May 2017 by Siam Map Co., Ltd.

SAMUI

www.siamwininganddining.com

FREE COPY

MAY 2017

Monday: Thai Buffet & Seafood BBQ on the Beach THB 1,200 Net Thursday: International Buffet & Seafood BBQ on the Beach THB 1,400 Net Sareeraya Villas & Suites

Call + 66 (0) 77 914 333 www.sareeraya.com

Samui? What’s so Special? Samui is a lovely little island. But just what is it that makes it so very popular? Every year more than a million people come to Samui for a getaway break. Why do they come? Well, yes, of course there’s the weather. And then it’s unique; lots and buzz and life in some places, and yet still rustic and unspoiled in others. And also it’s not expensive – far from it. And, more than anything else, that applies to eating out. There’s always been Thai food. But now the quality and diversity of this has increased beyond belief. You can stroll around the traditional Thai food markets – it’s an experience! But now so many 5-star hotels have arrived you don’t need to be that adventurous. Try to find ‘Royal Cuisine’. It’s unlike any other kind of Thai food you’ve come across, with recipes and presentations that have supposedly been handed down from the Royal Courts of old - milder, richer and tantalizingly different. But why limit yourself? We’ve got everything from full-tilt Irish gastro pubs to Tex-Mex eateries. Indian? There’s some of the best anywhere. Korean or Japanese? Of course! And then there’s German, Swiss and French cuisine, and even a couple of Scandinavian restaurants if the fancy takes you. And more. And all of them are so much cheaper than the ones back home that you can afford to try a different one each night – that’s what’s so special about Samui!

Enjoy outstanding Thai and European cuisine from our highly experienced, award winning chef beside the golden sands of Chaweng beach. Perfect for any occasion whether it be dinner with friends or family, or specially set up romantic dinner for two. At Banana Fan Sea Resort

Chaweng Beach Road Tel: 0 7741 3483-6

E-mail: info@bananafansea.com

www.bananafansea.com

SAMUI

www.siamwininganddining.com

FREE COPY

MAY 2017

Monday: Thai Buffet & Seafood BBQ on the Beach THB 1,200 Net Thursday: International Buffet & Seafood BBQ on the Beach THB 1,400 Net Sareeraya Villas & Suites

Call + 66 (0) 77 914 333 www.sareeraya.com

Chaweng Beach Road Tel: 0 7741 3483-6

E-mail: info@bananafansea.com

www.bananafansea.com

Graeme Malley Editor

Preeda Tuajob (Puy) Graphic Designer

Akaphon Phongninlaarphon (Don) Photographer

Seksak Kerdkanno (Klauy) Webmaster

Rob De Wet Feature Writer

Dimitri Waring 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. 2017

Distribution at Bangkok Airport courtesy of Bangkok Airways. Reservation Center: 1771 Samui Chaweng Office: 0 7760 1300 www.bangkokair.com

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EAT YOUR HEART OUT Right on the south coast Beyond The Sea, Siamese Brasserie at ShaSa Resort & Residences offers casual fine dining at its very best. Seeking to get away from it all? Venture off the ring-road in the south of the island and then keep on heading south and you'll come to Shasa, a resort that many residents, even ones who’ve been here for years have never seen. That’s because it’s tucked away down a tiny lane in a very private spot. It’s a remarkably green and verdant here; gentle breezes keep everything cool, and gardens step away down towards a resplendent sea. Shasa is a resort that's held in high esteem, especially by visitors seeking respite from busy Chaweng and its environs. But that's not all. There’s also the food, which attracts not only in-house guests here but many diners from outside.

It’s easy enough to find the resort and its restaurant, Beyond The Sea, but you may wish to avail yourself of the free transport that will take you there. Just call Shasa, and no matter where you are on Samui, they'll send a comfy courtesy van to collect you. There’s no minimum spend, and no minimum number of guests – you could even just come by yourself, in other words. You'll naturally be brought back home afterwards. What could be better? No need to stress out with maps and directions, and no need to have to think about how much/little alcohol you can drink. It’s something that many diners opt for. Once you've arrived, you'll be escorted down to Beyond The Sea, which is housed in a building

all of its own. The restaurant brings you the very best in fine dining but everything’s kept very casual; there's no need to dress up to come here. Opt for a table in the simple but luxurious main air-con dining room, or just outside on the terrace, with its laid-back seating and fan-cooled atmosphere. Take your time browsing the menu, which is a very full one. The cuisine at Beyond The Sea features authentic Thai fare, but there are quite a number of Mediterranean and international dishes, too. Fresh local seafood abounds, as does Australian-sourced beef and lamb. Inordinate care has gone to ensure that everything is as fresh as possible. For example, locally caught

Fresh local fish and seafood, cooked in authentic Thai way by the owner Supattra. Great international wines! Just a few tables in an open Thai sala style restaurant facing a mangrove forest. Tel. 093 2828 777 Open 6:00 pm, closed Sunday & Monday www.facebook.com/supattrathaidining Seatran Ferry

Big Buddha Market

Airport

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seafood comes daily from one of the island’s best markets at Ban Hua Thanon, just a few kilometres away. As the restaurant is part of the resort, it’s open all day long, from 7:00 am until 11:00 pm. If you're an outside guest, you probably won’t be turning up for the breakfast, and it’s more likely you'll be here for either lunch or dinner. Both offer spectacular choices. You'll find in addition children’s and vegetarian menus. There's so much on the menu that it’s hard to recommend any few dishes. For a wonderful selection of Thai food, you could simply opt for any or all of the three signature dishes offered by

Beyond The Sea. You'll need to share with a partner though, as each dish is generously large. The deep-fried sea bass with herbs is definitely a favourite across the country. It’s extremely refreshing on a hot day, and comes with plenty of shallots, shredded ginger, cashew nuts and lemon grass along with a tempting sauce. The signature panang beef is equally good. It’s served in a shallow dish along with plenty of creamy orangey-red sauce, along with gorgeous spheres of fresh mango, which make a great addition. The dish is beautifully nuanced, so much so that it can be eaten with just plain rice. If you like spicier tastes, then the signature gaeng som sea bass is definitely for you. A large portion

of perfectly-prepared fish is accompanied by the famed sauce – if you love Thai food, you'll recognize just why the nation adores this dish so much. However, if you're in the mood for something international, you’ll find it a-plenty in the pages of the menu. There's literally everything: pasta, pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and more fish and meat, all prepared western-style. If you're looking for something and it’s not on the menu, you can request it from the chef. The team can make anything – so long as they have the ingredients to hand – and will be happy to prepare it for you. Similarly, if you’d like to have

a fish or meat dish that’s on the menu but would prefer it to be vegetarian, your chef can arrange this too. It also goes without saying that if you prefer the amount of spice in dishes to be either increased or decreased, then all you have to do is ask. The staff here go to great lengths to make sure their diners are satisfied. You can complement any lunch or dinner with Beyond The Sea’s creatively-made cocktails, and there's also a sophisticated wine list that covers a spectrum of old and new world wines. For something truly special, ring in advance and you can arrange a romantic private dinner or a special barbecue dinner. The staff can also cater

for events such as birthdays, celebrations and of course weddings.

booked. Each class starts at midday and lasts at least two hours.

You'll also find a cooking class in operation here, run by an English-speaking chef. It’s a great way to learn how to make dishes that will make you popular back at home. In each class you'll learn how to make a starter, two main courses and a Thai dessert – there's a special cooking class menu for the dishes. And once you’ve finished, you'll be able to eat what you’ve made; you'll be surprised at just how tasty it all is. Simply ring a day in advance to reserve your place at the class, which is run whenever there's demand. Numbers are however kept small and the class still runs if it’s just one person who’s

With great chefs at the helm and a wonderful ambience, this south coast restaurant is definitely worth a visit. And thanks to the free round-trip service, there’s no reason not to go. You'll be pleased that you did.

Dimitri Waring For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7791 3888. www.shasahotels.com

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 & Villas Chaweng Beach. Free round trip transfer from Chaweng, Bophut and Choeng Mon. For reservation please call 0 7723 1500-8

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Thailand’s Greatest Recipes Make it yourself: ( Khao pad gai, or chicken fried rice. )

One of the easiest of all dishes to make, fried rice nonetheless seems to daunt many a cook, and there are a few things to know before you reach perfection. Most important, don’t worry about having fine ingredients to hand; popular as the dish is all round Asia, it’s invariably made when there are leftovers to use up. In fact, it can only really be made from them: the main mistake many people make is to start from scratch with making a nice batch of fresh rice. It doesn’t work. The rice ends up tasting rather mushy, and is no comparison to anything that a street vendor would make. So the first rule is to have some day-old rice that’s ready to use. The reason for this is that the grains of leftover rice are firmer and the excess moisture has all evaporated, making it easy to separate. If you use fresh rice, there’s simply too much moisture and once you start frying it, you'll see it simply turns to mush. It’s not inedible, but won’t taste as good. If you have no leftover rice to spare, then you can get away with making some rice and letting it cool for a few hours. Once you get in the habit of keeping your leftover rice either in the fridge or freezer, then you'll never be short of a good meal. Each Asian country has its own variations on fried rice. In China, for example, you'll find plenty of sweet sausage used, along with ginger and

scrambled eggs that are folded into a very tempting mix. You can also find this variation in Thailand, due to there being so many Thais of Chinese origin. If you're in Korea, your fried rice won’t be just leftover rice but old kimchi as well, which results in a piquant dish. Everybody has of course heard of nasi goreng, which is the Indonesian version and relies on a soy sauce that’s sweetened by palm sugar. Sometimes chilli paste is also used, and nasi goreng is popular not just at lunch or for dinner, but for breakfast, too. But what about in Thailand? Here, there are many variations within the country with perhaps the most formal being ‘khao op sapparot’, or fried rice that is served in a half pineapple that’s topped with curried crab meat. This is a special treat, however, and most people won’t eat this as they go about their day. The general rule for Thai fried rice is to have that trio of tastes, fish sauce, lime and chilli. These are the basics, but again, you'll need to look in the fridge and see what you can add to the mix. Virtually anything can go in - one particularly international neighbour of mine swears by the marginal additions of miso paste and marmalade! Thai fried rice is often classified as a dish from

Central Thailand. In Thai, ‘khao’ means rice and ‘pad’ means stir-fried. As you can see, nothing complicated about that. In Thailand the best rice to use is jasmine, and it’s very common to add in chicken, shrimp or pork. You'll also find onions and garlic and sometimes diced tomatoes and carrots. It’s not a spicy dish and if you want to heat things up, then simply add some flaked chilli. (If you're eating in the kind of fast food place where fried rice is commonly to be found, there’ll almost certainly be a bowl of chilli flakes available, just begging you to turn your rice dish into a bowl of fire. Be cautious.) Just as with a pizza, you can add extra ingredients to your fried rice. This is ideal if you want to clear out your fridge, or if you have small quantities of different foods that you want to use up. Any kind of meat will do, just make sure it’s cooked before you use it. Ham and sausage can be also added, just cut up small. For vegetables you can use almost anything and you'll find peas, carrots, corn, tomato, bell pepper and broccoli are used. Fruit can also be added, but this may add too much sweetness to the dish. You'll often find pineapple is thrown in and sometimes raisins. Thai fried rice really is a cinch to make – just a tad more difficult than instant noodles. In 15

minutes it’s on the table, ready to eat. No special skills are required and no tricky ingredients. It’s a perfect recipe if you're learning to cook Thai. Chicken Fried Rice Ingredients: (makes about 4-5 servings)

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Add the remaining oil, followed by the garlic, onion and chicken. Keep stirring quickly, until the chicken is completely cooked.

• 4 cups leftover cooked rice that’s been left in the fridge. Do not use any rice that you think might taste off, or which has turned greasy. • 2 cups thinly sliced chicken breast • 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated • 1 small onion, sliced • 1/4 cup vegetable oil • 1/4 cup soy sauce, which can be flavoured • Sugar to taste (up to a tablespoon is fine) • 5 eggs • 5 green onions, chopped • pepper to taste (best to use powdered form, rather than ground) • chopped up coriander, a few slices of cucumber as a garnish • a wedge or two of lime, chilli flakes

Now add the rice and stir. Be prepared to add a little more oil if necessary.

Directions: Use a wok if you have one, otherwise a heavy-duty frying pan. Heat the wok or pan over high heat. Add half of the oil, then when hot, add the eggs, scramble until almost virtually cooked,

Dimitri Waring

BEACHFRONT DINING & COCKTAILS RockPool at Kanda Residences is a spectacular beachfront restaurant and bar situated just five minutes from Chaweng For reservations or more information call +66 77 234 500 www.rockpoolsamui.com Facebook: rockpool.kohsamui Daily high tea from 12pm and happy hour with buy one get one free on selected drinks from 5pm until 7pm. 4

then push to the side of the wok. If using a pan, then cook completely, and remove.

Now pour in the soy sauce, immediately followed by the sugar. Keep stirring. Finally, throw in the green onion and the pepper. (If you have previously removed the scrambled eggs, now’s the moment to put them back into the pan.) Give a last stir. Serve immediately. Don’t forget to add the accompaniments. Place a few leaves of coriander on top of the rice, add the lime wedges and the sliced cucumber.

Treetop, Exclusive, Gastronomic! There are some great places to dine on the island, but only one in-the-trees experience at Anantara Lawana’s ‘Tree Tops’.

Are you looking for one of the most spectacular places in Thailand to dine? Somewhere that the location, setting and ambiance are unique and without parallel? Where you can enjoy the finest of imported ingredients, each carefully cooked to perfection by an international award-winning chef? If so, then look no further. It’s right on your doorstep, in north Chaweng. It’s exclusive. It’s romantic. And it’s world class. In fact, you could say, this place is the ‘tops’. I’m taking about the very exclusive Tree Tops restaurant at Anantara Lawana Resort & Spa at the very northern end of Chaweng Beach Road. The Anantara Group is not a name that’s on everyone’s lips, although perhaps it should be. It’s hard to believe that the group only opened its first 5-star resort in 2001, in Thailand’s Hua Hin. Since that time, the Anantara collection has grown to encompass over 40 luxury hotels and resorts in city, island and desert settings across Asia, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean and Africa, and is operating under the umbrella of the venerated Minor International group, one of the largest hospitality groups in the Asia Pacific region. I could go on! But suffice it to say that Anantara Lawana is special. It’s one of the few top-class

resorts on the island which are not only effortlessly spacious, but also the trees and gardens have been able to flourish and mature to such an extent that it’s all long-since become picture-postcard perfect. This is what you’ve always imagined a lush tropical landscape to be. It’s breathtaking, and not least because all those gigantic rocks and trees are everywhere, casting shade and dominating the estate. And that’s where you’ll find Tree Tops restaurant. Perched in amongst several of those huge trees – literally! In the west we think of a restaurant as being a group of rooms joined together. But we’re in the tropics. And so here the restaurant is a series of teak platforms built up in the branches of the trees, each at a different level, and linked by rising and falling wooden walkways. And on each of those platforms there’s a spacious open-sided teak-framed ‘house’; except it’s really just a sturdy roof to keep out the rain and the sun. As soon as you come through and out of the lobby at Anantara Lawana, time seems to slow. There’s a whole different dimension here; colours are brighter, shadows deeper, and the massive vines around the gigantic tree trunks against the rocks demand a camera at every turn. The

restaurant is interesting, in that you can enter it at either end of the tree-top walkway, from which you can look down on the sea and curve of the bay. There are eight well-separated tree houses here, each able to seat a maximum of six people, but with house number 7 being the most sought-after, as it’s the highest and commands the best views. Both the cuisine and the chef here are world-class. Malaysian born Azizskandar Awang is a modest and unassuming man, despite the fact that he’s won international awards and run the kitchens in 5-star resorts (for names such as Marriott and Hilton) in Malaysia and Thailand. And although his background is in classical French cuisine, he’s adopted a personal approach to creating his international menu, lightening all the sauces and employing sous vide techniques extensively. The à la carte menu is impressive. The starters are each perfect little works of art, not only delicious but also beautifully presented and arranged. Then there’s Atlantic salmon, live Canadian lobster, braised Australian beef, Mediterranean lamb and melt-in-your-mouth Wagyu tenderloin. And not only is there a sommelier readily on hand to help with the

choice of wines but also a ‘salt guru’, too, who’ll point you to a complementary gourmet salt (from a choice of six) to enhance your meal. And, on top of that, there’s also a knife menu of five different blades, according to what you are eating. But all this gastronomic delight pales in comparison with the two simply sublime options of wine-paired candlelight degustation menus. Both are five-courses, and with your own ‘butler’ always ready in the background. And the ‘Premium Candlelight Degustation’ deploys only the rarest and most luxurious of prime ingredients. Such as the delicate ‘Hokkaido Scallop – with Carrot and Cumin Velouté and White Truffle Oil’, the succulent ‘Grain-fed Australian Strip Loin – with Lentil du puy, Creamy Sweet Corn, Porcini Mushroom Puree, and Natural Jus’, or the tender ‘Braised Lamb Shoulder – with Pink Lady-apple, Edamame Beans, Glazed Baby Vegetables and Lamb Reduction’. I’d suggest that the best way to time it would be to get here just before the sun is setting, relax, and enjoy the view and the happy hour between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm (50% off standard cocktails!). Or take advantage of the wizard

resident mixologist and the innovative and original cocktails created. Then effortlessly flow into one of the finest dining experiences on the island, as the sun goes down. It’s exclusive and limited to two sittings, one from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm and the other from 9:00 pm to midnight. Booking is a must (and if you want tree house 7, do it right away!) This is an experience you’ll never forget. Perched up high, in a tree house, overlooking the twinkling lights on the water below and bathed in the soft light of dozens of candles, enjoying and savouring a repast fit for an emperor. It’s so special it’s just perfect for an anniversary. A proposal of marriage? (What place could be better!) A birthday? Or maybe simply your last night on the island. This is the place to come. It’s not only exclusive – it’s treetop and gastronomic, too!

Rob De Wet For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7791 3900. www.anantara.com

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

Tel: 077 430 030, 077 245 035 www.kruabophut.com

Free Parking available at The

Wharf!!

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Developing Don One of Samui’s best-known culinary personalities is on the move again – we take a look at what 2017 has in store for Don Lawson.

“It’s a heavy-duty job! You’re working 12 hours a day, and staying late every night, you’ll never see your wife or friends, and you can forget about a social life, never mind going to parties! Right. You’ve got five minutes to tell me if you want it or not.” These were the words that were spoken to Don Lawson way back when he was offered his first appointment as a chef, in his native Canberra. And that was more years ago than he cares to remember! Today, just about everyone who’s been working in the Thai hospitality sector will have heard his name, if not know him personally. Don landed on Samui in 2003, having been transferred from the 5-star Dusit Thani Dubai to what was the then-named Santiburi Dusit on the north coast in Maenam. There’s sure been a lot of water under the bridge since then. But now, once again, that familiar offer is ringing in his ears. Don spent the best part of a decade on Samui, but never really let go of it, and now he’s back again. He’s a cheerful and light-hearted individual who handles things with a feather-but-firm touch. But he’s probably best-known for his long and committed stint working at Anantara Bo Phut, where he ran the kitchen from 2004 to 2012. During this period, he also lent his time and effort

selflessly to local organisations and charities. The Samui Culinary Circle is a loosely networked group of people who are all associated with the food and beverage scene on Samui. They have regular meetings, sponsor new chefs, host different sorts of F&B promotions, exchange and update news – as well as also engaging themselves with various deserving and charitable causes. And Don was the much-liked and well respected chairman from 2007 to 2012. What caused him to withdraw was the opportunity to involve himself with the opening of another of Anantara’s new developments, the then upcoming Anantara Rasananda over on Koh Pha-ngan. He was invited on board as executive chef, and established, sorted, settled and took care of the kitchen there until 2016. At which point he returned to Samui to spend more time with his wife, Khun Pim, and his new-born son, Jayden. “I still felt an empathy with the aims of the Anantara Group,” Don told me, “and didn’t consider it a break from them. Rather, I needed time with my family at this period, and they were completely supportive in this.” During this time the Anantara Rasananda property was under the larger umbrella of the Rasa Hospitality Management Group. Don had

sustained good relationships within the Anantara ethos, and had gained a capable reputation for his management relations with support staff. Not to mention that he had established his competence by already having been on-board at three pre-openings, being solely responsible for fitting-out the empty spaces where the new kitchens would be, bringing in new staff, establishing menus, and so on. So although it came as a surprise to Don, nobody else was fazed when he heard the offer to begin working with Rasa Hospitality that began with the familiar phrase . . . “It’s a heavy-duty job!” Don had been offered the post of Cluster Culinary Manager, initially being in charge of, and managing, five properties within the Rasa Group; three of them locally, but the other two in Chiang Mai and Pai, way up in the northern region of the Kingdom. “My first reaction was sheer fright!” Don grinned. “It was a huge responsibility. It meant that I’d no longer be in the kitchen full time. I’d be way up the management ladder, liaising with regional and general managers, and responsible for overseeing all the food and beverage operations, including the restaurants, in five separate locations. But it quickly became an absorbing challenge.”

For three months Don involved himself with visiting the sites and acquainting himself with all the aspects of their operation, from the number of rooms in relation to the F&B budget and staffing, to the accounting and balance sheets, through to the other extreme of being on board and able to actually plan the layout of the soon-to-be constructed kitchen at Buri Rasa Chiang Mai. “Usually an executive chef will walk into a kitchen space that’s been designed by an architect,” Don mused. “But here I’m going to be able to plan things that every chef really needs – such as refrigerated drawers at the cooking stations, food storage areas and cleaning facilities, and a fully equipped show kitchen that will be dual-used for cooking classes.” And then, early in 2017, Don came on board full-time. “I’m initially based on Samui,” he continued, “working between Buri Rasa Samui and the Privilege Hotel in Bangrak, where I’m involved with each for two days every week. And then I spend four days a month over at Buri Rasa in Koh Pha-ngan. But I additionally need to head up north to Pai Village and Farm, as well as having a design input (at the moment) in the planning and construction of Buri Rasa in Chiang Mai.”

Busy busy busy! But with Don’s ability to establish empathetic working relations with his staff, it’s all coming together nicely. He’ spent some time setting up networking staff groups on social media, and established staff training routines across the board in such aspects as hygiene, menu planning and elements of personal interaction (and that’s more than just remembering everyone’s names!). Plus he’s also introduced a series of guest chefs who specialise in different aspects of international cuisine, to appear and stay across his resorts, passing on their skills – all this and much, much more. It’s early days yet. Things are really just beginning to come together in a coherent overview which will eventually take shape as some sort of group policy. Right now he’s evaluating his initial workings and revising and extending them all – everything’s being approached from the outside-in, in a fresh and formative way. But, then, that’s only what you’d expect from one such as Don Lawson. One way and another, his career, and its new direction, is developing very nicely!

Rob De Wet

Fine Beachside Dining with Spectacular Sunsets

THE SIAM RESIDENCE B o u t i q u e

R e s o r t

Thai & International cuisine in Lipa Noi / Koh Samui Phone: +66 (0) 77 420 008 | samui@siamresidence.com | www.siamresidence.com

6 www.siamwininganddining.com

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Chilling Through the Ages Where would Thailand be without ice cubes? A long time ago now, notorious American journalist Hunter S. Thompson was staying in a sweltering tropical bay. It was late at night, he was drunk, and the ice cubes were all gone. There were no convenience stores nearby, no bars, restaurants, not even friendly neighbours. But he did have some friends on the opposite side of the bay. The type of people who though they might not have a phone, had plenty of ice-cubes. Thompson had an extraordinarily powerful sound system which was already rigged up, and luckily for him (these were pre-karaoke days), a microphone. He describes how, as he spoke into the microphone, his voice all urgency, the sound thundered out across the bay, a deep bass that shook up the neighbourhood: “Ice cubes ... ice cubes ... ice cubes ... we need ice cubes.” He recounts how his willing friends brought them over. Or maybe they were frightened by someone with so much determination. It illustrates a point: running out of ice cubes isn’t tolerated by everyone. If you're in charge of a bar it’s one of those things that just can’t be allowed to happen. And usually, it doesn’t. How often have you ordered a drink and the staff tell you they've run out of ice cubes? I’ll warrant: probably never. Ice cubes are everywhere, and as ephemeral as they are, unable to exist at normal room temperature, they seem to appear out of nowhere. Perhaps because they have to; nobody wants to go without them. They're so plentiful that you might suppose there's an ice cube industry. And despite having no special name to designate it, and without being formally recognized by most of us, there definitely is. The ice industry stretches back a long, long way. From the first moment the first fridge came into existence, right? No. It turns out to have a far more ancient pedigree. At the court of Constantinople, the nobility, even in the desiccating heat of the summer, could enjoy icy drinks. They relied on ice houses, special buildings that would store winter ice and keep it solid for months on end. During the winter, ice and snow would be taken into the ice house and insulated against melting with straw or sawdust. The ice houses might have been far from the city, but a large block of ice could easily survive the journey. However the Ottomans in their elaborate palaces weren’t the first people to enjoy chilled drinks; they were simply continuing a time-honoured tradition; for them it was nothing really special. In Mesopotamia, just over 3,500 years ago, a scribe chiselled onto a stone tablet the fact that his king had commissioned an ice house, and added that ‘never before had any king’ built such a thing. The Chinese got into refrigeration some 500 years after that. They stored their ice in pits or in mounds for later use. By the time the Greeks and Romans got their empires going, ice production was already old history; Alexander the Great used ice pits around 300 BC while Romans used them in the 3rd century AD.

and buy yourself a massive slab of ice, which would act as a primitive fridge. Not many people know that ice houses persevered well into recent times. Ice merchants in the USA started selling groceries and cold beer at ice houses, and people gradually turned up with more and more requests. So was born the modern convenience store. The 7-Eleven chain started as ice houses in the 1930s, in the Dallas area. Even today there are still ice houses in Texas which double as bars. Meanwhile in Thailand, ice hit the ground running (or maybe sliding), and was popular from the moment the first ice cube came into being in Bangkok. Khun Lert Sreshthaputa, more commonly known as Khun Nai Lert, a much-loved figure in the capital, was the first person to produce ice cubes in Thailand. Commercially produced ice was so strange a concept that most people believed it could not actually be made. Disbelief and curiosity prompted Khun Nai Lert to display the ice. Many people came to see it, and well-known scholar Phraya Anuman Rajdhon later reported, ‘Most people who had never seen it refused to believe that there was such a thing as frozen water. Ice had to be put on a tray and exhibited for the people to see at a museum. Some people even asked to take small cubes of ice for those back at home to see.’ Khun Nai Lert’s ice was wildly successful; he went on to build the tallest commercial building in Bangkok, in 1927 – Thailand’s first ever ice factory. Ice had formally arrived and was definitely here to stay. Ice soon began to pop up everywhere, arriving a while later in Samui, a barely-visited island that originally was just home to a few thousand farmers and fishing folk. As the tourist industry started to get off the ground, ice cubes were definitely needed and these days, tons of them are made daily. You might wonder how the ice actually gets to your drink. It’s all thanks to the ice factories that serve the entire populace along with all the holidaymakers. Water from wells is filtered and goes into ice generators, in which the water is frozen in vertical tubes within a surrounding casing - the freezing chamber. Once the water’s frozen, the tubes are warmed, causing the ice to drop. It’s then collected and distributed by truck. Most of the ice you'll come across on Samui is of this type, and that’s why you'll find the ice cubes are mostly cylinders of ice. On your holiday you'll probably see a few people drinking lukewarm drinks, and they'll tell you they're worried about falling sick. There no need to spend your holiday like this. The cylindrical ice cubes all come from clean, filtered water that’s been frozen in factories. It’s safe to drink, in other words. Be more wary of shaved ice, which comes from large blocks, which may not have been hygienically handled.

Ice houses were widely built, and were used until refrigerators became commercialized. In the UK, ice houses were introduced in the late 17th century – travellers had seen them in use in Italy and the idea caught on. It was only the rich, of course, who could afford them. Later, much of the populace enjoyed ice cubes that came from Sweden and Norway, and ice imports continued right into the 1950s.

In a strange parallel with the past, many Thais requiring small amounts of ice, perhaps just enough to put in a bucket along with a few bottles of beer head not for their own fridge, but rather for the nearest 7-Eleven, where there’s always a chest full of ice to be had. Just like the old days in America.

Meanwhile over in the USA, ice houses were common, with ice being transported throughout the Caribbean region. Back then you could turn up with a box lined with straw or even seaweed

Dimitri Waring

MUST TRY THAI CUISINE FOR A TRULY AUTHENTIC GASTRONOMIC EXPERIENCE

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Making a Beeline

Chef Bee at Silavadee Pool Spa Resort homes in on what makes good food great. Enjoy the results in a beautiful setting.

Silavadee is a Thai word that translates as ‘beautiful rocks’, which is quite a humble way of describing the resort’s magnificent setting. It’s located on a headland in the midst of a lush garden dotted with boulders, trees and all manner of tropical foliage. Every part of it, not just the rocks, is beautiful. And then there’s the sea. The resort, situated up a lane close to Lamai, overlooks one of the most private bays on the island, a sweeping cove backed by still more trees. Not surprisingly, the resort is favoured by couples, families and others seeking seclusion and respite from a frantic world. Many resort owners would be content with just the setting, but at Silavadee, the management care very much about food and accommodation, too. Both are on the luxurious side, with beautifully appointed villas and rooms, and then there are the resort’s dining outlets that afford great value and the most tempting of foods. Chef Jumpol Hiran is the executive chef at Silavadee, a professional who’s had two decades honing his skills. More usually known as Chef Bee, he's an approachable figure, as are all the staff in the hotel, and is able to provide just about anything his guests might require, whether it’s a romantic dinner or a full-scale wedding reception. He’s very gifted when it comes to Thai cuisine, but is equally at home when it comes to preparing international food – he worked in Cyprus for a while, and has also gained considerable knowledge of Scandinavian cuisine.

A whole range of restaurants is to be found at Silavadee; each has great views and wonderful food. ‘Sun’ specializes in barbecue food and is an al fresco deck with beautiful sea views. It includes a pool bar, too. ‘Moon’, meanwhile, is a modern take on a teak dining room, an all-day dining venue offering breakfast, lunch and dinner. The accent here is on informal dining with extensive international and Mediterranean cuisine. Head up to the building’s flat roof and you'll have a panoramic view across the sea, ideal for cocktails. You can enjoy a select tapas menu here at ‘Star’, as it’s called, but also enjoy gourmet dinners at just four tables sunk into an infinity pool. For couples, this must surely be one of the island’s finest romantic dining opportunities. For lovers of Thai food, head for ‘The Height’. With its two air-conditioned sections and extensive out-door terraces, it’s very popular. On the menu are some very traditional Thai treats, along with a few western takes on old favourites – think massaman curry, but made with lamb. On Tuesday nights Chef Bee puts on an amazingly satisfying Thai buffet here, called Taste of Siam. Phone ahead to reserve your table and avoid disappointment. Being responsible for all the food in the resort is enough to keep most chefs busy, but Chef Bee’s always on the lookout for new ways to please his diners, and often gives the menus an update, adding in completely new dishes or making adjustments to old favourites.

Just recently he's come up with some amazingly mouth-watering innovations for lunch times at Silavadee. Try the Silavadee Premium Burger, which is a Wagyu delight along with foie gras. It comes with French fries and is a filling choice for anyone who’s hungry. Continuing the Wagyu theme, try the skewer which is replete with Marbling 4, a very tender beef. This comes with barbecue sauce and French fries. Or how about a brunch-style croissant? But this one’s not the casual accompaniment to a cup of coffee; it’s filled with smoked salmon along with onion and dill. Perhaps it harkens back to his Scandinavian influences, but it’s no less welcome out here in tropical Thailand. Something that’s unique on Samui, if not in the whole of Thailand, is the watermelon feta salad, which may appear to look like a dessert but which turns out to be an appetizer. It’s light, summery and cooling and one of those instances where certain fruits and cheeses go together inordinately well. Special dinner treats are to be had at Moon. Chef Bee and his skilled team have some exquisite dishes that you won’t want to miss. A must is the whole, poached lobster in red pepper cheese sauce. It strikes just the right balance between savoury and spice notes. The snow fish accompanied by couscous salad is yet one more outstanding dish, this time redolent of North African coastlines.

Many ingredients are imported from the west, but a plethora of domestic products are carefully chosen from suppliers on the island, where possible, or from Thai farmers elsewhere in the country. Everything’s guaranteed to be utterly fresh – you'll see this as soon as you order your first dish. Salads and vegetables are all crisp and vibrant in taste. Small touches abound. For example – not many culinary teams bother with this – just look at the French fries they serve here. Not only do they come perfectly prepared but they arrive at your table hot, and not lukewarm. Who wants mushy mulched-down fries after all? And to keep them as hot for as long as possible they come served not slung on your plate but standing to attention in a glass receptacle. “That’s not for decoration alone,” says Khun Bee. “The glass serves to keep the fries warm, and for longer than they would be normally.” Unless you're in the restaurant business yourself, you probably won’t even notice half the ways the team at Silavadee has thought out how to please its diners. Silavadee also has something that few other resorts can boast: its own bakery. You can see it in operation as you head through Moon towards your table. It’s quietly yet continuously productive, and makes everything from early-morning croissants through to luxurious pastries for dinner. Silavadee could just have relied instead on outside help – but they chose not to. Setting up a bakery is hard; running it efficiently is harder still – but it’s a great thing to

do as diners can be sure that all the baked goods are incredibly fresh. The month of May always marks the anniversary of Silavadee’s founding; this time it’s the resort’s ninth birthday, and there will be various promotions and celebrations through the month to mark the special occasion. Check out the website (see below) and the resort’s Facebook page for updates; good times are guaranteed! Incidentally, if you're coming from Lamai as a party of two or more, or four if from Chaweng or Bophut, then the resort throws in a complimentary pick-up service, though you're advised to book in advance. Whether you're hankering for some pâtisserie, tapas, a memorably good lunch or dinner, or just some very fine sundown cocktails, Silavadee covers a lot of ground when it comes to fine food and does it all exceptionally well. Thanks to Khun Bee and his team, the resort is definitely on Samui’s culinary map of places to go.

Dimitri Waring For reservations or further information telephone 0 7796 0555. www.silavadeeresort.com

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Breakthrough Brunch Coast Beach Club & Bistro offers a Sunday brunch that goes well beyond the ordinary.

Sabienglae restaurants offer traditional fresh seafood and cuisine in an authentic southern Thai style. Come and enjoy our unique dishes, many of which you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find elsewhere on the island, in a relaxing atmosphere. An experience to truly complete your holiday.

Sabienglae Restaurant

The Wharf Samui, Fishermansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Village For reservation please call 077 332 651

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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

Brunch. The word conjures up alluring food served neither too early, nor too late, more or less just when you want it. Along with perhaps a delicious coffee, shake or even a cocktail. Spanning two meals, brunch has you covered, whatever your needs and fancies. And what better than to indulge yourself with a luxury brunch than when you are visiting or residing on a tropical island? Brunch might seem to some to be an urban affair, but once you see it set up under the palms fronting a blue sea, then you'll agree that it’s just made for the summery, idyllic days of Thailand. Samui is good at brunch – it’s popping up more and more at the island’s hotels, restaurants and beach clubs. Once hard to find, now the challenge is to make sure you're attending one that meets all your needs. What sets apart the brunch at Coast Beach Club & Bistro, is the fact that the event is geared towards socializing rather than partying. Though there's music it’s in the form of a solo acoustic guitarist, Michel Boghers, who sets a mood that's laid-back. As you may know, some brunches are way more party-oriented, where the music’s loud and the vibe is a kind of daytime version of a night-club. Those who attend the brunch at Coast are after something quite different: the chance to socialize, enjoy a very leisurely few hours or just unwind after perhaps a busy week at work. Incidentally, the brunch is attended by quite a few general managers of the island’s resorts – just the kind of people who recognize exactly what constitutes great food and drink. Coast is located at Centara Grand Beach Resort Samui, one of the island’s premier resorts. You'll

also find quite a few children having brunch here, as it’s ideal for them, too. What’s the draw for them? For a start there's so much good food that even the pickiest of eaters will find something they like, especially as they have their own menu, too, making life a lot easier. But just as important, with the resort’s privilege card, they and their parents get to use the swimming pool, which is one of the largest on Samui. The card also entitles holders to a hefty 25% discount. The food is truly magnificent. Whereas some brunches can be summed up as a late and rather apologetic breakfast, this one’s a real treat. It contains dozens of items, each prepared to perfection. Although brunch is too often simply a buffet with over-reliance on chafing dishes, here it’s rather different. Wherever appropriate, dishes are cooked to order, and there's a whole array of these. So, for example, if you want a slice of pizza, you simply order it – you won’t find it waiting out in the hot sun becoming ever more gloopy in the heat. Simply attract the attention of the staff who will be walking around, and they'll pass your order onto the chef. There are all sorts of dishes that you can order, including a mixed bruschetta with goat’s cheese, wild mushrooms and beet, then various selections of beef, chicken, soft-shell crab and pulled pork, spaghetti carbonara or a fried green papaya salad with prawns. You'll find a salad bar where everything’s kept cool and crisp and where you can find classic salads, Moroccan couscous, Asian-style vegetables as well as cured salmon. Seafood is also to be found aplenty at Coast, and you can

savour delicacies such as local prawns, New Zealand mussels, oysters and squid and snow crab. There’s also a live paella station and freshly-caught local fish that are grilled to your liking. Speaking of grilled food, meat lovers are well-catered for, and they'll find roasted lamb shoulder, beef picanha, strip loin and short ribs, breast of duck, roasted chicken and all manner of sausages. There are a variety of different sauces to go with the meats including béarnaise, mint, apple, red wine and mushroom sauces. Drinks abound, and there’s an aperitif station featuring Ketel One vodka Bloody Marys along with all the condiments. If you're more in the mood for breakfast, then the brunch offers many different styles of eggs that you can order, from a simple omelette to truffle scrambled egg on brioche or smoked salmon with eggs. Almost ten different breads are served at the brunch. You'll also find a selection of cheeses, cured hams and meats. Whatever you decide to eat, keep in mind that Coast has some extremely decadent desserts waiting for you. These include a live station featuring handmade Sicilian cannoli, tiramisu, rum babas and profiteroles. Coast is managed by Guido Campigotto, a seasoned restaurateur. He’s an Italian from London who ran several top-notch restaurants there, before moving to Samui to join Centara. He’s set up Coast to be a very relaxed venue offering as he says, “top level food and drink – but at affordable prices.” Not content with just that, he’s extremely thoughtful when it comes to

all the different types of guests that he welcomes. You'll seen this when you look at the brunch menu, which uses no less than five distinct symbols that mark various food-stuffs. Foods that contain alcohol, gluten, pork or nuts are all highlighted, as are items that are suitable for vegetarians. So, no matter if you have food allergies or dietary restrictions, Coast is definitely one place where you don’t need to wonder about what, exactly, is in your food. Coast’s Family Sunday Brunch is served from 12:30 pm until 4:30 pm, Sundays only, of course. Prices start at 1,590 baht (excluding 10% service charge and 7% VAT). This includes free flow soft drinks. Children below the age of 12 are half price. (There are other price tiers including alcoholic beverages, cocktails and even a half bottle of Veuve Cliquot.) Coast is open daily for lunch and dinner and everything in between. And then there’s the entertainment too; Coast offers a fire show on Mondays, a DJ on Tuesdays, violin and singer on Wednesdays, acoustic guitar and singing on Thursdays and a DJ on Friday and Saturdays. With its wonderful seaside location in one of Samui’s longest-established resorts, amazing food and a tropical ambience, Coast ticks all the boxes when it comes to excellent dining – and, of course, great family times.

Dimitri Waring For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7723 0500. www.coast-beach-club.com

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The Curious Staple Rice is actually one of the strangest basic foodstuffs in the world, and vital to the Thai economy! Rice? What’s strange about rice? What is this guy on about? Rice is rice. There are two or three basic sorts, and 33% of the world’s population eat it every day. You can boil it, steam it or fry it. And that’s it. So what’s the fuss about? Ah, well, yes. Except . . . nothing is ever as it seems. Once you start poking around, looking at things a bit more closely and digging under the surface, there are always a few surprises to be found. It’s certainly true that rice is the staple diet of some 2.5 billion people. And everyone’s first thought is that we’re talking about the Asian races here. But then there’s also a large belt of the southern part of North America, quite a few of the less-developed nations in South America and a large part of the Caribbean, too. And in the last 20 years the consumption of rice in Middle Eastern countries has similarly doubled – and that’s something that can’t be said about other staples like pasta, grain or potatoes. But here’s the first oddity. Rice is biologically classified as one of over 10,000 types of edible grass. And, no, I’m not going to get into all the

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scientific names and jargon; we’ll keep it simple. But out of all these thousands of types of rice, only three sorts are eaten universally. They are easily categorised into long, medium or short grain varieties of one particular type, with the most-readily identifiable variety belonging to the ‘oryza’ family. And then, persisting with simplicity, there are three-and-a-half colour variations on the shelves to go along with this. Three-and-a-half? Yep. There’s the usual creamy-grey colour (and more about this in a moment). There’s brown rice. And there’s red rice. And to that you can add the dark varieties such as ‘black’ rice, ‘forbidden’ rice, or ‘wild’ rice. Although these last few are not the usual run-of-the-mill mainstream rice, but more properly fall into that obscure hinterland of ‘edible grasses’. But to talk about colour is to confuse the whole issue of ‘rice’ in general – just try Googling ‘rice’ and see how much each of the stories vary from each other. Because (and this is where the fun begins to start) when the rice comes out of the field it is a mid-brown in colour. And then that very same rice ends up on

the supermarket shelves and restaurant tables as anything between a pale brown and a pure, startling white. The simple fact of the matter is that all of the Asian nations culturally insist on eating white rice, and it’s quite a study to get down to the roots of this. White rice is the whole grain brown rice with every bit of nourishment stripped away, reduced to pure vegetable starch, and with nothing in the way of any nourishment left behind. So the first major puzzlement in the ‘simple’ story of rice is, why on earth those generally poor and not-so-well-nourished Asian nations would want to throw away a universal source of vitamins and protein? It’s insane. China is not so difficult to figure. In the 19th century, the British East India Company made culturally devastating inroads into the fabric of Chinese society. Along with their perceived refinement and ritual, they brought with them potatoes and white bread, both of which were alien to the Chinese, but came to represent expensive icons of prosperity and social

standing. Also, the British took Chinese rice and milled it down to a white inner layer, removing the essential oils and making it no longer susceptible to mildew and rot, and thus practical to transport over long distances by sea. White became desirable. Thailand didn’t have to suffer the British. But Thai society is driven by appearances and perceived social status. For many hundreds of years Thai citizens wore a very obvious brand of their standing in society (and it’s still true today). The upper classes worked indoors in managerial or administrative positions. The lower classes laboured outside in the fields. White skin represented not only social status, but also the colour white was an icon of purity and cleanliness. Brown rice was, and still is, perceived in some way as being ‘dirty’ or ‘impure’. And so the rice was carefully separated from its protective hull, then milled to remove the outer layer of bran and nourishment, then finally polished to make it look as glossy and pure as a million little pearls. Ironically, the only sector of the community that gets to enjoy the

full nourishment of brown rice is those who are imprisoned in the nation’s jails. They get the ‘dirty’ rice. But hold on! There are other reasons too! Brown or wild rice needs to be cooked for a lot longer – up to 40 minutes. No way is a busy Thai eatery going to mess with that. Then you need to spend time actually chewing brown rice; the inner bran layer is thicker and slightly nutty in texture. Nah. That’ll never catch on. Plus you can’t make sticky rice out of it – so that’s 30 million farmers and their extended families out of the frame right away. Getting even sillier, talk to an American and he’ll include ‘instant microwave rice’ and ‘boil-in-the-bag’ rice in with the rest. And that comes down to ‘Uncle Ben’. He might not be exactly a figurehead in Thailand, but in other parts of the world he’s become a positive credit to his rice!

Rob De Wet

Time-honoured Treats

Krua Chao Baan offers traditional Samui food, along with plenty of other delicacies.

Samui has become quite modern in just a few years; before that it used to be very traditional, the kind of place that hardly changed over decades. The same applied to the food. Once fairly limited, nowadays it offers every kind of fare possible, all of it cooked to perfection by world-class chefs, who may be Thai, or who may have come from anywhere in the world. Yet before it became a holiday destination, the island still abounded in great recipes and dishes. The Gulf of Siam cuisine in this latitude was mostly southern-style Thai, with a few fiery dishes and plenty of seafood. And then there were the dishes that were even more local, being confined to just the islands of Samui, Koh Pha-ngan and Koh Tao, which were then only very sparsely inhabited. Many visitors to Samui these days believe that most of the local ways and traditions have been totally lost. But this is simply not true. Ask a local person where to eat local-style food and they'll be able to tell you. The island’s roots remain intact – despite all the changes. And those in search of the old island ways can do no better than pay a visit to a restaurant that’s stood in exactly the same spot for 17 years; Krua Chao Baan is on the ring-road, just after Wat Sila-ngu, as you head south from Lamai to Ban Hua Thanon. The restaurant’s name is written in Thai only, but you can’t miss it; just look for a group of thatched roofs. The restaurant is composed of several large, open-sided salas, which are perfect both for letting in the breezes and for views of the sea. Sit out on the terrace and you'll be just a few metres away from the waves. Krua Chao Baan is a great spot for eating and is appreciated by everyone, locals, foreign residents and holidaymakers alike. It’s a very relaxed place and there’s no standing on ceremony. Everything’s kept simple, yet the food is dependably good. ADV ALS Wining and Dining 366x118mm FA OL.pdf

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It’s incidentally one of the relatively few places that still sport hammocks – you'll find a couple down on the beach, just waiting to be used. That’s the kind of place Krua Chao Baan is. You may wonder what the name of the restaurant means. ‘Krua’ means kitchen, ‘chao’ means people and ‘baan’ means town. It transliterates as ‘kitchen for the town’s people’, or ‘everyone’s restaurant’. As you can expect from such a name, prices are reasonable. It’s a family restaurant and is run by Samui folk. Thanks to expert chef Khun Wan and her team, the restaurant serves up an astonishing variety of Thai food. Many of the dishes come with carved vegetables as decoration and all of it is extremely tasty, with generous portions. It’s managed by Khun Kae and Khun Jack, who look after everything here and make sure that guests are satisfied. Krua Chao Baan is open every day, from 10:00 am until 10:00 pm. Fish comes from the waters just off Samui, with freshness guaranteed. There’s a whole variety of it, and you're sure to find something that’s to your taste. Prawn, crab, white snapper and pomfret feature strongly on the menu, and Khun Wan is able to cook them to perfection. There’s a whole choice of different methods for fish dishes: steamed with soy sauce or Thai herbs, deep-fried with green curry or tamarind sauce, for example. The restaurant also specializes in lobster, again done in various ways. You can have it grilled, steamed or with a Thai curry, or – a more Western take – baked with cheese. But coming to Krua Chao Baan isn’t all about seafood; there’s plenty of meat as well, in fact almost as much meat as there’s fish. When it comes to chicken, pork or beef, you can enjoy a full excursion into all the goodness that Thai cuisine offers. You'll find, for example, a full list of curries, all of them excellently done. An interesting variation is the green curry which is

served with roti; use the bread to mop up the curry that’s left – and you'll certainly want to do this as it’s so delicious. For real Samui dishes, try the excellent yellow curry, which is southern-style and very spicy or ‘waii’, a dish of small octopi, served with pineapple. Then there's a seaweed salad or deep-fried white snapper with garlic and pepper. Eat any of these and you'll be honouring Samui’s traditional past. Krua Chao Baan offers not just Thai but also international food, and thanks to the long menu, there are plenty of Western delights to be sampled. Browse the pages of the menu and you'll see a range of burgers, sandwiches, spaghetti and if you're not keen on Thai rice, you can opt for French fries. As you can see, the owners have kept the basic character of the food and the ambience completely intact, but they've catered too for all the diverse backgrounds of the guests who come here. For desserts, there are Thai and international treats. A favourite up and down the country is mango with sweet sticky rice. Then there are syrupy dishes of beans or rambutan in syrup, banana spring rolls, or delicious ice-cream. Having a languorous lunch or dinner at Krua Chao Baan will give you a look at how food used to be on Samui before fame hit the island, but there's plenty else on the menu besides, as we've seen. The common factor is that everything on offer represents great value for money. And what could be a better accompaniment than the amazing sea views right from your seat?

Dimitri Waring For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7741 8589 or 0 890095560. www.kruachaobaan.com

CMY

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Going Native Joining the locals at Yaito Noodle

Chaweng is definitely the place to experience an extremely cosmopolitan cooking scene, but in the town’s haste to please the different cultures that come to dine here, Thai food still remains one of the top cuisines to enjoy. There are countless eateries, stalls and restaurants, wherever you look. But in all of this, it seems that some of the most traditional ways of preparation have too often been sacrificed for modern convenience. Not at Yaito Noodle, however. What makes this restaurant stand out amongst so many others is the way that old-style preparation methods are still adhered to. As any visitor to the island can surmise, corner-cutting is easily done – island supermarkets and wholesalers ensure fair-quality ingredients are available at the drop of a spatula. But what if you want quality that really stands out? Life, then, as well as cooking, suddenly gets a lot more complicated. At Yaito Noodle, the dishes may arrive quickly at the table, but that doesn’t mean that the entire process is speedy. It isn’t. Far from it. There's a huge amount of preparation that takes place, for example, making relishes or simmering broth for three hours at a time. And before any of that can take place, the ingredients all have to be purchased. A lot of them come from outside the island; these are traditional ingredients that simply taste better. The real thing, in other words. And thanks to a very efficient supply system in Thailand, it’s possible to get them to Samui in good time.

Going Native

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This may all seem a bit unnecessary, but once you sit down and try the dishes you'll realize how incredibly tasty they are. You sense that this place is somehow special. It’s not just that care and great cooking expertise have gone into the dishes, but the recipes have been adhered to 100% allowing for a sophisticated dining experience. That’s the first surprise about Yaito, the traditional tastes, and the second is the bill. Despite doing everything they can to guarantee unusually refined yet authentic dishes, you don’t see this reflected in the price tag. Yaito offers noodles at their very best. Even if you're not a great fan of noodles, you may well end up

revising your opinions about them. In the right hands, they can be absolutely delicious.

balls, ribs and chicken. It comes with a choice of either clear soup or a tom yam soup.

Yaito Noodle is run by the affable Khun Dujruedee Thaitumnus, more usually known as Khun Oh. Asked why she opened this kind of restaurant she says simply that the noodle places she came across very often had ‘too many chemicals’ in their cooking for her liking. Then there was the fact that she knew where to get exactly the right ingredients from and didn’t mind that they cost more. She’s been running Free House Beach Resort and Restaurant in Bophut these last 20 years, so is an experienced hand when it comes to pleasing guests. “Although,” she says, “opening this kind of restaurant is entirely new for me – I’ve never offered noodles before.” She motions to her aunt Khun Tum, who’s doing the actual cooking. “She’s the one,” she says, “who really has the skills with noodles; she knows the recipes and can create her own, too. And she has the experience of opening many restaurants.” She’s had years honing her expertise, particularly with family recipes that have been handed down through entire generations.

There are plenty of delights to try at Yaito. The menu’s select but always extremely good when it comes to both taste and price. You can eat well here for under 100 baht. Noodle soup, for example, is 60 baht, Leng Sap (pork bone soup) 100 baht and soft ribs 150 baht. You'll also find roast pork with rice, fried rice with salty fish, and plenty of other highly tasty dishes at the same great value prices. Khun Tum also makes a very spicy sauce to go with some of the dishes, and Yaito relies on special chillies, just the right consistency to go with the food, and these have been specially sought-out too.

Yaito Noodle has been popular from its first days of business, drawing a mix of locals and holidaymakers. The Thais are all happy to find authentic recipes, while the holidaymakers who may not even be familiar with the culinary heritage, simply tuck in. But all are united in enjoying the food. The restaurant is just opposite Siam Map’s offices – the people who bring you this publication – in the south of Chaweng, right on the ring-road, about three hundred metres south of Bangkok Samui Hospital as you head for Lamai. You'll find an outdoor terrace, and then indoors there’s also an air-con section, guaranteeing chilled times even in the hottest of weather. If you're bringing friends or family, you'll enjoy the signature dish, simply known as Yaito. It arrives on a single massive plate, ideal for everyone to share. You'll find four different types of noodles along with an array of pork, pork

The restaurant’s open daily, except Wednesdays, from 10:00 am until 10:00 pm. The evening dishes, incidentally, also feature Thai pizzas, Thai pasta and the addition of a few international dishes. You can enjoy a variety of drinks with your food, including an iced black coffee that comes in a tall glass. It’s as dark as it is delicious as it is strong. It’s yet another product that comes from up-country and is a small, limited production. It’s extremely tasty and a further sign that Thailand’s coffee production is becoming increasingly popular. Khun Oh also offers many delicious home-made fruit juices. For many visitors this will be the first time they've tasted butterfly pea, basil seed or aloe vera as a juice. There are a half-dozen of these to try. Last but not least, Khun Oh speaks excellent English, and if it’s not too busy she’ll be happy to tell you about Thai food and culinary customs – and unless you're incredibly well-informed about cooking, this will all be new to you. Yaito Noodle is a place to watch – with food this vibrant the restaurant can expect to become ever more popular as time goes by.

Dimitri Waring

www.siamwininganddining.com 15

Tropical Pick A closer look at the star fruit.

Why is it that fruits are always round? Don’t you ever wonder about that? I mean, why aren’t some fruits long and thin like runner beans? Or flat, like peas in a pod? No – oranges, cherries, peaches, apples, even coconuts (although hairy), are all round! Did Nature design them so that they could roll away downhill, in order to go forth and multiply more effectively? If that’s the case, then after millions of years of evolution, fruit ought to have developed little legs by now. No. There must be another reason why fruits are round. Except for just one thing, that is. Not all of them are. The real truth of the matter is that it was all down to God. He made the world in seven days. Pretty good going. But the little-known secret is – he had help. He delegated. But somewhere towards the end of that week of furious creativity, the angel in charge of fruit – name of Del Monte – got bored. His instructions were straightforward enough – to create thousands of different sorts of round fruit – but sometime during Thursday he began to digress. At first, he tried a few different variations in texture. He made hairy fruit and spiky fruit; and then some with wrinkles too. And it was late on

16 www.siamwininganddining.com

the Friday afternoon that he began to disobey his orders, and started messing about with the shapes too. He made several of these, each one increasingly more complex. But his best design of all was the star fruit. It’s hard to miss. When you’re walking around the street stalls or the markets, keep an eye out. It’s the only fruit that looks like – well – like a star. It’s not so big; three or four inches across, and it’s yellow in colour. And it’s got the same, smooth, waxy feel to it that peppers (the big round ones that were made on the Wednesday) have got. But here’s the thing: Del Monte became distracted. He spent so much time and energy on getting the star fruit’s shape perfect, that he ran out of time. And so he completely neglected the taste. To digress for a moment – check out the durian. This mighty fruit was made on the same day – during Del Monte’s creative phase – when he had become mischievously experimental. He was into different surface textures at the time, and the last of these that he did – the durian – he also made huge. And, being bored, he not only made it taste wonderful, but (with a sly grin) he made it smell like a dead fish, too.

However, as I was saying, he was so engrossed with perfecting the essential geometry of the little star fruit that he quite forgot to make it taste good too. But he did make it a perfect five-pointed star (when cut in cross section). And, even today, the tree it grows on still bears witness to the disobedience of its original creation. It’s an apologetic little tree – insecure and a little. If you shake it or yell at it, the leaves close up in fright. The fruit itself, although wonderfully exotic-looking, is loaded with oxalic acid (around 13%) and can, at best, be described as having a…‘less than mildly sweetish taste’. (Quote courtesy of the California Fruit Growers’ Association.) If I tell you that one of its main uses is to clean and polish brass and silver, then you’ll start to get the idea. The juice is also an excellent stain remover, particularly on white or light-coloured fabrics. (It tends to make big, white patches on darker things.) No one knows for certain, but it’s believed to have derived from Sri Lanka. And, eventually (no doubt as a result of having been thrown away in disgust so many times), the unhappy little star fruit found its way to the Philippines and then on

to China. From thence it migrated towards Australia, and eventually landed in the southern part of the Americas. Curiously, there are some people that actually eat it. In Malaysia, for instance, it’s usually stewed with sugar (no doubt lots of), and also often combined with apples (probably with anything, really). As it happens, the bitter taste can be quite acceptable when combined with fish or seafood – in the same way as vinegar or lemon is. Thus the Chinese are known for squeezing the juice onto fish, whereas the Thai people often add chunks of it to seafood dishes. However, like most tropical fruits, the star fruit is a godsend to medicine men and shaman everywhere. Take piles, for instance. In India, the bottom line is that the ripe fruit is used to reduce the activity of troublesome haemorrhoids. In Brazil, it’s used in the treatment of skin diseases – particularly eczema. (Presumably it’s cheaper than battery acid, and no doubt just as effective.) And in the traditional Chinese Materica Medica it states that: “Star fruit increases salivary secretions and allays fever.” It makes your mouth water? Draw your own conclusions!

In any event, it’s known to the Chinese as belimbeng, and the French call it carambolier. For some obscure and gothic reason, early English explorers named it the Corolmandel Gooseberry! And the more down-to-earth Australians have a special name for it too – they call it five fingers. But in Thailand, it’s universally known as ma fueng. The star fruit is certainly not the tastiest fruit on the stall, but it is spectacular, and there’s nothing else quite like it (particularly if you have some faded jewellery to restore.). And, if you come to think of it, there’s only one thing that it’s really lacking (apart from the taste that is!). When Del Monte created it, he should have gone the whole nine angelic yards and added some little feet too. That way it could have avoided the indignity of looking heavenly and yet tasting like Brasso; and it could have then just scampered away all by itself. It might have been the durian that led to Del Monte’s eventual expulsion from heaven, but the star fruit has to come a close second!

Rob De Wet

One in a Million A name has appeared that’s re-defined Thai food completely – and that name is Supattra.

Here’s an odd fact: Thai food varies hugely in taste and flavour from one place to the next. If you’re a casual visitor to Thailand you might not be aware of this. But, firstly, there are four very different regional cuisines here. And then; every single place will make the same dish in a different way. What this all boils down to is that westerners who’ve lived in Thailand for a while are very, very fussy. If they want a red curry, they’ll go to only one particular restaurant for it. If the yearning comes for a prawn tom yum, they’ll head for a different place. You get the idea. It’s difficult to find a Thai restaurant – from street-stall to 5-star – in which every dish on the menu is good. However, in the case of Supattra Thai Dining, I can honestly state that after 20 years in Thailand, this is the only Thai restaurant I’ve ever been in where every single dish on the menu is not merely good – it’s totally and utterly sublime and deliciously, absolutely, out of this world. Everything about Khun Supattra’s restaurant is interesting; from the story of where they buy their curry pastes to even the location itself. It’s easy to get to from just about everywhere, being located on the road that runs from the Thai market at Bangrak towards the airport; just head away from the market and it’s about 100 metres on the right, and with a parking area at the side. And you’ll also notice there’s an elegant wine shop, too, built-in and fronting the road. The building itself is a pleasant surprise: there’s a

lot of Thai influence (warm teak and roofline embellishments) but it’s been styled in a clean and freshly-modern way. There’s actually quite a distance from the frontage on the road to the dining area at the rear, and this results in a cosy and pleasantly-intimate setting against a backdrop of greenery from the open-back dining area. But it’s not until you’ve been greeted and seated and settled with a drink that you’ll begin to realise that this is not the usual run-of-the-mill restaurant. The menu comes in two parts. The first is a large chalkboard covered with the most astonishingly tiny, precise writing. There are not many dishes listed here – a handful of starters and possibly 10 main plates; but each item is so intriguing that it’s actually a problem trying to pick just one. And the second part of the menu is Thomas Schaden. Thomas is the beaming and friendly co-owner and partner, and he’ll bring the board to you and go over each of the featured dishes, explaining what they’re like, what’s in them, how the ingredients interact, and offering advice and guidance. Both he and his wife and partner, Khun Supattra, are not new to all this, having successfully run a restaurant over on Koh Pha-ngan for quite a while, before making the move here last August. But, after you’ve met and talked to her, you’ll realise that both she and Thomas are utterly involved with what they do – they both radiate an infectious enthusiasm.

It’s essentially a seafood-based menu, but it tends to change slightly now and then as Khun Supattra develops another dish or introduces a new variation. It’s a cliché to say that ‘all the ingredients are fresh’ but here they really are: the prawns are actually from the sea and not a farm and come in on the boat every morning, as does everything else. Nothing is kept in ice: as Thomas says it bloats the flesh which reduces flavour and affects the texture. And if you doubt this, go for the Crispy Fried Squid Rings with Chili Sauce. This is what squid should be like; there’s actually a flavour you can taste and it’s not in the least chewy – there’s hardly any difference in texture between this and the prawns! But it’s not until you begin to savour the main dishes that it truly hits you what a joy each one is. One of the characteristics of Thai cuisine is that it uses a small number of ingredients for its flavouring. Indian food, on the other hand, draws on the subtle layers of compound tastes that come with the use of cinnamon, coriander, cumin, garam Masala and turmeric, providing a richer play of flavours altogether. But when you find yourself with one of Khun Supattra’s curries then you’ll discover what can really be done with Thai food. The Barracuda Fillets with Penang Curry Sauce will make you whimper with pleasure. Supattra gets her curry paste from only one person; it’s specially made for her, and tastes like no other. It’s rich and creamy, piquant and tantalising, and

plays perfectly against the thick and firmly-succulent barracuda and the diced, crisp, Thai vegetables. The fish is cooked separately from the sauce, and really is full of its own distinctive flavour. Likewise the Blue Crab in Southern Curry and Betel Leaves. Here the sauce is lighter but still dances on your tongue, leaving hints and aftertastes of flavours that resonate around your mouth. The crab meat has been mainly removed but then artfully re-presented along with the shell – all the dishes here are as attractive as they are delicious. Most of the ingredients used are organic and carefully sourced and, as Thomas points out, there are already several vegetarian dishes, but any one of the curry sauces combined with vegetables or salad is a popular way to go. And every dish can be tuned to you individual taste when it comes to the degree of spiciness you prefer.

Lastly, but by no means least, the wine. There’s an international selection of around 50 red, white and rosé wines, all available by the bottle and a satisfying selection by the glass. And the labels are keenly chosen by Thomas, who’s just as keen to keep the prices as low as possible. Plus there’s also a good range of cocktails, beers, aperitifs, liquors and soft drinks. The restaurant is open daily (except Sundays) from 6:00 pm until the kitchen closes at 10:00 pm. There must be a million Thai eateries over here. But Supattra Thai Dining is undoubtedly the one to try!

Rob De Wet For reservations or further information, telephone 0 932 828 777 or 0 993 637 030. www.facebook.com/SupattraThaiDining

Beachside Dining at its Best

餐厅-歡迎中國貴賓

Romantic Dinner I Seafood Basket with Lobster For reservations, please call 077 230 222 www.siamwininganddining.com 17

Last Orders Tipple of the month – Vodka.

It’s shocking, don’t you think? The way that people go to extremes? I mean, all those young people staggering around in a daze from those psychoactive drugs. It’s disgraceful – even though I’m talking about what was going on thousands of years ago. In fact it was probably way back in the Stone Age that the first humans got high on fruit. Yes, the fallen fruit that had been on the ground for a while and started to ferment. Maybe it was a giveaway that the spot was already marked by half a herd of woolly mammoths, all giggling and falling about. But, however it happened, the fermenting fruit filled with ethyl alcohol was certainly worth taking home and storing for the winter. Hardly surprising then, that it was something which knew no boundaries. It happened all over the world and with all sorts of fruits and vegetables. The Irish, seeing they had plenty, went for potatoes. The French did a lot with grapes. Down in Mexico they were using cacti. Pirates did it with molasses. Closer to home, it was rice that made the Asians smile. And in that gigantic nation, together with its neighbours, the Russians were using potatoes, sugar beet, grapes, apples, plums, berries, roots, acorns, nuts, wheat, corn barley, rye – just about anything they could get their hands on. And it was from this region that the tipple we know as vodka emerged. 18 www.siamwininganddining.com

Back in the days of the druids, all of this kind of thing was pretty basic stuff, much like the Turkish ‘raki’ or the Irish ‘poteen’. The object of the exercise wasn’t to produce a delicacy that you could roll around your gums or smack your lips over – it wasn’t meant for savouring. It was the alcohol equivalent of a smack around the head with a rock, as opposed to doing the same job with a hand-crafted shotgun. These basic brews bypassed the sensory organs completely, and went directly to the bloodstream via the fastest and shortest route possible.

bottles ‘not for external use’. The alcohol content was cranked right up. But ethyl alcohol, no matter whether it came from fermented grain or gathered gooseberries, was just about undrinkable, even when heavily diluted. In the first instance the brew was made in pots. But as distillation methods appeared, then became more refined, so it was tamed by being distilled sometimes three times over. Later, more sophisticated methods of filtration appeared, charcoal as opposed to river sand, and the process began to stabilise.

Although those Slavic nations seemed to be a lot slower than some – it took them a while to get into the swing of things. Back in the 15th century they didn’t have much of a clue about this strange low-voltage fermented liquid, and it was variously used medicinally to treat cuts and scrapes. Or as a cosmetic cleanser. Or an aftershave. Or more interestingly, a potion to ‘increase fertility and awaken lust’. Even the word itself, vodka, is unremarkable, meaning simply ‘water’, with variations such as ‘hot water’ or ‘little water’. But over the next couple of hundred years these names began to diversify, as the light slowly began to dawn.

However, there is still basically one huge difference between the clean spirit of vodka and, say, gin. Traditional vodka is nothing but alcohol that has been distilled to the extent that it has lost almost all of its flavour. It’s a colourless liquid, clear and smooth – a pure spirit with a neutral taste. In this it is much the same as raki and poteen, albeit a lot less coarse. But even though gin is similarly colourless, a mixture of herbs and spices is added to the distilled grains. These botanicals consist of juniper, cardamom, coriander or aniseed, along with orange or lemon peel, giving gin a unique flavour and aroma, unlike classic vodka.

It was neck and neck between Russia and Poland as to which was the first to cheerily label their

It was sometime in the 17th century, that Ivan the Third suddenly woke up to the fact that

taverns had sprung up all over Russia, and he thus introduced a state monopoly on vodka. A shrewd move, and one which later was taken over by the Romanov family, which didn’t only keep the monopoly ,but made it even more rigid, thus adding vastly more roubles to their already swollen coffers. But on the other hand it also conferred a base-line of quality which not only raised the world profile of vodka, but still remains today. But please note the use of the word ‘traditional’. Because classic vodkas are savoured by their aficionados in much the same way as a fine brandy or a single malt whisky. All of these brands are the original clear spirit, without the addition of what many consider to be gimmicks, such as the plethora of flavoured vodkas that are now popular today in some parts of the world. This can be traced through to an ongoing culture clash; one that’s separated by the Atlantic Ocean. In America, very rarely is vodka drunk on its own; it’s considered to be a cocktail mixer – and with its neutral taste, what could be better. But that’s prompted one of the world’s oldest vodka producers, Smirnoff (it’s been going since 1831) to jump on the bandwagon. Why not increase sales and make ‘cocktail vodka’ that doesn’t need to be mixed? Or that can be mixed even more effectively?

And so today, on a base of quickly-produced vodka, there are more colours, flavours and aromas of Smirnoff than in a Moroccan market. And the same goes for Absolute, too. Both companies jostled for dominance, and ran aggressive campaigns in Europe and America in the early 2000s, specifically targeting young people and the club scene, even coining the term ‘alcopops’ (which began as in-house black humour, but clung like something sticky). Currently there are over 80 flavours of Smirnoff for ‘adults’ and a dizzying away of ‘kiddie’ tipples, too. ‘Iced cake’ vodka? ‘Kissed caramel’? ‘Fluffed Marshmallow’? Yes, all of them are Smirnoff vodkas. So if you’re under 30, forget the pub – we’ll meet you at the candy store instead!

Rob De Wet

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

OďŹ&#x20AC;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 19

Rice Barge &

Terrace

Fine Beachside Dining at the Rice Barge & Terrace Authentic Thai Cuisine WEEKLY CALENDAR MONDAY - COWBOY DAY Cowboy Steak Night Buffet @ 1,129 Baht/person. Children half price Advance reservation discount 15% Costume Theme Night: Cowboy style will get 1 free bottle of beer Entertainment: The Barge Band TUESDAY - GRILLED NIGHT Lobster & Seafood Basket for 2 @ 3,500++ Steak Set for 2 @ 2,700++ or Seafood Set for 2 @ 2,700++ Entertainment: The Barge Trio Band WEDNESDAY - HAWAIIAN STYLE Hawaiian Seafood Buffet @ 1,290 Baht/person. Children half price Advance reservation discount 15% Entertainment: The Barge Band and Polynesian show THURSDAY - COCKTAILS DAY Lobster & Seafood Basket for 2 @ 3,500++ Steak Set for 2 @ 2,700++ or Seafood Set for 2 @ 2,700++ Free Flow Cocktails 5pm-7pm @ 950++/person/hour Entertainment: The Barge Trio Band EVERY DAY - FREE STYLE Thai Cooking Class & Bartender Master Class - Reservation required Happy Hours: Hillside Pool 1pm-3 pm. Beachside Pool 2pm-4 pm Lobby Lounge: 6pm-8pm. Rice Barge: 6pm-7pm. The Barge 9pm-10pm Private Dinner 3,500, 7,500, 8,500, 11,000 baht. Reservation required Free Flow Local Beer (Singha/Chang) @ 550++/person/hour Open Bar @ 650++/person/hour - Gin, Rum, Vodka, Red Label, Local Beer, Juice, Soft Drink Open Bar @ 850++/person/hour - Wine, Cocktails, Spirits, Local Beer, Juice, Soft Drink SATURDAY - WEEKEND DAY Chef Signature Food Set Menu 1,350 Food Only, 1,850 with Wine Pairing Entertainment: The Barge Trio SUNDAY - PASTA NIGHT Fresh Pasta and Pizza Corner and Salad Bar @ 550++/person

Rice Barge & Terrace Nora Buri's Signature Restaurant Chaweng North For Reservation Tel: 0 7791 3555 E-mail: ricebarge@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

20 www.siamwininganddining.com