21 March 2018
The coastal province of Krabi, at the southern end of Thailand on the Andaman Sea, is well known for the spectacular limestone cliffs, beautiful islands with clear emerald waters, white sandy beaches and stunning red sunsets. The proximity to the sea also meant that fresh seafood is in abundance and Krabi would be a good place to savour them, in addition to delicious Thai cuisine.
For a beach and seaside holiday with good access and day trips to the attractive offshore islands in the Andaman Sea off Krabi, the seaside town of Ao Nang would be the best place to stay instead of Krabi Town. Ao Nang Beach is one of the places where visitors could board the long-tail boats to offshore islands like Tup, Poda and Railay Peninsula.
Ao Nang Seafood Street is one place in Ao Nang that fulfils 3 of the above highlights of Krabi – fresh seafood/Thai cuisine, by the beach, with views of the stunning Krabi sunsets.
We decided to have our first dinner in Krabi, shortly after our arrival at Ao Nang, in one of the restaurants along this street. We knew that this is not the cheapest place for seafood or a meal in Ao Nang but the evening drinks and dinner will come with views of the red setting sun over distant islands in the Andaman Sea. A good way to start our vacation.
Earlier, we have taken the one and a half hours flight from Singapore Changi Airport, arriving at Krabi Airport at about 3 PM. Ao Nang is about 30 km from Krabi airport. We took a taxi for 600 THB (pay at the taxi desk in the arrival hall of the airport) for the 40 minutes journey from the airport to Pakasai Resort, our hotel in Ao Nang for the next three nights. Cheaper options for travel from the airport to Ao Nang were available. A shared shuttle bus/van to hotels in Ao Nang would cost 200 THB/person but the bus may not move till there are enough passengers to fill the vehicle.
Pakasai Resort is excellently located within a 10 minutes stroll to Ao Nang Beach where everything in Ao Nang seemed to be happening. The Ao Nang Seafood Street is located at the Northern end of Ao Nang Beach Road and was easy to find.
Entrance to the Ao Nang Seafood Street with a sign that cannot be missed.
View of the Ao Nang Seafood Street, looking out from where we came in. Ao Nang Seafood Restaurant is the first restaurant on this stretch.
The six seafood restaurants along Ao Nang Seafood Street are:
- Ao Nang Seafood
- Sala Bua & Lo Spuntino
- Baan Lay Thai Kitchen
- Long-Tail Boat Bar & Restaurant
- Rabieng Thalay
- Krua Ao Nang Cuisine (Salathai).
The street is actually a pathway that runs through the middle of these restaurants, connecting one to the next all the way along.
We were spoilt for choice. Walking along the pathway, we could view the fresh seafood laid out on ice, menus and speak to the staff that will be keen to explain what were on offer.
One of the restaurants along the Ao Nang Seafood Street.
Generally, the process is simple. Choose the seafood on display, agree on the price (some seafood items are quoted based on their weight) and the restaurant will prepare the seafood according to your taste.
We could have a fish cooked in various ways, e.g. steamed fish or deep fried fish; what kind of sauce you want with the fish.
For lobsters, squid or prawns, we could choose to grill or bake them. There were pictures on the menu or on the walls that one could point to.
There are also non-seafood items, including popular Thai dishes like tom yum soup, green, red or yellow curries with meat, and Western dishes on the menu.
Some restaurants would offer a set meal with various combinations of seafood like lobster, king prawns squid or fish in a basket for 1500 to 2500 THB.
After browsing through the 6 restaurants, we chose to have our first dinner at Krabi at the Long-Tail Boat Bar & Restaurant, partly because of the decent reviews from the internet and partly because we were enticed by the lobster, fresh grouper fish (garoupa) with glassy eyes and shiny and plump squid in their combo set. All these seafood and complimentary steamed rice for 2000 THB plus 10% service charge which was included in the final bill. Good value for money, compared to what we would be expected to pay back home.
We sat on the second floor terrace on a table overlooking Ao Nang Beach. Our views of the beach and sunset were partly obstructed by a tree. So our choice of restaurant was not so ideal after all.
View of the sunset and Ao Nang beach from the second floor terrace of the Long-tailed Boat Restaurant.
We sipped our beer and watch the sunset from the terrace while our selected seafood was being cooked.
Our lobster was grilled and served with 2 kinds of dipping sauces. The first sauce was a black pepper sauce and the other was a spicy, sweet and sour Thai seafood dipping sauce that included ingredients like chopped garlic, chopped coriander, oyster sauce, fish sauce, chillies, sugar and lime juice.
We left the black pepper sauce untouched and completely finished up the flavourful Thai seafood sauce that blended very well with the sweet flesh of the grilled lobster. The lobster was not as fresh as I had expected. We should have gone for the combo with the 4 huge Tiger Prawns instead of the lobster.
The Long-Tailed Boat Restaurant steamed our garoupa nicely and served it with a black pepper and onion sauce, instead of the local Thai style (with lime and chilli) which we had wanted. Some miscommunication perhaps. We did not make a fuss about it.
The best dish of the night turned out to be the humble squid. Deep fried with garlic pepper, it was excellent when dipped in the same spicy, sweet and sour Thai seafood sauce.
Overall, our first dinner in Krabi, at the AO Nang Seafood Street, was enjoyable and seafood was good. There are cheaper options for similar meals in Krabi but beachside restaurants with “views to die for” would be expected to charge a premium for that.
On hindsight, we could have spent the evening strolling on the beach, observing and photographing the Ao Nang sunset and then have our dinner at a cheaper restaurant, minus the over-hyped “views". That was what we did for some of our other dinners in Krabi. But not all. Somehow, an evening drink and meal by the beach, with views of the setting sun over the sea is still something that is worth paying a premium for.
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