Zico’s Brazilian Bar and Grill, Koh Samui Thailand

Look for the sign

I first ate at Zico’s Brazilian Grill & Bar three years ago.  By happenstance, we wandered in for a drink from the Centara Hotel across the street in Chaweng Beach.  Zico’s is known for its substantial buffet, priced now at 750 baht.  Aside from its good selection of salads, the hit of the evening is the large skewers of meat that the waiters parade by your table, seemingly non-stop.  The meats are barbeque style and Zico’s does an excellent job cooking the meats.  All cuts were succulent and tasty.

We found ourselves at Chaweng Beach last week and I convinced my friends to give Zico’s a  try.

We were met at the entrance and escorted to a large table for the seven of us.  The professional staff explained the menu and the “all you can eat concept” and away we went over to the salad bar.

The salad bar offers numerous choices from pasta salad to couscous to half a dozen or so other prepared salads.   Or you can elect to prepare a do-it-yourself green salad with freshly made salad dressings.  They also offer you a good selection of side orders before the main event.

And as we began to finish our salads, the staff began bringing over large skewers of meat.  First the chorizo sausage came and then the beef and on and on.  Until we cried out “no mas” (no more).

Below are two menus from their website.  (Apparently they rotate the menus.)   As you can see,  the menu is quite extensive and can satisfy anyone’s appetite.  Both times I have been there, they offered Menu Two.  I sampled all the meats and found myself asking for more chorizo (sausage), the beef and pork neck.  Because the selection is wide, your friends can eat something completely different, like barracuda, prawns and chicken.

Bon appetit!

Menu one

• Beef top side
• Beef tenderloin
• Lamb leg
• Lamb sausage
• Pork neck
• Smoked bacon
• Pork spare ribs
• Chicken drum stick
• Duck breast
• Black Bass filet
• Pork loin
• Salmon
• Barracuda
• Mackerel
• Tiger prawns

• French Fries
• Jacket potato
• Balsamic baked tomato
• Steamed rice
• Curry green peas couscous
• Grilled vegetable
• Vegetable Ratatouille
• Potato croquet

Menu two

• Beef strip loin
• Beef tenderloin
• Lamb leg
• Chorizo sausage
• Veal sausage
• Pork loin
• Pork neck
• Smoked ham
• Chicken breast
• Mince lamb
• Duck breast
• Black tiger prawns
• Tasmanian salmon
• Barracuda
• Shark

• French Fries
• Potatoes au gratin
• Stir fried vegetables
• Steamed rice
• Black beans corn fried rice
• Grilled vegetables
• Broccoli butter casserole
• Mashed potatoes

750 Baht
Only Salad Bar 340 Baht

Baan Chaweng Beach Resort – Koh Samui

Reception

Over the years I’ve stayed at a half dozen different hotels on Chaweng Beach.  Except for the Centara Hotel at Chaweng Beach, all the hotels have some flaws that I couldn’t see past so that I never went back.  The Centara is a very nice hotel however the large structure lacks the lush tropical feel.

This time I stayed at the Baan Chaweng Beach Resort and Spa.  I’d never stayed here before and the reservation was made based on a walk-through a couple of years ago.  Since then, they’ve added more rooms to their lush tropical grounds.

Let me say that there was nothing negative about my five day stay at this hotel.  The room, which was described as a “beachfront villa”, was near the beach and somewhat beachfront but I overlooked this hyperbole since the room was newly constructly and large.  The room was very comfortable.

Beachfront Villa

The interior

Although not shown here, the bathroom was immense probably, somewhere around 4 by 4 meters.  You didn’t have to worry about bumping into anything in that bathroom.

Very green

The vegetation was lush.  And the grounds  were impeccable.  Although the tropical feel is made to look somewhat wild, the beautiful grounds bore the signs of exceptional care.  It’s beauty made staying here even more enjoyable.

The pool area was somewhat small but you never felt like the pool was crowded.  Most of the guests migrated to the chaise lounge chairs on the beach and did not spend any time around the pool.

End to end

The beachfront was impeccable with very fine sand and clear water.  The water is shallow for quite a ways, even at high tide so it is quite safe for children.

All in a row

The restaurant

The only criticism I have of this resort is the service in the restaurant.  Some of the staff was very professional but too many of them was somewhat unfamiliar with the term “customer service”.  Sometimes breakfast was one steady attempt at getting their attention for more coffee or tea.  They just didn’t pay attention.  But that being said, overall this resort is highly recommended.

Pure sand and sun

Roaming Samui – Via Vai – great Italian food on Chaweng Beach

Don't miss this restaurant

I had the pleasure of eating at the Via Vai Italian restaurant a few days ago while spending a few well-earned days of stress reducing rest.  For starters, we almost passed this restaurant without a second look if not for one of my friends spotting the bricklined pizza oven.  The next night we were at a quandry as to where to eat and he suggested the Via Vai.

This turned out to be a great find.  We ordered two pizzas, the ham and cheese and the mushroom and cheese.  Both turned out to be some of the best pizza I’ve ever eaten.  The key was the crust which was thin and “crusty” with the slightly firm chewiness that makes for great pizza.  We also ordered the seafood spaghetti which was raved about by those that tasted it.  The stereotypical mozzarella and tomato salad was good but fairly average.   To top it off, the prices are quite reasonable, that is, it won’t make a dent in your wallet.

Via Vai is located on Chaweng Beach and is easy to find.  The address is 167/43 Chaweng Beach Road,  the telephone number is 077-413431.  There is also a Via Vai in Bangkok on Sukhumvit Soi 8.

Roaming Samui – holiday for a few days

Dawn for the fisherman

I’m down in Koh Samui for a  little rest and recreation.  It’s been a hectic month that included getting stranded in Singapore when the Suvannabhumi International Airport in Bangkok was closed due to its takeover by protesters.  This led to a 2000 km road trip from Singapore to Bangkok.

I’ve been coming to Samui for 13 years and I always find my way to Chaweng Beach.  Although Chaweng is heavily developed, I still find it one of the more interesting destinations on Samui.  It is still possible to find beachfront hotels in every price range.   And there are enough conveniences to make it a low impact destination.   The “strip” is wall to wall restaurants, stores, fastfood restaurants, retail shops and souvenir shops. But to me, this is ok.  It’s a lot of fun to walk the strip and people watch.

In the next week, I will report on restaurants that I visited and information about the hotel where I stayed.

Chaweng Beach

The other way

Next door