cream or yogurt, it’s best to serve and eat it right away.

So there you go. The cheerful little kiwifruit is well-travelled and has a long and ancient pedigree. It looks good, tastes good, and by golly it does you good!

Rob De Wet

Opening Times 10am – 1am

The Last Thing in the Village Fisherman’s Village has a couple of well-kept secrets – and one of them is Hansar!

Samui has a great many attractions. But when you’ve done the daytrips and the tours, seen the sights and cruised around a bit, then there’s just one place left to go. And that’s Fisherman’s Village. Every Friday they have their ‘walking street’, and it’s one of the best on the island.

There’s a real carnival atmosphere, with a couple of live bands playing, clothes stall and souvenirs, mementos and food - sights and sounds all around. Plus the bars. And the restaurants. In fact, when it comes to eats, you’re spoiled for choice.

But there’s an upside and a downside to this. One the one hand, it’s bargain time, with everyone on the lookout for something cheap and cheerful.

And so it’s likewise also tempting to snack your way along the strip, a nibble here and a morsel there of whatever takes your fancy. Of course, this could simply whet your appetite for something better. And there are lots of good restaurants just waiting to lure you in. But those in the know aren’t tempted. People who’ve been here a while hold themselves back. Because one of Samui’s best kept secrets is right at the end. Keep on walking to the end of the street. And, just when it looks like you’ve run out of fun, you’ll see Hansar Samui – the last thing in the village!

Hansar quietly opened its doors back in 2010.

There was no fuss or razzmatazz – it was comfortably, quietly and very self-assuredly 5-star and didn’t need to brag. And it was quite possibly the first of the 5-star presences that approached things in the new way – that’s to say the pricing policy was affordable. There are 74 very luxurious rooms and suites, one of the best spas around, a banqueting and conference suite, and a fitness centre. And two quite super restaurants.

H Bistro is right out front, bordering onto the sea walk and impossible to miss. As with everything here, it’s deliberately understated and, unless you were aware, it may not tempt you in at first glance. The main restaurant area occupies the lower floor and is typical enough for these parts – open-sided and facing the sea towards Koh Pha-Ngan. The upper floor is the laid-back Chill Lounge. As the name suggests, it’s not so much a tables and chairs set up, but more of a sofas and beanbags kind of a place, which lends itself to a number of things. You can dine here. Or stretch out and do nibbles, finger food and tapas. Or just enjoy the sunset with a cocktail. And it’s also where there’s a live 3-piece band every Monday and Thursday.

The man behind the menu is Stephen Dion, who’s been the executive chef here from the start. He’s an unassuming man, preferring to stay out of the limelight, although you’ll spot him on the floor, talking quietly with his guests. But his pedigree is enviable, not only including a plethora of household names but, prior to coming to Samui, he was with the 5-star ‘Lebua at State Tower’ in Bangkok, after having been the personal chef for His Majesty the King of Jordan. His menu is superb, with a light, clean bias towards French-Mediterranean cuisine, but with an added emphasis on seafood. Not simply the usual ‘fresh-caught’ seafood from the local fishing boats, but also live lobster shipped-in from abroad and giant live razor clams and langoustines from Scotland, as well as king crab from the USA, oysters from Japan and mussels from Australia, depending on what’s in season.

Plus, naturally, Japanese Wagyu and Australian corn-fed beef, too.

There are essentially two ways to experience Hansar and H Bistro. One is that you can saunter in whilst still energised by the buzz of Fisherman’s Village and/or walking street.

Hansar’s Beach Bar is small and friendly and will

do you finger foods and lite-bites, a selection of cold cuts or mini pizzas. Or, of course, if it’s a Monday or a Thursday you can recline nonchalantly upstairs in Chill Lounge and nibble while you catch the band. This is also a good chance to scan through the evening dinner menu without committing yourself to a full-tilt fine-dining session.

And then – the second way – go for it! Get yourself all done up and make a special night of it. As well as the excellent à la carte menu, Stephen also offers several degustation sets – meals quite literally fit for royalty. To give you an example, he picked out one item from a 5-course menu, interestingly a starter, the ‘Deep Sea Red Prawns’. “These prawns are a real rarity,” he commented, “and are unusual in that they’re very sweet, similar to lobster in many ways. They’re challenging to cook; you need to concentrate, as it’s easy to dry them out. They’re combined with another rarity, the Italian Lorenzini melon imported from Sicily, which has a texture and flavour like no other. The dish is very light, a real dance of tastes and textures, rich and full of flavour, but with the sweetness offset with just a touch of a rather special citrus,

a Japanese Yuzu lemon, and a hint of dill fragrance to round it off. It’s just perfect as a starter in a warm climate like Samui!”

And, indeed, it’s hard to beat dining at H Bistro if you want to make a very special evening of it.

In which case you probably won’t be walking along the seafront from Fisherman’s Village. So look for the landmark of the traffic lights at Bophut, and the nearby Samui Go Kart track.

Directly opposite is a side road with an arch.

Head under this and you’ll come to Hansar, just a couple of hundred meters in. Like most of our island’s best kept secrets it’s not right out in the open. But Hansar, and its signature restaurant of H Bistro, is quite definitely something that’s not to be missed!

Rob De Wet For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7724 5511. www.hansarsamui.com

An outstanding menu of International & Thai cuisine prepared by master chef Joseph Spiteri

Choeng Mon, 88/18 Moo 5, T. Bophut, Koh Samui Tel: 0 77243888 Email: info@baywaterresort.com www.baywaterresort.com www.siamwininganddining.com

9

Truly Tempting Thai Chef Chom’s Thai Restaurant at The Tongsai Bay gets top marks for its wonderful food and setting.

When it comes to eating out, Chaweng is the place most people think of for dinner. With its plethora of restaurants, you can find just about anything that takes your fancy. Away from the bright lights, however, there's still plenty on offer, and some of the restaurants can compete not just with Chaweng but any cosmopolitan city. In Choeng Mon, virtually at the peninsula’s northern-most point, you'll find Chef Chom’s Thai Restaurant. It’s world class and has a seriously good reputation for its Thai home cooking and deliciously authentic cuisine.

Chef Chom’s is to be found at The Tongsai Bay, one of the first luxury hotels to be built on the island. The restaurant boasts views down to a beautiful little bay, and is a prime spot when it comes to romantic dining. Although set in a secluded location, it is very accessible and is just a few kilometres from Chaweng. Drive north out of the town, follow the beach road, through Choeng Mon, then turn right at The Bank of Ayutthaya and head up the smaller road till you see the sign for The Tongsai Bay. Once you turn into the resort, you find yourself in a vast tropical garden. The resort follows sound ecological principles, and has a wonderfully relaxed, natural feel. This extends to the restaurant itself, close to the main foyer.

There’s seating outside on the terrace which, much like a Spanish courtyard has a central pond, and is ideal for looking at the stars and savouring tropical evenings. The dining room is incredibly spacious and on two levels, yet still has an intimate feel to it. Whether you decide to sit outside or inside, you'll find that the seating is definitely on the comfy side, and there's a feel of quiet luxury and sophistication here, though it’s not at all formal. Staff are very friendly and welcoming. You'll definitely feel like lingering, as Chef Chom’s feels so homely.

The restaurant is named after Chef Chom, who was the first chef at The Tongsai Bay. She stayed for over 20 years. She comes from a long line of cooks who worked for various members of the royal family; she herself worked at the palace of Princess Vibhavadi Rangsit in Bangkok.

It’s impossible to come up with a nifty description to sum up the food here. It’s both rustic and contemporary. The recipes keep close not only to the original ingredients but also to whichever region of Thailand they hail from.

Products and ingredients are top quality, with everything made from scratch. Even the cooking methods used are the traditional. No corners are cut here, and the results speak for themselves – each and every forkful of food is filled with taste.

And if that’s not enough, Chef Chom’s spoils you with its many little touches, all of which help make the dishes so wonderful. For example, if you order satay it arrives sitting atop a small clay grill, heated by a single brick of glowing charcoal, which keeps the sticks of meat warm.

The dip is delicious and it’s also accompanied by some triangles of very lightly toasted bread (and yes, you'll certainly want to mop the plate after you’ve finished).

There are also chef’s recommendations if you're not sure what you’d like, and of course, you can also ask staff to help you choose – they're the experts after all.

The Tongsai Salad meanwhile comes beautifully presented on a traditional-style rattan tray on a layer of banana leaf, just the way the Thais used to eat decades ago. At least three types of lettuce accompany the prawns, tomatoes and cashew nuts that make this a delicious treat. The dressing is just piquant enough to give a further delicate touch to the ensemble.

If you'd like grilled food then the chef recommends the Wagyu beef which is served along with a spicy Thai dip. Or you can try the unsurpassable duck which consists of wafer like medallions that have been expertly grilled.

They’re accompanied by plump lychees that give an unexpected sweetness to the dish. Food portions at Chef Chom’s are, quite big, by the way, and you'll leave feeling satisfied.

Many dishes involve rice, of course, but you'll look in vain for any on your plate when your food comes. But it hasn’t been forgotten. Your waiter or waitress comes holding a conical rattan basket and gives you a helping – you can have as much as you like.

For cocktails, along with the classics you can be more adventurous and opt for Tongsai Bay’s very own, which have been specially created around Thai ingredients, such as bael fruit, basil and taling pling. They’re delicious and finely balanced. Wines come from a variety of countries, with a selection from Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Chile, Argentina and Italy. There are also choices from Thailand, from the Hua Hin area and Asoke Valley.

The menu encompasses everything you'd expect to find at a Thai restaurant. There’s a tasty selection of soups, appetizers and salads. There are plenty of main courses, including grilled and wok-fried dishes, such as the succulent Nua Phad Num Mun Hoi, which is Australian marbled sirloin beef in oyster sauce, mushroom and spring onion. There are also dinners for two people to share together, along with a sub-menu of southern-style dishes. Seafood and meats are abundant, but if you are a vegetarian, you'll find many dishes for you, too, all clearly marked.

Diners particularly like the green, red and penang curries, and even if you’ve had them many, many times elsewhere, at Chef Chom’s you'll note the delicacy of taste that puts them in a class of their own. Try their Penang Goong, and you'll see what I mean. This curry consists of char-grilled king prawns drizzled with a coconut cream, red curry and peanut sauce, and is cooked so that all the tastes are exquisitely balanced.

For desserts, the treats are mainly traditional favourites such as mango and sticky rice or the Sida Ram Dong, which is banana and pandan infused sweet coconut cream but if you'd like something slightly more western, then they also serve a delicious coconut ice-cream. It actually comes in a coconut shell with the coconut milk being reserved in a small cup. It’s both natural and decadent at the same time. And it’s guaranteed you'll want to finish every spoonful.

Dinner at Chef Chom’s has a very special feel to it. There’s the beautiful resort setting itself, and then there’s the food, which never disappoints.

Open every evening, a visit here is always an occasion that’ll give rise to fond memories; it’s definitely one of those places you'll always remember for the wonderful time you’ve had there.

Dimitri Waring For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7724 5480. www.tongsaibay.co.th

Weddings, Celebrations, Parties & Honeymoons 2014

River Prawn Tom Yum

Rock Lobster

Sunset Dining in Spectacular Surroundings

Sea Food Taco

Lamb Chop

Beef Lasagna

Phuket Lobster Thermidor

Carbonara Pizza

This epicurean dining nirvana serves up the finest catches from the sea so our guests can Enjoy breathtaking sunsets while discovering our culinary delights at The Terrace, one of Koh Samui’s best beachfront feast like kings. Pay homage to our specialty – the royal triumvirate of lobster, tiger prawns and dining destinations. oysters.

A holiday or a visit to Mövenpick Resort Laem Yai Beach Samui would not be complete without sampling the food at Indulge yourself with a journey of culinary discoveries at Mövenpick Resort Laem Yai The Terrace. Nestled on the beach, this majestic open-air restaurant affords diners a perfect view of the spectacular Beach Samui. The Terrace perfectly blends a selection of Thai classics with international dishes. sunset over Laem Yai Bay and the distant islands.

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Mövenpick Resort Laem Yai Beach Samui is the perfect destination for a dream island wedding, unforgettable honeymoon, anniversary getaway or private birthday party.

Exchange vows on Koh Samui’s most beautiful sunset beach as the sky turns to a thousand shades of brilliant colours.

Mövenpick Resort Laem Yai Beach Samui Phone +66 77 421 721 resort.samuilaemyai@moevenpick.com www.moevenpick-hotels.com/samui-laem-yai-beach

www.siamwininganddining.com 11

Walk on In Whether you drop in from Fisherman’s Village or make a special night of it – the dining at Anantara takes some beating!

Anantara may not be a name that’s familiar to you, but for those in the know it represents something rather special. In the last few years, Samui has become busier. And that means there are now lots of resorts and restaurants which need to compete with one another. Many do this with a loud swagger and show, in the hope that the bright lights and bluster will catch your eye. But the 5-star ‘Anantara Bophut Resort’ belongs to a different breed. It’s more stately, more gentile. Right on the fringe of Fisherman’s Village, it occupies a prime chunk of real estate that runs between the ring-road and the beach.

A member of The Minor Group, the Anantara brand first appeared in Hua Hin, in 2001. Since then, it has steadily expanded throughout Thailand and further afield to include projects in Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, the Maldives, Qatar, The Emirates, Sri Lanka, Mozambique and Zambia. Anantara Bophut was completed in 2004, and was one of the first of a refined breed to take advantage of the quieter and more relaxed out-of-town location on the island’s northern coast.

Passing through the lofty reception area, you’ll see that the central water feature is surrounded

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by mature greenery, and with the accommodation arranged in blocks along the left and right fringes. Everything is solid, substantial, understated, and simply oozes quality. Visiting at night is a joy, as you make your way through the under-lit borders, towards the twin decks of the lights ahead. And, as you get closer, you’ll realise that this is the very stylishly laid-out Full Moon restaurant.

Full Moon is split-level; the lower area adjacent to the resort’s pool, the upper one elevated sufficiently to provide moonlit sea views. This is very much in the bracket of ‘fine dining’, but as with nearly all such venues on the island, there’s a laid-back atmosphere, and the only formality you’ll encounter is in the quality and promptness of the service you’ll experience.

You’ll be warmly greeted and guided to your table. And then, without really being aware of it because it’s so practiced and effortless, you’ll unwittingly be slipped into the envelope of care and attention that is at the heart of the dining experience here.

Every resort’s restaurant unfailingly boasts about using only the finest ingredients. But, even though it’s almost obligatory to say this, often

the reality doesn’t match up to the claims. In fact, as an expectant diner, you’ll probably have discovered already that it’s all a bit hit-and-miss.

However, Full Moon is one place where they mean it. And not only are the ingredients amongst the best you’ll get anywhere in the world, the menu offered and the presentation of the dishes is on a par with this, too.

Much of this is due to the dedication – dare I say ‘passion? – of Executive Chef, Christoph Lindner. His pedigree is notable, having worked his apprenticeship at 4-and 5-star restaurants in his native Luxemburg, then on to Amsterdam and France, before, before coming to Thailand.

And, after spells in Phuket and Bangkok, Christophe accepted a position at the prestigious Akaryn Samui Beach Resort, where he remained for two years prior to landing at Anantara.

“It’s not simply about good quality ingredients,” Christoph explained. “Samui now has a number of excellent suppliers and it’s easy enough to import what’s not readily on hand. The problem is that I want my ingredients to be eco-sustainable, too. In the ’90s, the world’s supply of cod almost ran out because of thoughtless and uncontrolled over-fishing.

Similar sorts of destruction are still happening in Asian nations. And so I try to get as much seafood as I can which has been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). And as they now have over 20,000 seafood products available, at last quality and sustainability can go hand in hand.”

And it’s not only the seafood that is very carefully procured. Pork products come from pedigree Japanese Kurobuta pigs. Lamb and beef are grain-fed and bought in from Australia and New Zealand. And micro-greens come from one of Thailand’s Royal Project farms in the north. Even the bread is special: it’s all made in-house with non-industrial forms of yeast.

The menu here is Mediterranean-based, with dishes from France, Spain and Italy taking prominence, and a stress on a char-grilled approach. Together with the admirable à la carte offerings, there’s also a selection of set ‘sharing’ presentations for two diners that come with a hot saltstone at the table – including lamb rump and several fish offerings. The salads are equally enticing, the ‘Cold Angel Hair Pasta’ in particular, a light and delicate admix of seaweed and cubed tuna.

And, true to form, as with all dedicated master chefs, Christoph’s dessert menu comes in with a bang and not a whimper! Don’t miss out on the signature dessert here, a taster of mixed tiramisu, mille-feuille puff pastry, a red lollipop of love apples and macaroon ice-cream. This is the last thing on the menu here at Anantara Bophut and its signature restaurant, Full Moon – but it’s by no means the least of the reasons to make a point to ‘walk on in’!

Rob De Wet For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7742 8300. www.anantara.com

SIP, SAVOUR, LOUNGE, AND LINGER Stay all day and move your mood, exploring our range of indoor and outdoor settings, right on Samui’s beach with panoramic view of the coastline. Enjoy a casual lunch in the shade, experiencing our eclectic menu of international cuisine or lounge away the aſternoon on a sunken daybed in the sand, steps away from the beach.

For evenings, COAST transforms into one of Samui's most attractive dining experiences, showcasing grills and seafood with great beach chill music to help you relax.

A variety of dining zones make it either the ideal venue for a memorable evening out with family and friends or an equally cool place to celebrate that special occasion party.

The focus at COAST is always on views of the beach and your effortless glide through the day.

Open Hours: 12:00 – 23:00 hrs.

www.centarahotelsresorts.com/csbr E: coast@chr.co.th T: +66 (0) 77 230500

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13

Immortalised

With so many dishes and drinks named after people, why not go through one day having only them?

Being a bit of a food lover, one thing in particular has always struck me about restaurant menus. And that’s the number of dishes named after people. There are hundreds of them. And, so, curiosity piqued, I started looking into it. And then I thought - if I were to eat for a day only from dishes named after people what would I have. Of course, I’d need to drink as well and the same rules would have to apply to them. It would turn out to be a gourmet’s delight - and a cardiologist’s nightmare!

Breakfast first, and it really has to be a toss-up between Eggs Benedict and Omelette Arnold Bennett. There are two stories associated with Eggs Benedict. One version credits Lemuel Benedict, a New York stockbroker who went for breakfast at the Waldorf Astoria one day, in 1894, whilst suffering from a hangover. He asked for a special dish of toast, bacon, poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce on the side. As the story goes, Oscar, the maître d’ adapted it for the Waldorf menu by substituting English muffin and ham, adding truffles and christening it after the sorry looking stockbroker. Another version dates back to 1893, when Charles Ranhofer, head chef at Delmonico’s restaurant, created the dish especially for a Mr. Le Grand Benedict, a New York stockbroker and socialite. A Germanic variation of the dish now exists, named Eggs Benedict XVI after Pope Benedict XVI. His version calls for rye bread and sausage or saubrauten replacing the English muffins and Canadian bacon. As for the Omelette Arnold Bennett, it’s an unfolded omelette with smoked haddock invented at the Savoy Hotel in London for the writer Arnold Bennett. No choice but to have them all – with a nice cup of tea, Earl Grey naturally. And that’s named after Charles Grey, the 2nd Earl, who was born in 1764. He was given the recipe for what became known as Earl Grey Tea by a Chinese Mandarin, whose life he is reported to have saved.

After such a hearty start it would only be right to settle down with the morning papers and wait patiently for elevenses. At which point it would seem sensible to have some coffee and cake.

Coffee Maria Theresia that is, which includes cream and orange liqueur and is named after the Queen of Hungary and Bohemia (1717-1780).

And what better than a whole Battenberg Cake to go with it. Named after the late 19th century princely Battenberg family living in England; they gave up their German titles during World War One (for obvious reasons) and changed their name to the much more English-sounding Mountbatten.

Ah, the long stretch to lunch. And really it would be rude not to have a small sherry prior to dining. A schooner of Harvey’s Bristol Cream would probably fit the bill. It’s named after one of the pre-eminent men in the wine importing business in Elizabethan England, Bristolian John Harvey. After losing several members of his family to rough seas, this decided landlubber refused to enter the family business of ship captaining. Against his father’s wishes, he became a successful sherry merchant, and descendants of John Harvey are still involved with the firm to this day.

Once the bottle is finished a light Caesar Salad would probably be in order for lunch. This salad has absolutely nothing to do with the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, except perhaps as the source of the creator’s first name. Caesar Cardini immigrated to San Diego after World War One and opened a restaurant in Tijuana to avoid the prohibition laws in the US. He is thought to have originated this dish without anchovies, in 1924.

Others claim to be the salad’s inventor, including Cardini’s business partner, his brother and one of his young chef apprentices who swore it was his mother’s recipe.

After a little nap, a jug of Pimms No.1 Cup would undoubtedly while away the afternoon.

You need to rewind back to a London oyster bar in the 1840’s for the origin of this, where owner James Pimm invented the thirst-quencher. Using gin, quinine and a secret mixture of herbs, good old Pimm served up the brew as an aid to digestion, dishing it out in a small tankard.

1531, at the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire at Limoux in southern France. This abbey was also a Benedictine property and it may well be that Dom Pérignon received some guidance from its winemaking techniques. Moët et Chandon vineyards later honoured Pérignon's accomplishments by naming its finest vintage after him.

By the time the jug was gone it would surely be time for pre-dinner cocktails and a fiery Margarita to get the gastric juices flowing. There are at least eight different stories relating to the creation of the tequila-based margarita. The most commonly accepted one is that the drink was concocted, in 1938 or 1939, by Carlos Herrera, a Mexican bartender who named the drink in honour of a showgirl named Marjorie King, who was allergic to all hard liquor except tequila.

Luckily, not a problem I share.

Once the oysters were suitably dispatched it would be on to a Dubarry Cream Soup. Madame du Barry (1743-1793) was a favourite of Louis XV of France and had several dishes named after her, often involving cauliflower, as in this soup.

It’s said to be a reference to her elaborate powdered wigs. A Sole Dugléré would follow the soup, Adolph Dugléré was a student of the great Antonin Carême and later became head chef at the famed Café Anglais in Paris in 1866, where he created and named many well-known dishes, often after himself.

And so to dinner, and it would have to be Oysters Bienville to start with. This New Orleans dish of baked oysters in a shrimp sauce was named for Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville (1680–1767), French governor of Louisiana and founder of New Orleans (1718). And I can think of nothing better than a bottle of 1990 Dom Pérignon to ease me through the first few courses. Whilst he is often attributed with the invention of Champagne, there are earlier recorded instances of the production of sparkling wines by the Champagne method.

Nevertheless, he was a remarkable winemaker and clearly well ahead of his generation. It’s likely that he was the first to teach blending skills in the Champagne region, and he also appears to have been the first person to successfully contain the local sparkling wine in reinforced glass bottles by sealing them with Spanish corks. However, the first recorded production of bottle fermented sparkling wine is dated a century before Dom Pérignon’s birth, in

And so to something meatier and it has to be a Beef Wellington. Named for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852), he was the British hero of the Battle of Waterloo. This dish of beef with pâté, mushrooms, truffles and Madeira sauce, all encased in a pastry crust, was probably created by his personal chef. To accompany this I’d opt for a Château Ausone red Bordeaux wine. Ausonius (310–395 A.D.) was a poet employed by Valentinian I to tutor the Roman emperor’s son. He retired to the Bordeaux region and wrote about oyster farming. The wine named after him is said to be made of grapes grown on the site of his villa.

Cherry Garcia ice-cream, their homage to Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia (1942–1995). A cheeky little half-bottle of Château d’Yquem would go nicely with this. It’s named after Léon de Sauvage d’Yquem who founded the vineyard, in 1711.

There are quite a few cheeses and lots of fruits named after people and some excellent port wines, but I reckon by this time I’d be fit to burst. I could probably squeeze in one last drink and it would have to be a Harvey Wallbanger.

First concocted in the 1950s, this well-known tipple was one of many cocktails invented by the renowned two-time world champion mixologist Donato ‘Duke’ Antone. According to legend, Harvey was a California surfer. After losing an important contest, he consoled himself in Duke’s Hollywood Blackwatch bar with one of his ‘special’ Screwdrivers (a screwdriver cocktail with a dash of Galliano liqueur). After several drinks, he tried to leave the bar, but unfortunately kept bumping into the walls.

Harvey ‘the Wallbanger’ became his nickname and the famous drink was christened.

I think I know how he feels. It would be a fantastic day but I’d probably need a holiday to get over it. If you give it a try and get through it all do let me know – you’d probably make a name for yourself, too!

Johnny Paterson

For dessert I’d go for a Pavlova. Named for Anna Pavlova (1881–1931), the famous Russian ballerina, both Australia and New Zealand have claimed to be the source of the meringue (‘light as Pavlova’) and fruit dessert. And because I love it, I’d have to add a few scoops of Ben & Jerry’s

Take a bread cake and bakery Tel: 088 502 3112

Location: Samui Ring Road (nearly opposite Big C)

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Experience the very best in authentic Thai cuisine at Chef Chom’s Thai Restaurant at The Tongsai Bay Chef Chom's serves truly authentic Thai cuisine with an emphasis on local southern Thai cuisine. Wherever possible, ingredients are sourced locally and dishes are prepared from scratch.

This real Thai taste is the pride of the kitchen, and dishes are not 'watered down', the taste of Chef Chom's food is just the way Thais would have it.

Chef Chom’s is open daily for dinner from 7pm to 10pm. Tel: +66 (0) 77 245-480 www.tongsaibay.co.th

www.siamwininganddining.com

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More Acquired Tastes A further selection of strange foods from around the world.

There are some foods loved by many but seen as just plain weird by others. Here are some favourites.

Black Pudding: There’s nothing better than a hearty breakfast to start your day, and in my childhood I remember this particular ‘delicacy’ as being one of my grandfather’s favourites.

Congealed blood cooked up with a mixture of seasonings, suet and breadcrumbs all stuffed into a sausage skin. Then it’s fried and served up. Black pudding or blood sausage as it’s also known as can be found in quite a few places from the shores of the United Kingdom, to the Americas, Asia and Africa. You can find a version of it here in Thailand at your local market, though it doesn’t have the sausage consistency and is rather like tofu in texture. It’s sold in a dome pudding shape and it can be added to a variety of local dishes, such as noodle soups.

Rocky Mountain Oysters: There’s no way to be discreet about this dish – so I’ll be blunt. Rocky mountain oysters are testicles. They could be

cow, sheep, or pig balls that end up on your plate. There doesn’t appear to be any difference in taste, though some people have said the best are bull’s testicles. The latter are peeled, boiled, rolled in flour then deep-fried, and are usually served in a rich thick sauce, possibly to give the diner the illusion that they’re simply eating meatballs – which I guess they are in the end.

Though they are extremely popular in the United States especially in states like Montana and Colorado and also in Canada, you can find them further afield. I have had the experience of eating them in Hong Kong. A mistake in ordering on my part. Advertised as ‘bull balls’ on the menu I had in my naiveté believed that they really meant meatballs. I did try one but won’t be ordering them again anytime soon.

Cuy Bien: This is a traditional dish in Peru comprising of roasted guinea pig. Guinea pig is a staple in Peru because of its high protein and low fat content. It is usually served with rice, salad or potato fries. The taste is said to be similar to rabbit or the dark meat of chicken.

Marmite or Vegemite: It might come as a

Barracuda

surprise to find Marmite or Vegemite in a list of strange foods ... until you know what goes into them. I’m a real fan of both so I don’t find this strange at all but I do know people who hate them. Marmite and Vegemite are actually made from the scum that breweries end up with at the bottom of their barrels when they brew beer - a sticky, brown, salty paste that many people just love to spread on their toast in the morning. Not only does it taste great but there are health benefits too. It’s high in vitamins, low in calories, vegetarian, and gluten free. It’s also a great source of folic acid, providing nearly 50% of the recommended daily allowance per serving. You may also want to consider this too: it might help keep mosquitoes away. According to some reports the yeast can help as a defence against the mosquito.

Kiviak: Small puffin-like birds called auks are stuffed whole including their beaks, feathers and feet into a seal. Then the seal is sewn up again tightly to ensure there’s no additional air inside the stomach sac. The seal plus the birds are then left for several months allowing the birds to

ferment in the warmth of the stomach! The dish is then served as a hearty meal during winter in Greenland.

Salo: A Ukrainian delicacy, it’s comprised solely of pig fat that can be eaten raw, smoked, fried or boiled. It’s also enjoyed in Russia as a snack to accompany vodka. It’s thinly sliced and eaten atop rye bread. It can last up to a year if stored in a cold dark place. After that time it begins to turn yellow and then it can be used as a kind of protection treatment for leather boots and shoes!

Frog Burgers: This is a dish that has recently been offered by the Orbi Yokohama Museum in Japan to celebrate the opening of its exhibition of 25 deadly creatures from around the world.

There can be no doubt what this burger is when you see it with the two deep fried frog legs sticking out the side of the black burger bun.

Served with a salad this is a burger that has yet to be snapped up by burger chains around the world. While the frog burger may not be on the menus, the black burger was definitely a big hit in Japan last year with burger chains competing

with each other to make the most extreme ‘kuro’ (black) burger. The bread buns are infused with burnt bamboo, charcoal cheese and a black sauce comprising of garlic, soya sauce and squid ink is liberally poured over the burger. It doesn’t sound or look very appetizing.

Poutine: This is a fast food dish originating in Quebec, Canada. It consists of French fries drenched in gravy and cheese curds. As stomach-churning as it may sound it’s a very popular fast food dish across Canada. It’s so popular that Domino’s Pizza offered their own poutine topped pizzas a couple of years ago.

If you look around you there’s lot of recipes calling for some pretty strange ingredients or combination of ingredients but when taken as a whole you may find yourself becoming a lover of the weird and strange.

Natalie Hughes

Discover authentic

Indian Cuisine

The restaurant where every evening becomes a memorable occasion.

For reservations please contact: Anantara Bophut Resort & Spa, Koh Samui Tel: +66 (0) 77 428 300 Email: bophutsamui@anantara.com Skype: bophutsamui 16 www.siamwininganddining.com

Noori India Restaurant - Chaweng Center Chaweng Beach Road, opp. Chaweng Buri Noori India Restaurant - Chaweng South at Chaweng Cove Resort Noori India - Central Festival at Chaweng Beach Road For reservations (English) - 0 867 407 873 or 0 7741 3108 For reservations (Thai) - 0 813 960 283 E-mail: nooriindia_samui@yahoo.com www.nooriindiasamui.com

Samui 2012 WINNER

2013 WINNER

2014 WINNER

Fine Food at the Fairways You don’t have to play golf to enjoy the excellent food at the Santiburi Samui Country Club.

When you're looking for lunch or an early dinner, I’ll warrant that you probably won’t think of heading to a golf course. And on Samui, where there are so many good restaurants lining the roads and the beaches, it’s likely you'll just drop in to wherever seems the most convenient.

But the island has many hideaway spots and if you have time, you can always check these out.

If you do so, you'll come across unexpected gems. And this is certainly the case with the golf club at Santiburi.

For some reason many golf courses don’t really offer much in the way of great food; they reason that everyone comes for the golf, and any food and drink is secondary to the game. They end up being brilliant places to play, but are mediocre when it comes to serving quality food and drink.

At Santiburi this is most definitely not true; it’s a great place for a meal, even if you’re not playing golf. And in addition, the restaurant is unique on the island for its beautiful setting. There's simply nowhere like it.

Even the drive there is picturesque. At Maenam traffic lights, turn off the ring-road in the direction of the hills and head up the small road and into the temple grounds. Here turn right just before a large set of steps and follow the lane until it comes to a small road. Turn left, go across a small bridge, and turn right again and follow the road till you come to the signposts for Santiburi. This approach is very scenic, taking you through Maenam’s back roads with views of jungle and coconut plantations. A slightly quicker approach is to go past the traffic lights, continue for two kilometres until you see the sign for Santiburi, at the town’s night market, before the turning to Wat Napalarn.

Once you reach Santiburi territory, you'll know it.

There are no more houses, just the road climbing up into the heights, through excellently maintained parkland with plenty of tropical trees.

It’s very beautiful and then gets even better: the view opens up and suddenly you can see a good part of the north coast below. Many people stop at this point to take photos. If you keep on going you'll soon come to the clubhouse itself. And

once you step through its doors, you'll be quietly astonished by the way the entire restaurant opens up with endless views down to the sea and Koh Pha-Ngan beyond. As dining rooms go, it never fails to impress, even if you’ve been here a dozen times or more. From the terrace you can look down and see part of the course, while the rest of it ranges up beyond the clubhouse.

The restaurant is one of the very few on Samui to be set inland and have such great views. It’s very tranquil at any time of the day, but especially in the evening, when the sun’s setting. There's almost always a breeze, even when it’s really hot and windless on the plain beneath. It is also very spacious, and comes in handy for large tournaments. Staff are friendly and welcoming, and the food’s great, with generous portions. If you're an early bird you can enjoy a delicious breakfast here from 6:00 am onwards. You can choose between a full English breakfast, American, continental or Asian.

The menu has Thai appetizers, such as chicken or pork satay. Then there are soups, such as the

popular tom kha kai, which is a spicy coconut cream soup with chicken and Thai herbs. For salads you're recommended to try the som tam, the typically spicy green papaya salad enjoyed by Thais throughout the country. For mains, you can opt for a filling dish such as fried crispy noodles with pork, chicken, beef or seafood, or spaghetti with prawns in a spicy sauce. There’s a plethora of rice and noodle dishes, as well as a special selection with favourite dishes such as chicken massaman curry with chicken, and the restaurant’s brilliant phad Thai, reckoned by some people to be amongst the best to be had on Samui.

There's a whole page of Western dishes, too.

You'll find delicious bacon and chicken sandwiches as well as burgers and that old favourite, fish and chips. They also have home-made spaghetti bolognaise and lasagne.

Sandwiches all come with French fries, by the way.

You can order anything at any time, so a late breakfast is never any problem - the restaurant

closes at 8:00 pm and is open seven days a week. And naturally you can come just for a dessert. You'll enjoy the selection of Mövenpick ice-creams which includes the irresistible sweet chocolate and maple walnut. Last but not least, the restaurant stocks new and old world wines, all at reasonable prices. Naturally, you can also have wines by the glass, both red and white.

Not everyone who’s heading for the 18-hole championship golf course at Santiburi is intending to play or even spectate. The restaurant has made a name for itself in its own right for its great food and for its amazing views of the north coast. There’s no dress code and the prices are definitely in the unbeatable category – surprisingly low.

Dimitri Waring For further information telephone 0 7742 1701. www.santiburi.com

Sabeinglae Restaurant

Sabienglae restaurants offer traditional fresh seafood and cuisine in an authentic southern Thai style.

Come and enjoy our unique dishes, many of which you won’t find elsewhere on the island, in a relaxing atmosphere. An experience to truly complete your holiday.

The Wharf Samui, Fishermans’s Village For reservation please call 077 430 094-5

Hin Ta Hin Yai, Samui Ring Road For reservation please call 077 233 082-3

Wimaan Buri Resort, Chaweng Ring Road For reservation please call 077 962 333

www.siamwininganddining.com 17

The Wine Page Light wines - good for your waistline and possibly the producers' bottom line!

One of the most fascinating things about wine is not only discovering how complex the subject is, but also how one personally interacts with it, especially how our tastes evolve over time. I have noticed a change in how I react to alcohol levels in wines. As I age, my preference has shifted towards wines with less alcohol. And my appreciation for lower percentage wines with more finesse seems to be in line with a more general trend. During the last 20 years, the average strength of wine has been creeping up from around 11%, to 14%. The upward trend started in the New World wine countries, around the end of the last century. And it has gone almost unnoticed, until now. The New York Times recently reported, “…of a shift in taste in the United States and beyond, the proverbial pendulum swing, from heavy wines of power to lighter wines of greater finesse”.

It has always been tricky to navigate around the subject of alcohol level. The risk is of just another boring defensive discussion about numbers. Such debates always try to set a threshold number on what is acceptable and take it from there. For me, it’s like discussing the

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specifications of a car, they don’t inform anywhere near as much as the overall driving experience and likeability of a particular model.

Numbers themselves have little meaning, it’s what is inside that counts. And most importantly, in the case of wine, is it balanced?

I recognize that well-balanced high alcohol wines can work. “Big” wines, obviously, have their place.

A good wine has to provide drinking pleasure no matter what. And the criteria for success are quite simple. The next sip has get better and better. I suppose I am stating the obvious. But the best wines are simply the ones where you wish there was more left in the bottle. My preference for lower alcohol wines started quite innocently, by falling in love with cool tempered wines. It was a desire for refinement and not power, something more feminine. Red Burgundy was one of the first discoveries for me, but I felt a bit distant from these expensive offerings. So I discovered Pinot Noir and Red Zinfandel. But despite providing great finesse, I found it difficult to match these wines with everyday food. For my palate, the lighter subtler smooth

red wines from the Barossa Valley work incredibly well with food. As do most fine red, white and rosé wines with complexity that range between 12% and 13% alcohol.

Recently, I have been very taken with natural wine. And have learned a great deal from organic (and biodynamic) wines about my perception of a given wine’s characteristics.

One of the many lessons I can take out of this is how low alcohol content in wine has proved to be a key element to drinking pleasure. It’s interesting to see how one’s taste buds start to reform. It’s not unlike when you cut down on the salt content in your food; you can suddenly taste the full flavours far more acutely than before. Interestingly, I am now far more sensitive against high alcohol wines. And I believe I am not alone. Over the past few years, many wine enthusiasts I have shared opinions with, are moving in the same direction.

More and more now, when I buy wines, I label check. If it’s above 14.5% alcohol content I am not so keen. Of course, I do make a few exceptions, especially when it comes to Aussie

Shiraz or a gorgeous Barolo. They are both often in this high end, but somehow they can balance at this point. But I need food with Barolo. It’s a wine I can’t just drink alone. And it doesn’t really hurt when I envisage beautifully cooked Italian cheese risotto, with crisp fresh salad, accompanied by a seductive deep purple Barolo swilling around in an oversized wine glass.

But overall, I prefer wines in the range of 12%, and given the choice, most of the wines I drink are in this range. It’s very likely that the lower alcohol wines are here to stay. It will be more than a trend. Because when you start to appreciate the lighter-weight sheer panache of these wines, you want more. And you will never want go back to the lower-end, heavy, dull and clumsy industrial style wines, if you can help it.

Besides, low alcohol wines are “the new black.”

Less alcohol means fewer calories. Wine is already the champion beverage of healthy living. The benefits of red wine, especially on the cardiovascular system are well known. But alcohol in any form is fattening. So by reducing it, you effectively get a “diet wine” (sorry, that’s a term which horribly grates, I know). And it

will have the added benefit of saving a few headaches in the morning. From marketing perspective, clearly “light” wines are potentially big business. They need a good marketing strategy to connect with the diet conscious wine consumer. It’s well worth remembering that almost half the adult populations of western countries are trying to control their weight. And most of them are women, who most often drink wine as their beverage of choice. In my humble opinion, as long as the integrity of the wines remains the priority, reducing alcohol is a welcome new trend.

Peter James

Silavadee Pool Spa Resort

Silavadee Pool Spa Resort presents a wide range of restaurants and bars featuring a variety of cuisines to suit all tastes.

Premium cocktails and selected wines are also available in each outlet.

STAR

A stunning rooftop bar where you can sip our signature cocktails and enjoy some snacks while watching the sunset or gazing at the stars above.

Open: 17.00-23.30hrs.

The Height

Sun Deck

Wine and Cigar Lounge

Oering an extensive menu of delightful Thai cuisine, the restaurant has both air-conditioned and open air seating options, all with stunning views of the surrounding sea.

Open: 17.00-22.30hrs.

Exclusive dining on the deck with breathtaking views.Enjoy International delights in a romantic setting with your loved one. Please reserve in advance.

Refreshments, cocktails and snacks with a selection of premium wines and cigars to enjoy the breathtaking view.

Open:18.00-22.30hrs.

Open: 17.00-23.30hrs

Silavadee Pool Spa Resort 208/66 Moo4, Koh Samui, Suratthani 84310 Thailand Tel: (+66) 077 960 555 Fax: (+66) 077 960 055 www. Silavadeeresort.com www.siamwininganddining.com

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Monday - Cowboy Steak Night Assorted BBQ Meat Buffet Entertainment: The Barge Band Tuesday, Friday and Saturday Lobster Basket Set: 3,300 for 2 persons Seafood Basket Set: 2,300 for 2 persons Inclusive of Salad, Soup and Side dishes Entertainment: Duo Band Wednesday - Hawaiian Seafood Night Variety of Fresh Seafood & BBQ Meat Buffet Entertainment: Polynesian Dance and The Barge Band Sunday Chef Creation Set Dinner and A La Carte Menu

No visit to Samui is complete until you have dined at The Barge

Rice Barge Authentic Thai Cuisine

Fine Beach & Hillside Dining at Samui's Newest Venue Quality Thai, Seafood & International Dishes The Ultimate Samui Dining Experience!

The Barge Nora Buri's Signature Restaurant Chaweng North For Reservation Tel: 0 7791 3555 E-mail: thebarge@noraburiresort.com www.noraburiresort.com

Chaweng Beach Road Chaweng North

It’s all happening at Nora Beach Resort & Spa Tuesday Night- Siam Kingdom Thai Night. We invite you to experience a variety of traditional Thai dishes.

Price THB 850 per person.

Thursday Night - East Meets West. Enjoy our chef’s special buffet creations. Price THB 950 net per person. Children 6-12 years old half price. Entertainment: Polynesian Show & Mariposa Duo. Thai Cooking Class Learn how to cook 3 authentic Thai dishes with our Thai Chef. Price THB 1,500 per person Inclusive of chef hat, apron, certificate and recipe.

Fruit Carving Class Price THB 1,500 per person. Inclusive of chef hat, apron and certificate.

Daily Happy Hour Beverages Special offer 50% off (Except wine, Corona beer, all spirits by the bottle) Pool Bar 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm & 4.00 pm - 5.00 pm. Prasuthon Restaurant 6.00 pm - 7.00 pm.

Lobby Bar 7.00 pm - 8.00 pm & 10.00 pm - 11.00 pm.

Romantic Private Dining Dining on the beach with private chef and waiter/waitress.

Thai menu THB 5,000 per couple.

International menu THB 6,000 per couple.

Advance reservation required

For further information please telephone 0 7742 9400 E-mail: reservation@norabeachresort.com www.norabeachresort.com

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