Takola Restaurant in Krabi Town

Where is it?

Takola is located two kilometres out of town on the main riverside drag Utarakit Road that leads to Trang and Koh Lanta.

In fact it’s about 50 metres from the entrance of the sprawling Maritime Park & Spa Resort.

Décor

Takola is largely open sided with an air-conditioned VIP room. Here and there are traditional touches in the shape of statuettes and friezes but essentially this is downtown Bangkok chic in little old Krabi Town.

It’s not small either, and its 250 seats are distributed throughout a large area with lots of riverside breezes keeping things aerated.

The constant running water background and cool sounds, well-tended gardens and tiled floors all result in a calming effect extremely conducive to fine dining.

Atmosphere

Modern, trendy and sexy, Takola is immediately appealing to the younger set but no way does it feel exclusive. There’s a tangible Asian modish element that is cleverly played upon by the management and diners would never guess that this is actually a popular breakfast venue as well.

In actual fact the restaurant was named after an ancient port and here we have once again the mélange of traditional and modern playing a central theme to the restaurant’s identity.

Wine

The wine choice at Takola is somewhat limited but our Lindeman’s Cellar Choice red is a fine, somewhat light companion to the various dishes we sample throughout the evening.

As per usual for restaurants in Thailand you can choose from Australian and Chilean wines of various robustness and texture – all well chilled and stored. Not a fantastic choice but certainly a competent one.

Food

All products at Takola are organic and, rest assured, all the old favourites are here. We start with a fresh and spicy som tam salad with free range chicken and are in for the surprise of the evening when we sample a pizza with a grilled chicken topping with green peppers and a dash of cumin – maybe the flavours confuse a little but it is regardless tasty and… original.

Chicken with cashew nuts in an edible taro bowl is next, along with steamed sea bass in spicy lemon sauce. It’s all very fresh, very healthy and when an entire three-week-old suckling pig is served up we’re impressed.

Diners are served with free arugula salad at each meal and the food comes courtesy of the restaurant’s farm. Takola also specialises in ultra-spicy southern Thai food.

Service

Discreet and polite – the service at Takola is quite capable of handling busy peaks with panache.