Sure, we could just come out with a headline reading “100 amazing local Thai restaurants to try”, but what would be the fun in that? The point is, there are a lot of great restaurants serving amazing food on this island. We are spoiled for choice with top-notch cuisine from all over the globe, and on top of that, we’re blessed with a surplus of tasty local eats.
Hoi Zapp
While this modest eatery is unassuming at first glance, mostly devoid of glitz and glamor, it has received its fair share of notoriety amongst Thai foodies on social media. While the name highlights their shellfish offerings (hoi means shellfish in Thai), this is one of those places where you can’t really make a bad choice. You’ll find locals raving about the som tam pla ra (papaya salad with fermented fish paste), but they have many varieties of som tam to suit most tastes.
You can’t really go wrong, but a few notable dishes include the wing bean salad (yam tua plu), shrimp pan-fried with shrimp paste and stink bean (goong phad gapai sataw), and even their fried rice is exceptionally tasty.
Hoi Zapp also has live music on the weekends and surprisingly good cocktails. They’re located just 350m east of Blue Tree Waterpark.
Hoi Pai Daeng
Popular amongst the local college crowd (Prince of Songkla University is nearby), this hip open-air eatery in Kathu has been a favorite for well over a decade. A nice atmosphere, good service, talented live musicians, and, of course, the quality fare should earn this place a spot on your shortlist.
Their tom yum seafood is one of the best on the island as well as the phad phet (spicy pan-fried curry), yam salai puang (sea grapes/green caviar salad), and of course plenty of fresh grilled seafood.
Palai Seafood
Situated right on the water overlooking Chalong Bay, seafood doesn’t get much fresher than this as they have many menu options swimming around in tanks for you to choose from. The quality is consistent with a wide selection of seafood options from soft shell crab to mantis shrimp and wing shell snails.
For lovers of deep-fried seafood (basically everyone), they do a great job of cooking this style. Other enjoyable dishes include hoi lod nahm phrik pow (razor clams in roasted chili sauce) and poo phad pong galee (crab in yellow curry sauce).
The Phad Thai Shop
Ever been to a restaurant whose menu has 50 pages of random offerings to sift through? This is not one of those places. As the name suggests, not only do they have phad Thai, but they have one of the best around and have been serving it up for decades. The serving is huge, they cook each order individually, and it’s cheap. There are only a small handful of menu options, all of which are solid, however, they have one of the best beef noodle soups (kwaytiow neua) you will have anywhere. Big chunks of quality beef are stewed to perfection in a rich broth. The owner said they go through 30kg of beef per day!
The Phad Thai Shop is located on the main road between Kata and Karon, is open for lunch only. Get there early to avoid having to wait for a table.