Kata Beach - Koi Restaurant, Kwong Shop Seafood and Lucky Cafe

Having really enjoyed our meals at The Pad Thai Shop, we decided to try another eatery on Patak Road - Koi Restaurant. They specialize in seafood, so that is the direction we went.

We had a fried fish with basil dish that was very tasty - great textures and flavors:



We also had a mixed seafood green curry. It wasn't much to look at, but was delicious:



More on the pretty, but not as tasty end of the spectrum was this squid curry that we had at Kwong Shop Seafood:



Their pad kra pao was fantastic, though:



On our last night in Kata Beach, we had dinner at the one table outside Lucky Cafe - a little place a few doors down from where we were staying.

The woman running the place was very nice, and they turned out a couple of solid dishes for us - a chicken pad thai:



and a "spicy" seafood salad (it actually wasn't particularly spicy, but we enjoyed it):



All in all, despite Kata Beach's tourist overload we managed to eat quite a bit of good food while we were there.

Kata Beach - The Pad Thai Shop

Pad Thai has become almost a cliché dish - both as an American Thai restaurant staple, and as the only dish Americans order when in Thailand. That doesn't mean you shouldn't order it, though, because it is delicious. And it rises to a whole new level in Thailand.



Located on Patak Road, inland from the tourist beach corridor, The Pad Thai Shop is very much a local joint with a sprinkling of expats and tourists thrown into the mix.



We ordered the chicken and the prawn pad thai - both were delicious, but we particularly liked the chicken. Easily the best version of the dish I've ever had.

There were other items on the menu we wanted to try, so we came back again another day. This time the main event was noodle soup with braised chicken:



Chicken leg, foot and an egg in a rich, savory broth with wide rice noodles. Amazing.



Less amazing, but still quite pleasant to eat was the crab fried rice.



I wish we'd been able to eat here a few more times, as other items on the menu were still beckoning. Definitely a must try if you are in Kata Beach.

Kata Beach - Beaches, Russians, Ska Bar and Meat on a Stick

Arriving for the first time in Thailand I expected culture shock. Staying in Kata Beach in the Phuket tourist zone I expected tourists. I didn't expect both the culture shock and the tourist overload to be Russian.

It turns out that there are a *lot* of Russians vacationing in Kata Beach.



Despite the Slavic overload, it was a very pretty place to be. Our daily routine was to walk the length of the beach, stopping for a swim or two along the way.

On our first such excursion, we noticed a little outdoor bar built into the rocks at the south end of the beach. We stopped for a few beers, and just like that Ska Bar became officially part of our daily routine.



After our beverages at Ska, we needed something to eat and there is no better first meal in a new country than meat-on-a-stick.



This stand was set up in front of a convenience store and they were doing a brisk business.



We tried the pork, the chicken, and the "smart" chicken:



The "smart" chicken turned out to be chicken hearts. Not sure where the "smart" comes from, but they were quite tasty, as were the other skewers.