Cafe 69

Everything about this casual restaurant off the main road in Bophut reminds you you are in Thailand - from the name, to the kitschy disco decor that wouldn't work anywhere else except the land of the thousand smiles, to the owner/chef Vivian who is a man but appears to moonlight as a ladyboy based on a photo on the restaurant wall, but most of all - the fresh, delicious, authentic Thai food.

 Soft shell crab and papaya salad wrapped in rice paper

 Thai Pad, Cafe 69's take on pad thai with amazing battered prawns and tamarind sauce

 Green chicken curry with mango

The interior - what you see is basically the entire restaurant, a tiny but lovingly kept restaurant in Bophut

Food rating: *** and a half
Bang for buck rating: 4

The essentials:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/69/195680453794410
Location: Bophut, Koh Samui, Thailand
Dinner for two approximately 500-600 baht (~$17-20)

H Bistro at Hansar Samui

I wasn't expecting world-class European cuisine in Koh Samui, so was happily surprised when we ended up at H Bistro at the suggestion of a friend with a trustworthy palate. The food at H Bistro is excellent - and not just by tropical island standards - the creative, well-presented dishes here are on par with what you'd find at high end restaurants in major cities. Except that the food here comes with gorgeous views of a peaceful, laid back beach at half the price of a nice meal in Hong Kong or San Francisco. It may be expensive by Koh Samui standards where you can still find a bowl of street stall pad thai for 40 baht ($1.33), but a sunset dinner at H Bistro is one of the best meals you'll have in Koh Samui.

Amuse bouche - housemade ravioli with crab in buttery broth

 Chilled white asparagus soup with langoustine and white truffle oil - the complex flavors of this soup were incredible. Both white asparagus and white truffle have such unique flavors and you would expect the pungent truffle oil to mask the subtle flavor of the asparagus, but the flavors melded together beautifully so that you tasted layers of flavor - from truffle oil, to cream, to white asparagus. The soup came with a dollop of black caviar on the side, which is hidden here by the fried pastry on the left.

 Duck breast with smoked duck prosciutto, sweet corn blini with caramelized peach. I'm not a huge fan of duck (other than Peking duck), but the duck here was really well cooked so that the meat was tender and sweet without being too fatty. The corn blini reminded me of the arepas you find in Colombia.

 The view

 Seared Hokkaido scallop on forest mushroom risotto with porcini mushroom essence - the scallop tasted sweet and fresh and the risotto was rich and savory.

 Red prawns with artichoke puree, green peas and brown butter. The prawns were a tad too salty for me which ruined the dish, but that was the only real flaw in the meal.

 Sirloin with veal sweetbread and roasted vegetables

 White chocolate dome and bourbon vanilla raspberry ice cream.

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 4

The essentials:
http://www.hansarsamui.com/index.php?q=h-bistro
Location: Hansar Samui hotel, Bophut beach, Koh Samui, Thailand
Chef's tasting menu for 2 (without wine): 4500 baht (~$150); a la carte menu also available with European and Thai dishes

Kamalaya

Hello world, it's been a long time. My day job had me keeping some insane hours in the past few months, including a lot of transpacific travel. After a particularly bad month, I took a much-needed week off and treated myself to a detox retreat at Kamalaya in Koh Samui. While it's a tad pricey (ok, maybe a little more than a tad), especially for Thailand, it was exactly the rest, relaxation and restoration my body needed. It's one of those things that I can only imagine really justifying in Asia - if I lived a balanced, normal life like I generally did in the US (one filled with daily exercise, wholesome organic foods and nights and weekends to relax), then I wouldn't need to spend a week shelling out a lot of dough to eat only raw vegetables and do yoga. So while a detox retreat is a privilege, working in Asia, I kind of see it as a necessity once in a while as well.

I did a five-day detox retreat which involved daily yoga, detox treatments (such as lymphatic massage, colonics, infrared sauna) and a meat-free, soy-free, dairy-free, rice/wheat/grain-free detox diet that mostly consisted of raw vegetables and certain raw fruits. Surprisingly, I never felt deprived and everything was really delicious.


Pineapple "mojito" - detox style, made with mint, lime and pineapple. You are permitted as many fruit and vegetable juices as you want on the detox

Green vegetable soup

Raw maki made with water chestnuts (instead of rice) and served with a spirulina-wasabi dipping sauce. One of my favorites

Raw pad thai made with coconut tendrils

Raw banana blossom salad

Food rating: ****
Bang for buck rating: 3

The essentials:

Location: Koh Samui, Thailand