Ko Chang Noi

Eat and meet

Ko Chang Noi

Virtually all meals available on Ko Chang Noi come from resorts, most of which offer similar Thai food, seafood barbeques, and basic western breakfasts. There are a couple standouts, however, including a fabulous but very casual Italian spot.

As far as Thai food goes, any of the resorts will be happy to whip up a plate of pad Thai, green curry, or cashew nut stir-fry in the 80 to 120 baht range. Seafood barbeques are also popular — we had good experiences with whole barbequed fish and shrimp at both Cashew Resort and Kae's Seafood at Koh Chang Resort.

Cashew also offers the island's most extensive western menu with steaks, german schnitzel, sandwiches and some good fries. While all the resorts offer some sort of western breakfast, Nature View's are a step above the rest. They also have tasty noodle soup and probably the best sandwiches on the island. After the meal be sure to try their homemade cashew wine in their pleasant deck restaurant with ocean views.

As for coffee, most resorts stick to Nescafe but Crocodile Rock does it right with a perfectly made cappuccino and strong espresso that comes in a massive iron pot intended for two.

Along with a tasty and extensive Thai menu — including the island's largest selection of vegetarian food — Crocodile Rock has Ko Chang Noi's best homemade cake and fresh baked rolls with homemade pineapple jam and real butter. With several tables and cushioned platforms spread over multiple layers of patio with fantastic ocean views, Crocodile Rock gets the prize for Ko Chang Noi's best restaurant ambience as well. If you don't feel like walking all the way over to Crocodile, the Golden Bee Resort also sells tasty and decadent homemade cake for take away.

While Thai and limited western foods are the norm on Ko Chang Noi, Little Italy off Long Beach is a most welcomed diversion. The pesto Genovese spaghetti, espresso, tiramisu, and homemade Italian bread that's perfectly crusty on the outside and soft in the middle are all fit for a high class white table cloth Italian restaurant. Keeping with the island's laid back vibe, however, the chef prepares food in an open air bungalow style kitchen and the whole experience is very casual, with some reasonable prices to boot.

In terms of nightlife, Ko Chang Noi isn't a big party island, but nightly guitar and hand drum sing-alongs, often around a campfire, are perfect for meeting other travellers and putting back a few beers, and these occur near most of the larger resorts on Long Beach.

There is also at least one proper bar — Thai Bar on Long Beach — which has a reggae theme going and was advertising a