At the signature Ta Khai restaurant, we fell in love with Khun Nun and Khun Yai and their Southern Thai home-style dishes made with ingredients from local producers and the restaurant’s organic herb and vegetable garden. There was something about watching the gentle, unassuming couple stir soup and fry vegetables with warm smiles and savouring hearty flavours that nourished our stomachs and souls. The seven- and eight-course menus included gien tod (deep fried meat-stuffed roll), pla kapong neung manao (steamed snapper fillet) and pad yod mara (stir-fried chayote leaves and shrimps), all served with fluffy jasmine and brown rice. Choosing between “less or normal Thai-level spice”, my YOLO pick of “normal” was quickly downgraded by the second course of tom kha gai (chicken in coconut soup) as beads of perspiration started streaming down my forehead.
To end this rare cousin getaway on a high note, we had the “Gourmeat” in-villa barbecue set on the last night. Besides an assortment of meats such as lamb chops, sirloin steaks and chicken, we could choose four sides and three desserts. The set-up crew magically appeared at 5pm, laying extension cords, setting up the BBQ grill and dressing the table with elegant crockery. Two staff with a bamboo pole slung across their shoulders appeared with baskets of fresh huge coconuts. “With or without alcohol?” they asked, all ready to pour a jigger of Chalong Bay basil- or lemongrass-infused rum into the coconuts. Why are decisions so tough here?
For three hours, two chefs manned the grill as four staff stood by our table, topping up our glasses with champagne and changing our plates as lamb chops, sirloin steaks, sea bass crudo, pomelo salad and mango sticky rice were trotted out. Happily sated, we dithered between staying up or calling it an early night for one more round of paddle boarding the next morning before our flight home. We decided on the latter, and in the name of efficiency, I took the lift back to my bedroom. Why waste a frill, even if it’s a cheap thrill, eh?
