Phuket Restaurant Review: Mom Tri's Kitchen

Phuket offers many fine dining options, but some are hit-or-miss. For our second night in Phuket we decided to venture out to celebrate a belated birthday dinner for Jason. We chose Mom Tri's Kitchen. Our concierge made a reservation, guaranteeing us a table overlooking Kata Noi beach. There are 4 Mom Tri restaurants in and around Phuket, each one with a twist on Thai and European fare. And since we are such winos, it sparked our interest when we learned it won several Wine Spectator Awards.

(view from the table)

Mom Tri's Kitchen is located inside the Villa Royale. We got there early and had a glass of wine at the bar (and yummy complimentary spicy peanuts). As the waiter took us to our table we could hear the waves crashing onto the rocks below us. And although it is an open air restaurant the mosquito's and bugs didn't fly into our area, we think they had some sort of bug repellent placed outside. We ordered a bottle of Chilean wine, warning: the mark up is crazy*, then opened our menu to find that we wanted to order just about everything. We decided on the hot crab souffle to start and I ordered lobster risotto and Jason ordered tiger and river prawns with sweet and sour chili sauce as our entrees. All of that paired with a bottle of wine...we knew we would be stuffed. Before we were served our appetizer, the waiter dropped off an assortment of breads and two delicious dips. Now we were really in trouble!

The food was amazing and couldn't have asked for more. We skipped dessert so they offered us a complimentary glass of wine at the bar. Another glass of wine? Sure! As we sank into our seats, the waiter came over and offered me a single rose- how sweet. Jay and I were laughing because he was very embarrassed. With our bellies full and our eyes closing we decided to head back to our hotel to relax and get a good night's sleep.

*I was informed that there is a 300% markup on all bottles of wine imported into the country!!

Koh Phangan Restaurant Review: Buddy's Bakery

Buddys in Haad Rin serves up the best breakfast for your buck. You can order an American Breakfast that includes: sausage, bacon, 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast, coffee/tea, and juice for only $4.50. The banana pancakes are amazing also. Pancakes in Thailand are more like crepes and you can get them filled with fruit or chocolate. Wash this all down with a coconut pineapple smoothie and you are set for the morning!

If you get a chance to stop by, you will not regret it. The owner is a lovely man, understands little english, but is super nice.