Laem Hin Seafood - still a favourite restaurant

While I do intend to add more restaurants on this blog as time goes by, everyone has their favourite places to eat, places where you feel comfortable, relaxed and you KNOW the food is going to be good. Some days you feel like experimenting, other days you want to head out for lunch safe in the knowledge that you'll enjoy your meal. One day in May 2010, on one of my final days of holiday, with the kids already back at school, my wife and I had a chance for a nice lunch together, just the 2 of us. It was a hot, humid day, typical for the time of year. My wife fancied somewhere with aircon, like Fuji Japanese restaurant in the Central Festival mall (we did eat there this week!), but I realised I'd not been to Laem Hin Seafood for ages, and wanted to taste some real Thai food. Laem Hin was the first restaurant I wrote about on this blog back in April 2006 - see here.

Although it was a hot day, there were plenty of dark clouds around, which you can see in the photos below. In the hot season (March - May) you can get thunderstorms any time of day. This year the real low season weather is very late coming (see more on the Phuket Weather blog). The restaurant was not too hot - most of the seating is shaded, though they do have tables out on the old jetty which would be nice for a romantic evening meal.





Getting there: It's a few km north of Phuket Town (if coming from Phuket Town direction on the main airport road, you need to go past the turning and do a U turn. If coming from Patong direction, head to Tescos, turn left on the bypass road and right at the end of that road where it meets the airport road. Sign at the turn off - picture below, then you drive a few km through a Muslim village before getting to Laem Hin at the end of the road. Location map at the foot of the page. The image on Google Maps is updated since 2006, shows clearly the new jetty that does kind of spoil the view from the restaurant.



We turned up very early for lunch.. about 11:30am, we were the first customers - more people arrived later. It's a popular place for locals, and certainly getting better known by tourists, has recommendations on other websites, it's not just me! Laem Hin Seafood has a long menu, there are tanks with fresh seafood next to the kitchen, or you can get simple rice and noodle dishes. My favourites are the salads. Thai salads are not just some veg and dressing. Oh no. There's lots of flavour, often rather a lot of chilies, various flavourful things like lemongrass. Laem Hin has a huge list of salads. I felt like ordering about half a dozen. Made do with my favourite Yam Gung Seab (made with dried, smoked shrimps) and Yam Tua Pu (wing bean salad with coconut milk, tamarind, shrimp.. oh, stop it's making me hungry!). Photos below.





My wife had a spicy soup (called Tom Pret), half of which was taken home in a doggy bag :) Waste not, want not! Oh, and we had rice of course.



Not disappointed. Never have been at Laem Hin Seafood. I took a little walk around after eating. When we first came in 2006, the old wooden jetty was used by longtails heading to Koh Maphrao and Koh Rang Yai, small islands just offshore from Phuket. Now there is a new concrete jetty. I liked the old wooden planks on the remains of the old jetty...



Close to the restaurant there are some stilted houses. Laem Hin is really a small fishing village, but the land between the main road and the restaurant has attracted developers in recent years, though quite a bit of the land is wetland - there are also some shrimp farms along the way. The houses near the restaurant retain the traditional feeling. I walked a little way taking photos while my dear wife drove ahead and waited patiently.







I can taste those salads now... prices are very reasonable too. I was glad to find that Laem Hin Seafood is still good. I should mention that just over the water towards Koh Maphrao, there are several floating restaurants. We ate only one time over there and mean to do it again so I can blog the experience! We'll also be back at Laem Hin. Phuket has a fair number of local restaurants around the coast that are all but ignored by 99% of tourists. Yes, if you have a hotel in Karon or Kata, it's a fair drive to Laem Hin, over 20km... which is why I do recommend having your own transport in Phuket.. that's another story, but Phuket is a big place, and if you sit on the beach you are seeing just a tiny part of what makes the island, and on the main beaches you see practically nothing of the "real" Phuket which is what this blog tries to show.

Close to Laem Hin is Koh Maphrao (Coconut Island) and there are several floating restaurants off the coast, just a few minutes ride in a longtail boat from Laem Hin. We've eaten here a few times too.

• Kruwit Floating Restaurant
• Bang Mud Floating Restaurant

Added November 2011. A few "food porn" photos from Laem Hin Seafood taken on recent visits. The food never disappoints me here!



(above) Yam Ta Krai - salad made with lemongrass, smoked prawns, chili, cashew nuts, peanuts. Delicious!



Fried breaded prawns are always a good side dish. Laem Hin does good Hor Mok (local style fish curry wrapped in banana leaves) too .. no photo here, but do order some!



(above) Tom Praet Talay, a spicy seafood soup. Very typical southern Thai style.

Laem Hin Seafood - Location Map


View Laem Hin Seafood, Phuket in a larger map

Read More

Khao Sok National Park - Cliff and River Jungle Resort

Holidays! By the end of April, things are pretty quiet in the dive shop, so I took a holiday starting April 29th, allowing about 10 days with the family before the kids went back to school after the "summer" break (Thai schools have summertime sensibly from March - May which is the hottest time of year). We decided to stop in the Khao Sok area for a night on the way to Chumphon. The chosen accommodation was the Cliff and River Jungle Resort, which had been recommended by friends. Looked great on the website, but don't they always?... For me, a personal recommendation is far more important.

• Cliff and River Jungle Resort Online Booking

The drive from Phuket took around 2½ hours via Khao Lak. I half thought of stopping in Khao Lak to look at the boats that had been carried inland by the tsunami. Saw the famous police boat from the main road. But really, I don't want to be a "tsunami tourist". Have written about my tsunami thoughts several times on this blog, most recently in December 2008. Just North of Khao Lak, there is the small town of Takua Pa. We somehow managed a wrong turn and found out that near Takua Pa is a beautiful looking old town called Sri Takua Pa. Like old Phuket, but with no cars. I want to go back and look around some day. From Takua Pa to the Cliff and River is only around one hours drive, although we stopped a couple of times for the views. It's all hills and valleys around here and very rural. The main entrance to the Khao Sok National Park is on the North side of the road, and the entrance to the Cliff and River is on the South side around 10km after the park entrance.



Before saying anything else, I'll say this - we'll be back. Location, WoW! Well, check some of the photos below. Nice people... and having been there once, we know exactly what room numbers we want next time :) No, not going to mention that here. We checked in after midday, and were given a "River" room with an extra bed. The room was quite a walk from reception. I could park the car near the restaurant, also by the river, but still a bit of a hike to carry bags. The room was decent, maybe a bit "jungly", a balcony outside by a small stream. Aircon, fridge. There was a TV, not sure why, could only get a few Thai channels. We did not use it. And a great outdoor shower for that true jungle experience. Used it quite a few times - this is a HOT time of year here!

The restaurant is great, by the river, in the jungle, I liked the wooden furniture, food was good (not super cheap, mind you), beer was cold :) We had lunch there after checking in. The curry my wife ordered (Gaeng Phet Gai) was superb.



Afternoon was so darn hot - we all chilled in our aircon room for a while before hitting the pool. What a great pool. Not large - we were of course staying at the hotel out of high season. The only people using the pool other than us were 2 German couples.. I vowed to beat them to the best seats next morning... If the resort was full, that pool might be rather crowded. Sometimes, I do like the low season :)

Pool has a view of the huge cliff that towers 1000+ feet over the resort, has a jacuzzi, a shaded sala and chairs to hang your towel at 7am to beat the Germans :) The kids loved it right away. Now, Khao Sok has all kind of activities like rafting, canoeing, hiking, elephant trekking.. maybe next time we'll do a canoe trip on the river. This little trip was all about getting a feel for the place. We stayed in the pool for a couple of hours.







We did get out of the hotel for a couple of hours, drove back to the main national park entrance in the late afternoon. Lots of small hotels there and jungle huts and small restaurants where we ate, as the kids said they were starving. I think the threat of a jungle walk made them hungry! From the entrance there are hiking trails of 5km or more. You can pitch a tent in this area too, we saw some people doing that. There are some bathrooms provided by the national park. We did not see much, as really, if you want to see Khao Sok, you need to hike or do a boat trip. Here's a new post from 2012 - we stayed at Cliff and River again, but also did canoeing, a boat trip on the lake and tubing - Khao Sok National Park 2012.



On the way back to Cliff and River we checked out another place to stay called Khao Sok Treehouse Resort. Very jungly! We climbed steps and crossed walkways to a room in the trees. The room was amazing, a huge double bed, a tent for the kids, wireless internet, aircon, satellite TV, a wonderful treetop bathroom.. they offered us the room for 2500 Baht. The website has prices up to over 5000 Baht. We did think about staying a night on the way home, certainly a unique place - had a pool too on the jungle floor.

The night at Cliff and River was very peaceful, insect noises, we slept very well. I had to catch a fair size "tookay" lizard in our room, as my wife said it might bite us. I planned to wake early - we'd been told the place looked great with the early morning mists over the mountains. I did wake before the rest of the family and went on a wander around the hotel grounds. The mists covered the cliffs, the only people awake at 7am were some staff cleaning the pool.



Took until about 7:30am for the mists to start to clear...



Waking up early is not my favourite thing to do, but sometimes an early morning is worthwhile. I watched as the mountains appeared and disappeared in the low clouds, giving sneak previews of their full power...



I went to wake up the rest of the family for breakfast. A breakfast is included in the room price - the normal kind of Thai style English breakfast.. something in the belly at least! Again, loved the restaurant location. Photo below is my wife on the way to eat...



We just about managed to beat the Germans to the pool. Figured we would as we beat them to breakfast by about 15 minutes. We planned to check out before midday, but I certainly planned to enjoy the pool for a couple of hours! Views in the morning around 9am, great - blue skies and a great view of the cliff that gives the hotel (part of) it's name.





Could stay there all day with a break for lunch! Hiking? You are welcome to it! We came for the scenery :) A drive around this area gives endless views. I am sure hikes would too, but our kids really don't want to go trekking and I don't plan to be "Outdoor Dad" - hey kids, let's do a 10 mile mountain hike! We do plan another trip on the lake/reservoir sometime and for sure will be back at Cliff and River, probably in September when we have some more school holidays and my parents are visiting from the UK.



We paid 2,000 Baht for the night for the family (2 adults, 2 kids)... there are actually some family rooms that are a bit bigger too. A big lunch including a few beers was 750 Baht. We'd plan to stay 2 nights next time to allow more time for maybe a canoe trip or elephant ride or just more time in the pool! This place was a welcome rest. Easy to do as a weekend trip from Phuket too - we might even do that before September.

Cliff and River website is here, or there is easy to use online booking here.

We visited again in September - stayed 2 nights, enjoyed a very relaxing time even with the heavy rain most of the afternoon on the 2nd day, I mean, it's rainforest, so you have to expect rain! The jungle looks great on a rainy day!



Some friends came along too, and we had a little party. The photo below taken in the morning, my daughter went to visit a friend's daughter at their bungalow. I look at the photo and can feel the peace.



Some more photos from our September visit to the Cliff and River Jungle Resort on Flickr.

• Cliff and River Jungle Resort Online Booking

Update July 2012 - we did another Khao Sok trip including canoeing and tubing on the river - see Khao Sok National Park Trip 2012.

Read More