Tom Tri' s Boathouse began as the brainchild of renowned
architect and food-and-wine aficionado Mom Tri Devakul.
In the late 1970s, Mom Tri designed and built a luxury
seafront villa on the hill overlooking Kata Beach, where he entertained
close friends and family. When not dining at home, he often frequented a
seaside eatery down the road called Baan Reua, known locally for its
good food and breezy atmosphere. He so enjoyed the place that, in 1986, he
bought it and brought in his personal chef to run the kitchen.
Since those days the Boathouse has undergone many
transformations. The restaurant has seen the addition of 36 guestrooms, but
the food and ambiance remain an icon of southern Thailand's finest dining.
Sitting at the white linen-covered seaside tables is like
enjoying one's own private island, with provisions discreetly parachuted in
by your professional team of waiters. We begin the evening with a chilled
bottle of '01 Soave Classico from Italy — a boozy, sub-tropical white — that
nicely complements our chosen starters. I particularly enjoy a certain
Boathouse specialty entrèe, better described as a "jump-starter". The
kung chae nam plaa is an exciting appetizer of fresh shrimp
marinated in lime, chilli, garlic and fish sauce.
Longtime chef Thammanoon Punchun, well known for his
cooking workshops, balances his menu with a wide range of European dishes
that display an energy and integrity similar to that of the Thai cuisine for
which he is so famous. For example, the roasted rack of New Zealand lamb,
glazed in its own thyme-scented reduction, is delivered perfectly rare as
requested.
Among our Thai selections is pla tom yam haeng,
a fresh grouper robbed of all its bones, fried crisp and served with a sauce
comprising traditional tom yam ingredients but with an additional
French complement of crème fraiche. The fish is moist and flaky, deep fried
at a temperature that allows the meat to retain its natural properties,
undamaged and without absorbing any of the cooking oil (a fine line).
We also share a sample of the Boathouse version of
gaeng phet ped yaang, a duck curry popular in Thai restaurants around
the world. Here chef Thammanoon fans out slices of pan-seared breast of
duck, smothers it in red curry (mellowing its heat with coconut milk) and
garnishes it with cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. This is a savoury curry
that, served with mounds of steamed khao suay (jasmine rice), recalls
the richness of an excellent risotto.
With about 500 different wines in stock, (19 of which are
available by the glass), the Boathouse boasts one of the largest cellars in
the King- dom. We bring our evening to an un- hurried close with a bottle of
1996 Klein Constantia, a South African sweet wine that is at once quiet and
mellow, with a cool finish. Our finale is Maxence (mocha ice cream with a
chocolate/coffee coulis and chantilly). All in all, it is a most pleasurable
evening of sunsets, candlelight, fine dining and good company.
Also a piano bar, the Boathouse is a sophisticated choice
for sensational beachside sunset cocktails.
