TBA Day 21: Guns and Another Trip to Sabinglae

Today was our last day in Ko Samui. The original plan was to go to Super Fight in Chaweng, but we soon discovered that it was fairly expensive so we decided to go to brunch and then seek out other activities.

The brunch place we planned to attend was closed, so we ended up at Luna Hut, just across a small pond from Harry’s. This actually turned out to be a brilliant idea. We ordered Deep Fried Prawn Cakes (to compare to the tasty ones we’d had at Sabinglae the day before) and Red Curry Duck.

The prawn cakes had less prawn than the ones at Sabinglae, but also contained lime leaves, which made them really delicious. The curry was also quite nice. The red curry was seasoned with lime leaves and included lychees along with the veggies. I’ve seen pineapple in duck curries in the US, but never lychees. It was interesting and also really tasty.

A little poking around on the internet revealed that the low season isn’t the best time for many of the island’s activities, but we stumbled upon information about Samui Shooting Sports. Apparently Stanley has always wanted to fire a gun, so this seemed like a golden opportunity. We hopped on the scooter and headed down there to give it a go. I’m no expert, but I was quite impressed with Stanley’s accuracy for a first-time gun-shooter… (I opted out of participating, since it was a bit expensive and not something I really have ever had any interest in doing.)

After the shooting we continued down the road to see a bit more of Lamai, before heading back towards Mae Nam (where we’re staying) and stopping at Sabinglae for a late lunch on our way back. We decided to order a completely different set of items this time, testing our theory that almost anything from their menu would end up being delicious. We started with a “Tempura Shrimp” appetizer. The shrimp weren’t actually fried in a tempura batter, but they were so fresh and perfectly cooked that I can’t complain. I love how fresh and delicious the seafood has been so far in Thailand.

Next up was a Fish Soup with Lemongrass. The seasoning in this was much more subtle than in our Spicy Seafood Soup the day before, but in a really pleasant way. It seemed like something that would cure you instantly if you were feeling under the weather.

We also ordered a Crispy Catfish Salad, which I pictured as being friend hunks of catfish mixed with other stuff. What was brought to the table (see picture below) was something completely different. This crazy catfish thingy was served with a julienne of green papaya dressed with chilies, lime juice, fish sauce, and sugar. It was really unique and delicious. It was definitely unlike anything I’ve tried before, which is always fun.

Our last dish was Red Curry Mackeral. It was beautifully presented, and was a nice curry if not particularly mind-blowing. The curry was nice (although both of us wished for more sauce… probably because we’re Americans) and the fish was really nice, but we’ve had more impressive curries on this trip.

After lunch it was back to the hotel to jump in the pool, then just a bunch of sitting around relaxing with cocktails and enjoying a lazy last evening in Samui (including introducing Stanley to the totally awesome show that is The Amazing Race). We’re on an early flight to Bangkok in the morning. Looking forward to a bit of city time after a few days in paradise.

TBA Day 20: (Finally) Some More Culinary Adventures

Having a wingman definitely makes the culinary adventuring easier. Aside from being great company, Stanley is also a pretty great person to go find amazing food with (in part because he seemed to get all of the laid-back and easy-going genes in the family). Having a wingman also makes it possible to order more different foods at each restaurant, which is awesome.

After a relaxing morning (view from our patio pictured above), we rented a scooter and Dan drove us down to check out the west coast of the island (where most of the tourists stay). Past Chaweng Beach and just before Lamai there was supposed to be a restaurant called Sabinglae that serves amazing food. From the back of the scooter I spotted the somewhat subtle sign:
We pulled over and found that down a flight of stairs was this fairly large restaurant with gorgeous views right on the beach. We ordered more food than was probably necessary, but it was all fantastic and the total cost (including 2 large beers) was less than US$17 for the two of us, so it’s all good. The first dish to arrive was the Spicy Seafood Soup. I could seriously eat this every day. The flavors in the broth (especially the lemongrass and lime leaves) were so assertive, and the shrimp were tender and delicious.
Next up were the Mussels with Sweet Basil. These were a different style of mussel than I’m used to, and came with a really spicy dip and a creamy sligly-less-spicy dip. Very tasty.
After the mussels they brought out the “Traditional” Curry with Grilled Fish. This was so unique and delicious. I’ve never had a curry that tasted quite like this, and I love how every time we order a “Traditional” curry here it ends up being something completely different. This may not look like much, but it was fantastic and was Stanley’s favorite curry by far on his trip.
The last dish we ordered was the Deep Fried Shrimp Cakes. These were pretty darn tasty as well, served with a sweet dipping sauce. Really nicely flavored and perfectly cooked.
I had reasonably high expectations for this restaurant, but they were exceeded by far. Our timing couldn’t have been better, either, as about 5 minutes after we sat down to eat there was an awesome torrential downpour. The rain finished up just in time for us to hop back on the scooter and drive back to the hotel to jump in the pool.

The other great thing about having a wingman is that when you’re feeling tired and lazy they can make you get up the energy to still go out and find interesting food. For dinner we headed the other direction around the island to Bangpo Seafood, which some consider to be the best restaurant in Thailand. The seating is right down on the sand, so I suspect the view would be beautiful when there's still enough light to see the ocean.
We started with the complimentary appetizer of a paste of prawns, chilies, and spices baked in a coconut shell. Really strong flavors, but tasty and a nice way to get your palate ready for more good food to follow.
We ordered an appetizer of oysters, which were huge and a bit more subtly flavored than the oysters we’re used to. They came with chili sauce, sweet chili sauce, limes, and fried shallots as garnish. The chili sauce completely masked the subtle flavor of the oyster, but with just the fried shallot and a touch of the sweet chili sauce it was quite nice.
We also ordered a crab meat curry (note the big ol’ hunks of crab meat in the picture below) and what turned out to be shrimp ceviche with lemongrass (pictured below after we dug in).
The sauce for the crab curry was very good, but too strongly flavored to allow the crab to shine through (which is a shame when you love crab as much as I do), but the ceviche was spectacular. Definitely the best ceviche I’ve had.

I would say that, based on what we ordered, I was more impressed with Sebinglae than Bangpo, but both places provided really unique and delicious food. I’ve seriously been craving Thai food this week, so it works out nicely that I happen to be in Thailand to deal with that. So far so good…

TBA Day 19: Elephants and Refreshingly Uneventful Travel

This morning Stanley had the pleasure of discovering that his sister is a morning person… I was hyper and ready to go while he kept discussing the benefits of a 15-30 minute nap. This information will be relevant below…

Just after 8:30am the truck came to take us to our elephant trekking adventure. We did the half-day (largely because we needed to be sure we were back in time to catch the 4pm ferry to Ko Samui) which featured temples, a waterfall, a mediocre lunch in a spectacular setting, and a monkey after the elephants. The elephant riding was pretty cool (with several moments of “Dude! There’s an elephant right there!”) as long as you don’t mind the fact that the elephant occasionally has to be nudged with a sharp stick to encourage him to carry on along the proper path.
From there Stanley and I went back to the hotel to pick up our bags and wait for a cab to the ferry. A mojito or two at the beach bar added to the festive, laid-back feel of the day… We boarded the boat with no problems (a refreshing change for both of us after travel plans going horribly wrong on the way to Phangan) and were in Ko Samui about 20 minutes later and checking in to Harry’s Bungalows. This place is absolutely gorgeous. It’s about 100 meters from the beach, but we each have our own room (with TV and mini fridge) and our own bathroom/shower. This will come in handy in the mornings when I’m a giant spazz and Stanley is a grumpy sleepy-head. The rooms share a patio right next to the pool, so we can still sit outside together when the mosquitos are willing to take a break from attacking me.

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant and it turned out to be really nice. We had a complimentary appetizer of fried wontons with sweet chili sauce, followed by a fried wonton-wrapped prawn appetizer. From there we moved on to two curries (“Traditional Thai” prawn curry and a Massaman beef curry). Both were pretty darn delicious. The prawn curry had a nice level of spice and a lot of complexity with lime leaves and coconut milk. The Massaman curry made me retract previous statements that I would try to incorporate lime leaves in this dish next time I make it at home. It was made very similar to the style I usually make (with potatoes and peanuts) but was way better. Absolutely delicious.
Now we’re sitting on the patio with a tasty beverage and Stanley is mocking me for being so long-winded with my blog posts. All in all a really nice day… Eventful in the right places (riding elephants and getting into a brawl with a monkey) and uneventful at the right times (travel). Looking forward to checking out Ko Samui tomorrow.