Royale Nam Tok Restaurant – Kathu, Phuket

So in the last post I promised you I would update you on my meal in what is the top restaurant in Kathu — the Royale Nam Tok. The name translated into English means the Royal Waterfall, very apt since it was pouring at the time which dampened the patio and swimming pool next to our table but not my spirits! The restaurant is run by two Belgian guys, who obviously have and still do have a great attention to detail, which is obvious from the moment you walk into the restaurant. The restaurant is situated on a small soi, towards the end of soi Nam Tok Kathu. For directions, you take the road from the Caltex petrol station in Kathu towards Loch Palm Golf Club. Just before the golf club, you turn left at the junction, which is marked with a sign for Sensive Resort and continue some distance straight up the road, probably a couple of kilometres, where eventually you will see a sign directing you to the restaurant down a very small soi just on the right-hand side as you turn in.

Cocktails and Appetisers - Part 1

As you enter the restaurant, and notice the decor, you begin to get the feeling that you’re in for quite a treat. As it was a birthday treat we ordered a couple of cocktails to start and took in the decor. The tables are nicely decorated and even have live decorative fish swimming in little jars on the table. On taking your seat you presented with some baby tomatoes served with a specially prepared mustard dip and a small rilette of pork served with home-made bread, butter and olive oil flavoured with herbs. I don’t much like tomatoes but the dip complimented them strangely but very well – they were all eaten.

Next up, a cocktail glass of tomato mousse served with ham and chive decorations, goose liver creme brulee together with a marinated salmon and pine nut concoction.

Mouth Wateringly Delicious

Beautifully presented, delicately flavoured and a delight. Ha ha none of this was ordered – you remember the good old cover charges you hated in Italian restaurants, and then pretty much every restaurant at home, which covered a couple breadsticks and little else? Well there is no cover charge at this restaurant and you certainly can’t compare the value of these accompaniments with a couple breadsticks. What a fantastic surprise – a great example of giving extra value and going the extra mile.

Room Decor

A Happy Customer

My wife ordered the lobster bisque which was served with meat in a small pancake set in the middle of the soup and decorated with dill. A splash of cognac added from a bottle brought to our table and some black pepper from what looked like a half sized wine bottle, paid the finishing touches. I had a taste of that soup and it was delicious. The owners certainly know how to make you feel special. For my part I ordered a set meal, the starter being smoked duck breast which was served with prawns, vegetables cooked in boullion. Again I couldn’t fault it.

Along with the starters came the wine. Now as part of my set meal I chose the option with wine which was about an extra 1000 baht. My wife wanted to drink white wine & ordered a bottle, but the waiter/owner advised me that as wine was served with my meal he would just open a bottle and charge us for half, or maybe it was carafe, but anyway it worked out cheaper. Now that is something you’ll not often find in Thailand.

A white wine is served with the starters and red wine with the main course it appears. The price of wine in Thailand is very high due to the luxury tax levied on wine, so if you are resident in Thailand you do not expect a fine wine for $35 or £25, in fact for that price you expect a very ordinary bottle of wine that may cost say £4 or $6 back at home. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised at a very drinkable and clean tasting, clean smelling white wine served with the starters. The wine had a slightly peachy, buttery taste with a touch of citrus and a bunch of grapes provided on the table were a perfect way to clean one’s palate whilst waiting for the next course.

As we sat awaiting the main course a fantastic lightning storm was playing around the hills that surround Loch Palm Golf Course and the waterfalls at Kathu. The lightning was skittering across the sky, outline the palm trees that were growing just beyond the patio area when a bolt of lightning shot to the ground with a crack, what seemed to be only 50 yards away but was probably much further, which rather unsettled my wife and resulted in the patio doors between us and the swimming pool being closed.

Prawns with Scollops Royale Nam Tok Style

For the main course I ordered duck breast which was served with a grain mustard sauce, leaks which I was told originated in Holland and shiitake mushrooms. My wife ordered Scollpps served with salmon, carrots and quail eggs. Both dishes were absolutely delicious.

However the red wine, a Merlot, served with the main course was rather raw tasting as opposed to the mellow soft taste you might expect from a Merlot, and did not complement the food at all well, at least to my taste. The food is delicate tasting and delicious and really needed a more gentle wine. I was also offered a secondary house wine, which was Cabernet Sauvignon, but I was not expecting this to be any better and indeed it was not – it was worse.  When I say this I mean that the wine just did not help the food at all, and the Merlot I think could be replaced with a better wine in a similar price range.  I know it is difficult finding half decent wine in Thailand to match a price that people are prepared to pay, but it IS possible and I hope that next time I go to this restaurant they may have found a red wine more complementary to the food.  Those are harsh words maybe but put them in perspective with the otherwise glowing words – it was just one thing!

The finale - a scrumptious dessert

For dessert, we were served with a strawberry and orange cappuccino with black pepper, pancake with chocolate paste decorated with Mango, madras curry ice cream, a Belgian chocolate mousse served in an eggshell with caramelised sugar decoration. An absolutely perfect finish to a perfect meal.

I know the owner was not too happy at my less than positive comments regarding the red wine, but given the obvious attention to detail and the enormous effort they go to to make everything perfect I can understand his feelings and I hope that I will be forgiven for mentioning that here.

This restaurant is a diamond and an absolute must for a visit if you want a fantastic meal and memory to take away from Phuket as a tourist, and equally an absolute must if you live in Phuket as it really is terrific value for money – a meal for two including wine, cocktails and a couple of beers to start weighing in at less than 5000 baht. It is not cheap but it is certainly value for money.

Just to be clear, please understand that these posts give my personal opinion for which I receive no remuneration for favour from the restaurant.  This restaurant will get 9 out of 10 stars when I put together the formal review pages.  It is also going in the places section too as it is a real memory setter.

Show on map