mom tri’s kitchen – kata noi, phuket

Posted by wannabegourmand on April 14, 2010 · 9 Comments 

Kata Noi Bay…the stuff dreams are made of.  With it’s sparkling iridescent waters and  abundance of soft silky white sand…it’s easy to forget you are but a mere 30 minutes drive from the seedy overly touristy hub of Patong, where rocket fuel passed off as cocktails are served in buckets and you can never be sure of the exact chromosomal make-up of those booty shakin’ seductresses.

Though Phuket may get a bad wrap for the reasons above, as with any place, the more secluded and further you get away from the hordes of middle aged male tourists with suspicious agendas, the better. After an exhausting gut-busting and pant-breaking Singapore to Malacca Chinese New Year eating tour, the Munsters, S and myself decided to retire for a few days in Phuket before heading home.  I booked us into the Katathani Resort located on Kata Noi Bay, far enough away to provide safety from any stray ping pongs *ahem*.

Kata Noi means ‘Little Kata’, and its bay is occupied solely by the aforementioned resort. Being relatively quiet and peaceful compared to it’s raucous counterparts, it manages to retain some of the breathtaking splendour that Thailand’s coastline is so famous for.

As we were only there for 3 days, the age old dilemma plagued me – sample some of their world class haute cuisine or get down and dirty with the locals and pray to god the word ‘Imodium’ is universally understood. This time, my love for authentic Thai food won, and most of our meals were had at simple road side eateries. What was lacking in presentation and surrounding was more than made up for with awe inspiring views of mountain vistas and lush tropical valleys.

We did however, venture to try Mom Tri’s Kitchen in Kata Noi after hearing so much about their award winning Thai/International cuisine. The Mom Tri’s company is behind 4 other equally lauded about eateries in Phuket but the one we sampled on this occasion was located in their Villa Royale resort.

Perched on the side of a cliff, there could not have been more of a dramatic entrance than the view that greeted us upon our entry. I can only imagine how magical it would look at night with the twinkle of fairy lights though I suppose you would miss out on the breathtaking ocean views.

It was fairly empty when we were there but we were there for a late lunch. Lily grumbled as we were shown to a table in another section further back but soon ate humble pie when we saw the view was even more spectacularly unrestricted at our allocated table.

The lovely Maitre’D quickly swooped by our table arming us with menus and water. While we were perusing the menu a delectable bread selection appeared along with some olive and sundried tomato tapenade. Despite wanting to preserve my delicate stomach space (it was still recovering from the CNY Reunion Dinner) I couldn’t help but gobble down the starchy offerings with liberal smears of flavoursome tapenade.

Lily and I ordered cocktails (served of course in the requisite tropical fruit receptacles…yes I know it’s terribly naff but I do believe it adds to the island holiday by at least 10%….when in Rome!). S, still recovering from a slightly unpleasant encounter with a slightly (read extremely) spicy papaya salad from the day previous chose to have a dry lunch (on an holiday..I know!).

After umm-ing and ahh-ing over their exquisite Thai fusion menu, we finally made our choices. Lily who was saving room for dinner (it was about 3pm at this stage and we had dinner scheduled at 6.30)  went for an entree size of Seared Tuna Carpaccio , S carried on the Tuna theme by ordering the Tuna Steak and I …went for the 3 course Prix Fixe Lunch. From what I can remember it was around 800 baht (approx $26) I certainly wasn’t going to be turning down dessert. I promised to share.

When we got our meals, all intentions of sharing went out the window.

Lily’s Tuna Carpaccio consisted of lightly seared tuna sashimi interlaced with prawns and smothered in a ginger, coriander and wasabi soy dressing. All this resting very refreshingly on a bed of fresh salad leaves! Though I question how much of a ‘carpaccio’ this dish really was, it was still exquisite with the creamy wasabi dressing that was well balanced with a lovely lemony tang.

My starter was the Rock Lobster Ravioli (a house special apparently). This was supremely delectable and I regretted mentioning that I’d share my starter and dessert. The ‘ravioli’ skin was so soft and was more along the lines of Wantan skin then your traditional durum wheat pasta. The tasty little morsels were resting in a pool of fresh herb and morel white wine cream sauce which perfectly accompanied the little lobster dumplings without being too rich.

Mains arrived and I had opted for the Godzilla of all prawns, the Andaman Tiger Prawn (these I suppose are like the size of a marron without the nasty claws and much much juicier). This was expertly grilled and covered in just the right amount of red curry sauce (though this was more of a paste but I believe the concentrated flavour was just perfect for the simply grilled prawn). It was served on a bed of stir fried veg with a side of mixed rice that was just the right amount.

S’s Tuna Steak was perfectly pan-seared and came with a refreshing mount of lemongrass, red onions and some other unidentifiable herb ( I was too busy wrestling with my supersized prawn).

Dessert was up next and though I thought I couldn’t face another morsel I found myself licking the plate clean. Resting on some quaintly carved assorted tropical fruit  was a beautiful little mound of creamy yoghurt icecream. This was by far one of the better yoghurt icecreams I’ve had, achieving the perfect blend between creaminess and the lovely sour yoghurt tang that we (at least I) love. This was all swimming in a pool of freshly made mango coulis….the whole thing was so tropical I half expected it to strap on a coconut bra and hula across the table.

So like I said earlier, the stuff dreams are made of.

If you do happen to stop in Phuket I highly recommend you drop into Mom Tri’s whether it be for a lazy relaxing lunch or a romantic seaside dinner.

Some other snaps around the Island with my compadres, S and Lily (Herman was off somewhere wrestling an elephant or whatever it is that he does)

Mom Tri’s Kitchen

12 Kata Noi Rd

Kata, Phuket

T: 076 333 569

W: http://www.momtriphuket.com

Filed under Restaurant Reviews, Travel · Tagged with thai, thailand, Travel