Most Malaysians have hardly ever heard of Koh Lanta in Thailand, let alone visit the place. But they should, not just because it’s a beautiful island, but also for its food.
My husband and I love to drive to the south of Thailand, especially Phuket, where our friend has a vacation club package. He would get a two-room apartment and invite various friends to join him for his three-week Phuket sojourn every year.
“You should go to Koh Lanta,” he tells us one day. “It’s a charming little island and most people don’t know about it. But it is very relaxing and has a totally different vibe from Phuket.”
So, we took his advice and went to Koh Lanta, located in the southwest of the Krabi province.
“It’s a sleepy island,” my friend warns. “Don’t expect Patong (touristy area in Phuket) vibes. There isn’t going to be a beach party every night.”
To get to Koh Lanta from Phuket by car, you have to drive to Krabi town, and then to the port in Hua Hin, where ferries operate every 10 to 15 minutes during the day.
There are other ways to get to Koh Lanta if you are not driving: Take the passenger ferries from Phuket (Rassada pier) or Krabi (Klong Jilad pier), or charter private boats.
When we arrived at Koh Lanta, we did not know what to expect.
“Where should we get dinner?” my husband asks.
“It’s a small island so I don’t expect we will get many choices,” I muttered.
That’s where I was wrong.
I usually search for “best restaurants” online and click on the ones showing the most stars. For Koh Lanta, Google showed a disproportionately large amount of 4.8- and 4.9-starred eateries.
“How can this be?” I wondered.
In Kuala Lumpur, an eatery would be glad to get 4.6 stars. But why was everyone rating Koh Lanta eateries so highly?
There was only one way to find out – to eat our way through as many meals as our time there would allow.
For the first night, we went to Yawee Kitchen (pork-free, Muslim-run) in the main town of Sala Dan on the Andaman side of the island. Like typical tourists, we ordered a Thai green curry, pineapple fried rice, and a fresh pomelo salad.
The pineapple fried rice was the best I’ve ever had, while the pomelo salad had just the right blend of sweet and sour.
The next day we went to Gina’s Cafe & Restaurant just a few doors away from Yawee. Gina’s was an unassuming place, with no air conditioning. But I had heard that the Massaman curry was good there, so I ordered a one, with duck.
Once again, I was blown away by the dish.
“So this is what Massaman curry is meant to taste like,” I marvelled. The gravy was so good we asked for extra rice.
My husband ordered a tomyum dish, and we both agreed that it was far better than the ones we’ve had in Phuket.
What is it about Koh Lanta that makes their food extra good?
“We are purists,” one restaurant owner tells us. “This is the true taste of Southern Thailand. It is home-cooked and we are proud of our food.”
I also believe that because Koh Lanta is smaller and do not have as many attractions as the other islands like Phuket, locals had to find creative ways to keep the tourists coming. And they realised that their food can actually be the island’s main attraction.
Koh Lanta old town, which reminds me of Siniawan in Bau, Sarawak, is a single-street area with old, rustic vibes and touristy cafes. You will see lots of Chinese writing everywhere here, as this town was founded by Chinese seafaring traders.
You can hike at the hilly Mu Ko Lanta National Park in the south to work up an appetite. Or just swim in the sea and have a relaxing time at the beach.
But back to the food.
We went to The Living Room Cafe & Restaurant, which is near Gina’s, for more meals. I liked how we didn’t have to go far to look for a variety of food.
The Living Room had good breakfast options. I had the perfect eggs Benedict, and my husband had bacon and eggs. He was blown away by the quality of the coffee, and it is usually very hard to please him when it comes to coffee.
For lunch, we had sandwiches at Pak Chee cafe. The grilled cheese sandwich was absolutely delicious, and I had a strawberry matcha latte.
The sandwich that won us over, however, was at Bonnie’s deli: a humongous tuna sandwich which had to be shared.
On the third night we had dinner at Kraken Lanta, a Western restaurant run by a Polish restaurateur. The burgers had names like “Triple Bypass” and “Death on Two Legs”, and boy were they huge!
The next day we walked into a Swedish cafe called Fika attached to a co-working space. We ordered a bacon-and-cheese quiche, and coffee, and again we were surprised by how tasty the food was.
There were simply not enough days for us to try more restaurants, so we’ve already made plans to return next year. There are some destinations people go to multiple times just for the food, like Guangzhou in China, Napoli in Italy, and, closer to home, Penang and Ipoh (Perak).
I’m going to add Koh Lanta to my list.
| Travel notes |
| How to get there: You can fly from the Kuala Lumpur Internation Airport, and a few other airports in Peninsular Malaysia, to Krabi or Phuket. From either island, hire/rent a car and then hop on a ferry (car/passenger) to take you to Koh Lanta. |
| You can also charter a private boat from Phuket or Krabi to take you all the way to Koh Lanta. |
| There are ferries from Langkawi to Koh Lanta, too. But this journey takes six hours, and is only available on certain seasons or occasions. |
| Where to stay: The rooms at Lanta Sand Resort and Spa are spacious, comfortable and affordable (though this will depend on the season). It is located on Long Beach. |
| For something a little more upmarket, check out the fairly new Avani+ Koh Lanta, which opened during the pandemic. |
