ANNIE eatery & sweetery - Lamai — Restaurant in Surat Thani Province

I was excited to visit Annie’s in Lamai Beach, Koh Samui, after seeing their ads in the Bangkok Airways magazine, spotting a billboard on the way in, and noticing their location was conveniently close to my hotel. The reviews looked promising, although I later noticed they offer a free coffee for reviews, which might influence some opinions.

I started with a Thai tea, which was delicious but leaned more toward milk than tea in flavor. For my main, I ordered the Buddha Bowl. Unfortunately, it was quite oily and lacked flavor. The two dressings I received, pesto and hummus, also tasted bland and didn’t enhance the dish. I had to add salt and pepper, but even then, the overall experience fell flat. It just tasted like oil.

Adding to the experience, I waited an hour for my food, and no one came to the table to take my order—I eventually had to go inside to place it myself. This was disappointing and made the meal feel even less enjoyable.

My friend tried the vegan Snickers bar, and while I’m a big fan of these normally, I was glad I tasted hers before ordering. It was very dry, crumbly, and lacked the sweetness or richness you’d expect. A suggestion would be to incorporate dates for natural sweetness and moisture, which would make a huge difference.

At 375 baht for a bowl of vegetables, the price felt high for what I received, especially in this region. My honest recommendation would be to focus on creating flavorful sauces, improving the timeliness of service, and ensuring dishes have a balanced, vibrant taste. I appreciate the concept, and there’s so much potential here, but a few adjustments could truly elevate the experience.

Thank you for your efforts, and I hope my...

Nice little place, mostly filled with tourists. Menu is quite varied and extensive. You’ll definitely find something you like! Free WiFi.

I haven’t eaten yet, will update my review after eating.

Update: The food was good, but could be better. We ordered a falafel wrap, which I felt could do with more falafel, even if the wrap itself was tasty. The mayo that accompanied wasn’t to my liking, nor the salad. I think a more toasted version, with more hummus, and a nicer flavoured mayo would be a good edit to the recipe. Reasonable portion size though.

Iced mocha felt like just iced latte - think they need to increase the chocolate in it. I wouldn’t order this.

Oat milk latte was good.

There was a row over parking amongst other guests - so the learning is to ensure you park in the allocated parking area on the left where it’s marked as such, rather than on the little path near the restaurant, as a large car may arrive and need you to move, as happened today mid-way through our lunch.

Poor lady who argued with the car-driving family stormed off, was some drama for us to watch though!

Service was excellent and my only comment was the speed with which food is brought out could be improved. My wife had her oat latte and her main arrive before my main, and then finally my iced mocha, not a nice order to be delivering it all in!

Our latte was free in return for writing a review, in transparency. As you can see it hasn’t influenced my review.

Overall - worth a visit for the extensive menu choice and nice ambience, but be...

Allergy awareness improving, but families with dietary needs should remain cautious when eating out in Thailand.

During a visit in August, our daughter had an allergic reaction to a dessert that unfortunately contained cashews, even though we had checked with staff beforehand. It was a difficult experience, but after raising it with the café, we were glad to see that ingredient signs have since been updated.

The owner kindly invited our family back for a complimentary meal, and the children really enjoyed their gluten-free spaghetti, (which is currently rare to find in restaurants). As most food contain allergens especially nuts (even in sauces), there weren’t any sweet treats that she could have and she couldn’t try the ice cream as the ingredients weren’t known. Overall we appreciated the effort to make things right.

That said, allergy sufferers should still be cautious when eating out in Thailand, as food labelling and allergen awareness are not yet as established as in the UK (for example under Natasha’s Law). We hope Annie’s continues building staff awareness so that families with dietary needs can feel fully confident when...