Krua Bang Po

Last week we wanted to visit the Bang Po Seafood Restaurant, voted among the top 10 seafood restaurants in the world earlier in March 2013. However, after we parked the car, we didn't really pay attention and we walked into Krua Bang Po, or Bang Po restaurant.

The exterior sign

What do we know now; the two restaurants are near to each other and I can immediately tell you, Krua Bang Po does the trick! The food was delicious and well worth the visit, despite our initial mix up.

Inside, under the roof

The restaurant is fairly big, with a big roofed part, which comes in handy when it rains, or when the also fairly big outdoor section is full. Wherever you sit, the tables and chairs are placed in the sand.

Don't expect anything fancy, all the restaurants on this 'strip' in Bang Po have a similar set up with mainly plastic chairs and wooden/bamboo tables.

Outside, almost on the beach

When we arrived it was slowly going on to dusk, so fairly early and in these parts of the world the change between daytime, evening and it being dark is most often nothing more than 15 to 20 minutes. It's well worth the early arrival to experience the change in lightning.

Beach view

Although Bang Po is a bit out of the way from the popular and busy locations like Chaweng, Lamai or Choengmon, just to name a few local beaches, it's definitely worth the trip over there and try one of the many restaurants along this strip, especially this one, Krua Bang Po or Bang Po Seafood.

Deepfried Pomfret with garlic

Now on to the food, we ordered loads and the above pictured dish was delicious, the pomfret or Plaa Jalamet or ปลาจะละเม็ด was fried to perfection and the meat melted on your tongue.

Giant prawns with tamarind sauce

We had the above pictured dish also a day earlier at Sabeing Lae in the new Chaweng outlet and the sauce was lots better there, however, the prawns here were as juicy and fresh and very customer friendly, with only the head and the tail in their 'armor' and the meaty middle section was just that; meat! This was sold per 500 grams or per kilo, not per 100 grams as listed on the menu, but this was also clearly explained, so no big deal.

Soft shell crab with curry powder

The soft shell crab in curry powder must have been the best one I ever had! I order this dish or curry powder dishes many times but seldom or rather never was it so tasty as here!

Krua Bang Po, steamed mussels

The above pictured mussels or Hoi Ob หอยอบ were a big surprise, the way they were steamed, with herbs, was just delicious, there was no need to even use the sauce that came with them. A very good choice by my wife! They were munched down in no time and had a very good size.

We also had ordered 2 steamed crabs or Pu Neung ปูนึ่ง, a massaman curry with chicken or Kaeng Massaman Kha (Curry Paste) แกงมัสมั่นข่า , deep fried mini spring rolls or Po Pia Thot ปอเปี๊ยะทอด  and fried rice.

Take a taxi or rent a car for the day and make your way over, you won't be disappointed!

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Camille