May 2016

SAMUI

Seafood Beach BBQ Buffet, Mondays & Thursdays

www.samuiholiday.com

FREE COPY

MAY 2016

Sareeraya Villas & Suites

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

Help Yourself!

Samui has an amazing variety of cuisines to suit all tastes.

Food is a crucial business on Samui. The island attracts discerning visitors from all over the globe, who come here not just to enjoy the sun and the sea but also to eat. And, of course, there's the full-time population of islanders and foreign residents.

As a thriving holiday destination, Samui offers an enormous array of food. At its most basic there are roadside stalls serving up Thai classics, such as noodle soup. Then there are scores of restaurants with menus that include not just Thai, but all the world’s favourite cuisines. And then there are fine dining establishments where you can enjoy some exquisitely stylish dishes made by top-class chefs. It’s an understatement to say

there's something for every budget; whether you’re looking to spend 50 baht or 5,000 baht, you'll find something seriously good to eat here on Samui.

With several thousand eateries and restaurants in operation, being a chef, cook or anything remotely connected to the food business means unending competition. To stay ahead means producing dependable, extremely tasty dishes.

Even though it’s a small island, the food here is just as good as in any metropolis worth its salt.

This edition of Wining & Dining showcases just what Samui is capable of when it comes to great food and drink. Enjoy!

SAMUI

SAMUI

Seafood Beach BBQ Buffet, Mondays & Thursdays

www.samuiholiday.com

FREE COPY

MAY 2016

Sareeraya Villas & Suites

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

Help Yourself!

Samui has an amazing variety of cuisines to suit all tastes.

Food is a crucial business on Samui. The island attracts discerning visitors from all over the globe, who come here not just to enjoy the sun and the sea but also to eat. And, of course, there's the full-time population of islanders and foreign residents.

As a thriving holiday destination, Samui offers an enormous array of food. At its most basic there are roadside stalls serving up Thai classics, such as noodle soup. Then there are scores of restaurants with menus that include not just Thai, but all the world’s favourite cuisines. And then there are fine dining establishments where you can enjoy some exquisitely stylish dishes made by top-class chefs. It’s an understatement to say

there's something for every budget; whether you’re looking to spend 50 baht or 5,000 baht, you'll find something seriously good to eat here on Samui.

With several thousand eateries and restaurants in operation, being a chef, cook or anything remotely connected to the food business means unending competition. To stay ahead means producing dependable, extremely tasty dishes.

Even though it’s a small island, the food here is just as good as in any metropolis worth its salt.

This edition of Wining & Dining showcases just what Samui is capable of when it comes to great food and drink. Enjoy!

Graeme Malley Editor

Preeda Tuajob (Puy) Graphic Designer

Akaphon Phongninlaarphon (Don) Photographer

Seksak Kerdkanno (Klauy) Webmaster

The Moon by

The Village

Rob De Wet Feature Writer

Dimitri Waring Feature Writer

Natalie Hughes Feature Writer

Karan Ladd 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. 2016

Distribution at Bangkok Airport courtesy of Bangkok Airways.

Reservation Center: 1771 Samui Chaweng Office: 0 7760 1300 www.bangkokair.com

Please recycle or pass on to a friend.

Unknown to most, some of the best dining is right at the edge of Fisherman’s Village – at Anantara’s Full Moon restaurant.

We’re all familiar with 5-star names like Marriott and Four Seasons. Right away they conjure up world-class images of luxury and service. But, on Samui, you might be surprised to know that there are around 30 other resorts of a similar quality, and most of them have names you’ll not know so well. Such as that of ‘Anantara’, for instance. But although this emerged as a Thai-based company, there are now more than 40 hotels and resorts sprinkled across no fewer than 14 different countries. And they are linked to both the Marriot and Four Seasons brands – they’re all operated by one of the world’s biggest hospitality and leisure companies, the Minor International group.

There are 13 ‘Anantaras’ in Thailand, with the original Samui resort sitting quietly in Bophut, bordering onto the beach, at the far end of Fisherman’s Village. Many of the newer resorts on this coast are pleased to shout about their presence, swaggering as they attempt to compete. But Anantara doesn’t do this. It doesn’t need to. It’s large and effortlessly-spacious, with gigantic swathes of mature trees and creepers scattered across a broad sweep of land that runs between the ring-road and the beach. It’s all very refined, from the lofty and open reception area, through to the central water feature surrounded by greenery and the accommodation that’s arranged in demure blocks along the left and right sides. Everything is solid, substantial, understated, and simply oozes quality. And that includes the resort’s signature restaurant, Full Moon.

In keeping with everything else, there’s nothing showy about Full Moon. It sits quietly and solidly on two floors, overlooking the pool and the sea beyond. Everything here comes very much under the heading of ‘fine dining’, but there’s an easy and laid-back island feel to it all. Formality is at a minimum, but never at the expense of competence, and the quality of service here is totally tip-top. Each of the staff is handpicked and carefully trained – their English is excellent – and their unobtrusive care and attention is second to none. This is a common boast; all resorts or restaurants have the phrase ‘customer service’ in their press releases somewhere, usually more than once. It’s a snappy little

sound-bite, but utterly meaningless unless they actually deliver. At Anantara, they do.

The menu is interesting. The gourmets amongst you will long-since have become aware of gimmicks or fads – cuisine quirks which present themselves as ‘cutting edge’, or play games with fusions and foams. But at Full Moon the approach is much simpler and more direct. The finest of carefully-selected imported ingredients, cooked and presented in ways which retain every molecule of flavour. If a label needs to be pinned, then it’s most accurately described as Mediterranean-based, with preparations from France, Spain and Italy being prominent, and a stress on a char-grilled approach, alternating with sous-vide (vacuum-sealed low temperature slow cooking) if and when appropriate.

A second point of interest: the number of items on the menu is not extensive. But diners I’ve talked to have each said the same thing; it’s really hard to decide. Because, simply, each dish is so different and so thoughtfully orchestrated, so individual, that settling on just one of them is like being asked to choose just one picture from a room full of paintings. The menu is sectioned into neat little slices, ‘elements’ as Executive Chef Christoph Lindner likes to call them. And to listen to him very matter-of-factly describe his thinking is an education in itself.

“Our rump steak is 120-days grain-fed Angus from Australia. It differs in texture and flavour from the Wagyu from the Miyazaki Prefecture, in having a more distinctive and pronounced flavour. And yet the Wagyu is usually felt to be more balanced, in terms of size and complementary texture, with the accompanying side dishes. On the other hand the American rib eye and New York steak, both similarly 120-day grain-fed, have a more robust flavour altogether and represent the finest of American meat.” And to top this off, there are nine different side dishes to pick from, together with seven sauces.

Plus an experienced waitress to advise you of the most harmonious combination, should you wish.

Coming back to the menu again, similarly thoughtful offerings appear under the headings

of ‘Pork and Chicken’ and also ‘Imported Seafood’, with the Yellow Fin Kingfish being outstanding here. There’s a neat little selection of pasta, including the intriguing Orzo Risotto, with the little grains of pasta forming an alluring alliance with the accompanying shrimps, calamari, crab and mussels. And a brief-but-bouncy set of sweets, from which the Mango Cream Brule leaps right out.

But none of this reveals the underlying ethos at Full Moon. Such as, for example, the Salt Guru, with his selection of different rock salts to complement your platter. Or the knife menu, from which you can select the blade of your choice. Or that some of the items are prepared at the table to your preference. And that there is a sommelier to advise on the wine. Or even that each menu item is labelled as being either spicy, gluten free, vegetarian or containing nuts.

Or, more importantly perhaps, that all the ingredients are painstaking chosen by Chef Christoph to be as certifiably eco-sustainable as is possible. The oceans are being relentlessly over-fished, but the fish and seafood at Full Moon has been passed by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). The meat is free range and organically fed, and the 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 yeast, and Full Moon makes its own sourdough especially for this.

But the best part of all? There’s a 99% chance that every one of you will, at some time during your stay here, be just a few metres away from Anantara and Full Moon. You can’t actually see it from the far end of Fisherman’s Village – but the wall at the end is the boundary of the resort.

Better still; go there to dine one evening. It’s even lovelier at night – especially when the full moon is with you too!

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

A drink from Paradise...available on Earth

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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

Tempting your Taste Buds Using relatively few ingredients and some savvy spices, Isaan cuisine scores top marks when it comes to taste.

With its reputation for using just about anything as a protein source (and I’m talking anything from ants’ eggs to chameleons) you may have been somewhat put off trying Isaan cuisine.

But that’s really a shame, because it’s some of the most delicious food in Thailand. It’s also known to be spicy – much hotter than other cuisines from the rest of Thailand – but combine it with lots of delicious sticky rice and you’ll be fine.

Isaan is in the north eastern part of Thailand, bordering Laos to the north-east, Cambodia to the east and central Thailand to its west. It lies in the Mekong Delta and experiences extremes in climate, which often means droughts during the hot season and floods during the rainy season. It is therefore hard to sustain any crops in this area, and as such the region is financially poor. It’s believed that the fieriness of the regions food is one way of coping with the unstable food supply. Isaan dishes are relatively simple in comparison to the rest of Thailand, incorporating fewer herbs and spices, since they are scarcer in the region. The spiciness forces the diner to eat lots of rice to

counteract the spice. Sticky rice is favoured over jasmine rice in Isaan, and is served with just about every meal. It usually comes in small, covered, bamboo baskets. Diners roll a small portion of the rice into a ball and use it to eat their meal in the place of cutlery.

‘Som tam’ can be found throughout Thailand, but without doubt the most delicious variety comes from Isaan. Som tam is the region’s most iconic dish, made from shredded green papaya, plum tomatoes, garlic and long green beans.

The people of Isaan like to throw in a handful of small crabs to give it extra punch, and lots of ‘pla ra’ the region’s equivalent to fish sauce.

These are small fermented fish that are often used as a seasoning in curries. The resulting som tam owes much to Laos, which heavily influences the region culturally and historically.

‘Larb’ is a spicy minced meat and herb salad, and you'll find many variations of this popular dish throughout Thailand. Isaan’s most authentic larb is probably the one made with duck or ‘larb pet Isaan’ which also combines toasted rice powder, pla ra and dried chillies.

accompanied by sticky rice and a plate of som tam.

Sausages are popular throughout the whole northern region of Thailand, but one that stands out is the Isaan variety which is known as ‘sai krok Isaan’ and is made from minced pork, garlic and sticky rice mixed together and piped into pigs intestines. These sausages are then left to dry and ferment, resulting in a slightly sour taste to the final sausage. The sausages are generally grilled and served with vegetables such as cabbage, shallots and chillies. Due to the scarcity of forests, there is a shortage of firewood, so traditionally the food in the region is fermented or eaten raw where possible. And you’ll find lots of fresh vegetables served up at meal times as accompaniment to the main dish.

Another dish encapsulating the simple and tasty side of Isaan food is ‘tom saep’ which literally translates as ‘tasty soup’. It’s made from pork bones and offal with seasonings such as young ginger or galangal, kaffir lime leaf and other local herbs. There’s not much else but it’s very flavourful: spicy, salty and sour all at the same time. Another soup which brings us on to those dishes that you’ve probably heard about and thought that’s not for me is ‘kai mot dang’, or red ant egg soup which is delicious but very expensive and is therefore considered a delicacy rather than a staple of the Isaan diet.

An example of the simple style of the cooking of the region has to be ‘gai yang’ basically grilled chicken, simply seasoned with lemongrass and garlic and perhaps a few more herbs to the cook’s taste, then pounded and placed on a charcoal-fired grill. This dish can be found just about everywhere and at every hour of the day; it’s eaten in homes, offices and at street stalls throughout the region, often

It’s not unusual for frog to be eaten in dishes throughout Thailand, and you can find fried frog in Isaan as well, or as it’s known in Thai, ‘gob tod gratiem’. What is different is that you can also find dishes made from tadpoles, for example ‘huak tod’, or fried tadpoles. They're much meatier than the frog variety and without the bones, a bit like chicken nuggets. Or if you want to stay away from fried food there’s always

Are you ready for a brand new dining experience?

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tadpole casserole, ‘mok huak’, tadpoles mixed with herbs and chillies wrapped in banana leaf and grilled.

One staple that you’ll find throughout the region is ‘jing reet’, or fried giant crickets. These are the larger counterparts of the fried insects you'll see at temple fairs on Samui. They're tastier, too.

While the ingredients and cooking are simple, the taste of north eastern Thai food is wonderfully complex, a symphony of flavours.

It’s sour, salty and spicy all at once. Don’t let a few unusual ingredients put you off as these are the very ones that are often the tastiest, if you only give them a try.

There are a few restaurants of the island that serve Isaan cuisine – ask around and you’ll probably get some good recommendations – it is a popular cuisine, but be warned it can be spicier than you think, so just remember to eat a lot of sticky rice.

Natalie Hughes

Bean There?

Sip on top-notch coffee at Black Canyon’s Samui outlets – but don't forget to try the excellent food.

Black Canyon has quickly gained a reputation as one of the country’s best places to drink coffee, as well as eat at surprisingly affordable prices.

The ambience is very relaxed and the outlets themselves are light and airy, ideal for kicking back and watching the world go by, or just enjoying the company of friends and family.

Black Canyon might sound like a name out of a Wild West movie, but it turns out to be a thoroughly modern and international chain of coffee shops, with branches not just in Thailand but also in Malaysia, Indonesia and The Philippines. On Samui alone it has three different outlets, and each is thriving. You’ll find a Black Canyon at Central Festival (on the upper floor, close to the banks), and one right in the heart of each of the Tesco Lotus malls in Chaweng and Lamai.

When it comes to coffee you'll find all the usual caffeine suspects are represented, and you may just want to order a latte or cappuccino. But there’s also a lot more on the drinks menu. You can try something more creative like a Black Mocha Frappé, Blackpuccino Frappé or an Iced Caramel Macchiato. In addition to coffee, you can also have hot or cold chocolate, various teas, as well as a select range of green teas, such as the

formidable-sounding Red Bean Matcha Green Tea Frappé. You may also want a milk shake such as a blueberry or strawberry smoothie or a really decadent treat such as the Cookie and Cream Frappe. Beer lovers are also catered for and you can find both draught and bottled Heineken. That’s quite a list, and more than you’d find in many a café. In fact, it might take you quite a bit of time to make up your mind as there are so many possibilities.

As you can imagine a lot of customers just drop in for a drink. But Black Canyon also offers delicious food, and there’s a whole range of both Asian and European foods from snacks to full-scale meals to desserts. The menu’s on the longish side, and it’s worth taking the time to thoroughly browse it. But whatever you end up choosing, you can be sure it’ll be tasty, and professionally cooked and presented. But there's one thing that you won’t find, and that’s a hefty price tag. As you know, food in malls can at times be notoriously expensive, but this is not the case at Black Canyon, despite the venue being a sophisticated one.

First off, you'll find a range of great appetizers including Sesame Pork Strips, Fried or Fermented

Chicken Wings Rolls or just plain French Fries.

Then there are spicy salads, with flavourful dishes such as the Glass Noodle Salad with Grilled Salmon, or the Isaan-style Glass Noodle Salad with Minced Pork. There are also sections on noodle and rice mains.

If you like pasta, then Black Canyon’s the place for you. They make dishes using traditional high quality pasta from Ital, and the results are mouth-wateringly good. Most of the pasta dishes tend to be traditional, but with Thai twists, deftly transforming them into fusion food that appeals to both Thai and western tastes. If you're new to this sort of thing, you might be tempted to think it’s too contradictory to really work. But work, it does, and surprisingly well. For example, you can have Spicy Pan-Fried Spaghetti with Bacon or be more adventurous with a dish such as Fusilli in Chicken Green Curry or Fusilli in Spicy Prawn Soup. If you're hankering for something more traditional though, simply opt for either the Spaghetti with Ham and Tomato Sauce or good old Spaghetti Carbonara.

A good many of the dishes aren’t particularly Thai, and reference food from other parts of Asia.

You might therefore enjoy the more Japanese

Crispy Fish with Katsu Fried Rice or the Stir-Fried Chinese Kale with Shiitake Mushrooms. If you're a little hungrier, you may be tempted by one of the set menus which come with soup. Try, for example, the Fried Fish with Rice, which comes with a spicy soup featuring acacia omelette and prawn. It combines the best of very traditional foods with the Asian-style soup. Or have the very same soup but with Fried Chicken with Rice.

For desserts you'll also find plenty on the menu.

If you enjoy Thai desserts, you'll certainly find them here and they're very professionally made.

Try the Black Sesame Dumpling in Hot Ginger Tea or the Chilled Sala in Syrup. If you’re not familiar with desserts in Thailand, these will be unique tastes that you've never come across before and are worth trying. However if you want to keep to old favourites, a select range of tempting ice creams awaits you. Heading the list here you'll find the very moreish Cookie Mocha Chips, an ice-cream topped with a generous dollop of cream and a cherry.

their Passion Fruit Frappé, the very exotic Hot Coconut Cappuccino, as well as their Iced Coconut Coffee and a Passion Fruit Soda. For food, there’s a promotion offering a choice of five pad Thai dishes, and another involving a decadent toast and ice-cream treat, which includes either honey or chocolate.

You'll find plenty of reasons to come to Black Canyon. Whether you're alone or socializing, you can treat yourself to a great cup of coffee or a snack or a meal. Black Canyon’s an ideal place to while away an hour or two. And with everything you'd expect from a top-notch coffee shop, it might just become your favourite place on the island to get your cup of Joe along, with a great meal!

Dimitri Waring For more information, visit ºwww.blackcanyoncoffee.com

In addition to the sumptuous menu, there are also some great promotions that are sure to tempt you. At the moment you can check out their Summer Paradise offer. Delights include

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.

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Wharf!!

www.siamwininganddining.com 5

Lightbulb Moment A bulb or two of garlic might be even better for you than you think.

Just north of the French Pyrenees, in a tiny commune up in the foothills of the Albères, André makes roast chicken for his family every Sunday. It’s a typical dish and millions of French know the recipe. Many people, however, tend to have a favourite variant. André’s contains lots of garlic. He uses an astonishing 40 cloves in all.

He places them, unpeeled, in an old ceramic bowl and places another over the top. “We have to shake this a short while,” he says. “It’s to loosen things up.”

After some vigorous shaking he releases the garlic and sets about peeling it, which takes quite a time. All of the garlic is now added, uncut, to the chicken which has been placed in a baking dish which he carefully puts in the oven. Later, when the chicken and the potatoes that go with it have been done, he and his family and friends eat it outside on a long table that looks out to the Pyrenees. They chat and drink the full-bodied wine that comes direct from André’s vineyards. It’s a down-to-earth sort of place, rustic and without pretension. And there’s plenty of garlic with just about everything. Smelly? Nine winds blow through the region, and perhaps that might just mean people don’t mind the smell of garlic-laden breath too much.

One of the strange facts about garlic is that if you eat a huge amount of it in a dish, it’ll cancel out the smell caused by a lesser amount. But garlic aficionados hardly care anyway; some people will seize on any excuse to eat it. There are many dishes that seem to consist of little else but garlic; the French have a garlic sauce, aioli and there’s a heftier Greek version, too, skordalia.

Garlic originally comes from central Asia, and records show that it’s been grown for more than 5,000 years. It was known in Ancient Egypt, and records there show that it played a mighty part in the culture of those days. It was believed to give strength, and the slaves who laboriously built the pyramids were given plenty of it. So too were the pharaohs in their tombs, as it was considered a sacred food. Before sports events, the athletes of both Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome used to eat it as they hoped to boost their strength. Soldiers also swore by it.

Not surprisingly word soon spread about garlic and it travelled ever further east, to China and India. In India it’s especially honoured for its medicinal properties.

Garlic was popular in Britain, in the Elizabethan age, but people there tended to think of it almost as a French thing, and later the French were to be derided as a ‘nation of garlic eaters’.

Garlic is a member of the lily family and is related to onions, leeks and chives. Elephant garlic – which as its name suggests is on the large size – is actually a kind of leek, and not really garlic at all.

Over the last decades, as more and more research has been conducted, garlic’s health benefits have been categorized and validated.

The old traditions of eating garlic for health are borne out by the research. The sulphur compounds in garlic are perhaps the most interesting of the nutrients that garlic contains.

The sulphur molecules function as antioxidants, and many of them have anti-inflammatory benefits. Garlic is also a brilliant way to stock up on manganese, selenium, copper and vitamins B1, B6 and C. It’s known to help prevent excessive blood clotting.

6 www.siamwininganddining.com

It also contains sulphur of allyl, which is said to be a powerful aphrodisiac. But whatever you believe, it’s certainly recommended as part of any diet.

Garlic is good for chest infections, coughs and congestion and keeping colds and flu at bay. It contains high levels of iodine which makes it a very effective treatment for hyperthyroid conditions.

It’s a mighty protector against heart disease, and plaque deposits on artery walls are reduced if garlic is taken. In the First World War, soldiers put crushed garlic on infected wounds, and it can certainly help with fungal infections. Just as important, it can aid in the prevention of many different sorts of cancer. Bladder, prostate, breast, colon and stomach tumours treated with garlic show reduction, while vitamin B6 is alleged to fight cancer. Some people apply garlic oil to their skin or nails to treat fungal infections, warts, and corns. It is also applied to the skin for hair loss and thrush. Garlic also regulates blood sugar and may assist in the control of diabetes. These are just some of garlic’s many uses. There are actually too many to list here.

Not everyone, however, believes in the goodness of garlic. Some believe it to be highly toxic and avoid it at all costs, or only eat it in moderation.

But if you believe it should be part of your diet, how can you get a quick fix of garlic? There are many possibilities, and here’s a popular pick: Purée fresh garlic, canned chick peas, tahini, olive oil and lemon juice to make a quick and easy hummus dip – the real thing takes a lot longer, but this is a great stand-by. Or you can sauté steamed spinach, garlic, and fresh lemon juice together for a clean tasting side dish.

Alternatively, with a fork, whip some roasted garlic, cooked potatoes and olive oil together to make a delicious variant on good old mashed potatoes.

The simplest way to use garlic is to add it to sauces and soups. And of course, many, many salad dressings rely to an extent on garlic; you can mix together vinegar, olive oil, a chopped clove of garlic and a little mustard to make an easy Mediterranean dressing. A brief word of warning if you are making dressings; don’t store garlic in oil at room temperature, as it can give rise to botulism, no matter if the garlic is fresh or you’ve roasted it.

You can even boost the health benefits of garlic by letting it sit after you've chopped it or crushed it. The idea is not to suddenly change its temperature by cooking it. If it sits then it lets the enzymes to increase their good work on behalf of your health. For example, immediate microwaving will cause garlic to lose some of its cancer-protective properties.

Garlic is a wonderful seasoning to add aroma, taste, and added nutrition to your dishes. You don’t need to eat forty cloves at a time, nor do you need to seek out elaborate recipes to get your daily intake of garlic. It’s so versatile that you can use it for just about everything - even desserts. Anyone for Black Garlic Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce, or some yummy Chocolate Garlic Cheesecake Truffles? A tad hesitant? Just wait till you try them.

Dimitri Waring

A Star is Rising Meet Brendan Semmens, the new chef at Nora Buri Resort & Spa. The Barge restaurant specializes in high-quality western and seafood cuisine, and the new and very talented young sous chef there is Brendan Semmens. Originally from Australia, 26 year old Brendan came to Samui three years ago, and fell in love with the local culture, lifestyle and idyllic island bliss and decided that this was where he could challenge himself in his career. After a long holiday break and a few short stints at restaurants around Chaweng, it was time to start knocking on the doors of all the major resorts and hotels. Brendan eventually landed himself a job as a chef de partie at Nora Buri. One and a half years later, his hard work and dedication have paid off, and Brendan has risen to the dizzy heights of sous chef, one of the most sought after positions in the culinary industry. This job is second in the hierarchy to the head chef, which means the person in this position has full control over the kitchen, and is directly responsible for the quality of the food produced there. The job comes with great recognition, but it also implies a high degree of responsibility, a major achievement for any aspiring chef.

Brendan has many new and inspiring food combination ideas, and he is always busy creating and diversifying menus. He works hard on producing colourful dishes that taste as good as they look, and are worthy of many a photo opportunity. The softly spoken Brendan manages to command his kitchen crew with diligence and finesse, creating a great team environment, everyone working together to meet the demands of even the most demanding of customer requirements.

The Barge is one of the two main restaurants at Nora Buri, and can be found directly on the seafront. It is a beautiful building crafted from dark wood and designed to look (no surprises here) like a barge! There are four levels; the ground floor alongside the beach is the main dining area, the second floor provides extra seating and is used in the case of rain. On the third floor is the Rice Barge and Terrace, a separate restaurant which serves Thai cuisine and provides a truly authentic dining experience. It also affords spectacular views of the ocean and has a perfect breeze to keep you cool. Right at

the top is the Sky Lounge, which is very secluded and is used for private dining.

The Barge caters for lunch and evening dining.

During the day, the atmosphere is more casual as it is used primarily by the beachside pool guests.

At night, the area is magically transformed with dimmed lighting, and provides a fine dining experience for all the varied tastes and nuances of resort guests and visitors. Set menus are great for those who like to sample a well-balanced variety of seafood and meat. If you prefer to create your own menu, the staff will be happy to help you. The most popular dishes from the a la carte menu include the New Zealand Lamb Rack, a two point rack with pea puree, baby carrots, asparagus and red wine sauce. Seafood Stew is an assortment of prime prawns, mussels, sea bass, clams and calamari, cooked in a tomato and lobster bisque with potato and carrots. There are lots of interesting salads on the menu, including Fennel and Smoked Salmon Salad, crispy fennel with orange, parsley, olive oil and lemon. A big hit vegetarian dish is the Homemade Gnocchi, with pea puree, cashew nuts, feta cheese and dried tomatoes. And coming soon will be a new range of Indian dishes and home-made pasta. If you have any particular dietary requirements, don’t worry, Brendan is more than happy to make something for you, and gluten free bread is available on request.

Themed evenings are very popular at Nora Buri.

Monday night is ‘Cowboy Steak Buffet’, a huge array of meats, salads and accompaniments complete with a cowboy theme. Bunting is strung around the trees, hay bales help to create the atmosphere and the staff add to the fun by dressing-up in cowboy and cowgirl outfits. If you join in by getting dressed in a themed outfit, you get a free drink! The buffet is a very reasonable 1,190 baht per person, inclusive of tax. Extremely good value for money, especially at a 5-star resort, and it includes live entertainment from The Barge Band and an acrobat show. Cooking demonstrations also go on during the evening.

This alternates every week, with pasta one week, tortilla wraps the next. This special evening includes four options for ‘all you can drink

promotions’. You can pay per hour for as many hours as you want, well until closing time! There are four options; beer only; beer, spirits and soft drinks; cocktails, beers, spirits and soft drinks; house wine. Prices vary accordingly. Buggies are available to get you back to the hotel entrance or your room, if needed!

Every Wednesday evening there is a ‘Hawaiian Seafood Buffet’ with fresh seafood from the barbecue, and live Polynesian dancing. The cost for this night is 1,290 baht. For either themed evening, if you reserve a table in advance, you also get a 15% discount, and children six to 12 years old are half price. Brendan does likes to keep his customers happy, and value for money is part of his mantra.

Brendan is also available to help organise and cook for a variety of private dining experiences, with a tailor-made menu just for you and your special occasion. You can have an elegant and romantic setting at the Sky Lounge watching the stars, on the beach listening to the waves lapping the shore, or on the luscious green lawn area.

Nora Buri is located at the very northern end of Chaweng Beach, as the road begins to head down towards Choeng Mon. It is away from the crowds and offers its guests the advantages of calmness and tranquillity on a private beach, but with the convenience of being just two minutes from central Chaweng, with its nightlife and bustling shopping area.

So dig out that cowboy outfit or the Hawaiian shirt that is definitely somewhere in your luggage. If that’s not your thing then go along on a non-themed evening, have some colour on your plate and look out for that rising star.

Karan Ladd For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7791 3555. www.noraburiresort.com

Authentic Middle-Eastern chic in a tropical paradise. Enjoy a cocktail or a cup of freshly brewed Turkish coffee on our spacious beachfront terrace or treat yourself to our chef's culinary delights while being entertained by belly dancing shows.

Reservation: 0 7743 0105 Open: 6.00 pm - 11.00 pm Beachfront at The Wharf, Fisherman's Village www.siamwininganddining.com 7

Tropical Pick

A farang a day? A closer look at the ubiquitous guava.

It’s been going on for almost 300 years. It keeps on happening. And it’ll probably keep on going until the end of time. If you haven’t yet realised what I mean, try this. In a restaurant, or when buying fruit from a stall, pick out a guava, or order guava slices. And then listen carefully for the response in Thai. You don’t need to understand the language. All you need to do is to keep your ears open for the word ‘farang’ (pronounced ‘falang’), usually said with a grin.

Congratulations. You have just discovered the oldest Thai joke of all, and one of which nobody ever seems to tire. Because a guava is a ‘farang’.

And so, also, are you.

This is an aspect that’ll bring a stifled shriek to the lips of everyone coming from a politically-correct first-world nation. But in most Asian countries everything’s a lot more easy-going. In Thailand, the word ‘farang’ means, literally, ‘foreign’. And it’s attached to all sorts of things which have come into Thailand from outside. Chewing gum, for instance, is ‘mak farang’ – referring to a foreign sort of ‘chewing nut’. The humble potato is ‘man farang’, where ‘man’ is the word for a tuber. But there are only two occasions when the word is used by itself.

One is the generic word for a foreign person.

The other is the specific word for a guava.

Thus the never-failing chuckle about ‘farang likes to eat farang’, and the origins of both are the same. Somewhere about 300 years ago, Portuguese traders showed up. These were the first ‘farang’ to appear in Thailand. They brought strange and unusual things with them. The most immediately-acclaimed of these was the guava.

(How odd that it wasn’t the chilli-pepper!) Thus, out of all the foreign fruits that were later to root their way into Thai favour, the first one of them was dubbed simply ‘farang’.

different things to different people. If you’re from the USA, then there are a whole load of different types of guavas in the markets, 90% of them grown in the southern states. There are pink ones and green and yellow ones, some smooth and some with lumpy skin, some bitter, some sweeter, and all of them tasting different as they ripen. You’ll even find imported Thai seed-stock guavas which have been cultivated in the subtropical regions – Florida, Southern California and Hawaii – at double the price!

Very few Thai people seem to know this – despite the name, they still perceive the guava as an indigenous Thai fruit. It was actually first discovered growing in Central and Southern America, from whence it was spread by local tribes into the Caribbean region. This was where it was later discovered by New World traders, in the 16th century. And, a hundred years later, it found its way to Asia and Thailand, where it flourished and was quickly assimilated into the region’s flora.

And if you live in Europe, you’ll see adverts for the “fragrant, juicy flesh of the guava” which will be either pale yellow or salmon-coloured. You’ll stumble over forums where folks are asking for guava growing advice, and come across angry online consumers demanding the availability of tinned guavas. At which point your YouTube video would resume with another still-frame caption, this time reading simply “What the Heck!” Then an educated and dispassionate voice-over would be heard to say . . . “But Are We All on the Same Page Here?” Because there’s a whole load of stuff which just doesn’t add up!

If this story was a YouTube video, this is the bit where the flow of the pictures and the commentary would grind to a slow halt, and in the silence, a caption would appear saying ‘But Wait a Moment!’ Because the word ‘guava’ means

Let’s put it another way. Hit Google again and do a search for ‘the five worst tropical fruits’.

Spend a while in this area. You’ll discover

something quite interesting. At a guess, a Thailand poll of the top five favourite fruits will include guava, papaya and durian. Outside of Thailand, much of the rest of the world gives these a big thumbs-down! It’s a puzzle. When papaya was first introduced (not long after guava), the Royal Court could only manage tiny nibbles, and only if the stuff was slathered in sugar. Meanwhile the rest of the nation couldn’t get enough of it raw. It’s the same with guava.

Thailand munches tons of it, raw and sour, every day. It looks like sliced apple. It has the texture of an apple before it’s ready to eat – hard, white, crunchy, and dry. It tastes like tough, unripe green apples – sour and bitter. But everyone here loves it. And guess what? It’s really, really, good for you!

There are a few tropical fruits that simply mesmerise by their nourishment quotient – in other words, what they look and taste like bears no relation to the amount of good they do you.

Guava is one of these. A further curiosity is that the Thai nation can’t bear to eat snacks unless they contain a minimum of 16% sugar, preferably more. But they will cheerfully chew all day on the sourest of fruit. Guava, as a prime example, is a storehouse of vitamin C and is crammed full of lycopene and antioxidants, which not only

inhibit the formation of free radicals, but are also essential for dermic development. They are additionally rich in manganese, which helps the body to absorb many of the other key nutrients.

Guavas also contain folate, a mineral which helps stimulate fertility. And the potassium in guavas helps to regulate blood pressure levels, as well.

Somewhere back in the uneducated mists of English history, it was considered beneficial to eat an apple a day. The Thai nation at this time didn’t have a diet of potatoes and porridge – or even apples. They ate vegetables, greens, rice, fish and poultry. Lots of it. Plus a whole load of exceptionally nutritious fruits, most of which the Victorian English had never even heard about.

And that’s quite probably why, in Thailand, you might just come across wisdom which advises you to ‘eat a guava a day’. It makes so much more sense than an apple!

Rob De Wet

Discover authentic

Indian Cuisine

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 Noori India Cooking Center - Chaweng South Soi Colibri, opp. Centara Grand Beach Resort For reservation (English) - 0 867 407 873 or 0 7741 3108 For reservation (Thai) - 0 813 960 283 E-mail: nooriindia_samui@yahoo.com www.nooriindiasamui.com

8 www.siamwininganddining.com

Samui 2012 WINNER

2013 WINNER

2014 WINNER

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

Situated high up on the cliffs with breath-taking views over the turquoise blue ocean below, and the whole stretch of Chaweng beach to the north, the ever popular Dr Frogs Bar & Grill is the now a fantastic spot to partake in a calm and leisurely gourmet breakfast.

Dr Frogs has been serving excellent and authentic Italian and Thai food in this location for nine years now, and has become somewhat of a landmark on the island. The owner continues to move with the times. He has now opened the new Boujis Boutique Resort situated literally next door. As a result, the gourmet breakfast was born at Dr Frogs. Not content with providing longstanding buffet breakfasts, he decided, with the help of seven-year resident Italian chef Massimo Mariani, to create a gourmet, a la carte breakfast menu.

So now both residents and outside guests alike can enjoy an amazing breakfast experience whilst relaxing and admiring the twinkling hues of the ocean and islands beyond.

Boujis Boutique Resort itself is a small and intimate resort, built into the rocks along the oceanfront, with 15 newly decorated luxury villas. All are tastefully appointed with fine furniture and antiques in pan-Asian fusion style.

There is a choice of one or two bedrooms (all uniquely different), with kitchens and oceanfront balconies or living rooms. Its location ensures you are well away from the hustle and bustle of some of the busier beaches, but it is still close to all amenities and attractions. The hand-picked staff are always ready and eager to assist you.

They are friendly and attentive to your needs, and all done with a smile.

Dr Frogs restaurant area has two covered, but open air balconies with wooden decking and fans throughout, giving access to that breath-taking view overlooking the ocean with its welcome breeze weaving its way through the dining area, perfect for any time of the day.

On the breakfast menu you will find a healthy Dr Frogs signature breakfast; poached eggs with asparagus, olives, feta cheese, rocket, polenta and toast. A hearty English breakfast; sausage, bacon, eggs any style you choose, grilled tomato, asparagus, baked beans, fried potatoes and mushrooms. Then there is the American breakfast; sausage, bacon, eggs any style, grilled tomato, plus Virginia ham, hash browns and asparagus. Or you can make up one of your own, there is a huge variety of choice including; feta cheese, cream cheese, smoked salmon and steamed spinach, as well as cereals, fruit salads, pancakes, smoothies, juices, teas and coffees.

They also offer a selection of Thai breakfast favourites. Makes you mouth water just thinking about it!

But don’t forget the ‘all-day menu’. Master Italian chef Massimo, began his career in Milan over 30 years ago, and now prepares authentic and classic Italian food for lunch and dinner.

Specialities of the house include Italian classics such as risotto, homemade pasta, pizza and gnocchi, all made with top grade ingredients, many imported direct from Italy. Firm favourites at this idyllic island location are seafood and shellfish. Live Alaskan lobsters and French oysters, along with prime Australian beef and New Zealand Lamb are imported and regularly flown in on special speedy consignments to maintain freshness and quality. Daily specials often include fish, fresh from the local fisherman and are of course, dependent on what is available. At Dr Frogs all the stocks, sauces and soups are made on site, and only the freshest vegetables are used.

Examples from the extensive all-day menu include appetizers such as Cozze e Vongole sautéed mussels and clams with white wine soup and toasted garlic bread. There is Minestrone Soup, a traditional Tuscan vegetable soup topped with parmesan cheese, or the ever-popular Caesar Salad. Salsiccia Risotto is sautéed Italian sausage in white wine. Pasta dishes include Linguini Frutti Di Mare, mixed local shellfish, tiger prawns and squid with a light tomato, chilli and garlic sauce, or try the Tagliati di Tonno ‘Massimo’, a sliced and grilled tuna steak with mint pesto and sautéed fennel.

From the sea, you will find Jumbo Tiger Prawns, flambéed in brandy or grilled, with zucchini trifolati. From the grill try the Lamb Tenderloin, roasted with herbs and finished with red wine,

or Angus Beef Skewers with bell peppers and shallots.

And don’t forget the fantastic pizzas available at Dr Frogs. There is an amazing choice here, and all are cooked from scratch. Try the amazing White Pizza with Phuket lobster, onions, sun dried tomatoes and rucola salad, or the marvellous Pizza Tartufata with plum tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, smoked pancetta and topped with truffle oil, or make your own selection of toppings. One thing is certain, they smell amazing and the taste does not disappoint!

But the menu does not stop there; there is also a wide selection of Thai dishes, including traditional fare such as Gai Phad Med Mamuang; stir-fried chicken and vegetables with cashew nuts, along with a variety of mouth-watering soups, salads, curries and noodles. There are even sharing plates to try so that you and your guests can have a little taste of everything.

And it’s not called Dr Frogs for nothing. Yes, you can order the Cosce di Rana Provencale; pan-fried frog legs in butter, garlic and parsley, or the tasty Thai dish, Phad Prik Ka Gop; pan-fried frogs legs with chilli paste, garlic, lemongrass, lime and turmeric.

Breath-taking Breakfasts Dr Frogs Bar & Grill is now open all day.

Whatever cuisine you decide upon, there’s a great selection of New and Old World wines to complement each and every dining experience.

If you aren’t sure which to choose, the staff are on hand to give you help and advice. And don’t forget to check out the desserts. Try the Mango Crème Brûlée with its homemade wild berries compote, or maybe the Homemade Tiramisu.

And you can round off the whole dining experience in style by enjoying an excellent Italian grappa; there are ten different types to choose from.

There is live music every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7.30 pm, by the very talented, Samui favourite, Oliver Jones. Oliver’s music creates an ambience that goes well with the dining experience, without distracting you from your food.

Over the years, Dr Frogs has become something of an institution. Holidaymakers and local residents all come together here, many returning over and over again, even years later. Families and children are always welcome here, there is always something they will recognise and like on the menu, if not ask the chef, he is always happy to oblige.

Dr Frogs has a wealth of experience planning, catering and hosting weddings, wedding receptions, birthdays, corporate events and any type of gathering you may have in mind. The restaurant creates tailor-made menus and can cater for up to 100 guests for à la carte or sit-down meals. Weddings are held at the Boujis Boutique Resort, in a very secluded beach setting, beneath the restaurant and right by the ocean. There is a car park right outside the restaurant itself, and of course accommodation at the resort for your guests.

Dr Frogs Bar and Grill is located in Chaweng Noi, between Chaweng and Lamai, five minutes from central Chaweng, just before the viewpoint.

Dr Frogs enjoys that same view, along with a fantastic dining experience. They are now open from 7:00 am until 11:30 pm, with the kitchen closing at 10:30 pm.

All day dining with that perfect, stunning, breath-taking view, come and try the new breakfast menu, have a swim in the pool, linger for lunch, have a sunset cocktail, stay for dinner and sample great authentic home-made Italian cooking at its best. Ah, sheer pleasure. It’s a good idea to book ahead and reserve a table, particularly if you want a table right next to that superb view and the breeziest spot, perched right at the edge of the cliff-top.

Karan Ladd For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7744 8505. www.drfrogssamui.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

Pooling Resources One of the most laid-back spots around – drop in for a leisurely hour or so at RockPool!

Kanda Residences is no new kid on the block. It’s been sitting there quietly, just outside Chaweng, for a little while now. As you head north out of the town, in the general direction of the airport at first, but then keeping on the road to Choeng Mon, you’ll see it quite soon, on the coast side of the road. And what’s interesting about this place is that it’s essentially a co-operatively owned, managed and leased assortment of extremely luxurious small villas. In the earlier part of its life it was an up-market resort – hence the attention that was paid to creating and maintaining one of the best restaurants in the area. Today it’s still terrific although, apart from savvy residents, not many know that it’s there.

There was a time, perhaps a generation back, when it was thought intrusive to just wander into a hotel and use their restaurant. But today that’s definably not the case – all the best resorts now feature signature restaurants, of which they are rightly proud. And everyone’s warmly welcome to explore the menu, or simply pop in for a couple of drinks and some time online. Coming in from the main road outside, enter the reception area and ask for a buggy to RockPool. You’ll be buzzed down through the twisting narrow ‘streets’ and between the high walls, all of them bright with vines and climbing flowers, that are the boundaries of the secluded villas within.

10 www.siamwininganddining.com

There’s not much to see as you pull up outside the restaurant: just a sun-baked walled terrace that evokes a Mediterranean hill. But walking through the adjacent brick arch reveals a wondrous view – across the open space of a smoothly tiled floor, is the wide blue sea beyond. This area is usually kept clear. But if there’s a function, such as a party or a group playing, then it doubles as either a seating space with tables and chairs installed, or a dance floor.

There’s some comfy sofa-seating near the entrance, a long bar over to the left, and the very modern-looking open kitchen, gleaming with brushed stainless steel, to the right.

At which point you’ll probably wonder what all the fuss is about! But don’t worry – this isn’t actually the heart of RockPool, just the lead-in.

Because, when you wander over to the right hand side of the balcony, all is revealed. Down below are a couple of wooden-decked terraces, dramatically perched on and over the rocky cliffside. It’s delightful! The infinity pool forms a kind of step-down section to the dining area and bar below – which features an enormous tree growing up through the lower bar and shading most of the first deck. There’s a raised shelf for sea gazing running around the edge of this, and to the left and down two steps is the main dining deck together with another small bar.

This is one of the most laid-back spots around.

There are daybeds scattered here and there, with low tables and deep cushion seats, and a huge tented canopy over one part to screen out the worst of the rays. And all around, and below, is the drama of the rocks and (sometimes!) the pounding surf, framed by coves, islands and picture-postcard little fishing boats.

It has to be said that, like so many tropical island venues, RockPool has two distinct personalities.

There’s the daytime persona, bright, sunny, and blue to the horizon and up, interspersed with the pools of shade from that giant tree and the brollies. This is just ideal for slow-sipping, catching the sunset, and laying back and updating your Facebook presence. But, after dark, all the dimensions shift. It all become more intimate, snugger, with the warm, low pools of lights weaving a dappled tapestry that’s echoed by the spotlights on the rocks down below. This is the gentler side; it conjures romance and lingering glances. It evokes the sensual delights of fine cuisine and good wine. And it summons the presence of the Brazilian, Lucas Varin.

Lucas is the Executive Chef here. He has an impeccable pedigree, having worked in some of Brazil’s top restaurants, as well as a Parisian Michelin 2-star venue, before running his own

5-star kitchens in both Australia and The Caribbean. His cuisine is highly individual and doesn’t slot neatly into any of the usual niches.

But a look at the menu instantly reveals the direction and depth of his art. Such as, for example, the Black Angus and Tiger Prawn Salad with Thai Vegetables and Herbs (at only 440 baht), or the delicious Risotto de Mare with Smoked Salmon, Squid, Parmigiana and Pomodoro Sauce (at 480 baht). Note that the prices here have been kept purposefully reasonable.

RockPool regularly stages features and happenings too, such as live bands. Or special one-offs for occasions such as Valentine’s, The Thai, Chinese and Western New Years, or events such as the intriguing exhibition of art which they recently hosted. And there’s a happy hour from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm – two-for-one on selected items. Plus there are special promotions too, from time to time. Full details are on their website, where all the current info, and more, can be found pooled all together!

Rob De Wet For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7723 4500. www.rockpoolsamui.com

www.siamwininganddining.com 11

Around the World in 18 Days This is about the time it would take to sample all of the cuisines available on Samui!

Once upon a time the little island of Samui had coconuts, no roads and lots of thatched huts.

Then, sometime later, it had coconuts, roads, and lots of big buildings as well. And today there are fewer coconuts and not so many huts, but there are now also some of the most lavishly-designed properties that you’ll find anywhere in the world. Today there are no fewer than 28 5-star getaways (and counting) spread around the island, including many of the big international names.

But, impressive as this may be, the implications run deeper. The presence of 5-star hotels and resorts means 5-star cuisine to match. And this means there are now quite literally hundreds of world-class chefs working on our little island.

But the knock-on effects continue. As gourmet dining has become more accessible, so more smaller, independent restaurants and their chefs have arrived. This has also been influenced by tourism trends. Today we have a lot of long-stay Russian visitors. And the trend has been for many more Asian tourists to favour our island.

So two more considerations have emerged.

Firstly, a lot more of what are generally called ‘ethnic’ restaurants have appeared – entrepreneurs (or simply chefs looking to make a living) from Brazil, Greece, Turkey, Korea, Italy, India, France, Japan, Vietnam, and more,

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have opened restaurants featuring their national cuisine. And then, secondly, eateries specifically catering for targeted nationalities have appeared.

Russians like to eat familiar things; hence the restaurants opened by Russian chefs. And the same goes for Turks, Koreans, French and Italians. The only odd-one-out here is the Chinese contingent. This is a comparatively new phenomenon, and warrants some passing explanation.

It’s only been in the last few years that the Chinese government has lifted travel restrictions.

Suddenly liberated, millions of Chinese have grabbed at the chance for a cheap foreign excursion. However, they are a regimented nation. Thus hundreds of Chinese tour operators came into being overnight, solely to create thousands of package tours, everything included, and that included food. And so, all across Thailand, giant eating houses have opened just to cater for the endless supply of tour buses that deliver hordes of hungry Chinese tourists every day. A great many of these will turn away walk-in custom, particularly in Bangkok. However, as far as we’re aware, the big one on Samui, located quite close to the Green Mango, is an exception. But as all the signage and the menus are in Chinese, it might prove a challenge for ‘gweilo’ such as you or me!

And so, back to the core of the matter – getting stuck-in to cuisine of all nations on Samui. And a quick cut to the chase here – you can’t! There are a great many different international eateries scattered around. But not, by any means, from all nations. Not even from all continents – Africa, for example (although there used to be one South African restaurant in Chaweng). Australia hasn’t actually got a national cuisine. And you can cross Antarctica off the list straight away!

This brings us back to individual nations, and another curious facet: immigrants.

It’s already been mentioned that an influx of any one nationality also gives rise to the appearance of cuisine from that region. And so if you compare the most-favoured international dishes from America with a comparable selection from, say, Europe, you’ll get vastly differing results.

The USA can pick from (particularly in cosmopolitan centres like New York or San Francisco), Mexican, Brazilian, Caribbean, Malaysian, Russian, Scandinavian, Romanian, Polish, Bulgarian, Thai, Moroccan and Filipino, to itemise but a few. And while Europe also represents lots of different of nationalities, the choice is far less.

However, narrowing it down to the top-of-the-food-pops, then both charts appear to have more in common. The top-ten on both

sides of the Atlantic are not that different: you’ll find they each have Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Italian, French, Greek, Spanish and Indian up there at the top of the hit parade.

One particular aspect of dining on Samui is that nearly all good restaurants offer snippets from various nations. Just about all of them have pasta dishes, for example, or pizzas. And risotto dishes are quite common, as is the occasional Spanish paella. Many offer Mexican tid-bits, especially the various sports pubs that are dotted around.

You’ll even find some Indian cuisine here, such as the popular chicken tikka masala. And in the last couple of years, the island has become a mecca for Brit food, with a positive plethora of pie and mash and traditional Sunday roast lunches, all vying with each other for custom.

But when it comes to stand-alone restaurants, mainly it all boils down to the usual suspects, plus a couple of extra thrown in for good measure. There are several excellent Japanese eateries, ranging from 5-start gourmet fusion to affordable semi-fast food. And you’ll find representatives of the other Asian nations, too – particularly Indian cuisine. Korean food is harder to find, though. But, most surprisingly, there are hardly any Chinese restaurants at the moment.

There are just a few representatives from Vietnam, too. But there’s Laos food aplenty, as

there are huge numbers of north eastern Thai and Laos workers on Samui.

Or you can take your pick of dedicated Italian eateries, ranging from a general selection, to those specialising in northern or Mediterranean cuisine. Swiss and German restaurants are easy to find. There are a couple of Scandinavian places. And one excellent Brazilian restaurant complete with dancing girls, in Chaweng.

Likewise with those of the Greek persuasion – just one (and very good it is too) also in Chaweng. And when it comes to Turkish, there are several, all of them excellent.

What you won’t find is easier to say, and is surprising in itself. There are no Spanish restaurants here, although representatives of the tapas family are everywhere. There’s no Caribbean food either: but then you’ll rarely see any visitors from that region on the island. We might not have cuisine from every nation, but what we have is more than impressive, as is the quality. And at the rate of a different nation every night, it’ll take you a very long holiday to sample them all!

Rob De Wet

Location, Location, Location The Siam Residence Boutique Resort is the perfect spot at any time of day.

In the heart of the Gulf of Thailand, on an uninterrupted stretch of immaculate beach, lies The Siam Residence, a private villa resort. Here you will experience an oasis of calm; it is a truly magical spot. The stunning view of the ocean with its constant cooling breeze, and the picture perfect pristine beach make for a tranquil and peaceful place to stay. It is one of the best places on the island for sunsets. Sit and watch the sky slowly and miraculously turn orange, pink and red whilst marvelling at the creativeness of Mother Nature. If your accommodation is already booked, then be sure not to miss the delights of the ‘grandma’s kitchen’ style restaurant which is right on that gorgeous beach.

Here on the west coast, you feel a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of Chaweng or Lamai, but in fact, you are only a 30-minute drive away. There are many unspoilt villages and communities here, nestled down small tracks and away from the main ring-road. It’s a great area to take your time, get off the beaten track and just explore.

The Siam Residence itself consists of eight private villas, with a large swimming pool, a massage area and restaurant. Everything is spotlessly clean and tidy, including the immaculate tropical gardens that the resort is set in. This is partly due to the clever combination of Austrian ownership, and Swiss management by the charming Benjamin Lehmann. The resort has been here for 23 years, but everything is well maintained and spic and span. It is obvious that the staff give a lot of care and attention to the surroundings. In Thailand, this normally means

that they are well paid and well looked after by their employer.

The beachside restaurant serves mouth-watering Thai and international dishes, as well as the best and freshest catch-of-the-day, cooked just how you like it. The chef has worked here for over 20 years, and she hasn’t lost her passion for cooking every dish with feeling and love. All four kitchen staff are native Samuians and live close by. They have all been with Siam Residence for a long time, and work exceptionally well as a team.

They pride themselves on always using fresh ingredients, bought every day from the local market and serving high-quality food at reasonable prices. Even the wine is good value for money, starting at 700 Baht a bottle for the house wine.

If you have a hankering for any particular ingredient, call in advance and the team will try and buy it fresh at the local market. They will even take you to the market if you want, and you can choose your own. They are very flexible, particularly with Thai dishes, all of which are authentically cooked to whatever level of spiciness you prefer, from zero to crazy hot!

Any fish or shellfish can be chosen from the range on the menu; red or white snapper, barracuda, mackerel, squid, king prawns, lobster, crab and shellfish or other seafood on request, and then you can choose the method of cooking and other ingredients. You can order it barbequed with garlic butter, deep fried with garlic and pepper, fried with sweet and sour sauce or spicy chilli sauce, braised in Penang curry, stir fried with Thai yellow curry. Or have it

the healthy way - steamed with soy sauce and vegetables, young ginger and vegetables or lime, spring onions and Thai herbs. All dishes are served with steamed rice, French fries, noodles or baked potato.

sunsets, enjoy the magic colour show and enjoy an aperitif before dinner. You can also choose to have the intimate atmosphere of a private-dining area on the beach which they will gladly arrange on request.

Meat dishes include Mixed Grill, Beef Tenderloin, Cordon Bleu Pork or Tender Grilled Chicken and come with steamed rice, French fries, fried potatoes, baked potato or noodles and a choice of sauce; herb butter, peppercorn, mushroom or red wine. If you fancy something that is not on the menu, no problem, just ask. If they have the ingredients they will cook it for you. Everything that comes out of the kitchen is home-made and prepared freshly every time. In addition to the menu items, there are daily specials such as Chicken with Lemongrass.

If you are only here for a short time or are not really the ‘exploring’ type, you may be asking; so where exactly is this location? From Nathon, the main town on Samui, it is only five minutes away. Head south from Nathon, towards Lamai, and at the first set of traffic lights turn right following the signpost to Samui Hospital. Turn left just after the first 7/11 on the left-hand side where you will see a sign directing you towards The Siam Residence. Follow the road for about 500 metres, and the entrance is on the right-hand side, before you get to the temple. Follow the driveway another 50 metres and you have found it. If the car park is full, then head back down the entrance road and you will find an extra parking area there.

The Siam Residence offers a calm and relaxed atmosphere for breakfast or lunch. Come early, stay late and take the opportunity to explore the beautiful bay of Lipa Noi. The shimmering ocean and the flat, white sand beaches are the venues for daytime activities: explore by kayak or paddleboard, snorkel or take a boat trip and enjoy the ocean breeze. All the sports equipment is available for you to use when you dine here.

Or simply relax by the pool or beach and sunbathe. You can also enjoy a traditional Thai massage under the palm trees on the beach bliss!

So venture west, go in search of that ‘location extraordinaire’ and join The Siam Residence for a relaxed dining experience, complimented with warm and friendly Swiss and Thai hospitality.

Karan Ladd For reservations or further information, telephone 0 7742 0008. www.siamresidence.com

In the evening, the restaurant transforms itself into an elegant dining venue. The open air restaurant gets that continual cooling breeze from the ocean. Arrive in time for the glorious

Daily Theme Nights From 7pm.

Monday Classical Thai Night Buffet - THB 590 Tuesday Catch of the Day - from THB 250 Wednesday Italian Night Buffet - THB 490 Thursday Steak Supreme - from THB 300 Friday Beach BBQ Buffet featuring live music and a fire juggling show - THB 690 Saturday Surf & Turf - THB 790 Sunday Roast Chicken Sunday - THB 390 Daily Happy Hours at Beach Bar Buy 1 get 1 free beers and cocktails from 12pm - 2pm l 5pm - 7pm l 9pm - Midnight Sentinel Band Enjoy music from the Sentinel Band - Monday to Saturday from 7pm – 10pm Dining on the Beach Moonlight beach dining with your own private chef, from THB 1,500 per person

Chaweng Noi Beach For reservations please call: +66 77 448 994 www.impiana.com.my/hotel/impiana-resort-chaweng-noi-koh-samui/

www.siamwininganddining.com

13

Going Native Joining the locals at Aunty Meow’s.

Some restaurants in Thailand don’t have any formal name at all, and this is true of this particular restaurant, which specialises in Chinese noodles. You won’t see any sign outside; there’s just a blue awning and a cooking range. The local people refer to it simply as Aunty Meow’s or ‘the noodle place’. Khun Meow is the cook here, and if you're wondering about her name, then yes, the word ‘meow’ in Thai is as much to do with cats as it is in English. In Thai it’s the actual word for cat and doubles as a Thai nickname.

Despite having no official name, the noodle restaurant couldn’t be easier to find. Drive down the ring-road in Chaweng heading south for Lamai, and you'll see it on your left, less than 100 metres before the Post Office. It’s almost directly opposite Jack’s Flowers. (If you need to park your car, try in the 7-Eleven a couple of hundred metres further down the road on your right.)

It’s housed in a large, airy modern building and occupies the ground floor. It’s very spacious and

14 www.siamwininganddining.com

spotlessly clean, too. Everything’s spick and span from the cooking range to all the utensils.

Despite the noise of the ring-road, it’s quiet inside and you have the feeling that people appreciate not just the food, but also the sense of calm and order that prevails. It can get quite busy round lunch-time, but is never over-crowded. It’s open daily from 10:00 am till 3:00 pm.

great reputation on Samui. She took a break and went to Bangkok for a while, before returning to Samui and opening her restaurant here. At the time of writing it’s still in its first year but it’s already doing very well for itself.

Once you're seated, friendly staff will bring you – and this is included in the price of the meal – a delicious jasmine tea. The owner makes it herself, using tea from Ranong Province on the mainland, but also with the addition of a secret ingredient. And no, she won’t tell you what it is.

Suffice to say the tea is excellent and just what you need on a hot day.

Cooks all over Asia are very competitive about making the best noodles, and it takes a real maestro to stand out. And how Khun Meow produces such great-tasting food is simply by making everything from scratch. Whereas a good few noodle vendors will be content to buy as much as possible from wholesalers, Khun Meow makes everything herself. It’s harder, she says, but she’s not tempted to cut corners as it would mean that the taste and even the smell of the food would suffer. After all, people come here because they know that they can find the best.

The list of foods is a very simple one, mostly accompanied by Chinese noodles, and expertly cooked by Khun Meow herself along with an assistant. Khun Meow has been making these dishes for more than a decade, and gained a

There’s a menu on the wall, but unless you can read Thai, you won’t understand it. But you don’t need to, as there are only a few dishes on offer and you just point to what you'd like before taking a seat.

To start off, you'll need to make a choice between four different types of noodles. These range from vermicelli to the popular flat noodles. Each has a unique taste. All the noodles are made from scratch by a family member up in Ayutthaya. If you're not into noodles, then you can have rice instead. There are tureens containing ‘moo thum’ (pork broth) and ‘neua thum’ (beef broth) and you can choose from one of these. Khun Meow then ladles some into a bowl and then briefly boils your choice of noodle, along with bean sprouts, if you like them, and hand-made pork or beef balls. The boiling is done by placing the ingredients you've chosen into a wire basket on a wooden stick, which is then plunged into a hot cauldron of water. It takes very little time before its ready. Various garnishes are added – simply choose which ones you would like.

The steaming bowl is then brought to your table. You'll find four glass pots which contain sugar, garlic in vinegar, crushed chilli flakes and ‘nam plaa’ or fish sauce. Each of these has also

been made by hand. You can now further adjust the taste, making it fiery, sweet, sour or a combination of all three. By the way, none of the dishes here is particularly spicy, so this is a great place to come if you want a break from the fieriness that hallmarks some Thai foods.

Khun Meow also prepares pork and beef balls in a sweet and sour sauce, which is basically made from tamarind, giving it a very unique taste. Many people just can’t seem to get enough of these dishes, and so they have their own separate cooking station where her assistant can often be found preparing them.

You'll find noodle shops all over Samui, but Aunty Meow is an expert who’s able to make noodle dishes to perfection, hence her large and satisfied clientele. Come and try her cooking and you too will be won over.

Dimitri Waring

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

15

Coastal Cuisine Forget packing sandwiches, Samui’s beach food vendors have got you covered.

When I was a kid, and the chilly summers gave way to a day of sunshine, we’d make our way to the beach. A treat would be to have an ice-cream from the little truck parked on the edge of the beach, and sometimes even on the beach itself. It usually wasn’t a long walk to get there, but if the sun had brought out lots of people, and you were only six years old, chances were you were going to get lost in the myriad of beach mats and lobster red bodies on the beach.

On Samui there’s no fear of losing your kids as beaches here don’t ever get towel-to-towel crowded, but if your children start to feel a little peckish and you need to quickly buy a snack, there’s no need for them to go off; just wait a couple of minutes on any of the main beaches on the island and the food will come to you.

But you will have a lot more to choose from than simply an ice-cream cone or lollipop. Of course the ice-cream vendors are there, but you’ll also find plenty of other vendors, some with heavy looking grills and baskets that they carry all day long, even in the blistering heat of the tropical sun. They’ll be working from mid-morning till late afternoon. The most common food on the beach is som tam or papaya salad, and the som tam seller is always eagerly awaited. When you see a group of Thais around a vendor you know that you’ve stumbled across something good, and there’s usually a crowd around most som tam vendors.

The salad will be made fresh right there on the beach, from the peeling and shredding of the papaya, to the pounding of the spices, chilli, garlic and palm sugar. There will also be grilled chicken available to eat with your salad and this will be cooked on a small charcoal grill. Warm sticky rice is a great accompaniment to this snack – which is actually more like a light meal,

and very satisfying on the beach if you’re feeling hungry.

But if you are more in the mood for a healthy snack then the pineapple seller is probably your best bet. They usually have fresh pineapples that they prepare in front of you, and the chopped fruit makes a wonderfully refreshing snack after a swim in the sea or playing with the kids on the sand.

Or how about corn on the cob? – Cobs of corn are roasted over a charcoal grill and served either on the cob itself or the corn is scraped off to be eaten. But beware of an added topping of sugar if this is not to your taste; quickly point it out to the seller before your corn becomes even sweeter.

The best hydrating drink that you can have is coconut water, and there are sellers providing fresh coconuts that they will cut open for you to drink the coconut water straight from the shell.

It’s delicious and quite addictive.

Another light snack and a favourite amongst all of the Thai people I spoke to is ‘kai song kuang’ or Cambodian grilled eggs. Despite their name, these can be found everywhere in Thailand, including the beach. The vendor will be carrying two large baskets perched across his shoulders.

He’ll usually be selling two types of eggs. One is the simpler ‘kai ping’ which are just grilled eggs.

The other, ‘kai song kruang’ takes a while for the seller to prepare before he hits the beach.

First a hole needs to be made at one end of the egg and then the egg-white and yolk are blown out. The egg contents are then whisked and mixed with fish sauce, for a little saltiness, sugar for a little sweetness and pepper for some heat.

The mixture is then put back into the egg shells

and steamed. Then about four of the eggs are skewered onto a barbecue stick, put on a grill and barbecued. I have to admit that even after all my years in Thailand I never knew what was actually in the eggs, and just presumed they were all simply barbecued eggs. After hearing how they were made, I tried them for myself and have to say that I enjoyed them very much and would definitely recommend them. Even if it’s a rainy day and you’re unlikely to go to the beach you can pick them up in the street from vendors there – or if you have a late night craving even the 7-Eleven stocks them. On the beach they are usually sold alongside steamed peanuts.

Increasingly I’ve noticed that the food vendors are starting to offer more Western choices as they stroll along the sands, so you’ll sometimes come across donut sellers who seem pretty popular with tourists. Don’t be too worried about buying from the vendors since most of the food is prepared right in front of you, so you have a good idea of the hygiene of their cooking utensils and how long the food is cooked for.

So next time you’re planning a day on the beach there's no need to stock up on all sorts of snacks to drag along with you. Usually a bottle of water will suffice to stave off dehydration and the hunger pangs will be taken care of by an army of vendors whose work day starts and ends walking up and down the beach with some tasty treats for you to sample. Do be aware that the official sellers must all wear jackets with numbers printed on them – these are the legal food vendors who have applied for and received a license to work on that beach.

Natalie Hughes

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.

Sabeinglae Restaurant

The Wharf Samui, Fishermans’s Village For reservation please call 077 430 094-5 16 www.siamwininganddining.com

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

The Baddie in the Pantry

Even though it’s been around for years, MSG is still giving everyone a headache. Or is it?

Back in the old days, in many a western country, a subject taught in school, home economics, meant that some 50% of the students learned how to cook. The 50% were all girls.

Boys weren’t expected to study the subject at all. Come the 60s, and a slightly less sexist world view, all that changed. But not in a faintly rational way. Were boys now expected to learn to cook? No way! Home economics fell from popularity and cooking was more or less dropped. So nobody was learning how to cook.

And a while after that, as Gordon Ramsay pointed out, nobody even remembered how to cook.

Cooking had gone off the boil. People had can-openers. They made mush. This state of affairs had long been in the making. Just a couple of decades before, an American advert had very proudly announced, “It’s from tins!” alongside a picture of, well, tinned food, all emptied onto a platter while an over-excited family looked on with the glee of puppies on helium.

The term ‘fresh’ and ‘ingredients’ were not to be juxtaposed in the minds of many for years to come. Hardly surprising then that processed foods were on the up and up. But the tin, carton and package not only had to look good, they had to taste good. Food scientists got busy.

Culinary hacks were invented. Taste enhancers that had been around for years became super heroes. Dubious chemistry came to the rescue.

Additives were added and a whole pseudo-world of culinary taste gradually began to usurp the kitchen table. From then on we've had ‘E numbers’, a greyed-out borderland where chemicals meet food and food loses out. And though not many people can actually name an E number, on everyone’s lips we hear the name of the arch enemy of all good food - MSG. And we've all probably all sat next to someone at a restaurant who suddenly develops a headache. “It’s MSG,” they'll say. “They must use it here.” They'll gaze down balefully at their plate, and so probably will we. After all, nobody likes to be poisoned – even if it’s in small doses.

MSG, or monosodium glutamate, to give it its full, ugly name, was once popular. But over the years, its reputation has taken dive after dive.

On Samui you'll see many restaurants which openly state that they use no MSG. It’s apparently that bad that restaurant owners have to advertise that they don’t use it. But others do, and you'll see it in the supermarkets openly on sale in small bags. Don’t confuse it with salt, a substance that’s almost equally iffy, at least in some people’s books.

But what is MSG exactly? It’s widely available, and in its original form was made of Japanese seaweed, sugar beet and gluten from wheat. It doesn’t sound dangerous, does it? Cuisine in South-East Asia utilizes it, though it’s not formally mentioned in many recipes. It’s something that’s routinely thrown in. Often you'll find it in international restaurants, too, but it’s mostly the oriental ones that use it, the world over. You'll also find it in tinned goods, soups and processed foods, such as sausages. In many countries, its presence in a food has to be clearly stated on the package.

The array of symptoms that overuse of MSG is said to cause lists headaches, heart palpitations, dizziness, nausea and a host of other unpleasant reactions. You might also experience strange facial pressure, or the skin round your face may feel tight and may or may not be accompanied by numbness, tingling or even burning.

With all of this, you'd think that study after study would conclude what a vicious substance MSG is. A bit like tobacco, surely, where the results of the studies are known in advance and where the only advice that’s relevant is to give up, or never start in the first place. The same for MSG, right? Wrong. The results of the studies are surprisingly vague. Reading through them it might seem that the researchers and scientists have overlooked the obvious, that MSG is a poison, and it’s just waiting to claim new victims.

No less an august body than the USA’s Food and Drug Administration has classified MSG as being ‘generally recognized as safe’. They're saying that it’s definitely not that harmful. But would you step inside an airplane if the steward told you it was ‘generally safe’? Probably not.

The FDA acknowledges that MSG is controversial. People – and they’ve been doing this for years – regularly write to the FDA to complain about MSG and the reactions they’ve had.

However, researchers have found no major evidence of a link between MSG and these reactions. They certainly acknowledge that a small percentage of people may have mild, short-term reactions to MSG. The operative word is ‘may’. Some researchers conclude that the effects are caused by other things that have been ingested, such as peanuts, beer or shellfish.

The only way to prevent a reaction is to avoid foods containing MSG. That’s difficult in itself, as it seems to lurk everywhere. Just when you're congratulating yourself on making a pure vegetable soup, for example, you may cast your eyes down at that little packet of stock that you unwrapped and popped into the mix to give it flavour. It’s just condensed herbs and what not.

The ‘what not’, when you check the list written in miniscule writing on the side of the packet, mentions, of course, MSG. And hey presto, your pure soup isn’t quite as pure as you thought.

But it goes way beyond that. The awful truth is that MSG turns out to be a naturally occurring substance, as well as a man-made one. Here’s a list of foods that contain naturally-occurring MSG: Roquefort cheese, Parmesan cheese, soy sauce, walnuts, fresh tomato juice, grape juice, peas, mushrooms, broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, oysters, corn, potatoes, chicken, mackerel, beef, and eggs. That’s a pretty long list. There’s one last thing that tends to surprise absolutely everyone who thinks that MSG is dangerous: human milk. Indeed the human body produces MSG itself.

Is breast feeding dangerous? And what about pizza with a generous topping of Roquefort and tomatoes? Do babies have headaches? And what about customers in Italian restaurants?

But despite MSG not being the bad guy in the food department, it’s come to stand for much that’s wrong with our food today – the additives.

When people complain about MSG, they're pointing out how impure our food is, how worryingly suspect its ingredients are. People are up in arms about food. We have a very long way to go before our it becomes truly good for us, so the MSG critics play a valuable role in keeping their eyes peeled for unhealthy interlopers in the kitchen. And there are many of them.

Dimitri Waring

Relax@Samui Thai food - Seafood - European food Romantic atmosphere Private seaview cottages The best seaviews on Samui Bang Por Beach, Tel. 0 7760 2228

Take a bread cake and bakery Tel: 088 502 3112

Location: Samui Ring Road (nearly opposite Big C)

www.siamwininganddining.com 17

The Wine Page Raise a glass to English wine.

It wasn't so long ago, that anyone who asked for a bottle of English wine in a restaurant would have been met with blank looks. But English wine is soaring in popularity. And, according to up-market British supermarket chain Waitrose, English wine sales last year rose by nearly 200 percent. According to a Waitrose spokesperson, “The success of English wine is a culmination of dedication and effort from some talented winemakers across the country, who have gradually built the reputation of the wines from the ground up. We are thrilled that our market share is so high, and this is down to our customer's passion for locally grown produce.”

With English wine sales fizzing, the amount of wine produced looks set to double, over the coming decade, to more than 12 million bottles.

And the amount of land taken up by vineyards has grown by 11 percent a year, on average, over the past decade. There are now 470 vineyards and 135 commercial wineries producing 6.3 million bottles a year. And turnover this year is forecast to pass £100 million. The maturing English wine industry, previously composed of enthusiasts and hobbyists, has now taken on a considerably more serious outlook, with commercial investors

Manathai Koh Samui 18 www.siamwininganddining.com

and entrepreneurs focused on long-term business plans. Among them is Frazer Thompson, CEO of Chapel Down, which last year produced around one million bottles of wine, and revenues of more than £6 million.

Indeed, the industry has moved on. There has been more focus on the grape varieties that should be planted. Winemakers have learned from the lessons of the past, and the technology has evolved, too. Money has been pouring in to commercial vineyards in the UK from seriously heavyweight investors.

production. The reasons for this are straightforward. Not only does sparkling wine command a better price, but the quality of English fizz is deemed to be high. However, there remains little appetite among producers to follow the French or Italians in declaring a regional classification for ‘English fizz’ along the lines of Champagne or Prosecco. Some have suggested that English sparkling could be called ‘Sussex.’ But, evidently, influential Frazer, of Chapel Down, is far from impressed with this name.

Wines made from these vineyards are known as English wine (oddly, even those that come from Scotland’s four vineyards). The southeast has 145 wineries, with the largest producer, Chapel Down, competing with brands such as Gusbourne, Nyetimber and Ridgeview. There are many more vineyards along the south coast, such as Camel Valley (Cornwall) and the Furleigh Estate (Dorset). Meanwhile, the Midlands is home to no less than 92 vineyards, including Castle Brook in the beautiful Herefordshire Wye Valley and Halfpenny Green near (less beautiful) Wolverhampton. Their main product is sparkling wine, which accounts for more than two thirds of overall wine

The more savvy English wine producers are trying to create brands, the most important thing for customers to get their heads around. And the English wine revival is certainly being helped by the renaissance in English food. Chefs want local wine to go with their locally sourced food.

And English wine is now on the menus of restaurants owned by Gordon Ramsay, Heston Blumenthal, Jamie Oliver and a long line of other high-end restaurants. During English Wine Week (23–31 May), the highly acclaimed restaurant, Roast, in Borough Market, is offering a set menu where every dish is accompanied by a glass of English wine. And maybe it’s no surprise that wine made in English vineyards

Samui Ring Road

Lamai

Telephone 0 7745 8560-4

was served to guests attending the last UK Royal Wedding. Chapel Down’s sparkling wine was enthusiastically quaffed, from gold-rimmed cut glass wine goblets, at Buckingham Palace, during one of the private receptions following Prince William and Kate Middleton's momentous ceremony.

Of course, despite its recent growth, English wine production remains a long way behind France or Italy, in terms of volume. France produces around seven to eight billion bottles per year, which is over 1,000 times more than England and Wales. But for English winemakers this is no real concern. Unlike the French, they are servicing a market where demand outstrips supply, and customers can be evangelical about their favoured brands. Gusbourne Estate, which planted its vines in 2004, now sells about 40,000 bottles of sparkling wine a year. The ambitious winemakers have learned skills from overseas, but are ultimately aiming to create a unique product. Gusbourne is rightfully proud that all of its winemaking team is home grown, and their goal is to express their own unique vineyards in the finished wine, not to just imitate the world’s most famous sparkling wine, Champagne.

www.manathai.com

Predictably, climate and weather is always a big discussion point, with some arguing that climate change is helping the UK wine industry.

Furleigh Estate in Dorset, which was established in 2005, typically makes 50,000 bottles per year.

But the hot summer of 2014 meant production soared to 120,000 bottles. Rather fortuitously for the winemakers, it would appear that the UK climate is now perfect for sparkling wine.

Increasing temperatures mean southern England now has roughly the same number of warm days as they had in the Champagne region about 50 years ago. And the English climate is especially suitable for producing sparkling wine, because it does not have steady high temperatures, so the grapes retain some of the acidity that is desirable in a fizz. Nevertheless, bad weather can lead to poor harvests, and this affects both the quality and quantity of the wine.

Similar to classic French wines, with English wines vintage really matters, there are good years and bad ones.

Peter James

Opening Times 10am – 1am

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

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