Sabeinglae Restaurant on the Beach in Koh Samui

Koh Samui was mostly about rest and relaxation and… food.  Luckily the girls that I went with all shared similar tastes and preferences for food and drink - think fresh coconuts! papaya salad! mango sticky rice! seafood galore!

On one of the nights, we ventured out to Sabinglae, a sprawling local restaurant right on the beach.

We got there around sunset for an early dinner.

The ordering quickly went crazy, with everyone chiming in with preferred dishes.  I gave up taking pictures after a while...

 This is my favorite, the very garlicky, slightly spicy, lime snapper.  I didn't realize I cut off his head though…When we finished the fish I surreptitiously scooped up a few spoonfuls of the tart and spicy broth.  What a delight!

 The mussels here were green and blue and the inside of the shells were shiny and lustrous.  Their dipping sauce was impeccable.

 Another favorite - the tamarind shrimp.  It consists of large shrimp stir fried in tamarind with the slightest hint of heat from whole chili peppers… this dish made me so happy.

 Usually I pay zero attention to fried rice - but Sabeinglae's fried rice was really good.  It was cooked to just the right amount of dryness, so that the rice had a slightly crispy texture, and was very flavorful.  I'm not sure what their secret is but this dish shows that there is definitely an art to something as simple as fried rice.

 This was the Sabeinglae Salad, which consisted of a lot of mint leaves and lettuce and fresh squid topped with a ton of fried garlic and shallots.

 We also ordered a spicy oyster salad but my picture of this one is pretty terrible.

Finally, we also got a fresh lobster to share.  I never turn down lobster…

After dinner we went to the night market where we strolled around with the crowds.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of this huge red snapper.  What a comical expression!