Takieng — Restaurant in Mai Khao

We are glad we got a chance to dine at Takieng Thai Restaurant, the multi-award Thai winning restaurant. The vibe of the 55 seater restaurant was formal yet so refreshing. Calming colour scheme with beautiful and woody interiors and decor made it delightful. One cannot miss the special lampshades made in cane, they looked so cute.

Takieng means 'lantern' in Thai, referring to the local fishermen’s daily routine of taking the longtail boat with their fishing nets and lanterns to catch fish at night to avoid the heat from the day’s sun. The restaurant is known to serve classic Thai and Phuket's favourite dishes and now our favourite dishes too. Each dish at Takieng is crafted to tribute the authenticity of Thai flavours using the finest ingredients from both the sea and farm. We had a variety of dishes at the fine dining restaurant but our eternal favourite is Vegetarian Por Pia Sod. The rice paper rolls with fresh vegetable and Thai herbs felt as if we were eating Salad rolls…so so good!

The other dishes we tried include Vegetarian Phad Thai. One cannot miss Phad Thai while in Thailand and when we are dining at the best restaurant in Thailand, we had to obviously have it. It was yum yum yum! Next was Vegetarian Khao Phad Pak. Served with veggies and salad, it was delectable. Gai Phad Med Mamuang which was Wok fried chicken with cashew nuts and oyster sauce was delicious too. We had such a great time dining here. The colourful mocktails were a refresher and made our dinner even yummier.

Oh! Did we miss telling you about Khao Niew Mamuang (Mango sticky rice with coconut ice cream) which was so wonderful. Its again a Thailand special dish and having it at a fine dine makes it even merrier. We also tried Kluay Chuam (Poached banana in sugar syrup and coconut ice cream)… just so delicious. We could not leave without a seasonal fruit platter. There is something special about fruits in Thailand. So flavourful, juicy and nice.

Takieng is the place to go to experience traditional Thai dishes and flavours prepared with locally sourced ingredients, some of which are hyper-locally sourced, such as mole crabs and Lin Harn leaves that can be found exclusively on Mai Khao beach.

Takieng does make Thailand yummier with Chef Tanasub Trisub (Tham) amazing dishes. You can choose to sit between semi-indoor + outdoor patio in the 55 seater Beachfront restaurant. It is also guaranteed by the 2022 Top 25 Restaurants in Phuket Award (rank #12). The restaurant overlooks the resort swimming pool and the ocean, with an epic sunset view over...

Nice restaurant, but with extremely slow service. We had dinner there with a three-course menu, and we waited ages until we received our appetizer. I am really wondering why they didn't even provide a welcome snack like other restaurants do. Of course, not every place does, but similar ones often do, especially if they know you'll be waiting for 30-40 minutes for an appetizer.

The main course also took a very long time. We asked multiple times, and I noticed other guests complaining as well, like when they had to wait 15 minutes for a bottle of water. Just water, not even a cocktail. Personally, I asked twice to order it, and in the end, I had to get up and approach the waitress to request it.

The same situation occurred with dessert. We asked for it even when we weren't finished with the main course to reduce waiting time. After askins about the status, we realized they hadn't even started preparing it. So, we had to wait another half an hour. We were so frustrated that we wanted to leave.

As for the food itself, it was okay. Some dishes were really tasty, while others were boring.

For example, I ordered chicken with cashew nuts, but it was tasteless, dry, and had a rubbery texture.

The beef tartare was alright, but the meat wasn't minced, and no bread was provided.

The assortment of starters was nice. However the waitress didn’t even tell what sauces have been provided. We informed about allergies and have not been told what are the ingredients, what was spicy and what not.

We also ordered sea bass in lemon sauce. The fish was perfectly cooked, but the sauce was extremely salty, and the overall taste was just satisfactory.

The desserts, on the other hand, were really good.

In general, the ambiance was a bit boring. There wasn't even a lounge or quiet background music.

If you're looking for great Thai fine dining, I highly recommend the restaurant that JW Marriott has. We were truly impressive in terms of service, ambiance, and...

I had high hopes for this restaurant after reading all of the glowing reviews. We came to this restaurant twice, leaving disappointed the first time but wanting to give it a second chance. The service and the atmosphere of the restaurant is great, but the food is extremely lacking and subpar.

About the food: the salads and vegetable dishes are fine, and about what you would expect from a standard Thai restaurant. Flavours were fine and vegetables were fresh. However, all of the meat that we consumed seemed to be pre-cooked and extremely tough. The first time we visited, we had the fried fish salad; one of their signature dishes. The fish came out dry and cold, definitely pre-cooked and not made to order. We also had the pork neck which was tough and hard to chew, although the sauce was good. The second time we visited, we ordered the satay skewers to start, along with the ‘wagyu’ beef curry, the tumeric crepe starter and a vegetable + green mango salad. The satay skewers were dry and cold; again pre-cooked and barely heated up. The meat itself was tough and not tender. The ‘wagyu’ was unseasoned, tough to chew and very rubbery. It did not seem to be wagyu at all, although it was warm and seemed to be cooked recently. The tumeric crepe was also underwhelming for a signature dish; the inside is filled with deep fried vermicelli bits and nothing else.

To conclude, we will definitely not be coming back to this restaurant after having given it 2 tries. I hope that management will take the feedback and look into preparing the meats fresh to order and to pick better quality...