46 Best Restaurants in The Gulf Coast Beaches, Thailand

Established by the son of a local fisherman in 2007, this restaurant offers delectable seafood dishes like deep-fried snapper in a masala fusion sauce, and New Zealand mussels served with creamy garlic sauce. People can eat in a longtail boat, steps from the lapping sea, or in the bamboo and rattan hut.

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.

Belying Pattaya's slightly unsophisticated reputation, this romantic fine dining haven tucked away in a residential district between Pattaya and Jomtien oozes Gallic class. The food helps to elevate proceedings with choice offerings including premium steaks and showstoppers such as Japanese scallops with red corn in coconut sauce.

A longtime local favorite for Thai-style seafood, Koti has a no-nonsense decor and a packed dining room that attests to the flavor of dishes like hor mok talay (steamed seafood curry). The large menu includes such crowd-pleasers as fried fish with garlic and pepper.

This Middle Eastern and Mediterranean joint brings a mouthwatering taste of the Levant to Thailand's most venerable beach enclave. While the smoky aroma of meat, fish, and kebabs grilling over charcoal make this a heaven for carnivores, vegans are equally well-fed with a selection of salads, dips, and righteous falafel and hummus plates. 

This beachfront diner serves salads and sandwiches, both traditional and inventive. Among the latter are tasty vegetarian sandwiches baked inside a bread bowl.

This sleek, modern restaurant overlooking the Dusit Thani resort's expansive pool and shimmering Pattaya Bay offers an "international skewers" concept with a wide variety of Chinese, Thai, and Western takes on grilled meat, seafood, and vegetables on skewers.

Run by a friendly mother-and-daughter duo, this restaurant hides in a back alley near Pattaya Beach Road. In addition to breakfast favorites like omelets and fried eggs, they serve all-day brunch with choices like club sandwiches, fried chicken wings, and avocado salad with chicken breast. Cheap local and international beers are available as well. The streetside tables are a peaceful breakfast spot, perfect for catching the morning sun.

The concept—one familiar to western visitors, especially those from North America—is not exactly authentic to Japan or any country for that matter. But Benihana's take on Japanese-style teppanyaki has proved to be an enduring formula. The template is followed to a tee at its Pattaya outlet with flamboyant chefs cooking up a storm before diners' eyes. 

Pattaya's reputation as a top spot for sampling seafood is given fresh impetus at this lively restaurant. The venue is open daily for lunch, but it comes alive during dinnertime when gourmands flock to its seafood buffet (Wednesday through Sunday; B849 per person)—a kingly affair starring superfresh morsels served in an underwater-inspired space popping with eclectic artworks. Note that there is no a la carte dinner menu when there is a seafood buffet.

Hidden in plain sight on the way to an elephant camp and waterfall is this family-run Thai restaurant that brings a love of food, art (one of the owners is a multimedia artist and the decor reflects this), and music together under one canopy. Keep it classic with curries, stir-fries, or stuffed omelets—all fairly priced and full of flavor.

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. 

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.

Welcome to the best-value French restaurant in Thailand. At DiDiNE the emphasis is not on fancy plating or any of the familiar gallic niceties but rather on delivering great-tasting dishes at extraordinary prices. Highlights include classic salads like Nicoise and more substantial offerings such as pork cordon bleu and beef red wine Parmentier.

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.

El Greco brings a taste of the Ionian to the tropics. The emphasis is on prime ingredients perfectly cooked: a simple creed that is executed via offerings such as shrimp saganaki (shrimp with feta, fresh oregano, tomatoes, and olive oil) and giant souvlaki platters. Shrimp saganaki is only served in the high season from November to April; Souvlaki is available all year.

Combining 10-course fine dining and photography, this restaurant–gallery serves delicate interpretations of southern Thai classics—fish dishes, curries, grilled seafood, and the like. The service is first-rate, the atmosphere relaxed and romantic.

Beachfront trattorias don't come more inviting than this one. Pizza is the specialty of the house, and pies come in various thin-crusted, wood-fired guises. Perhaps the best thing about the place, though, is its ambience. You can literally feel the sand between your toes at the beachside setting while the views of the boats sailing in and out of Mae Haad Bay are unfailingly evocative. 

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.

Regulars pack the room at this elegant Indian restaurant, which honors Pattaya's bountiful seafood supply with dishes like a comforting prawn curry and a "Trio of Fish" with salmon and dory fillets cooked in three unique ways—an absolute must-try. The service is attentive but never overbearing, living up to the awards this local favorite has earned since it opened in 2004.

Rated by many Thais as being among the best seafood restaurants in the entire province, this humble venue has serious credentials. The kitchen backs up its reputation, courtesy of perfectly cooked Thai-style seafood like stir-fried prawns in salt, chili, and garlic, as well as crab legs and scallops with garlic.

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. 

This authentic Thai restaurant in Pattaya's north serves double portions of stir-fries and other Thai favorites. Try tom yam pla krapong, white snapper soup with chili and lemon grass, or goong tod sauce makham, deep-fried king prawns tossed in tamarind sauce with kaffir lime leaves and fresh lemon grass. Take a sit at one of the teak tables with plastic chairs or bamboo salas roofed with Nipa palm leaves and mix amongst the locals.

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, where 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.

As if striving to please every last one of the island's international visitors, this fun restaurant serves entrées from around the world. The specialty, though, is grilled seafood, prepared with one of 12 sauces; select your fish and sauce, then enjoy the breeze from the ceiling fans while you await your food.

It's not all about the atmosphere at this lively venue: the kitchen is no slouch in the creativity department. Simplicity is key to your enjoyment, with choice cuts of meat and prime local produce getting top billing. Highlights include rotisserie chicken and wood-fired pizza. The nightly live music and array of beers on tap also help to provide uplift.

For a different side of Pattaya, head north of the city to this beautiful, romantic seafood restaurant that sits right on the waterfront. The almost exclusively Thai clientele enjoys hand-picked lobster, tiger prawns, crab, oysters, and fish amid shimmering pools, palm trees, and sweeping bay views.