HK5 Thailand: Chapter 2 Paradise Reviewed

The two hour jet boat ride from Phuket was an adventure upon itself. The crew running the boat very friendly and extremely helpful, especially to this extremely weak white man. Upon arrival to the island the tide was out on the resorts beach, and when the tide is out, it is out! So how does a traveler get to the check-in on such a time of day. Why by tractor and a hitched flatbed. First glimpse of the Phi Phi Island Village Resort, we were in for a treat. After we checked into the room and made our way to our comfy two bedroom bungalow. We were spent after 12 hours of traveling. We were ready to just order room service and call it a night. 

Instead we made our way back to the beach to eat at one of the three restaurants at the resort. The voice this evening was the Beach House Grill. We were seated pretty quickly and sat we waited, and waited and waited and about after 40 minutes of waiting we finally placed our orders. The crazy thing was when we sat down there were only two tables seated. After we ordered 6 more tables were filled. What we were experiencing was the warning I read online about visiting the island during off-season. August is the beginning of the off-season and we caught a glimpse of this while waiting for our water taxi. A lovely font desk member was waiting for a land taxi to go home for several weeks after being on the island for the past 3 months.

We sat that evening for over two hours waiting to order and to get our food. 4 of the 5 meals showed up and mine was still missing. Twice we asked about it and twice nothing came. We finally called another person, possibly the manager over and after 25 minutes of waiting for my dish it arrived, and cold. The manager walked away and the head chef came out and walked to another table to entertain them, and walked by with no apology. As we left the restaurant, we called it a night and took a few photos we headed back to bed. The chef came walking by and offered to take photos of us and was kind but I held my tongue. The next day we enjoyed the pools and would do so for the next 5 days. 

The staff overall was extremely friendly until our fourth night at the Api Restaurant which was your go to breakfast/lunch/dinner location. This evening was a comedy of errors. We sat quickly and had a wonderful waitress but the off-season bug was prevalent this evening. The poor waitress was working at least 8 table in 3 different zones and she was bussing the tables. Again I was the missing meal for the evening, along with Paley’s entree, when ordering her soup paley asked if the soup was spicy, as there were no listed ingredients saying it was spicy. The soup arrived and was returned. We would spend over a half an hour trying to get a waitress to come to our table to address the missing entree’s. She finally came with one and apologized for delay. She walked away and went to the manager who would approach our table with the head chef. They both apologized for the error and the manager offered to give us a 30% discount on top of removing two missing entrees and removing the missing appetizer and the spicy soup that was returned. At that moment Clem and Lochlan were at the boys room. When the chef and manager left we finally received the two entree’s. The manager returned, dropped the bill and walked away saying nothing. We finished our meals and I finally picked up the bill to find only one entree was taken off and a 10% discount applied. 

I called the manager back over and pointed out that the second entree, missing appetizer and the returned soup was still on the bill and only a 10% discount was applied. She promptly argued she never said 30% and I argued back, and she adamant she never said 30. Before I could say, how about we call the chef over and ask what he heard. My oldest piped up and said “I heard you say 30%” She still refused. We eventually got a second bill with all 4 dishes removed. We gave a fat tip for the poor server and said, this is only for you. So my advice, avoid Api as a dinner option. That said the resorts Ruan Thai restaurant was the crowning glory of the resort. The staff was so attentive and kind, we went back a second night. Both meals were prefect. I even overlooked the fact one dish look nothing like it did on the menu, the fact it tasted amazing made up for the visual error. 

Other food options at Phi Phi Village was eating poolside and room service. To be honest this is possibly the fastest way to eat on the island. The kids were glued to the pool since from 12pm-5pm the tide was always out which mean’t the pool was our only option. The downside is the drinks poolside are always watered down. This fact was evident when the staff was poring one bottle into another right at the bar in front of the guest. The drinks were tasty, but boozy they were not. Considering how long people hang at the pool it might be a smart idea. All in all the food was 50/50 on the island.