Baan Talay Restaurant at Angsana Laguna, Phuket

Baan Talay is a restaurant located along the beach at the Angsana Laguna Hotel in Phuket. It is housed in a beautiful traditional Thai house surrounded by coconut trees, giving it an idyllic resort feel. At dusk, the place looks magical and we could not resist dining there. Baan Talay serves traditional Thai cuisines as well as seafood.  We tried some Thai classic items for dinner.

Bann Talay is extremely spacious. Its high ceilings reached up into the sky and is nicely lit by huge clusters of light pendants. The decor of the restaurant is quite simple and practical. Except for a few nooks and a couple of private rooms which are more luxuriously appointed, the rest of the restaurant looks almost spartan. We were somewhat disappointed by the interior after getting enticed by the great promises of the exterior. Anyway, we were not there to sightsee, so down to the serious business of eating. The restaurant has large menus with quite a wide selection. There is a seafood selection with the usual crabs, lobsters and fish done the way you want it. Tempting but with the prices based on weight of the sea creatures,  it was hard to figure out the costs of our meal (which was already a challenge converting Baht to SGD). We decided to go for the Thai food selections which were more of interest to us and safer on the wallet.

For starters we had the must try tom yam goong (315 Baht), Thai pandan leaf chicken (295 Baht) and Thai fish cakes (340 Baht). They were all excellent. We could be biased or simply prejudiced by the fact that we were on Thai soil, but these ubiquitous Thai dishes which we have all the time at home simply tasted different and has more complexity. Perhaps it was the combination of spices or quality of ingredients but the items were tasty and delicious. You can select the spiciness level of the tom yam soup. We opted for medium and that turn out to be just right. The soup here is the ‘cloudy’ (as contrasted with the clear type served in some places) type and was a full of flavours. The prawns were fat and juicy.

For mains we decided to try items which are less common. We ordered the Mussamun Nhua (440 Baht) and the stir-fried morning glory (285 Baht). The former was beef short ribs cooked in a very creamy and sweet kind of curry. The beef was well done and very tender but we did not like the sweet mussamun curry. As for the stir fried morning glory, we ordered it simply because we were curious, not having eaten the common flower before. It turned out to be it a dish of fried kang kong! Now exactly what we expected but at least we learnt something today. The taste was not bad but we still prefer our ‘morning glory’ cooked in sambal.  Curiously, the steamed rice was served in rusty ‘tinkat’ type of dishes. Perhaps it is meant to be quaint and traditional.

All in all this was an enjoyable meal in a beautiful restaurant. Next time we will stick to our tried and tested favourites as dish selection is key to enjoyment here. Read about our other dining experiences in Phuket here.

Cheers!

Ratings:
Food : 4
Service: 3
Value : 3
Atmosphere: 4
Overall Rating: 4 TOPS     

Baan Talay
Angsana Laguna Hotel
Phuket
Thailand