In Koh Tao you can really only find resorts, restaurants, bars and diving schools. In the streets you mainly see Western people, almost all of them divers. On the small road (no cars allowed) next to Sairee Beach, where Prik Thai Resort is situated, and its side streets leading to the main road, you can find more restaurants and bars than you can visit during your stay. However, we found ourselves returning to a few places we liked.
For breakfast, we went to Zest a couple of times, where you can enjoy scrambled eggs or eggs sunny side up with bacon, two slices of toast and butter for only ฿90. We once stayed there to work for a couple of hours, as there is free WiFi available as well (like almost everywhere).
We also returned to In Touch for a few days of blogging, starting with breakfast and sticking around for lunch. The omelet with onion and tomato is really good (toast not included), as is the pad thai and some fruit shakes. I was not a fan of their spring rolls however. The WiFi connection didn’t function both times we were there, but you have a wonderful view across the sea while working.
A few mornings we had to be at the Roctopus shop at 6:00 to go diving. One of the few places where you can get breakfast at that barbaric hour is a 7 eleven shop. We recommend the ham and cheese sandwich (what we call “croque monsieur”), as it’s only ฿31 and they warm it in the grill for you. One morning we had the breakfast buffet at Wind Beach Restaurant for ฿150 per person. Not really worth it, in our opinion. Better have the bacon sandwich for ฿80 or just go to Zest for some eggs.
For lunch or dinner we tried different restaurants and returned a few (and sometimes many) times for some of our favourite dishes. Very high on our list are the BBQ skewers (chicken ฿120 or beef ฿150) at Sairee Cottage Restaurant with a potato or (a tiny amount of) french fries, accompanied with an ice cold large Chang (620ml bottle of beer) for ฿60. That’s only during happy hour (18-20h), but really cheap, as we paid more in the store. We also tried a Hawaiian pizza there, because they smell delicious when you walk by, but unfortunately they smell better than they taste. Another great dish is fried rice pineapple with cashew nut and chicken (฿100), I love the taste of fresh pineapple! I also really liked the chicken cashew nuts with rice there, for ฿120. Whereas Brecht liked this dish better at Fizz Beachlounge, the same place where he splurged one time and had a finger licking good grilled tuna steak for ฿320.
During our dive courses or after diving, we occasionally ate at Wind Beach Restaurant, near the Roctopus shop. Our dive instructor Emma once ordered the french fries bolognese with cheese there (฿150) and it looked really yummy, so we tried and loved it! Their pizza sandwich (฿120) is always a great choice (mmmm cheeeeese…), but make sure you articulate, otherwise they might bring you a tuna sandwich and it does take a while for the pizza sandwich to be ready.
After snorkeling at Freedom Beach, we ate at Freedom Beach Restaurant, the only restaurant on that beach. We tried fried rice with shrimp (฿160) and fried curry with chicken (฿140). Both were not great, but OK, although the curry was a bit spicy for our taste. Remember: when you ask for the dish to be prepared not spicy, it often still is spicy if you have western taste buds.
One day we talked about food at home and I was craving for a good lasagna, so we went to Farango Pizzeria. Eventually, Brecht chose the lasagna al forno (฿280) and I pizza ratatouille (฿240). We both were satisfied with our dish, not so much with each others dish. When you go there, you must really try the Mojito passion fruit (฿160), it was heavenly.
Next to Prik Thai Resort (where we stayed for 12 nights), there is this shabby looking restaurant called Coffee Boat. As it wasn’t very inviting, it took us quite long before we decided to give it a chance to wow us. We ordered Thai french fries (as recommended), laab minced chicken with rice and indian curry with noodles. It was really good, only the laab minced chicken tasted a bit too much like lemon. The portions were generous and the bill was surprisingly low. Too bad we only discovered it near the end of our stay.
For a snack (or dinner when you’ve had a big and/or late lunch), go to the Pancake man for some Nutella pancakes for ฿50 a piece. There is one on each corner, but we went always to “our friend” standing near Sairee Cottage Restaurant.
We also tried the nachos (฿160) at Choppers one evening while enjoying their live music. Brecht said: “This is what I have in mind when I think about nachos!”, he loved them, me not so much. Guess you can’t argue about taste.
