Sugar and Spice Restaurant and Inn — Restaurant in Karon

Why You Shouldn’t Sparkle Lemon All Over Your Pad ThaiSo, let me paint the scene: you’ve just ordered a beautiful, steaming plate of Pad Thai. It’s colorful, fragrant, and looks like something straight out of a food magazine. Then, in a well-meaning but ill-fated move, you grab that little wedge of lemon they’ve so generously placed on the side, and squeeze the life out of it. The result? Your once perfect Pad Thai is now a soggy, tart mess.Now, don’t get me wrong—lemon has its place in food. It can brighten up dishes and add a refreshing zest. But Pad Thai isn’t one of those dishes. Here’s why:It Overpowers the Delicate Balance Pad Thai is all about balance—sweet, salty, sour, and umami. The tamarind sauce already brings a subtle tangy flavor that meshes perfectly with the other ingredients. Squeeze too much lemon on it, and you risk bulldozing through all those flavors. It’s like showing up to a symphony with an air horn. Not cute.Lemon Doesn’t Play Well with Peanut That creamy, nutty peanut sauce? Yeah, it doesn't appreciate being blasted by citrus. The acidic lemon can clash with the rich peanut flavor, creating a jarring taste instead of that smooth, satisfying experience.It Ruins the Texture Pad Thai noodles are supposed to be firm but tender, coated in a silky sauce. When you drench them with lemon juice, it adds unnecessary moisture, turning your noodles into a sad, limp pile. The chewiness disappears, and you’re left with a soggy situation.The Fresh Ingredients Are Already Doing the Work Fresh herbs like cilantro and crunchy bean sprouts are already there to give your Pad Thai that vibrant, fresh taste. The lemon juice feels like overkill. Trust the recipe—they’ve already nailed the balance.So next time you’re tempted to give your Pad Thai the lemon treatment, do your taste buds a favor: pause, admire that wedge, but keep it on the side. Your noodles will thank you, and so will...

Please note, this is a very belated review...we stayed at Sugar Inn during October 2019 for 5 nights. My partner and I spent almost a month in Thailand, traveling to Koh Samui, chiang Mai, and Phuket. Phuket overall was not my favorite place we went to, but staying at Sugar Inn made it a lot better. First of all, the room was huge, nicely appointed and decorated, and had thoughtful additions that a lot of hotels at this price point probably don’t include: slippers to wear inside the room, drying rack for swimsuits, a beach bag with towels for beach use, and plush robes. In terms of room quality, this was the nicest place we stayed aside from a beach resort in Koh Samui that we won a trip to. ||All of the staff at sugar inn were friendly and always greeted us with a smile. The manager (I think?) frequently checked in with us to see if there was anything else we needed and she spoke very good English. ||Breakfast every morning was a nice addition and always delicious. As I recall I loved the banana crepes. We ate dinner there a couple times too, and food was great then too. And watermelon at the end of the meal was a lovely touch! Close to the Kata Night Market so there’s tons of other options for food just across the street. ||Only thing I’d add, which is not the hotels fault, merely something other travelers should be aware of: both the shuttle driver who took us there from the airport, and a driver who picked us up for an excursion, couldn’t find the place! It’s not super obvious from the street that there’s a hotel here, and you may want to find a larger hotel nearby to use as a landmark for...

Inn Review: Decent room. The shower is part of the bathroom, meaning you will spray water on a good part of it. Luckily it dries off fast. We had the room above the kitchen air exhaust, giving us different good or not that good smells throughout the day + some noise combined with street noises, but nothing major. 1 Lamp didnt work and one outlet was hanging out of the wall by the cables. Good Wi-Fi and daily fresh water. Very friendly cleaning lady.

The issue: The Inn is more of a side project for management to earn some money. If you have any questions, issues or requests, you have to go down into the Restaurant, experience 3 different waiters trying to seat you and only 1 (competent) lady out of all the staff being helpful. So you stand there in the middle of the Restaurant, sometimes with ur luggage and try to find a helpful person that then has to go back to the boss lady for every single question. In our western world we would talk about enabling people. Give a few of the waiters (maybe the ones working the bar) the proper training and tools to work through the requests of your guets instead of leaving all of your staff in having to deal with inn guests.

Around a 10min walk to the beach, you'll have to pay 200 baht for a day of using the parasol and 2 sunlounges.

Restaurant Review: They have another Restaurant down the street if this one is full. Both had great food. (but the Steak i ordered for dinner came Well Done) Servers were friendly if you look past the agressive talking to all people each time...