Having experiences. It’s what life’s all about. And whether that’s hang-gliding off Mount Everest, scuba-diving with man-eating sharks, meeting Nelson Mandela or enjoying a perfect night’s dining at a stunning restaurant on a tropical beach, unless you make just a little bit of effort yourself, these activities will be remain unfulfilled dreams.

Well, we’re a long way from the Himalayas, the local sharks are small and friendly and there’s a queue a mile long to reach that great South African hero. But we do have amazing restaurants on our idyllic tropical beaches. And they don’t come any better than Po-Lad Beach Bistro at The Tongsai Bay.

And it’s quite fitting that one of the first resorts on Samui to offer a 5-star accommodation experience back in the 1980s now has a brand-new restaurant providing an exceptional dining experience. Due, in no small part, to its unrivalled location at Tongsai Bay.

Being just ten minutes from both Chaweng and Bophut, it’s relatively easy to get to. And being situated in its very own private bay between busy Choeng Mon and Samrong Bay gives it a well-deserved air of exclusivity, even though it’s one of the island’s friendliest places offering a top-notch dining experience at most affordable rates.

Arrive at the lobby and you can take a short stroll through the tropical gardens down to the beachside restaurant, or hop on one of the waiting buggies and you’ll be there in seconds. Either way, when you reach Po-Lad Beach Bistro expansively spread out in all its glory alongside the shimmering ocean you’ll realise you’ve come to the right place.

Choose to dine in the attractive air-conditioned room which seats eight (bookings a must), within the open-sided 24-seat restaurant itself with its beautiful wooden slatted roof and louvred doors or on the 20-seat outer terrace, screened from above by a nautical-style white canopy. And wherever you decide is best for you, you’ll find white marble topped tables, super comfortable chairs, candle-lit lanterns, highly professional friendly service and super views across the bay to floodlit rocks on one side and the twinkling lights of Choeng Mon Bay on the other.

You’d have to really excel with the food in order to match such a lovely restaurant – and Po-Lad does. Australian Executive Chef, Mark Krueger, is the man in charge and with a wealth of worldwide cooking experience (including heading the kitchen brigades at various resorts in the prestigious Six Senses Group) he’s created an extra-ordinary menu here. And in his words, “Our aim is to create a modern International dining experience with an Asian edge focusing on top quality organic and locally sourced ingredients. Classical and modern approaches to cooking techniques are used to preserve the integrity of the original ingredients to exude their maximum flavours whilst retaining their nutritional value. The end result is to produce a vivid culinary experience incorporating texture, temperature, indigenous herbs, spices and aromas.” And I couldn’t have put it better myself!

“… and you’d have to really excel with the food inorder to match such a lovely restaurant – and Po-Lad does.”

To give you an indication of what’s on offer, here are some of Mark’s personal recommendations. For starters, there’s both the innovative Scallops Caesar with parmesan custard, lettuce soup, bacon and anchovy, and the amazing Crab & Prawn Ravioli with guacamole, pomelo and orange butter sauce.

And for the main course, Mark suggests trying his delicious Seared Yellow-Fin Tuna with bell pepper panna cotta, tomato lemon basil hummus, grilled asparagus, smoked eggplant and escabeshe, or the succulent Twice-Cooked Chicken Breast in a crispy tortilla sandwich, lettuce, guacamole, tomato salsa, refried kidney beans, sour cream and chives. And whether you follow Mark’s recommendations or opt for something else from the exciting menu (there’s a
great vegetarian selection too), you definitely won’t be disappointed.

Desserts here are also excellent, with both the Pina Colada Crème Brûlée with pineapple crumble, lychee sorbet and caramelised sesame, and the Coconut Tiramisu with coffee and red wine macerated sponge layered with mascarpone cream, coconut, orange and chocolate already proving to be the most popular – for very good reasons. And, as you’d expect from a restaurant of this quality, there’s an excellent wine list to match the superb cuisine.

Yes, dining at Po-Lad Beach Bistro will certainly turn one of your dreams into a memorable life experience – you can always hang-glide off Everest next year!

Po-Lad Beach Bistro is open from 6:30 pm with the kitchen closing at 10:00 pm
(there’s a beach BBQ every Monday 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm).
For reservations and further information, telephone 0 7724 5480-500.