In the northern part of Koh Samui, at the beautiful Maenam beach, you can find the amazing W Koh Samui hotel. Once you arrive in the lobby of the hotel, immediately you are blown away by the breathtaking views over the gulf of Thailand. The private beach of the resort is exactly what you imagine when you are thinking of paradise. But it is not only the views that are awesome. The hotel itself consists of 74 pool villas which welcome their guests with the highest luxury and the well known W wow factor. It is in W Koh Samui that we discovered an amazing Japanese restaurant, that is called Namu.

Behind the stove of Namu, is Chef Teerapat Kaewphirom. During his culinary career of seventeen years, the chef has mainly worked in hotel restaurants in Thailand and the Middle East. Even though Teerapat is Thai, he has been specializing in Japanese food during his career, working as a sushi chef quite long. This experience was clearly very useful, when he took up the responsibility as chef of Namu in W Koh Samui.

The restaurant menu of Namu consists of Japanese food, which is tweaked by the personal cooking style of Kaewphirom. The chef is using special dressings in several of his dishes and these deliver an unexpected taste experience. By using them, the chef succeeds in enriching the taste of his creations and in making a difference with the traditional Japanese cuisine that you might expect when you read the descriptions of the dishes on the menu. The udon lobster dish that Kaewphirom is serving, is one of the most amazing lobster dishes we ever tasted. And while a strong influence in the restaurant is on seafood, the Japanese Waguy which is grilled on the teppan grill is of amazing quality.

Depending on the weather conditions it is possible to dine inside or outside at the beach. The interior design of the restaurant is rather casual but elegant and classy. The main element of the interior is wood, and it’s from this wood that the restaurant got its name. Namu is the Korean word for wood. From in the restaurant, you see the chef preparing the food in his open kitchen. The views when you look through the windows or when you are dining outside are absolutely stunning. Based on Asian tradition, the concept is food sharing, and thus the professional, local service team puts the dishes in the middle of the table to be enjoyed by everybody. The service is attentive, correct and the staff is extremely friendly. The wine list is quite extensive and even has local Thai wines.

The entire experience at the W Hotel Koh Samui is out of this world, and a visit to Namu only reinforces that feeling. The unique location near the beach, and the wonderful Japanese dishes served by Chef Teerapat Kaewphirom, are the guarantee for a wonderful dining experience. For guests staying at W Hotel, it is a no brainer to us that they should try Namu. But if you happen to visit Koh Samui, and you have chosen for another hotel, we can still only strongly encourage you to drop by and enjoy the great food of Chef Kaewphirom anyway.

Gastronomy

Chef And Team

Interior

Exterior

Written by Johan