shout out to the people who call this place a tourist trap. congratulations! you're a tourist! you're looking for pizza on a highway just outside of a national park rainforest jungle! get over it.
what it is: a small, open-air, rustic restaurant that figured out...people like pizza, so they built a proper oven and went for it.
what it isn't: actually Italian, classy, or totally clean.
the photos of the chef / owner feeding his octogenarian mom are all you need to know: without being Italian, this place is actually as close to cucina familia as you can get in Khao Sok. they built a brick oven, and they use proper Italian ingredients and variations as much as possible. compared to the other places on the same street offering the same thing, this place is the best option.
food is overpriced for Thailand, but you are 100 yards from a paid entrance to a tourist destination. what do you expect?
a pizzeria needs a few simple things: 1) a proper pizza oven, 2) simple fresh ingredients, 3) an observable chain of multi-generational family operating the place. They meet all three criteria. Wood fired, hand tossed pizza. Fresh cut basil from the plants out front. And a family run operation where they will go to 2 or 3 establishments on the same block just to get you proper change. That's called hustle. And it's appreciated.
pro tip: wine in Thailand is ROUGH. good luck with that. get a nice cold Chang with your pizza, and stop complaining about the chianti in Khao Sok.
It's not the best food you've ever had. It's not the cleanest restaurant you have ever been to. But guess what? YOU'RE ON A JUNGLE HIGHWAY IN THAILAND. At this point in your trip, maybe you're tired of Thai food and you want a little change, knowing it's a crap-shoot once you venture from local cuisine. Why not try some pizza? You could do a lot worse. Try Da Papino!More