The Thai Experience

The Thai Experience 

Are you experienced? Have you ever been experienced? Well, I have! Thanks to and by 'The Thai Experience'.  This is Koh Samui's first reservation only, closed door restaurant. A first for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Let me take you into this evenings long lasting trip!

The Thai Experience ; The entrance

First of all, there's the team, headed by Richard, a born entertainer, funny and interesting and a great guide for your evening. He is assisted by Thai and Western expat personnel and they make you feel very welcome.

The Thai Experience ; Cocktails galore; 3 different cocktails are on the menu in with a free flow; Electric Blue Gin, Me Lychee Long Time and Samui Sunrise. You mix the first one yourself and after that your glass just won't get empty

A little bit of background experience is in place. A few years the concept was thought out and conceived by four friends in Argentina and a simple, start led to a very successful business, where travellers regardless of age or nationality could meet and enjoy a unique dining experience. You all share a big table and complete strangers become friends over the evening.
More 'Experiences' are in the making and Koh Samui has the honor of hosting the second version.

The Thai Experience ; Starters; Fresh crab, Yam woon sen (a Thai cerviche, in this case) and Naam Tok Muu (pork salad)

Chris, one of the founders and a Thai national, came back to his early 'chef' stomping grounds and was key in setting up 'The Thai Experience' on Koh Samui. Of the two chefs, Chris is half Thai and half English and Ani is Argentine. 

Located in Lamai they will find a well deserved spot on Samui's dining options. The concept is fine tuned over various years in Beunos Aires and has been given a Thai makeover.

The Thai Experience ; Chicken cashew nuts; a new view on a traditional dish

What makes the experience interesting from a food point of view, is that traditional Thai dishes are being prepared in a modern way. It's not fusion but the chef adds a nice and sometimes unexpected twist to a very well known Thai dish.

Richard also explains the origin of all dishes and has plenty of interesting and entertaining snippets of information at hand during the whole evening. 

By this time, eveybody is talking to everybody!

The Thai Experience ; Marinated pork belly skewers with sticky rice, Thai street food and one of my faves

The interior of the restaurant is well worth a mention. The room is a room, but well set up and feels cozy. There are three tables that seat 8 people each and their wooden top is impressive. Imported from Chiang Mai, a massive and impressive table! 

Tables can be setup as a single unit but in general they are set up in one long row, making for for a friendly atmosphere with people that you probably never met before.

The Thai Experience ; Mains; Penang pork curry (simply d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s.), Vegetable Green curry, slow pork leg stew (Khaa Muu) with a twist and Stir fried Prawn (Plaa Kuung)

By the time the mains hit the table, everybody is becoming friendly with all the other people in the room. Our evening had 16 guests from all walks of life. A group of English travellers, a few weeks into their couple of month long trip around South East Asia, a couple staying in one of the top hotels on Samui, four people working on Samui and me and my friend.

It's great to see how the group interacts with each other and enjoy each others company and food.

The Thai Experience ; Mains fish platter; White snapper prepared in 3 different ways

Currently they only open when reservations are made but they are looking at opening six days a week with a lunch and dinner option.

The lunch will have a tea school as well. The Thai experience was lucky enough to have found a cooperation with a Thai tea expert and many different and interesting tea's are for sale. The tea's will play an important role during the future lunch options being offered.

The Thai Experience ; Mains; Tom Kha Plaa Muek (seafood coconut soup)

The evening's start with getting together between 7 and 7.15pm with the dinner starting at around 7.30pm. Transfers from your resort to the restaurant and back to your hotel are included in the price as is unlimited drinks, cocktails or beers and a 15 dish, 3 course meal.

Vegetarian and non alcoholic options are available and also private events are possible. 

Current prices are at a promotional level at 1,950.-THB but sooner or later they will go up to 2.450.-THB per person.

The Thai Experience ; Desserts; Thai Tea Tres Leche (South America meets Thailand), a Papaya shot and a surprise dessert

The Thai Experience is a unique experience. I like that it is all evening filling in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere with friendly staff and great food. It's the ultimate dinner party which will allow you to meet and dine with people from all over the world.

I can only recommend this very highly and hope that you also can say, very soon, that you are experienced!

You can book directly through this link.

Don't forget to use my Camille's Samui hotel recommendation blog and my Camille's Thailand hotel recommendation blog for all your hotel bookings on Koh Samui and around Thailand. By doing so, you will support my blog. Thanks folks! 

Camille

Updated June 2018