PAPAYA RESTAURANT — Restaurant in Ko Lanta Yai

My wife and I make it a point to eat here every day if only for some skewers and a shake. It's as much because of the delicious food as it is the friendly woman who runs the place. I can't speak her praises enough, so accommodating and she just radiates happiness. Our first visit we had Tom Yum soup and mango sticky rice. The soup was fantastic, and the mango sticky rice with coconut milk must be how vegans survive without ice cream because it felt like eating a delicious dessert. We stopped by today and had more BBQ'd chicken and she offered us a bottled sauce. I asked if it was spicy because I love spicy food. She quickly went to the kitchen and whipped up a spicy sauce (tasted like sesame oil, soy sauce, and spicy chili flakes). Pro tip: if you love spicy food, just point at yourself and smile and say 'ped mak mak' (it means 'really spicy'), because sometimes restaurants will tone down the spiciness for foreign palates, I'd say most restaurants do this. Anyway, I ordered a mango shake next, and when she came out with it, she gave the extra to my wife! Every time we come here (which is every day we've stayed in koh lanta) we are just blown away. Prices are low, service is outstanding, and the experience is amazing. Dont pass...

Very rude and unprofessional staff! Been to this restaurant 2 times, and both times the service was just outstandingly terrible: waiters didn't greet me back, or for example when I asked about the price (and menu was already gone) she has thrown this menu back on my table. Also staff always had a very unpleased and bored face, and acted like they were doing me a big favor. Waiting for the food was also too long (about an hour). One more point: waiters almost don't speak English, and that's why it's really hard to communicate with them (I don't understand, how people with such a terrible English get hired in touristic places).

I put 2 stars only because the food was good, but I won't...

We came here while staying at the Longbeach Chalet which is only 5 minutes walk. We decided to come after reading the great reviews and it didn’t disappoint!

The food was a great price and was honestly delicious- full of flavour and huge portions! We ordered the green curry, pad see ew and the cashew curry and all the dishes were great. We also ordered the coconut shake and this was one of the best I’ve had on the islands because it was thick, creamy and full of coconut chunks! We came here a couple of times with staying in Ko Lanta and the food was just as good every time. Definitely recommend if you’re after tasty and flavourful Thai food that tastes authentic and is a...