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We've compiled the best of the best in The Gulf Coast Beaches - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Run by a friendly mother-and-daughter duo, this restaurant hides in a back alley near Pattaya Beach Road. In addition to breakfast favorites like omelets and fried eggs, they serve all-day brunch with choices like club sandwiches, fried chicken wings, and avocado salad with chicken breast. Cheap local and international beers are available as well. The streetside tables are a peaceful breakfast spot, perfect for catching the morning sun.
Hidden in plain sight on the way to an elephant camp and waterfall is this family-run Thai restaurant that brings a love of food, art (one of the owners is a multimedia artist and the decor reflects this), and music together under one canopy. Keep it classic with curries, stir-fries, or stuffed omelets—all fairly priced and full of flavor.
At this spacious, brick-style shop adorned with pictures of the Akha hill tribe, tasty coffee from Doi Chang, Chiang Mai is served by staff clad in traditional Akha-style clothes and headdresses decorated with colored threads, beads, and buttons. The shop also sells all kinds of coffee equipment, from Moka pots and grinders to mini coffee cookers. And of course, you can buy a bag of Doi Chang coffee beans to go.
The alluring scent of fresh baked goods immediately delights all who enter this funky place. The owner, who picked up his baking skills while living and working in Germany, opened Nira's in the mid-1980s, before the island even had electricity.
Note and El, a Thai couple, run this lovely breakfast spot on the way from Thong Sala to Srithanu. The two of them specialize in home-made dim sum and Chinese herbs soup, but also serve steamed dumplings or rice soups with egg, fish, or pork. The teak interior of this open-sided Thai restaurant creates a homey atmosphere that locals appreciate, and traditional Thai coffee and tea invite you to linger. Prices are very reasonable, and the owners are always happy to chat.
The steady stream of locals is one clue that the seafood here ranks among the town's best. Try the charcoal-grilled whole fish, large prawns, crab, and squid—all fresh and accompanied by a delicious chili sauce.
The homemade chocolate rolls and croissants at this bakery are fresh and tasty, and the decor featuring vintage Kellogg's boxes, toy soldier figurines, and cherry-red Sugar Bloom lettering evoke a quirky sense of Americana. The coffee, made with local, medium dark-roast beans, are great as well.
On the northern side of the Khao Takiab headland, this restaurant has outdoor seating with views of the nearby standing Buddha. Entrées are mainly seafood, such as prawn soup with a deep-fried green omelet, although other Thai dishes and vegetarian options are also available.
Perched on the water, this family-owned joint is filled with locals who come for the seafood. Finding the place is half the fun; the sign out front has no writing in English, so if you're coming by cab, ask someone at your hotel to write out the name in Thai.
This place doesn't look like much—it's little more than a shack with plastic chairs and simple wooden tables—but many locals say this the best place for seafood on the island. Lek Noi is a little more than a kilometer (½ mile) out of town on the way to Chudhadhuj Palace.
The owners are a Thai-American couple, so it's not surprising that their eatery serves a mix of their native dishes. The best ones, among them spaghetti with a spicy seafood sauce, inventively combine the two influences. Ocean breezes cool the open-air dining area.
