Where to Eat in Bangrak

Bangrak has a lot of places to eat and the standard varies more than it should for a strip this short. Some of it is very good. Some of it exists because tourists walk past.

We work here, we eat here most days, and this is the shortlist we give people who ask.

The one to book

Sabienglae is the local institution and the answer if you are eating one meal in Bangrak.

Thai seafood, tables set out on the sand, and tanks of crab and lobster by the entrance so you can see what you are ordering rather than guessing from a menu photograph. The kitchen will adjust the heat if you ask, which matters, because the default is not toned down for visitors.

Open ten in the morning until ten at night. It is busy at sunset and worth reserving if you want a table near the water. Portions are generous enough that ordering three dishes for two people is usually a mistake.

Breakfast

King of Bread is where Bangrak goes in the morning. Bakery, western breakfast plates, and a sea view, open from seven. It fills up by nine at weekends and there is often a short wait.

Sunny Cafe Viewpoint opens at half past seven and leans towards healthy, which is welcome around day four of eating fried rice.

Brewed Awakening is a coffee truck rather than a cafe and does a better cup than most of the sit-down places. Early only.

Thai, without the beach club pricing

Yui's Beach Restaurant is smaller and less polished than Sabienglae and that is the appeal. It is the sort of place people eat at four days running without meaning to. The staff remember you by the second visit.

Open nine in the morning to ten at night.

For a long lunch

Tropikana Beach Bistro does both Thai and western properly, which is rarer than it sounds, and sits directly on the beach. Open from half past ten until eleven at night. They run cooking classes if you want to take something home other than a tan.

For the view

JUZE, at the eastern end towards Plai Laem, has the best seats on this side of the bay. The Big Buddha on one side, the sunset on the other, and planes coming in low over the water in between.

Jack's Koh Samui has an unusual position with sea on one side and the island interior on the other, and is open until midnight, which makes it one of the later options in the area.

For a drink on the sand

Chi Samui is the beach bar of the strip. Swings at the bar, a DJ some evenings, and it holds a relaxed register rather than tipping into a party. Open until eleven.

Coffee

Flo Coffee Roaster roasts its own and is the most serious cup on this stretch.

The Local Coffee & Eatery is the most photographed place in Bangrak and deserves it: directly on the beach, air conditioning inside, tables a couple of metres from the water outside. Open eight to five.

Parroty Cafe does proper breakfast plates and is dog friendly.

The thing to know about timing

Almost everything in Bangrak that serves coffee closes between five and six in the evening. The restaurants run to about ten, the two or three late options to eleven or midnight, and then the area goes quiet.

This is worth planning around. If you want a long evening here, start it earlier than you would in Chaweng.

What we would do

Big Buddha at eight, breakfast at King of Bread at nine, the beach or a working morning, lunch at Tropikana, an hour somewhere with air conditioning through the worst of the afternoon heat, and Sabienglae at six with a table booked.

That is a good day and it costs very little.

Where we fit

We run Chillom on the beach road, a licensed medical cannabis dispensary with a cafe and lounge attached. We do coffee, food and drinks, and we are open from ten in the morning until two the following morning, which makes us the late option once the rest of the strip has closed.

We are not a restaurant and we would not pretend to be one. Eat at Sabienglae. Come to us afterwards.