Ao Nang Restaurants & Dining

Azzurra

Azzurra bills itself as a, ‘authentic Italian restaurant’ for good reason; the owner is Italian and makes sure the fare is genuine and not just tomato sauce thrown on overcooked pasta. Here, you’ll find a wide assortment of pastas, pizzas, breads, focaccia, soups (try the creamy carrot soup), cheeses, yoghurts and more. It may be justifiable to charge above-normal rates for imported Italian food articles but unfortunately Azzura’s Thai food is also fearsomely priced. The wine, however, is not and the quality of food (nothing is prepared in advance) makes Azzurra probably the best Italian in Ao Nang.

Opening Hours: 11:00 – 22:00
Location: Central Beach Road
Tel: +66 (0) 75 637 848
Cuisine: Italian, Thai

Bamboo & Thatch Dining

Further up the airport road on the right stand eight bamboo and thatch bars/restaurants serving typical Thai dishes such as chicken fried rice, phad thai, and tom yam goong with ice-cold beers at very affordable prices. Things can get a bit noisy later on in the evening but in a happy-go-lucky sort of way and the good thing about this environment is that it’s a shared experience. Even though prices are geared to Ao Nang standards, this is nevertheless a real Thai experience and a lot more genuine than the tourist-orientated beachfront venues.

Blue Mango

This snazzy looking 100-cover restaurant flanks the road heading out to Nopparat Thara Beach and serves Swedish, Italian and Thai fare. There is a decent-looking wine list here with labels at reasonable rates (for Thailand) and a fully stocked bar. Swedish owned, the restaurant aims at families and has set up a children’s menu, a play area (unique to Ao Nang) for bored junior diners, with DVD’s and a comfy sofa.

Opening Hours: 08:00 – 23:00
Location: Beach Road opposite Krabi Resort’s main gates
Tel: +66 (0) 75 637 689
Cuisine: Swedish, Thai and International

Blue Orchid

Blue Orchid aims to please, and perhaps it tries a little too hard as it serves Thai food, seafood, Mexican and international dishes all under one roof – things must get confusing in the kitchen... Still, it’s an attractive looking establishment with a light-blue-and-white colour theme running throughout and an airy, clean feel to it. Plus, it’s located on a walking street away from Ao Nang’s persistent traffic.

Opening Hours: 10:00 – 22:00
Location: On Walking Street, southern Beach Road
Tel: +66 (0) 75 637 953
Cuisine: Thai, Mexican, Seafood, International

Burger King

Its central location and 24-hour service make Burger King a must for junk food aficionados.

Opening Hours: 24/24
Location: Central Beach Road
Cuisine: Fast Food

Eden

As far as out-and-out tourist oriented restaurants go Eden does a good job. With a fairly extensive Thai menu, sufficient space and staff members, good ventilation and views, Eden delivers the goods at prices slightly higher than its competitors.

Opening Hours: 11:00 – 23:00
Location: Central Beach Road
Tel: +66 (0) 75 638 074-5
Cuisine: Thai, International

Jeanette’s Restaurant

Good Thai dishes, sure Jeanette's is a little touristy but most places are along this drag. Fairly reasonable prices and ice-cool beer add up to a place that is equally good for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Opening Hours: 08:00 – 22:30
Location: Central Beach Road
Tel: +66 (0) 89 464 7178
Cuisine: Thai, International

La Luna

One of Ao Nang’s ‘genuine’ Italian restaurants, La Luna is a popular spot for diners and has worked its way into the upper echelons of Ao Nang dining circles. The restaurant has two floors, which makes it a good people-watching spot and is run by an Italian and Thai husband-and-wife team. Generous helpings and reasonably priced house wine keeps it buzzing with repeat customers plus La Luna offers regular promotions. 

Opening Hours: 10:30 – 23:30
Location: Beach Road near Blue Mango
Tel: +66 (0) 75 695 308
Cuisine: Italian & Thai

Lae Lay Grill

If you’re a seafood aficionado and find yourself in Ao Nang you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Almost every restaurant in the area sells spanking fresh shrimp, crab, squid, sea bass, red snapper and much, much more but perhaps the Big Daddy of all Ao Nang seafood restaurants is Lae Lay Grill just to the north of Ao Nang. 

Opening Hours: 11:00 – 22:00 daily
Address: 89, Moo 3 Ao Nang
Tel: +66 (0) 75 661 588
Cuisine: Thai/Seafood

"Little America"

Up the ‘Airport Road’ (the road leading out from Ao Nang towards Krabi Town) there is a cluster of new buildings housing fast food companies such as McDonalds, Subway, Pizza Company, Swenson’s and Starbucks. These are all located directly underneath Ao Nang Cliff Beach Resort. Starbucks actually has an outside sitting area but it is too hot to use under the morning sun.

North Food Restaurant

North Food Restaurant is a restaurant based in Ao Nang serving traditional dishes from the Chiang Mai area and khow soy as its main speciality. With fair prices, great original food and its setting in lush quiet surroundings, this restaurant is a cool little place to relax and eat.

Location: one kilometre from Ao Nang on the main road to Krabi Town

Seafood Street

Let’s face it; Ao Nang’s a seafood lover’s heaven – a veritable smorgasbord of all things marine and tasty. The heart of all this white-flesh trading is on the aptly-named Seafood Street. Overlooking the north part of Ao Nang Beach, adjacent to the Krabi Resort, Seafood Street comprises five large open-air and covered eateries and it is the ideal place to chill out, enjoy some crisp white wine and dig into baked lobster, steamed fish, mussels, crab curry – all the while watching the golden globe sink into the Andaman in a crazy splash of red, scarlet, orange and yellow. The best-run of these restaurants seems to be the Italian-run Sala Bua which boasts two separate Thai and Italian open kitchens and an accomplished wine list of over 40 labels. As this is a popular sunset-viewing spot it’s best to try to get there early. Sunset is at 18:30 in high season so plan accordingly.

Tanta's Seafood

Situated where the road to the airport turns away from the beach, Tanta is a raised wooden themed open-sided eatery with plenty of fans, a picture menu, uniformed staff and a constant busy buzz to it. It’s also a breakfast location and majors in Thai food and, like almost everywhere else in Ao Nang, with Italian on the side. Tanta is popular with visitors because it’s busy. The service is definitely friendly but you’ll have to make heavy use of the picture menu to make sure you get the right order as the service can get a little mixed up…

Opening Hours: 08:00 – 23:00
Location: Southern Beach Road, near long-tail boats ticket booth
Tel: +66 (0) 75 695 606
Cuisine: Thai, International

Thai Food Stalls

Outside Krabi Resort on the street you will see several mobile and semi-permanent food stalls selling Thai dishes at a fraction of what they cost inside the surrounding resorts. If you don’t mind getting a takeaway or sitting on gaily coloured plastic chairs at rickety tables you can enjoy such delights as som tam (green papaya salad), Thai pancakes, rotis, sticky rice, phad thai, grilled fish, pork and chicken, exotic-looking desserts and chilled coffee. Nip over the road and grab a beer from one of the minimarts if you feel like it; there’s no rule to prevent you. Relax… this is Thailand.

Thailandia

Ubiquitous to Southeast Asia but a novelty in Ao Nang, a food court is a real experience. Thailandia Food Court features 11 food stands selling boiled chicken and rice, barbecued meats, sweet Thai desserts, pre-prepared curries and a host of culinary delights. The court has wall-mounted TVs showing Thai soaps and sports and has seating for over 100 people. To purchase food, buy a computerized card from the kiosk for over the value of your meal(s) and redeem the change when the food stall owners have ‘swiped’ your card. It’s a bit of a noisy affair but the food is tasty, cheap and hygienically prepared and displayed.

Opening Hours: 09:00 – 22:00
Location: ‘Airport Road’ leading out of Ao Nang towards Krabi Town
Cuisine: Thai fast food

The Lareira

Brazilian steakhouse located right on Ao Nang's beach promenade with a wide variety of rotisserie grilled meats, a gourmet salad bar, Brazilian appetizers and exotic cocktails. For a fixed price guests can enjoy unlimited food in an extraordinary, intimate environment. Enjoy a Caipirinha while listening to Brazilian music.

Opening Hours: 07:00 – 23:00
Location: The L Resort Krabi, Beach Road
Cuisine: Steakhouse, Brazilian, International

The Last Café

If you carry on walking down the beach towards Railay you’ll come to several open-sided beach huts containing many massage mattresses and you’ll be asked several hundred times if you’d like a massage. Assuming that you make it through you’ll come to a place called The Last Café where you can get a good barbecued meal with rice and a cold brew to watch the sun go down. It’s a friendly location and those in the know end up repeat customers. Run by dreadlocked Rastafarians, the music is chill out, the stars are your ceiling and the sea breezes the only ventilation.

Opening Hours: 11:00 – late
Location: Southern end of Ao Nang Beach
Cuisine: Barbecues, Thai