Fine food on Ko Sichang at Pan & David

Restaurant photos
Menu (.pdf 492KB)
Recipes
Team photos

"The best steak I've had in 13 years in Thailand" • "Best Thai food we've had in two months touring the country" • "The carbonara's better than [5-star hotel in Bangkok] •
"I think we'll come back the next time we're in Thailand, just for Pan's food"

167 Asdang Road, 200 m before Rama V Palace, next to Marine Police tel 038 216 075
Open: 11:00 to 21:30 weekdays, 08:30 to 22:00 Saturday & holidays, 08:30 to 20:30 Sunday. Closed Tuesday - Reservations advisable Friday & Saturday
Cuisine: Authentic Thai, Italian, French, vegetarian
Ambiance: **** Open air garden and rustic pavilion
Food quality: ****
Service: *** / ****

Typical supper for two B350

Those are genuine guest comments. But let's be up front about it: we run Pan & David, and we run this website. We think it's a good restaurant, and so do a lot of other people--thanks to fresh seafood (live crabs), an attractive garden, really friendly service, English-language paperbacks and newspapers, plus truly good cooking.

It's good because we've been putting our heart into our kitchen for a long time, and because we use the best ingredients--150 gram prawns from island waters, real grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Italy, extra-virgin olive oil, Modena balsamic vinegar, sea salt, Greek Kalamata olives, herbs from our own organic garden. You can enjoy Thai dishes from subtle to volcanic, great pasta, fine sandwiches or a small selection of first-class European entrees. Not to mention home-made ice cream in flavors like maple pecan, cantaloupe sorbet, fresh strawberry and butter almond.

• Spicy-sour shrimp soup (tom yam kung) B140 •
• Whole sea bass (white snapper) steamed in soy sauce B220 •
• Cheddar & bacon burger B150 •
• Crisp-fried tuna steak with green peppercorns B140 •
• Spicy grilled pork salad (namtok muu) B85 • Squid tempura B85 •
• Steamed crab B140 (500 grams) • Crab fried rice B50 • Garlic bread B50 •
#149; Grilled cheese on tuna salad sandwich B110 •
• Home-made fettucine with asparagus & anchovies B155 •
• Spaghetti all'Amatriciana (fresh tomato sauce and bacon, Parmesan)B125 •
• Free-range chicken sweet green curry B120 •
• Mixed salad with balsamic dressing B95 •
• Filet mignon with wild mushroom sauce, French fries and vegetables B285 •
• Pork cutlet with three-peppers sauce, French fries and vegetables B160 •

• Large Singha beer B65 • Heineken B80 • Half-bottle Mekong B140 •
• Montevino red or white house wine B65 / glass•
Wine by the bottle
• Lazo Cabernet Sauvignon (Chile) B495 •
• Matthew Lang Semillon - Chardonnay (Australia) B610 •
• Black Opal Cabernet - Shiraz (Australia) B825 •
• Vignale Pinot Grigio (Italy) B900 •

Sichang View Resort

Khao Khaad (Chong Isariyaporn) tel 038 216 210

Open: you need to call weekday evenings, 08:30 to 21:30 Saturday.
Cuisine: Thai, Chinese, seafood a specialty
Ambiance: *** orderly, comfortable and clean; garden tables are nice
Food quality: ****
Service: ***

Typical supper for two B480

If you want fish, particularly cooked Chinese style, this a fine place (when they're open: check!)--live grouper and snapper are standards, and we at Pan & David are still trying to surpass Khun Iang's snapper steamed in soy sauce. Crab dishes are great here, too. Overall, what's on the menu is as good as it gets. And the ground-to-order coffee is top-notch, too.

Your order may take a while, but there's a very nice garden to stroll in while you wait, or a great view of the rugged coast just a few steps away.

Lek Tha Wang

by Rama V Palace entrance tel 038 486 210

Open: 07:30 to 19:30
Cuisine: Thai, seafood a specialty
Ambiance: * rural basic
Food quality: ***
Service: **

Typical supper for two B320

Lek's has long been the island's best-known restaurant, has featured in a couple of TV shows, and still attracts large groups coming to the island for a quick samlor tour and a big meal.
There are often hard-to-find-elsewhere seafood items, like the delicious scallop relative hoi takataai (also known as hoi fan krataai, rabbit's-tooth shells) and hoi nom saao, the maiden's breast conch. Seafood is your best bet here, especially the soups and fried fish.

Sichang Palace

Center of town at the base of the biggest pier

Open: 07:00 to about 22:00 every day
Cuisine: Thai, Chinese, Western
Ambiance: ** typical hotel coffee shop
Food quality: */ **
Service **

Typcial supper for two B340

Ko Sichang's only air-conditioned restaurant, not an unimportant point at lunchtime on a windless March day. Most of the Thai dishes are standards of acceptable if not inspired quality; the Chinese are often just as good, but more variable. The Western items on the menu are very often not available, and nothing special when you can get them.

Baan Bai Fern

Asdang Road about 300 meters beyond Tiew Pai tel 038 216 138

Open: 09:00 to 21:00 almost every day
Cuisine: Urban Thai, Chinese
Ambiance: ** well lit, simple
Food quality: **
Service **

Typical supper for two B350

Reliable no-nonsense food in considerable variety, with several good Chinese-influenced dishes. The inside seating is a little institutional, and if you like full-blooded Thai cooking you'll probably find the seasoning a bit sweet and bland, but you can count on fresh, well-prepared dishes.

There's no trendy food on Ko Sichang, but it is a great place to eat. First and foremost, we recommend Pan & David, about 200 meters before the palace entrance. Read at left to find out why we like the place so much.

There are a lot of other places you can get good food, too. The obvious thing to look for is seafood. The island's fleet of squid boats in particular means that squid here seems like a completely different thing from what you get served in Bangkok. We just don't bother to order it anywhere off island. Several places have live crabs, too, and very big (up to about 180 g each) prawns--all at extremely low prices compared to major tourist destinations, typically 70% cheaper.

Apart from the places below, there are dozens of noodle shops and pushcarts for a quick snack, usually pretty good value, too.