Grilling it Up
A beginner’s guide all-you-can-eat barbecues on Samui.
Most people who visit Thailand enjoy the food – even if at times it can get very spicy – and most holidaymakers will visit a few, or even many Thai restaurants during their time here. But relatively few people seem familiar with an extraordinarily popular part of culture, the all-you-can-eat barbecue. On Samui you’ll find barbecue places across the island, and they’re worth visiting if you really want to enjoy food the way the Samuians do. So what do you need to know in order to be able to participate?
Firstly, don’t be put off by the sheer size of some of the restaurants. It’s nothing out of the ordinary for there to be 100 or more seats, and if you come later on in the evening and it’s a popular night, the place may be heaving. Don’t expect a small, intimate setting with a romantic atmosphere – the barbecues are all extremely convivial places, with crowds of diners happily participating in some of the cheapest yet tastiest food around. The settings tend to be large salas which are fan-cooled, but you’ll also probably find a few thatched huts attached to the main eatery. You’ll see large groups and entire families sitting around tables, or large office outings or birthday parties with scores of people. Don’t be intimidated, everyone’s welcome and even if it’s crowded, you’ll find seating. It’s not necessary to come with your own crowd, of course, couples are welcome, too.
You’ll easily spot barbecue places as you drive round the ring-road. Look out for the largish signs which are typically in English as well as Thai. Some will contain the very wording ‘All You Can Eat Barbecue’ while others just say ‘Hot Pan’, referring to the actual barbecue device that’s used. Often the price is stated on the sign. Wherever you opt to go, you’ll find Thai barbecues are extremely relaxed. If things get a bit boisterous, nobody’s going to mind. At some places you’ll find live music, usually in the form of a band singing Thai songs, but mostly people are too busy talking amongst themselves and having a good time to really notice.
The decor is cheap and cheerful; plates are often plastic, as are glasses, and a lot of it is brightly coloured. If there are table cloths at all, they’ll be of plastic too, and again very colourful. Nobody’s complaining – and that’s because the price the diners are paying is incredibly cheap. There’s usually a set price per person for the actual barbecue, with drinks on top. And when it comes to drinking, Thai beers are popular, as are soft drinks, tea and coffee, and plain old water. For a couple of hundred baht, you’ll be able to have a full meal.
Usually you’ll find a central area jam-packed with foods that you come and pile onto your plate. This is the buffet part of the deal. You’ll find various salad ingredients and dips (usually spicy) as well as items for later on.
The crucial element of the evening is the actual barbecue itself. This isn’t the conventional western-style barbecue of hot coals or charcoal. The Thai version is more akin to steamboat cooking. Usually each table has its own barbecue, which looks like an upturned pudding basin, except it has slots in it. The basin is surrounded by a moat where more food can be placed in the gravy-like juices. The device is called mookata in Thai, from the word ‘moo’ meaning ‘pork’ and ‘kata’ a word with the connotations of ‘pan’. Legend has it that the mookata’s origins lie in military helmets, and the story goes that in the North of Thailand the helmets were used for cooking. Typical ingredients for the barbecue include: beef, pork, chicken, fish, seafood, liver, bacon and rice and much more. And of course some real spicy chilli sauces. For all of these, you go to the buffet and help yourself to whatever takes your fancy. To eat from the mookata, you grill the meats on its domed surface, while the vegetables are cooked in the moat.
Plenty of vegetables get cooked along with the fish and meat, making this way healthier than the western counterpart. At a Thai barbecue, everyone places food on the mookata, adding to the conviviality of the proceedings. It only takes a few minutes to cook each batch of food. It can get quite messy, of course, but that’s half the fun. But there also seems to be a psychological aspect to all of this. Sitting round a table as you all cook together, share food and conversation, is the most ancient of rituals, a warm one that bonds everyone together in a relaxed setting. This probably goes a long way to explaining the success of the all-you-can-eat barbecues. By the way, you can enjoy this kind of barbecue without having to dress up – nobody goes along wearing fine clothes as splashes from the mookata could ruin anything valuable you’re wearing. Dessert is available afterwards, typically focussed on fruit with possibly ice-cream and sticky puddings.
There’s no better way to enjoy an evening out than sharing a tasty dinner over a few drinks with friends. If you want to do this Thai-style, head out to one of the many all-you-can-eat barbecue places dotted around the island; you're guaranteed a fun and memorable evening in a very laid-back setting.
Dimitri Waring