Ko Samui, Thailand

Today we decided to try the Bang Rak beach and headed to the Secret Garden restaurant which also have sun loungers available for their clients. I settled down for a beer, Adri wanted a fresh coconut, which they unfortunately did not have in stock, so she diverted a couple of sips of beer away from me. After a couple of turns in the sun, we headed towards the Bang Rak market to get Adri her fresh coconut which was denied her at the restaurant. We then headed home for a quick snooze and to prepare ourselves mentally for the evening ahead. We noticed a while back that there was a “barbecue buffet” restaurant just down the way from us, on the ring road. It intrigued us that the place was always closed, looked very low-key, but at night it was a hive of activity. We found out that this was an eating place catering for locals, although farangs (foreigners) are welcome. Mostly the farangs stay away as they do not know how the setup works. Natty came by during the course of the week with a tamarind sauce which we do not get back home, for us to take back with us. We asked her about the barbecue buffet and she agreed to join us on Sunday to show us the ropes. 19:00 arrived and we went downstairs to pick Natty up for our evening out. Arriving at the open air restaurant, it was already in full swing. We picked our table, ordered drinks, and was off to immerse ourselves in the buffet. As can be seen from the photos, there are four tables laid out with food, mostly uncooked, although there are a lot of already prepared food as well, such as little pork pies, chicken drumsticks, chicken nuggets, french fries, etc. The uncooked food are made up of raw pieces of pork, chicken, beef, squid, bacon, prawns, etc. and a myriad of different types of vegetables including different types of sumptuous mushrooms. Following Natty’s example, we filled one small plate with cooked foods and one plate with uncooked meats, and yet another with uncooked veggies. When we got back to our table, the drinks were waiting for us as well as a type of a barbecue bowl, as per the photo, ready for us to resume our barbecue. The barbecue bowl is quite unique to anything I have seen before. Below the dome/dish, hot coals are placed, in order for one to barbecue ones meat on. Around the dome, there is water with some chicken stock to enable one to prepare ones soup. Mostly the fresh vegetables are placed in the water and after a short while the soup is ready, wonderfully tasty. Should one want more soup, just pour more water around the dome, add more vegetables, and voila ! And so one drinks soup, eat the meat as soon as it is barbecued, replenish the dome with more meat, and so the meal continues… Once we had our fill we proceeded with dessert, of which there were ice cream, little cakes, little chocolates etc. I settled for a refreshing lime sort of a sorbet, which was perfect after such a meal of abundance. We had much to eat and we did not even touch the salad table ! On our way out I asked Natty about a sign that was displayed in Thai (by the way, all the signings here are only in Thai). She replied that it informs one that you must only take what you can eat, else you will get fined for food that is left over. So beware, rather go back for food as many times as you wish, but do not overload your plate as some people tend to do at buffets. I am sure this keeps wastage to a minimum. What a great evening !