KOKULO BEACH CLUB — Restaurant in Phang-nga Province

I kept looking back at the previous year we were here having the Saturday seafood buffet. I kept recalling vividly how good it was. I made it a point to come back here if I ever am in Khao Lak again. And I did. But what happened???? Previously in a review on La Vela, this was what I wrote about Kokulo: “The star was the BBQ local lobster smoldering in herbs and cheese, they were huge and flowed non-stop for all the guest. We were in heaven every bite of that succulent meat. And they were all prepared with attention, not under nor overcooked stiff. A must if you are there.”

We had deliberately set the last night in Khao Lak for a real expensive dinner, a treat to ourselves of sorts in comparison to the other local eats we had been having on our road trip. Unfortunately, this time, it did not really end well with a good note. In my dining experiences, I had been to many places which I revisited. Some were not able to uphold consistency and this is what turns regular guest away. Sadly, this place I loved so much had slightly fallen over into this divide.

Now, back to the prized star of the buffet. Instead of just a few appealing lobsters that were mostly cooked out on demand ever flowing, this time, there was a mountain of Canadian and local lobsters all piled up on a meter-wide heated skillet. Kinda like a mass uncovered grave. The local lobsters I had was miserably close to a puree. They weren’t fresh at all. The Canadian ones were better probably because they were shipped frozen fresh. But they just weren’t cook right in comparison to our first time here, and they weren’t appetizingly warm. There were many guests that night, majority are local folks. The place was packed and I think Kokulo rushed preparations many tads too much. Mass cooking with no love, it never results in good quality food. It was a disappointment.

The upside was that the rest of the spread was amazingly maintained. It was pretty similar to what we had last year. The never empty fresh bed of oysters, the sashimi featuring prime cuts of salmon belly, the wide assortment of dessert which all tasted still as excellent. They still have the grilled lamb chops, the sliced pork neck and the beef chunks that I find are the size of boulders. Smaller cuts would have made it better. And I still could not locate any western soup in the spread, maybe it was hiding in a corner. The ambiance did not deviate from the previous year. The place had a foam party earlier on, the pool was full of it. With the club vibes and neon lights, the place was in 360 shades of rainbow, a kaleidoscope. What is different this year is they had a dazzling fire display at about 8.30 pm on the beach. It lit up the night delightfully and heightened the...

I rarely leave negative reviews, but the experience at this restaurant left me no choice. I can't give a star but I had to, to be able to post my review. What was meant to be a relaxing evening by the sea, celebrating my youngest son's birthday, turned into a disorganized and disappointing ordeal. I have made our reservation in the morning to dine that same day and they would arrange a birthday cake for my son. Despite specifically reserving a table outside with a sea view, we were unceremoniously placed indoors—facing a children's playground, inside was unbearably hot as the fans were switched off. The atmosphere inside was chaotic, loud, and disorganized of the tranquility we had hoped for.

When we asked about our reservation, we were met with evasive and inconsistent excuses. First, we were told it might rain (under clear skies), and when it became clear we weren’t buying that, the story shifted to “it’s too busy.” (there were plenty of free tables outside) Rather than taking responsibility or offering a meaningful solution, the staff dismissed our concerns altogether. Service was inattentive and frankly indifferent; we felt more like an inconvenience than paying guests.

After trying to reason with the staff and being repeatedly brushed off, we decided to leave. A real shame, as the location has potential—but it’s utterly wasted by poor organization, lack of professionalism, lack of empathy and a clear disregard for customer experience.

I would not recommend this...

Absolutely fantastic. The menu looks amazing, we have a refrigerator, so we ordered way too many things for one meal so that we can reheat it at our hotel. I highly recommend the food, the service and the venue. We had their special black seafood pizza, my first seafood pizza, which was amazing! a Quattro Formaggi pizza where we added the special sauce from the black pizza, which was so amazing we took an extra bag home with us, and a wonderful seafood platter, that we were both very happy with the quality of the cooking and the food. The wine was so good….we even took a bottle of that home too.. Karn and the entire wait and kitchen staff took excellent care of us…we will be back to try all the other delicious looking things on their menu.

The positive energy is strong here. All the employees seem happy…It’s a great place to be. And the amazing bartender’s “Cocktail”impressions…so much fun. ...