A la Colthard/The Boathouse and Bann Rim Pa
My readers know that I am always suspicious of restaurants with panoramic views. Both these restaurants have and both I will praise and as much for the quality of their food as views.
The Boathouse is situauted on Kata beach on the west of Phuket where all the best beaches are. Kata itself seemed a lively resort with the familiar shops all along the roaodside. The Boathouse is famed for its steaks and 1500 wines. We arrived at 5-30 and were given a table overlooking the bay to watch the sun set. It was a wide semi-circular beach with bars and restaurants at one end to our left. I ordered a crab bisque and ribeye steak. The bisque was actually a clear soup with crab and cognac not a true bisque which is a creamier, richer broth with rouille. Nonetheless quite tasty. To accompany I had a glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. For the mains I decided to push the boat out with a Louis Latour Burgundy affordable by the glass but despite the much-vaunted reputation of the restaurant there was none available so I went for a South African Pinotage. The steak was tender enough with a Bearnaise sauce but not up there with the great Argentine steaks that fizzle in the mouth. The bill was £40 per head about half one would expect to pay in a London restaurant. Thai restaurants tend to be spacious with excellent service too. Perhaps we will recall the view and the sun setting best of all but I would certainly recommend this to the visitor, especially as the Boathouse is also a boutique-style hotel .
Bann Rim Pa is a Thai restaurant in Patong. It was my first visit to the famous – or should it be infamous -flesh pot of Patong. I found it at first blush less sleazy than a unsophisticated, unattractive little town lacking in elegance and class. However I never left the car to delve into its side streets where the raunchiness is to be found!!! Bann Rim Pa was at the end of the strip and one of the most beautiful restaurants I have ever seen. It’s fashioned in pink woodwork and we were able to commandeer a balcony table over looking the whole bay. This gave us a first class view and total privacy. I ordered a herbal soup with chicken and coconut milk and plate of grilled fish. The soup arrived in a shelled out coconut and was quite deliciously fragrant. A huge platter of fish then arrived comprising sea bass, langoustines, mussels and crab. It was served with a spicy tomato sauce. On the cocktail list I finally saw my beloved whisky sour which proved to be zesty. I made a slight error in repeating coconut for dessert with a banana cooked in coconut milk -rather too sickly sweet for my taste. The final bill for three here was slightly more than the Boathouse at £46 per head. Again the view was stupendous. We were there for lunch and I understand at dinner there is a pianist. What could be more romantic than to watch the sunset to the music of Cole Porter or the Gershwins though knowing you men the Daffers sex appeal would not be enough and I would be dragged off to some sex show in Patong!!!
