Restaurants in Koh Samui
Samui eats well at both ends. There is a cliffside dining room with a tasting menu and there is a night market where dinner costs less than a coffee, and the island is small enough that you can do both in the same week without effort. What changes with money here is mostly the view.
Getting your bearings
Fisherman's Village at Bophut is the most concentrated eating on the island and the nicest to walk. Chaweng has the range and the chains. Lamai is the affordable middle, with seafood restaurants and beachfront places at sensible prices. The hills above Chaweng hold the view restaurants, which need a taxi in both directions.
Fisherman's Village, Bophut
A single street of old wooden shophouses turned into restaurants and cafés, with the sea at the end of it. The best evening on the island for eating slowly: a drink first, dinner somewhere along the row, and the walk between them as part of it.
Chaweng
Everything from beach bars serving food to proper restaurants to the international chains, along the busiest stretch of the island. Convenient rather than characterful, and the easiest place to eat late.
Lamai
Affordable and unpretentious: seafood restaurants, small Thai kitchens and beachfront tables at prices that make sense. The night market here is one of the best meals on Samui.
Places worth booking
The Jungle Club
High in the hills above Chaweng, with a view over the whole east coast and a menu that runs between Thai and Western. The road up is steep enough that a taxi is the sensible option. Go for the late afternoon and stay through sunset.
Coco Tam's
On the sand at Bophut: pizza, seafood and cocktails served to bean bags and swing seats, with fire shows after dark. More of a long evening than a meal, and it works either way.
Dining on the Rocks
At Six Senses, on a deck built out over the water, and the island's landmark fine-dining room. Creative fusion cooking and a view that does most of the work. Book well ahead and go at sunset.
Green Bird
In Chaweng, and the antidote to everything above it on this list. Authentic Thai cooking, enormous portions, prices that have barely moved in years, and a queue of people who know.
Lamai Night Market
The cheapest good food on Samui and, for a lot of visitors, the best. Grilled meat, som tum, noodle dishes made to order and coconut ice cream, all within a few metres. Worth building an evening around rather than treating as a snack.
Practical notes
- Thai spicy is a real category — ask for mild if you are unsure
- Tipping is not expected; rounding up the bill is normal
- Book the view restaurants in high season, and book them for the end of the day
- Many kitchens on the quiet beaches close early — check before you set out
Eating on a budget
The pattern that works on Samui is one restaurant evening and several market ones. A full meal at Lamai or Chaweng night market costs a fraction of the same food served at a table, and it is frequently better cooked. Lunch is the other saving: several of the view restaurants are half the price at midday and the view is unchanged.
What to order
- Massaman curry — mild, rich, and the one to order for anyone who does not want heat
- Grilled seafood, chosen from the ice, anywhere on the coast
- Som tum, as spicy as you honestly want it
- Coconut ice cream from a market stall, which costs almost nothing