Cuisine of Ko Tao Island for gourmets. Places for dinner - best restaurants

As everywhere in Thailand, rice is the base for most of the courses in Ko Tao. They cook it in hundreds of different ways and serve everywhere with vegetables, meat or fish. No surprise here, “food” in Thai means “eat rice”. Don’t question the color of the rice. Here they sell and serve yellow, and black, and red, and jasmine, and many other kinds of rice. The Thai also like noodles and usually use it in dishes. Keep in mind that the locals prefer very spicy food. If you don’t want to find out how spicy the food actually is, ask the waiter to make your dish “no spicy” or “little spicy”. Even after this, the course might still be too spicy for an unprepared person. By the way, it is common here not to drink something when the food is too spicy but to eat it with rice, which is served in a separate bowl for that.

The most famous Thai course is probably Tom Yam, spicy and sour soup with mushrooms. It has several varieties, which differs by ingredients – with shrimp, seafood, fish or chicken. Those, who like first courses, will probably appreciate Tom Kha Kai from coconut milk and chicken, sour and quite spicy. Those, who prefer healthy food, will like Gang Som Pak Ruam. This light vegetable soup prepared on meat bullion doesn’t leave a heavy feeling afterward. Gang Keow Wan may be remotely called a “green” soup of a thick consistency.

However, there are not only soups that you can taste in Kao Dao. Spicy Som Tam from green papaya, tomatoes, lime juice, and dried shrimp will satisfy those, who like Asian food. Panang Gai, the chicken, fried with curry, is very spicy, unlike Gai Pad Pongali, a type of eggs with bacon and chicken, or Kai-Gieuw Mu Sap, a meat omelet. You should definitely try Kao Na Phet, a fried duck usually served with rice. Khao Neow Mu Yang, a meat kebab, is served in almost every café or a restaurant. Most Thai eat it as a street food. Those, who like pork, should try Moo Dad Deaw, Khao Kho Moo, and Yam Khor Moo Yang. If you want a snack, choose Po Pia Sod, spring rolls with sausage, omelet or vegetable salad. Larb Moo is made from pork and liver, which adds an original taste to the dish. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Those, who prefer fish, should try a bass Plah Kah Pung Neung Manow or Gang Som Plah Chon. Grilled fish Plah Plow is also good. Those, who prefer a tender taste, will like Yam Plah Duk Foo, a deep-fried catfish. If you want to try something vegetarian, choose Pad Pak Bung Fai Daeng, hot salad from beans, greenery, holy Thai basil, and Ipomoea. Steamed vegetables with small fish are called Nam Prik Kaphi. For a dessert you can order Kao Niew Ma Muang, mango with sticky rice and sweet coconut cream, or Sang Kaya Fug Tong, a pumpkin with coconut custard. If you want some real exotic, go to street cafes and order some fried snakes and insects.

Remember – you should better not drink tap water on the island. As an alternative to bottled water, you can drink freshes or Cha Yen, Thai tea with sugar. Energy drinks are also popular. Just don’t drink them before going to bed. There is both local and foreign alcohol, though the latter one is very expensive because of high taxes. There is a good local beer Singha, less strong drinks from Kloster and Amarit companies. Local whisky Mekhong has a good taste. Song Thip is a whisky made from sugar cane. You can try local wine – grape, pineapple or palm. You should also treat yourself to a coconut cocktail.