Churrasco = A Great Steak Dinner
After living like monks for almost a week, we could think of nothing better than a big juicy steak to herald our return to normal life (well, I couldn't ... Lee seems to have taken a perverse liking to the endless amounts of rice gruel served at Suan Mokkh). The best place I could think of to get one was this great steak restaurant on Koh Samui that I had been to more than nine years ago. And Koh Samui was conveniently (sort of) on the way to our old dive haunt Koh Tao (aka Turtle Island). Obviously it was meant to be ...
What we found upon arriving at Chaweng Beach (the biggest beach on Samui and where my steak dinner was located), however, was nothing less than overwhelming: painfully loud music from every restaurant and club, hawkers selling more useless stuff then one could ever need, and hordes of large-sized speedo-wearing foreigners with young Thai girlfriends. This truly was the complete opposite end of the spectrum from the calm and tranquility of Suan Mokkh and, needless to say, the exact sort of environment we usually try to avoid. Lee was ready to kill me for dragging her there, and was more than prepared to jump on the next boat.
I managed to convince her to stay, and so we headed for Churrasco Steak House -- truly the only reason for subjecting yourself to Chaweng. I had been there about nine years ago with Andrew, an old friend from the UK, and the memory of the place had stayed with me all these years. Would it be as great as I remembered? According to Lee, it better be!
The place had not changed one bit. The German owner was still behind the counter and the walls were the same colour complete with the old cow skulls ... classy. And, most important, the steaks were still juicy. Success.
Lee, not being a fan of upmarket foreign restaurants (aka pricey) and not quite ready for a big honking slab of meat after Suan Mokkh's basic culinary offerings, had a green salad and a baked potato.
Other than my one indulgence -- I somehow managed to resist the ice cream at both Swensens and Haagan Daz -- we primarily ate the local fare, which is actually not that easy to find on Chaweng. Fortunately, a Dutch divemaster pointed us in the right direction: go down a dark alley, stoop under a house full of go-go girls, navigate some serious puddles, avoid the rabid dogs, and you'll find the local food market. Although we were a little suspicious that he and some club-wielding buddies might be waiting for us at the other end, we ended up at a great local market. With no other farangs (foreigners) in sight, we enjoyed a completely delicious meal of minced pork with garlic and chili over rice served with a tray of raw green beans, fresh herbs, sliced cucumber, and pickled veggies -- all for only 20 baht (about C$0.60) each.
Having found a small reprieve from the constant-dance-hit-playing-and-foreign-guys-with-local-girls-cliché hell in which we found ourselves, we knew we could survive the one day we had to wait before making our escape.
For more photos, see our Thailand photo album.
