Food epiphany: Som tam tod (fried papaya salad)

Sometimes, you have a realisation, which leads you to change the very manner in which you approach life itself. In my dictionary, I call those realisations epiphanies. I recently discovered at Koh Lipe’s Khonlay Restaurant (on Walking Street) that you can also have the food version of such realisations: a food epiphany.

What made me have a food epiphany? The dish pictured above, som tam tod (deep fried papaya salad). Why did it make me have an epiphany? Firstly, you would never expect a fried salad to be so good, and thus the extent of its excellence surprised me, even shocked me (but in a good way). Secondly, it was so good that I struggle to put it into words, but let me try. Soft on the inside, crispy on the outside tempura-esque slithers of fried green papaya, whose slight oiliness is cut through by the sour, spicy and sweet sauce on which it lies. Throw in crunchy snake beans, acidic tomatoes, earthy nuts and juicy deep-fried prawns, and you have a dish so good it shakes the very foundation of the old rule-of-thumb that som tam, gai yang and khao mun (som tam, grilled chicken and sticky rice) was always the way to go when eating som tam – well, I must say, after eating som tam tod, that perception has changed – hence, my food epiphany.

My only word of warning about this restaurant is that the service is extremely slow – so come for lunch, or an early or late dinner.

Razor Clams Two Ways

Khonlay Restaurant also knows how to cook seafood very, very well – exemplified by their use of razor clams. Below, you will see these creatures stir fried a la pad krapow – that is, with Thai basil, chilli, fish sauce and a slightly sweet soy. The aniseed hits marry beautifully against the juicy, ocean-sweet razor clams.

Even better than this, in my humble view, were the grilling of these unbelievably tasty sea dwellers on the barbeque in a light curry-based marinade, partnered perfectly with a delightfully heavy-on-the-ginger and garlic sweet chilli dip. 

It’s not just the flesh of the razor clams which will  awaken your taste buds, the smokily sweet juice of the clams of the shell are worth throwing your etiquette out of the window for a quick lick of the inside of the shell here and there. Just 250 Baht for both dishes (half kilo of razor clams), a bargain by any standards.

Simple ingredients, elegant execution

Koh Lipe’s best dinners tend to be of the barbequed type, with Monkey Bar’s being no exception. Here, their unique spicy-and-refreshing (I’m sure there was a hint of lemongrass in there) curry marinade does the trick. When laid atop fresh, succulent squid and charcoal-grilled to perfection, an additictively smokey taste leaves you wanting more.

When laid atop juicy, meaty tuna of the local variety, you have another winning dish.

Not quite as good but nonetheless a tasty treat were their grilled prawns (both xl and normal size).

This dinner, including matchingly refreshing large Chang’s, set us back only 300Baht each. Koh Lipe just kept impressing on the seafood front.

Southern Style Treats

Wonder along walking street and you’ll find a little restaurant focusing on roti, by the name of Roti Mina. This same restaurant doesn’t really cook your ‘classic Thai’ favourites like Phat Thai very well so stay away from those. What it does do well is a range of Southern dishes, which are hard to find elsewhere on the island.

First up is their deep fried clam omelette. Powerfully rich little clams, encased in a crispy egg based batter, are refreshed by the greenery of spring onions and the crunch of beansprouts, brought together by a sharp, sweet chilli dip. Good stuff.

Second is a special request from their menu – you will see a dish with a name which resembles “Beef/chicken fried with Southern-Style chilli paste” – get this but ask for prawns (goong in Thai) instead. The result is below. Simple, clean flavours, with a slight chilli and curry-esque aromatic hit.