Always Delicious Food at the ‘Monkey’
My calzone was to die for! Well maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it had been over 2 weeks since I’d had western food and Will’s calzone was delicious beyond my expectations. He does it up special for me with chicken instead of whatever meat he uses. He also made it with spinach instead of the asparagus he puts in the meat one. The crust was thin, the cheese was tangy and the sauce was so tasty. Just writing about it makes me want to go there for dinner tonight!
The Owner is a Culinary MasterMind
The Fat Monkey Restaurant on Koh Lanta is run by this super Brit call Will, who is quite a character. He’s put together an eclectic menu of the best Thai and Western food. The burgers are famous, beef or chicken, and whatever you want on them from a substantial list of choices. The pizzas are amazing, the steaks are prepared perfectly, and the fish is delicious. The Thai dishes are wonderful with generous meal portions. This is one of my favourite restaurants on Koh Lanta as I always know the food will be excellent, the service good and there is always a friendly face to chat with at the bar.
Will Welcomes Special Requests
What I like about going there is that Will has no problem altering
recipes to make his customers happy. This is great news for those of us that have restrictive diets, food allergies and special requests. In Thailand, especially on Koh Lanta, not all restaurants can offer this as the people in the kitchen, and even the servers, don’t understand why you’s want to change how they prepare the food. This isn’t even a language thing, it’s a ‘we know how to prepare Thai food’ thing. I’ve found that sometimes they think that I’ve had a dish with beef that I didn’t like and they want to show me that they will make it better. It is very difficult for me to explain my food allergy to anyone, let alone someone from another culture who speaks another language. But not at Fat Monkey. Will is extremely comfortable modifying the menu items and suggesting alternatives to suit whatever food restrictions and limitations his customers may have.
A perfect example of Will’s creative culinary mind is how he created a wonderful new dish ‘on the fly’. I was dining with a vegan friend who wanted the veggie burger but was concerned with the use of milk and eggs in bread here in Thailand as well as the cheese and mayo that was in the description of the veggie burger. Will suggested a no-bread veggie burger with avacado slices instead of cheese, some large fries and a small salad on the side. He created a ‘vegan burger meal’ on the spot, and we were all eager to see what it would be like.
For sure I had a taste of the burger. What can I say, it was a hit! It wasn’t your usual tofu veggie burger. This one was made of mushrooms and other delicious vegetables nicely fried into a disc shape. It was perfect without the bun, making me think that with a bun the taste would be masked with all the bread and condiments people tend to put on burgers like ketchup, lettuce, onions and tomato. Will should seriously consider this Vegan Burger as a new item on his menu, or even including it some nights on his Daily Special Board.
The Fat Monkey Restaurant on Koh Lanta is located on the Main Road in Klong Dao Beach. It opens at 4 pm til late every day except Monday, when the staff get a well deserved day off. I highly recommend this restaurant, especially for those who have allergies, restrictive diets, and/or special food requests.
It’s all good!