Koh Mak restaurants now offer everything from seafood to pizzas, western style breakfasts, bakeries and cafes to cheap no frills Thai eateries.
You’ll find the majority of choices concentrated in the strip behind Ao Kao Beach where you can stroll about and see what takes your fancy, but you’ll also find more options along the road to Ao Nid Pier, over on Ao Suan Yai Beach and at more remote spots scattered around the island.
You can jump straight to each category:-
Thai – Koh Mak Restaurants
On the road running parallel with Ao Kao Beach and diagonally opposite from Rayang Nature Resort, Kon Gin Sen is one of Koh Mak’s longest establised diners and one of its best. They serve an extensive menu of all the usual favourites but specialise in Issan food – look out for spicy somtam, grilled chicken, catfish laab (minced salad with mint) and of course, sticky rice.
Next door, another long-standing island favourite, Food Garden, covers all the BBQ options in its own pretty outdoor setting and just along from there, you can get cheap and honest, no frills Thai cooking at Pimjai. The restaurant doesn’t look too inviting but the food is reliable and tasty.
On the other side of Kon Gin Sen, Table Tales, run by the Koh Mak Ferry owners, offers a full Thai menu in its own open air setting. Monkey Shocks, the reggae bar with its new cannabis outlet, sits across the way by the sea and also serves food including roti pizzas (munchies inspired?).
Back at the Baan Koh Mak and Makathanee Resort end of this same Ao Kao road, Clay Pot offers both the cook-at-your-table BBQ as well as the classic Thai dishes. You have a couple of other choices nearby at the ‘interestingly’ styled Aimmy and Rabbit but the stand-out is Blue House in its pretty garden setting.
Nuchzabmaks, just after the turning towards Ao Suan Yai, is another Koh Mak restaurant which concentrates on Issan food but it has also a wide selection of alternatives off the menu. A few doors down, the long established Chillout has a loyal following for its Thai classics – noodles, Pad Thai and all the curries.
Along that connecting road immediately behind Makathanee, Krun Khun Mam Seafood, makes a reliable choice for quick and easy one choice over rice dishes or for its fuller seafood menu.
Ao Nid
Still on the Ao Kao road but back towards Ao Nid, the friendly Q Bar, which sits opposite Dara Villa, is another popular BBQ choice, with a cheeky sideline in cocktails.
Turning down to Ao Nid at the crossroads, you’ll find two more no-frills spots at Peaw and Om as well as a good noodle come som tam shop at Mong and Jam – the same family as Home Hug Resort. Nearer to the pier, Dum Noodles cooks up an excellent broth as well as one dish style food.
Ao Suan Yai
Tucked away down a side road which links the road from the back of Seavana Resort with the road that runs from the Ao Talong junction to the back of Ao Suan Yai Pier, Koh Mak Organic Farm is run by Leng from Koh Mak Cooking School. The restaurant combine dishes and drinks prepared from fruit and veg grown in their own garden with more traditional meat and seafood cuisine.
To the North and North East Coasts
A few other cheap restaurants – Maruey, Little Blue House – have sprung up along the main road just after the turning to The Mak, good for an easy stop when out exploring. In that same area, Green View runs a seafood restaurant on the the turning down to its actual resort but also has a good in-house diner down by the sea.
Meanwhile, continuing all the way to the north east tip of Koh Mak, there’s a very decent somtam shack at Laem Son. It has just a couple of shaded wooden tables but the food and Koh Kradat views are both excellent.
Western and Other Cuisines – Koh Mak Restaurants
The tiny M.A. Bistro over at the back of Makathanee Resort serves a fusion menu with daily specials such as duck leg confit, queen fish sashimi or falafel salad. You can get breakfasts too and then there are the core pasta dishes, fillet steak (fish or beef), steak sandwiches,and banh mi.
For Italian cuisine, Riverside (currently being renovated), inland over the little bridge in the centre of Ao Kao Beach, makes all its own pasta for lasgane, tortellini and other dishes. Meanwhile, at the top of the access road to Ao Kao Resort, Little Red Oven is known for baking the best thin crusts on the island. They have another branch at Banana Sunset over on the south coast – a popular spot best known for its bar and music but also its top notch Khao Soi (Chiang Mai curried chicken noodle dish).
Roadside on the hill above Seavana, 12 Bars gives Koh Mak a Japanese twist with sushi, sashimi, gyoza and cocktails. It opens late afternoon. You can also enjoy Japanese food at Terraria on the Ao Nid Road, which serves dishes such as Japanese curry, Katsu-Don (rice bowl), Yakisoba (Japanese noodles) and Takoyaki (Japanese Snack with Octopus). It offers Thai food too as well as being a live music venue with a full bar.
The stylish vegan restaurant, Pak Pak, opened as a pop-up in 2023 and will be back for the 23/24 season – expect dishes like falafal hummus, yellow pumpkin curry, Massaman jackfruit curry and more besides. It’s from the By The Sea crew, about 100 metres further down the street, same side.
For Indian food, head to Sabai Beach Resort on Ao Kao Beach, where the Indian chef knocks up lots of familiar dishes – dahl makani, paneer tikka masala, biryanis, thalis and aloo parathas amongst many others.
Seafood – Koh Mak Restaurants
For seafood, look no further than the aptly named Koh Mak Seafood built out over the water down near the pier in Ao Nid. They offer a full reasonably priced menu of all the usual standards – steamed whole fish, a delicious house special jungle curry (with or without coconut milk), squid, prawns, oysters and much more besides. When you’re sated, you can brush up on your island history at the Koh Mak Museum next door.
Kon Gin Sen and Mam Seafood, as mentioned above, give you two more options.
Coffee Shops – Koh Mak Restaurants
Next door to Little Red Oven at the southern end of Ao Kao, the long running Food Art Hut is a very reliable cafe come diner much loved by the western Koh Mak locals. It offers everything from coffee to smoothies, sandwiches, wide range of breakfasts and Thai food.
Ball Cafe opposite Baan Koh Mak about 1/2 way along the strip in Ao Kao Beach, has been a fixture on Koh Mak for many years and also now has rooms. Across from them, By The Sea’s cafe is open from 08.30 to 15.30, with its breakfast choices and then paninis, baguettes and salads for lunch.
Meanwhile, Sweetcake By Moo serves breakfasts too and the full range of coffees on its little terrace with views out over Ao Nid. Mak Prao is another new addition in the same area.
Pineapple Dessert Cafe, just back from the sand by the Koh Mak Resort pier is the choice on that coast – good coffee, sandwiches and delicious desserts. It’s also home to Panan speedboats check-in.
Resort Dining – Koh Mak Restaurants
Over on Ao Suan Yai, Day Beds at Seavana is perhaps the most popular resort restaurant – lovely design, good food and right on the beach. I Talay at Koh Mak Resort Pier also has a terrific location by the sea.
On Ao Kao Beach, I Talay (same name as above) at Baan Koh Mak and Ao Kao Resort’s in-house diner in its pretty location on a raised terrace by the sea, are another couple of stylish spots to wile away the hours. By The Sea too has a restaurant on the beach, western and Thai, well worth a visit.
If out and about, you could stop in for lunch at Villa Allure in Ao Daeng, where they offer well presented food (and good coffee) in a stylish brushed concrete restaurant by their red sand beach.
The restaurant at the bungalow resort,Talay Time in the south east corner of Koh Mak has one of the best locations on the island. From its hillside perch, it gives you an amazing panorama of Koh Kood, Koh Rang and back down the Koh Mak coast. They serve all the Thai staples as well as few western choices, breakfasts and drinks.
Finally, the in-house restaurant at The Mak over on the north coast is open to outsiders. With its sea views, infinity pool and ultra stylish villas, it’s the Instagram place on the island so definitely good for a nose about – food’s very acceptable too. Next door and down on the beach, Little Moon Villa is much more subdued but it also makes a great spot for lunch.
Our Recommendations – Koh Mak Restaurants
Pricing Code/Per person in Baht (B) excluding drinks:B= under 100; BB= under 500; BBB= over 500;
They are not in a ratings order!
