Kampong Kata Hill Restaurant - Phuket

Where Is It?

Situated downtown Kata Beach, Kampong Kata Hill straddles a hill, meaning that there are two entrances; one on the Karon Road side by Starbucks and one on Kata's main drag, Taina Road. The Karon Road side features a steep drive up to the restaurant's car park whereas on the Taina Road side parking is as rare as hen's teeth.

Ceiling-fan cooled, one would hazard a guess that, because of its elevation, even if the fans were turned off there'd be a cooling natural breeze flowing through the open-sided building.

Décor

Buddha images, antique replicas, serpents and ceramics abound in this extraordinary 20-year old multilevel restaurant. It's not quite Night at the Museum territory but it gets pretty close.

Full of nooks and crannies, lots of teakwood, spotlighted statues, red Chinese lanterns, soft lights and mirrors all work their magic to create a veritable smorgasbord of cultural and religious icons from around Southeast Asia.

It comes as no surprise to learn that the owners run several antiques emporiums.

Atmosphere

Obviously, if you have décor like Kampong Kata Hill does, you're already halfway home to a markedly atmospheric eatery.

Soft background Thai music tinkles away, the scent of joss-sticks floats on the night air; uniformed waitresses glide to and fro, while subtle lighting arrangements, clever use of textiles and discreet floral arrangements all combine to create a decidedly Asian atmosphere smack-bang in the middle of a tourist town. And that's hard to do.

Wine

A 15-label wine list consisting entirely of New World vines features Chilean, South African and Australian whites and reds.

Kampong usually has wine promotions and we sample a hearty and relatively cheap Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon by the small carafe. For the cocktail-and-umbrella crowd a pretty comprehensive list includes all the old favourites. 

Food

The menu offers three different price levels for most items according to how much you wish to order, which is convenient. It goes through the whole gamut of Thai dishes – including steamed fish in lemon sauce, tom yam gung spicy prawn soup, seafood salad, green and red curries and fried dishes.

Our steamed sea bass in lemon sauce is delectable while the tom yam gung not too spicy (in fact it could have done with a little more chilli) and the jasmine rice especially good quality.

Kampong also serves European food but given the lusciously Asian surroundings, to tuck into fish and chips here would be a bit Philistine.

Service

Traditionally dressed and for the most part locally sourced, the staff members complement the atmosphere and vice versa.