17 Best Restaurants in The Gulf Coast Beaches, Thailand

One of the most creative restaurants on Samui fuses culinary sophistication with a welcoming, casual atmosphere in keeping with its surroundings. Chefs perform alchemy from the venue's open-counter kitchen, providing dishes such as linguine with prawns, clams, mussels, and chilies in a white wine and tomato sauce; and king prawns with garlic, chili, and lemon. 

Mere feet from lapping waves, this perennial favorite serves the freshest seafood at reasonable prices. The purple baby-octopus soup and the sour curry with local turmeric and fish are two great options.

This beachfront diner serves salads and sandwiches, both traditional and inventive. Among the latter, the "Hot Bandana" is a tasty vegetarian sandwich baked inside a bread bowl and served wrapped in a bandana.

Chef/owner Francois Porte holds fort at this bijou fine dining option in Bophut. While the prices seem lofty by Samui standards, they are actually very reasonable considering the caliber of the culinary offerings. Menu highlights include mustard- and herb-crusted New Zealand rack of lamb and baked fresh grouper fillet topped with herb crust and served with lemon butter sauce. 

Arranged on several terraces, the tables here all have panoramic sea views; arrive before sunset to get the full effect. In addition to à la carte entrées and apps like iced tom yum gazpacho with oysters, this Six Senses' staple offers a wide range of revelatory set menus, including one for vegetarians.

This two-story seafood restaurant has been feeding Mae Nam residents for decades. The menu changes daily depending on the day's catch. Its most famous dish, stir-fried crab with black pepper, is highly recommended.

Everything on the menu at this well-run Lamai restaurant is excellent. The venue doesn't reinvent the wheel. Instead, the onus is on classic Thai dishes cooked well and with love. Extra marks go to the ambience, which sees parties dine in individual wooden salas (pavilions) in a verdant tropical garden. 

For elegant French cooking, try this small waterfront bistro whose owner moved here from Nice. The three-course tasting menu might include such delicacies as a shark with pineapple entrée, along with a salad and dessert.

Australian chef David Thompson is a legend of Thai cuisine, having helped raise its profile internationally at Nahm, his legendary venture in Bangkok. This, his debut on Koh Samui, is a more casual affair. Here he hones in on southern Thai flavors to outstanding effect. Expect creations with plenty of fire such as spicy yellow curry with prawns and local fish, or mellower dishes like five-spice duck eggs.

This restaurant's unapologetically Western menu attracts Americans and Europeans. Soft-shell crab on arugula and white snapper baked in a banana leaf provide a refreshing change of pace from Thai-centric fare.

The view is definitely what you come here for—high up on a mountain, the restaurant juts out above the beach and the turquoise ocean—but the food is also memorable. Check the seafood tank as you walk in; you might spy something you can't resist.

Halfway along the road from Chawaeng to Lamai, the Cliff perches on a big boulder overlooking the sea. You can have lunch or dinner inside a spartan dining room or out on a scenic terrace. The lunch menu includes sandwiches and hamburgers; among the dinner highlights are steaks and Mediterranean specialties.

A pair of fine-dining vets from Poland are behind this cutting-edge café, which leans heavily on crowd-pleasing Western food made with quality ingredients. They were at first known for their beef-tongue burgers, which were a tough sell to a casual beach crowd, but a gourmet Wagyu option is now the attention-grabber.

Stick to the fun and interesting cocktails at the Library's popular restaurant—it claims to make 101 different kinds—and after a few sips you'll feel as hip as the surroundings. The menu is mostly Thai, featuring contemporary takes on traditional favorites like prawns with garlic and pepper, and sea bass with chili and basil.

Top-notch Thai cuisine and a relaxing tropical setting await guests at this beachfront restaurant, which offers laid-back charm, superlative service, and high-quality cooking.

Organic vegetables take center stage at this collaboration between a couple of acclaimed chefs from Paris and Berlin. Begin your day with a freshly packed jar of chia pudding, a superfood bowl, or a chili-spiked Thai Greens smoothie, and come back later for an encyclopedic array of clean eats.

Perched on the water, this family-owned joint is filled with locals who come for the seafood. Finding the place is half the fun; the sign out front has no writing in English, so if you're coming by cab, ask someone at your hotel to write out the name in Thai.