Sawasdee, Welcome to the Kai experience. Thailand, formerly Siam, is a country that captivates, charms and fascinates. With its bustling cities, beautiful countryside and gentle, happy people, it is a blend of ancient and modern. It lies at the South East Asian crossroads between China and India, and, throughout history has absorbed many migrants from these two nations as well as from the neighbouring countries of Laos, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Kampuchea and Malaysia.

With Thailand’s position at the centre of Asian crossroads, its rich culinary art has been influenced by the cuisines of all it’s neighbours.

Your hosts Ron and Kai,
Kai, after whom the restaurant is named, comes with inbred Thai cooking ability and hails from her home town of Udon Thani in the North Eastern part of Thailand. A strong family tradition of Thai cooking handed down as authentic Thai style is Kai’s speciality. She will only use fresh ingredients - served with love, joy and happiness.

Introduction about Thai Food
The food of Thailand is startingly bold and imaginative. Artfully crafted to appeal to the senses, it combines beautiful presentation with fragrant aromas, contrasting yet complimenting flavours
and textures, and often fearsome chilli-heat.

Ingredients that are as fresh as possible are key and with most dishes prepared just before serving, their nutritional value and crisp, fresh tastes are retained. Vegetables and fruit play a major part in all meals and, with its long coastline and great rivers, Thailand’s variety of fish and seafood is a delight to lovers of good food. Thais believe that every dish should have a harmony of the four basic tastes. It should be hot, salty, sweet and sour, with no single taste completely overpowering the others. If a curry is fiery hot with chillies, it will always be toned down by the rich sweetness of coconut milk, or the cooling tang of aromatic herbs such as lemon grass or lime leaves. At Kai we do serve our chilli/curry dishes mild, medium and for those customers who prefer it - hot!

A meal typically combines a soup, relish, curry, a fish, meat or vegetable dish and a salad, all of which are served at once so that the careful complementing and combination of flavours, textures and presentation can be appreciated. With so many strong complex flavours, a few spoonfuls of just one dish at a time are taken to eat with the rice. Fresh tastes of lime and coriander are ever present and perhaps ginger and a suggestion of Basil can be singles out. The salty fish-like flavours cannot be easily identified nor can the diner identify the aromatic pods, roots, stems and leaves floating in Kai’s flavoured sauces or the creamy, richly flavoured coconut based curries.

There are four basic ingredients that make Thai food so distinctive. Coriander, or Chinese parsley, is used freely as an ingredient as well as a garnish, and without it you will lose much of the flavour of Thai cuisine. Fish sauce, Nam Pla, a salty bottled sauce, is as important to Thai cuisine as soy sauce is to Chinese, and enhances the flavour of the other ingredients. Lime leaves or juice add sharpness and tang to many recipes. And of course chillies play a major role in a wide range of curries, soups, salads and dips.

No meal is complete without rice, Thailand’s staple food. Thailand is one of the world’s great rice-growing nations, and it’s people generally prefer polished white, long grain rice which is cooked without salt, because the accompanying dishes provide enough seasoning. Traditionally, plenty of steaming, fragrant rice is taken with small servings of curries, fish or vegetables to help cool the mouth and counteract the spiciness. Noodles are also a favourite ingredient and they feature in several of Kai’s dishes.

It may come as a surprise, but Thais do not normally eat with chopsticks. They customarily eat with forks and spoons, but no knives. However, serving Thai food with chopsticks is quite charming. Western diners are challenged by chopsticks, so we encourage their use.

Relax and Enjoy the Kai Experience.
Please be patient as Kai and her staff prepare each meal individually. Your meal should be served to you within 20 – 30 minutes, as no meal is pre cooked or preheated. There is no hurry for you to vacate your table as we prefer not to”turn” tables.

Although Thai cuisine is often described as lemony, in fact, lemons don’t grow in the tropical climate. Instead, the juice of Deep Fried Strips of Beef served with Sweet Chilli Sauce small, sour Thai limes is often added to cut the sweetness and oiliness of dishes. The bitter juice of the makrut lime is rarely used, but it’s leaves and bumpy rinds Served with Sweet Chilli and Peanut Sauce are used for their musty, limey fragrance, as are chunks of lemon grass, bruised with the back of a cleaver to release oils Served with Sweet Chilli and Peanut Sauce and yet more fragrance into curry pastes and broths.

Thailand salads are a major feature of the cuisine. The piquant, startling flavours of these yam may be unfamiliar to westerners used to green salads and coleslaw, but the combination of vegetables, flowers, chilled seafood or meat tossed in a sour and often extremely hot relish is unmistakeably Thai. There are hundreds of yum combinations (‘yum’ meaning ‘mix together’) but the key is in the balance of sour, sweet, salty and spicy flavours.

No meal is complete without rice, Thailand’s staple food. Thailand is one of the world’s great rice-growing nations, and it’s people generally prefer polished white, long grain rice which is cooked without salt, because the accompanying dishes provide enough seasoning. Traditionally, plenty of steaming, fragrant rice is taken with small servings of curries, fish or vegetables to help cool the mouth and counteract the spiciness. Noodles are also a favourite ingredient and they feature in several of Kai’s dishes.

Spa Packages

When was the last time you gave your body such a precious gift?

Our packages are the most effective way for you to regain balance and vitality for your body, mind and soul.

Lanna Style - 2 Hrs R500
Warm the body with a traditional Thai massage followed by a Thai Herbal Compress Massage.

Kai Pampering - 2.5 Hrs R750
Pamper yourself or a loved one with an invigorating Full Body Scrub, followed by an Hot Oil Aroma Massage and Royal Thai Facial.

Paradise of Kai - 3 Hrs R850
Enjoy a Thai steam Sauna and Full Body Scrub followed by the Thai Herbal Bath and a relaxing Herbal Hot Oil Full Body Massage.

Lanna Explored - 2.5 Hrs R600
The Thai Herbal Sauna will relax your muscles for the What Pho Traditional Thai Massage followed by a Thai Herbal Compress Foot Massage that will leave you feeling rejuvenated.

Sabai Sabai - 3 Hrs R850
Unwind with a relaxing Herbal Steam Sauna, followed by a Herbal Aromatic Full Body Massage and dash it all up with a soothing Herbal Thai Royal Facial.

Koh Chang

This island’s status on the world’s tourist barometer has risen a few degrees in recent years because of its stunning natural beauty, and the fact that its once-rickety infrastructure has been solidified. More than 70 percent of the mountains island is still covered in untouched rainforest, and there are many secluded beaches, complete with that vital tropical isle trinity or white sand, palm trees, and warm blue water, where you can really get away from it all and leave your trouble on the mainland.

Koh Chang is a part of Trat province of Thailand . Trat is situated at the eastern border of Thailand , 315 Kilometers from Bangkok . Koh Chang National Park , consisting of 52 islands, has Koh Chang (also referred to as Elephant Island ) as Thailand 's second largest island after Puket, and the most important tourist attraction of the park. Wealthy with greenery, wildlife, and marine creatures, its most scenic beaches are located along its western flank. Moving from north to south, the beaches are generally more secluded, less crowded and pricey, with the aforementioned Diamond Sand towards the northern tip, and Hat Khlong Phrao and Hat Kai Bae, in the middle. Further south is a lively backpacker's enclave at Lonely Beach , or Hat Tha Nam , where you can stay in a tree house.

Other than swimming and sunbathing, the island offers inland adventures such as rainforest trekking. Or you can ride a lumbering elephant into the primeval jungle, populated with wild boars, Javan mongoose, barking deer, and more than 60 different species of birds.

Many of the bungalow operation s around Hat sai Khao and Hat Kai Bae have kayaks, boogie boards and mountain bikes for rent. Booking a ay trup, or an overnighter, to nearby islands is another attractive option.

Kai Thai Restaurant & Spa

Koh Chang - Thailand. Contact : ione@b2000s.co.za