Beach lunch, Barbate, Spain

The Southern coastline of Spain is breathtaking. Crystal clear water, pure white sand and rocky foreshores with some interesting flora. Wandering along the beach in Barbate is so peaceful. We pass one couple on their push bikes in the whole time we are there - as we are navigating over to a small area of asphalt before climbing up to the lighthouse.



On our walk back along the beach, we see a little side road which looks promising to find a quick lunch. We find a little stone house, which looks promising.



We make our way in, it's quite dark and beautifully cool under the clay roof. There's a small menu in chalk scribbled behind the bar. They have a few little tapas and then a small selection of daily sandwiches. Manchego is ordered along with our drinks at the bar counter and we take a seat. Our ice cold beers and a little plate of Manchego arrives moments later. Several slices of the rich cheese are on a little plate with a good handful of little bread sticks. Yum!



A little plate of pork lomo also arrives with the cheese. Cured, salty pork with a deep red spice coating also with a good handful of the little bread sticks.



After a perfect little start to our beachside lunch, we both have ordered the pork with paprika butter roll. Crunchy bread roll filled with a shredded pork mixture that is bound with an intense paprika butter. mmmmm



Now we certainly have energy to walk all the way back to the other side of the beach and get back in the car to rush home and enjoy our siesta.

Samui's famous Khao Mon Gai

At Mike's birthday bash the end of the evening evolved into drinking games and magic tricks and all 'round craziness. Despite this Kim and I both recalled talking to some locals about an amazing khao mon gai stall that was supposed to be within walking distance of Kelli & Glenn's place. This is supposed to be 'the' place the locals travel to, from all over the island, for their fix of khao mon gai, or chicken rice.



On several occasions we tried to find it ..... the directions were a bit hazy (or at least our heads were) and we weren't having luck from the beach side or the road side. But one day, scooting through Bang Po beach, from the Na Thon side we spot an unassuming little place that had about 6 cars and a pile of scooters outside. We wanted to check it out regardless ..... but turns out this was the spot!



We walk in, there's some glass cabinets with the chickens hanging in all their glory, and some plastic tables down on the sand.



There's a cute little jar of firey vinegar / chilli sauce with a little dish of fresh chilli's and tiny garlic cloves acting as a lid.



There's also a stack of little ramekins, piled high, in a little wooden stand that intrigues us both.



2 plates of chicken rice soon distract us from the little tower and we dig in. The chicken is plump and juicy, sitting on top a beautifully fragrant rice, with a few slices of cucumber and a little dish of soy and ginger sauce. A small bowl of the chicken soup and it's a chicken-licious trifecta! I add a touch of the chilli vinegar to both my chicken and the soup. Mmm.



We notice everyone around seems to be enjoying a few of the little dishes that are piled up on the tables so we dive on in ....... on first glance it appears to be a cute little coconut custard.



Once we scoop in, it's apparant there is a layer of gooey pandanus custard underneath.



A fantastic finish to an incredible lunch. And all this, including 2 drinks, for under 100B.

Siripoca Khao Mon Gai
Bang Po Beach
Koh Samui, Thailand


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Save some room for dinner .....

It's actually a little hard writing a blog on one of our many strolls down Bang Po beach with the thought that Sable is no longer there ........

But on one of our strolls, we did find this little beachside place serving some mean Thai food.  We had been on the lookout for this famous Khao Mon Gai place (post to come) but we could never find it from the beach side.  This other little place, recognisable from the huge amounts of bamboo by the beach, was also recommend by Glenn, a favorite stop of his for tom yum.



We were going to order the tom yum, but both immediately spotted the coconut soup with tumeric and crab. Mmm. Good choice, indeed. A rich, yellow, coconut broth packed full of lemongrass and coriander was sublime. Just trying to get all of the crab from the shell with a fork was a bit hard and we eventually gave up ....



Luckily, within moments a khai jiaw goong sup appeared on the table to distract us. A delicate, paper thin omlette was carefully wrapped around minced prawn and peanuts and scattered with chopped chives. nom nom



Lastly, (this was an in between lunch and dinner kind-of meal ;-)) a bowl of Massaman curry. It was packed full of spice, with chunks of pork, onion and potato.



Now to saving some room for dinner ....