Crab with garlic and pepper

When we arrived on the small island of Koh Mak we were already hungry from the long but beautiful ride by “slow boat” from Koh Chang. After checking into our resort, Monkey Island, we asked the receptionist for a recommendation for local seafood. He said he knew of a restaurant that was open and after one phone call they were on their way to pick us up from the resort!

After about 20 minutes we were picked up by a middle aged Thai woman in a taxi which on these islands is always a covered pickup truck with 2 benches to sit on in the back. She drove us to the restaurant and the ride turned out to be a freebie (to and from the resort). Not only that, but after bringing us to the restaurant the driver then put on a smock and went back to cooking for the other customers already seated at the restaurant.

The restaurant was right on the waterfront and the views were stunning. I was surprised by how clean the water looked just off of the restaurant’s pier since usually water tends to be pretty disgusting around docks and piers. There were only a few other people eating lunch there at that time so it was a really quiet place to eat and chill.

A friendly man came to take our order and we later learned that his family owned the restaurant and his wife was the chef/driver. Since this was a seafood place we decided to just point to whatever looked good by name or in photos, some crab, squid and fried fish and some refreshing watermelon shakes (always request “no sugar”) to wash it all down. I got see the assistant chef pick out my crab for me from a cage submerged in the water beneath the restaurant. These crabs are pre-caught and the cage serves as a sort of refrigerator for fresh seafood. The fried fish came with shredded young mango and the garlic and pepper on the crab was both crispy and chewy. The squid was the least interesting but BBQ squid always seems to be about the sauce you put on it (and this sauce was really spicy). All of this was topped off by a roti for dessert, a thin pancake with condensed milk dribbled over it. The food was amazing and we decided right then and there to return to Koh Mak Seafood the next day.

The waiter gave us a big black guestbook to browse and to sign. We noticed that people from all over the world had already endorsed Koh Mak Seafood with glowing reviews in many languages (Thai, German and English standing out) and also creative illustrations and so we added our praise in English and Hebrew. Most people were in agreement that this was “the best seafood on Koh Mak”. The restaurant has only been open for three months and the book was already nearly full.

The next day we ordered freshly squeezed orange juice shakes to start. We got the yellow curry crab and the fried scallops with chili sauce based on recommendations from others in the guestbook and we love the garlic and pepper sauce so much that we got some huge tiger shrimp with that. This second feast was a worthy sequel to that of the previous day and I’m talking Godfather II, not Temple of Doom! I don’t have to go on about the food since I was sure to take photos of all of the great dishes.

This time we had a nice visitor, one who was equally an expert in the consumption of fine seafood and he even helped us to pick out our crab this time (the crab tried to make a getaway). This cat didn’t have a name but he was not at all shy about sitting in our laps as we ate and being very vocal in his requests for scraps from the table. Since our cat, Cuggits, also dines with us, Tamar and I are used to paying our taxes when it comes to meals and so this cat ended up as full as the rest of us.

As we were about to leave the restaurant, we asked the waiter a question about some of the plants they were growing. That explanation led to more information about the restaurant and the pier we were standing on and before we knew it, we were taken inside of the family’s museum just next to the restaurant. This museum was an amazing little find and it detailed the family’s history and participation in the island’s formation and its community. The family was the first to bring tourism to the island by setting up the very first resort, a series of cabins on stilts in the water, the remains of which are still visible from the restaurant. Koh Mak used to belong to Cambodia and once it changed into Thai hands, the family was there to welcome the very first visit to the island by the Thai royal family.

Ake (our waiter) told us how he was just an eight year old boy during a period of hostilities between Thailand and Cambodia. One day a Cambodian naval ship docked at the Ao Nid Pier near the family’s resort but the enemy soldiers dismissed this little boy paying him no mind. However, what they didn’t know was that young Ake was actually the one tasked with calling the Thai government in the case of any emergency or any trouble from the Cambodians on Koh Mak!

8yr old Ake manning the radio to notify the Thai government of Cambodian Incursions

Our knowledge of the island and its history expanded as quickly as our stomachs that day and we walked away from Koh Mak Seafood knowing that this was a special place that we’d always remember. Hopefully we’ll have the chance to go back and visit again one day!

Click here to view all photos from Koh Mak Seafood!

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