The most memorable meal in Krabi

What??? How can I put an ending to my Krabi trip without posts on food??? I don't come here just for the view! As soon as I made booking through goholiday.com 2 months before my departure, both of us agreed on not to eat any Thai food until then. And even though Ao Nang is nothing short of international food such as Italian, French, Irish, Swedish, Indian... we saved our stomach for one and only one food... THAI!!! I'm so determined to find good Thai food in Krabi to the extent that I googled the internet to look for recommendations from fellow travellers.

After Chinese, I think that my next favourite is Thai :) and I don't mind having Thai food everyday but the same cannot be said for Japanese, Korean, Italian, French, German, etc. I also love eating spicy stuff which means that a trip to Thailand is definitely not complete without their signature tomyam or anything spicy. I have learned a few Thai words recently and one word is "ped" or spicy. There is not one meal in Krabi without tom yam, and everytime I order this dish, I'd say "ped ped" and the waiter/waitress would just smile at me and nodded his/her head. Never mind that my stomach can't stand the spicy-ness, as everytime I had something spicy... I would have a case of stomachache. My motto when come to eating... EAT FIRST, THINK LATER!!! No wonder my waist is getting bigger and bigger as time goes by :P

Lae Lay Grill Spices Seafood

This is the first place that we went to as we arrived in Krabi. Frankly, this place is not in my list of place to try but it came highly recommended by the staff in the hotel. We were also told that the restaurant provided transport to pick us up from the hotel. Feeling lazy to be adventurous on our first day, we decided to settle for the restaurant. It turned out to a wise decision. Nestled on a hill overlooking Ao Nang area (Noppharat Thara Bay to be exact), the view was nice from up there.

The restaurant had just opened for business and we were their first customer of the day! Everything in the menu seemed enticing as out stomachs were literally growling (We only had breakfast but not lunch). So after placing our orders, I took some time to take pictures around. They adopted an open kitchen concept with tanks of live seafood placed nearby. Feel free to pick your very own seafood if you have a deep pocket and they will be more than happy to grill or do whatever you want with your selections - be it lobster, mantis prawns or even crabs.


If you come here during sunset, you can choose to sit at the wooden tables and chairs next to the panaromic terrace where you can enjoy the view of Noppharat Thara Bay.

How could we come to Thailand without having their fresh coconut??? My choice of pure blended coconut drink was equally refreshing :)

Initially we were given their bird eye chilly sauce for dipping (3rd from the front)... however we wanted more. So we asked, and being served with (from the front) tom yam sauce, tamarind sauce and spicy seafood sauce. All sauces were very good but the highlight was the tomyam sauce so don't forget to order it should you have the opportunity to visit this restaurant.

Tom yam goong @ 250 baht was served first and it immediately opened up our appetites. Perhaps the best tom yam that we had here during our 5D4N stay in Krabi.

Crispy soft shell crab with chilly & salt @ 250 baht - not oily and the chilly & salt alone went well with the rice

Roasted duck in red curry sauce @ 180 baht - there was occasion that the curry duck that we had in Ao Nang (not here) was tough and hard to chew but Lae Lay had nailed it right. The duck meat was very tender and the curry was done perfectly.

Steamed seabass with chilly & lime @ 400 baht - our favourites for the evening. I wonder how they actually de-boned the fish. Plenty of crushed garlic, lime and bird eye chilly were laid on top of the fish before it was steamed. We didn't even spare its head :)

Steamed tiger prawns in soya & garlic sauce @ 420 baht - Another winner for us. Fresh medium sized prawns steamed perfectly with sweet soya sauce. The meat was succulent and bouncy with each and every bite.

Fried rice with salted fish @ 180 baht - decent dish.

Pineapple fried rice with curry powder & crab meat @ 220 baht - look at the amount of crab meat on top of the rice. I like the fact that they gave cashew nut too (sucker for this stuff)
Their famous Thai fragrant rice also doesn't come cheap, costing 20 baht per bowl

Leo's verdict - Price is slightly on the high side but it's worth the money paid, given the beautiful scenery and delicious food. Do bear in mind that 10% service charge and 7% VAT is applicable while dining here. We paid 2700++ baht for all of the above. Bear in mind that some other places in Ao Nang do not charge those tax. It's best to come when the sun is about to set. Otherwise, the sun will shine directly at where you dine and it can get pretty hot too. This is what you get when you dine here.

Our very first sunset in Ao Nang
Address: 89 Moo 3, Ao Nang
Website: http://www.laelaygrill.com