View Phangan Restaurant - Koh Samui

Where Is It?

Melati is located in Thongson Bay near the airport in the north of Koh Samui and the best way to find it is to pass by the Big Buddha and follow the signs from there. Take a staff-driven buggy down from the ornate lobby and trundle down through the lush grounds to sea level. The team of gardeners here must all have green fingers as these grounds are extremely well kept.

Location: in Melati Beach Resort & Spa
Tel: 077 913 400

Décor

View Phangan is breezy and open sided with a great vista of neighbouring Koh Phangan, the world-famous 'party island'. The restaurant has wooden deck floors on its beach side with interior buffed concrete floors. Spectacular bamboo partitions separate the lush seating arrangements (both table and sofa dining available) and a pool bar is just metres away.

Overhead and pillar lighting is kept to a romantic low with additional table candle lamps. View Phangan also has a beach dining option for that special moment: staff members will set up table and chairs in the sand along with bamboo partitions and flaming torches to set the mood for you.

Atmosphere

Mediterranean in tone, View Phangan is spacious and yet intimate in parts. The discreet lighting helps the atmosphere along but the setting and views, more than anything, dictate that this could never be an ordinary hotel restaurant.

A Filipino couple stroll from table to table singing a good selection of light music while staff members are admirably discreet. On the evening we visited View Phangan, the restaurant only started to get 'busy' at nine o'clock so one could safely say that it's not a rushed, torrid affair – and is all the better for it.

Wine

With a competent wine cellar and some 80 labels to choose from, there's enough here to satisfy all but the most exigent wine snobs. View Phangan hosts wine dinners and also features a 'wine buffet'. For a fixed price you can help yourself to six labels ranging from Chilean to Italian to Thai.

Speaking of Thai wine, the PB red, from the Khao Yai region just north of Bangkok, is a complex mixture of flavours and a pleasant surprise. There's also a good cocktail list and – another nice surprise – a wide selection of single and double malt whiskies.

Food

The selection of fresh and well-presented dishes at View Phangan includes Mediterranean-style mussels, spinach ravioli, tomato-and-buffalo-mozzarella salad, stuffed chicken breast and a host of other healthy options.

The roasted sea bass filet on a bed of vegetables is a case in point regarding the nourishing and healthy dishes here while lasagne with slow-cooked veal ragu in meat jus, proof of the tasty options.

Pan-seared tuna with asparagus, eggplant on a bed of pine nuts, raisins and pumpkin is piquant and a hearty dish. All in all, a fine range of main course dishes along with a competent and inexpensive desserts menu.

Service

As mentioned, discreet and unobtrusive with a wait staff numerous enough to handle a busy wine dinner.

View Phangan