👧 With kids

Beef massaman you shouldn't skip, plus duck confit, sea bass and French toast

The French toast is the trump card with kids — a plate parents struggle not to finish first. For children who want something familiar there's roast chicken with mash, and just remember that around ten everyone gets moved along.

ℹ Closed Wednesdays

Sourdough, gluten-free and keto loaves, plus cakes straight from the oven

A morning with toddlers goes smoothly here: there's a play mat, babies get an especially warm welcome, and the inside is air-conditioned. Parents manage on coffee, a sandwich and cake — enough to carry a whole family morning.

ℹ Bread sells out over the course of the day; gluten-free by advance order

The spinach-cheese quiche, the salads, the pastries — a breakfast institution

Pasta or avocado toast with egg for the kids, an Indian chana soup for the parents — a division of labour that works at lunchtime. The small quiches go down easily with young eaters as well, and the Thong Sala branch is air-conditioned, which counts in the hot hours.

⚠ Small portions; the hummus divides opinion

Israeli breakfast on the sand — shakshuka, fresh challah, fish cigars

With kids this is home turf: a broad Israeli menu that solves even fussy eaters, room enough to hold several families at once, and a pool next door — entry costs extra, and the amount comes back as credit in the restaurant.

ℹ Pool entry costs extra

Classic burgers and American pizza, sport on the screen, delivery that arrives hot

The family card here is the pizza — the kind even especially picky kids finish, and on delivery it reaches the door hot and intact. That's dinner sorted, with no arguments and without leaving the house.

ℹ Two branches: Ban Tai and Thong Sala

The Japanese egg salad sandwich and the sourdough — two reasons to stop

With kids, the simplicity works in your favour: a tuna baguette, omelettes and all the usual suspects, plus indulgent toast off the pan. The cinnamon roll covers the sweet corner, and parents are left with good coffee and a sourdough loaf to take home.

⚠ Apart from the sourdough, the other breads divide opinion

Pick your fish at the counter, grilled every evening facing the sea

Coming with toddlers? There is a pool here that is 80% shaded, right on the sea. Family dinner works easily: fish by weight to share around the table, and pizza or pasta bolognese for anyone not yet into fish.

ℹ Worth booking a table ahead

Haad Rin's Italian — pizza, gnocchi and lasagne, plus a play area for kids

The play area makes a family evening simple: the children keep themselves busy while margherita, gnocchi rosa and lasagne land on the table — all things young eaters go along with.

⚠ On the expensive side, and opinions on the food are divided

Thin-crust pizza, ice cream made on site, and a feta salad that's an institution

Children do easily here: pizza that always works, ice cream a table away, and gluten-free pizzas for anyone who needs them. For a children's birthday it's a natural choice too.

ℹ Several places on the island go by a similar name; gluten-free pizzas available

The island's most talked-about lasagna, right on the water — plus vegan pizza that works

Kids have an easy time here: lasagna, gnocchi and pizza cover even the picky ones, and the beach is right beside the table. Worth knowing in advance that there is no air conditioning — you sit in the open air.

⚠ Opinions on the pizza are split; no air conditioning

Bulgur salad, lentil soup, mash and meatballs — brunch in Thong Sala

For a family breakfast it's an easy call: the home-cooking menu — mash with chicken meatballs, vareniki, lentil soup — speaks to smaller plates just as well, and the cinnamon-cream bun closes the meal on something sweet.

⚠ the salad and the coffee are hit and miss

The Reuben sandwich and the cheesecakes — this café's classics

The pool is the family card here: children in the water, parents with coffee and something from the display case. Once everyone sits down there is the egg puff — a big, indulgent omelette — and a cookie-monster cookie that speaks fluent child.

⚠ Opinions are divided

Green falafel and thin schnitzel in soft pita, on Srithanu's temple road

Thin schnitzel in pita and falafel that passes the kid test — familiar food from home, the sort children go along with without any persuading. You can also ask for falafel balls on the side, for anyone not yet ready for a whole pita.

ℹ Pita packs — order a day ahead

Breakfast by the water — eggs Benedict, oat pancakes and crêpes

With early-rising children this rescues the morning: the kitchen opens at eight, and the beach is right there for a family day by the sea. They'll take to the schnitzel fingers — a better version of nuggets — and to the oat pancakes, while the parents take the eggs Benedict.

ℹ Closed Wednesdays

A run of stalls — falafel, shawarma, a fish counter and stuffed challah

When everyone wants something different, a run of stalls solves the evening: the poke bowl at the last stall on the right is a safe bet for kids, and at the falafel counter you order them the classic yellow one with salads they choose themselves — the portion is big enough to share. And there are waffles for dessert.

ℹ Some of the stalls are closed on Saturdays

Vegan in Chaloklum: noodle soup, mushroom shawarma and plenty of gluten-free plates

The sandpit on site keeps the little ones busy between courses, and there's a good tofu-ball dish for them. Just remember it opens at one in the afternoon — plan this for lunch and the afternoon, not the morning.

⚠ Opinions are divided

Home-style Thai — pad thai, chicken nuggets, fried rice, and they deliver

Chicken nuggets, fried rice and vegetable gyoza give children a safe route through the menu, and this is Thai food that is easy to reach with a whole family in tow. You can also order in when going out is off the table — just make sure it is the regular branch and not the one on the beach.

ℹ Two branches — the Srithanu one is far better than the beach one

An eight-course tasting menu of original, precise Middle Eastern fusion

A family evening works well here — the team is wonderful and dishes are adapted to every diner, the small ones included. There's a pool on the grounds, but restaurant guests aren't always allowed to use it, so it's best not to promise the kids a swim in advance.

ℹ The tasting menu is served on Fridays, and prices are high for the island

Italian pizza and pasta, plus a whole tiramisu cake to order

When you need a pizza every child will eat, this works both in the room — air-conditioned and pleasant for the parents too — and as delivery. For birthdays you order ahead by phone, and large orders of eight pizzas or more come out properly and on time.

Black coffee with cardamom and home-style plates — the carrot salad steals the show

There are a few toys here for small children — good to about age four — and that buys parents a quiet quarter of an hour with good coffee. Portions are big enough to share, so nobody needs a plate of their own.

Classic pad thai loaded with fresh vegetables, and schnitzel strips by the pile

Schnitzel strips are the key with children — they come half a bowl to a portion and work exactly like nuggets. Parents are covered meanwhile with pad thai loaded with fresh vegetables or the fish with garlic and pepper, and for nights in there's delivery.

A sunset beach with cocktails and a fire show, and play equipment off to the side

For an afternoon with children it's a convenient arrangement: beach, play equipment to the side, and the parents with a drink until it goes dark. Calibrate your expectations of the kitchen — the portions are small and the prices high, so a full dinner is better planned somewhere else.

⚠ The food is uneven, and prices are high for what arrives

Some of the island's best pizza, and an upstairs floor that's all play

The second floor is really a play floor — aimed mainly at little ones, but five-year-olds find enough to do until the pizza arrives. Just bear in mind there is no air conditioning up there and the heat from the ovens rises — on a hot day you're better off downstairs.

ℹ No air conditioning on the upstairs play floor

The island's ice cream parlour, vegan flavours and sorbet, next to Yang Sun

Ice cream with kids is exactly this place's league: likeable scoops, a lovely owner, and a small sweet chocolate milk for anyone who'd rather drink theirs. Watch the hours — until six in the evening only, and closed Wednesdays.

⚠ Closes early; opinion is divided

Melanzane parmigiana and aubergine lasagne, plus pizza that delivers

Fussy kids are a problem this place solves: pizza and pastas everyone can agree on, and a delivery option for the evenings when staying in wins. The parents do fine meanwhile with the aubergine lasagne or the parmigiana.

⚠ Opinions are divided

Schnitzel and mash in Haad Rin, and mini schnitzels the kids keep asking for

Children are the home crowd here: the mini schnitzels disappear even with picky eaters, and familiar food saves the negotiation at the table. When nobody has the energy to go out, delivery does the same job.

Views and sunsets above Haad Yao, with an avocado bagel and a surprising açaí

Families settle in easily here: there is a pool to keep the children busy, and the double menu — Thai and Western — solves the table where everyone wants something different. A family lunch stretches happily into the afternoon.

A bar with a real kitchen — cocktails, a gin list and sea bass at sunset

With kids it works thanks to the burger — one of the tastier ones for a family dinner — while the parents get on with ceviche, calamari and something from the bar. The food is simple and easy, with no gourmet pretensions.

ℹ Not a gourmet destination

Organic salads, green smoothies and breakfasts worth lingering over

Pancakes handle the kids' corner here — an easy sell — while the parents get an organic salad and a green smoothie. A family compromise where nobody actually compromises.

ℹ Expensive

Coffee that other restaurants on the island pour, plus breakfast and a bakery

Parents here have a method: park the kids at Kilo Yogurt across the road, and drink the coffee slowly to the last sip. And if everyone stays together — there is a wide-ranging breakfast menu and a bakery too, at comfortable prices.

A Russian deli of handmade sausages, with borscht and pelmeni alongside

Kids finish the buckwheat with meatballs down to the last bite here, and the parents usually help. On the way out you can stock up on house-made sausages from natural ingredients, the kind you can hand to little ones without a second thought.

Thai seafood on the sand — fish in Thai herbs and crab curry

Sitting on the beach gives children room to move, and the crabs swimming right up to the moment they are chosen are an attraction in themselves. An early dinner — the hour that works with kids — falls into place here naturally.

ℹ Quality swings from one day to the next

A gastro-bar with bruschetta, steak and a playroom for the kids

The gymboree is the story: a properly built playroom with a nanny to keep the kids busy while the parents get free for a coffee or an unhurried meal. The food is divisive for what it costs, so you can also simply sit with a coffee while they play.

⚠ The food is hit or miss; prices are high

A beach restaurant with burgers, massaman and barbecue on Mondays and Fridays

Children manage here without a fight: an oat pancake cut to their measure, a burger for whoever has outgrown it, and seating on the beach itself. The parents split the difference between the massaman and the breakfast burrito.

⚠ The burger divides opinion

A family café with simple food, good coffee and a cinnamon roll

Children do easily here: families get a warm welcome, the food is simple, and across the way there's a stretch of beach with a few bits of play equipment to fill the time between plates. The tuna baguette is a safe order for the little ones.

⚠ Opinions are divided

Pancakes and breakfast bowls, plus a poke bowl and a kimchi tuna melt

With kids it works mainly thanks to the pancakes — the family card here — while the parents get on with bowls, salads and coffee. Worth knowing that the menu rotates now and then, and some loved dishes have already vanished from it.

ℹ The menu has changed and some longtime dishes came off it

Thong Sala's schnitzel and chips — one plate feeds two kids

An evening with kids goes smoothly here: schnitzel and chips is a language everyone speaks, and the portion is big enough for two to share one plate. Familiar, simple food, with no negotiation at the table.

Proper açaí, pancakes and tuna sandwiches — the brunch address in Hin Kong

Pancakes are the card to play with kids — that's their order — while you're on açaí or a tuna sandwich. The place is lovely for a family morning, just don't expect a heavy meal.

Breakfast facing the sea: pancakes, cakes and an unusually deep matcha list

Children get pancakes built exactly for them, and the cake display does the rest of the persuading. Parents get coffee, a wide matcha menu and quiet facing the sea.

A beach club with a big pool and a sea view, and food that does the job

Toddlers are a natural crowd here: the pool has an unusually large shallow section and a few small water jets to keep them busy, and parents settle right beside them with a shake or a glass of wine. Shade is scarce — at certain hours you find it over by the planting.

ℹ Little shade around the pool

An ice cream shop at Yang San, plenty of flavours and a play corner outside

The play corner outside makes this an easy stop with children: they run off to play, and you are free to pick flavours. The range is wide, and the matcha ice cream — a flavour that is hard to find on the island — is the temptation for the grown-ups.

ℹ The Belgian waffle is less worth it

Beachfront Thai with a garden for the kids and plenty of vegan options

The garden is the key: the children are turned loose to play in it, and the parents get an unhurried Thai meal by the beach. There are plenty of vegan options too, so almost any family line-up finds something to order.

⚠ Service divides opinion

A beach club with music from midday, decent food and room for kids

The kids simply vanish here, in the good sense: the space is big enough that parents barely feel them, and it holds up even when several families come at once. For fussy eaters there are chicken nuggets that didn't come from Makro — a rarity on the island.