🍕 Italian & pizza

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

The American pizza is the other side of the house — dough neither thick nor thin, pizza the way it used to be — and it survives delivery with dignity: it arrives hot, not smeared or crushed in the box, somewhere between personal and family size. The margherita is the one you keep coming back to.

ℹ Two branches: Ban Tai and Thong Sala

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

This is where one of the island's better pizzas hides, alongside a pasta bolognese that can be made without pork. That is not a given at a beach restaurant firing up a fish grill every evening — but the Italian side of the menu stands on its own.

ℹ Worth booking a table ahead

Kingfish carpaccio and house pasta in a small Italian locanda

The pizza here is among the island's best, but the real strength sits in the first, cheap pastas on the menu — vegan cauliflower, tomato and ricotta, pistachio and cherry tomato. Round it out with burrata; the aubergine lasagne works, just not always.

⚠ Opinions are divided

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

The pizza here is made in their own style — not classic Neapolitan — and there's a vegan option. The pastas are the strong part: gnocchi rosa, bolognese and lasagne with pork, then a Nutella parfait or their take on pavlova to close.

⚠ 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

The pizza here makes a serious case for best on the island, and it comes both by delivery and in a gluten-free version that genuinely works. For a children's birthday it's an easy call, and anyone with room left finishes on ice cream made in house.

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

Must-order spinach cannelloni, fresh pasta and lasagne by the water

Fresh pasta is the heart of it: you taste it in everything, from the gnocchi to the spinach cannelloni that comes under béchamel, tomato and parmesan — the must-order here. The lasagne survives the ride home, and the thin-crust pizza is for those who like the style.

ℹ Closed Wednesdays

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

On the menu the obvious order is the lasagna, with the gnocchi behind it; the pizzas divide opinion, but the vegan version — with actual vegan cheese — is a success story in its own right. You sit on the beach, in the open air, with no air conditioning.

⚠ Opinions on the pizza are split; no air conditioning

Breakfast facing the sea, shakshuka, and a mushroom cream pasta that surprises

The pastas are the menu's surprise: an old-school fettuccine alfredo, a good mushroom cream pasta, and a pesto version too. You eat them right on the beach, and if you linger into the evening, the sunset view finishes the job.

ℹ Kitchen closed on Mondays

Unfussy Italian with nothing to prove — lasagne, gnocchi, aubergine parmigiana

The aubergine parmigiana is the order that explains the place — a modest plate straight out of a small Italian kitchen. Around it: gnocchi, bolognese, carbonara and lasagne, with tiramisu to finish. The cooking shifts from night to night, so stay on the pasta side and skip the grilled fish.

⚠ Closed Mondays; it divides opinion

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

The pizzas and pastas are the safe base — including a bolognese made without pork — but the surprises are off to the side: aubergine fritters and prawns in butter. Save the finish for the tiramisu, which, ordered ahead, also comes as a whole cake for an occasion.

An Italian in Ban Tai — carbonara at Italian level, house pasta and pizzas

The carbonara with bacon is the main order — pasta at Italian level — and the house pasta works without the bacon for anyone who prefers it. On pizzas, stay classic: the calamari topping takes over the flavour, while the white Popeye pizza — spinach, crumbled Italian sausage and ricotta — is made on request even when it is off the menu. For dessert, crème brûlée.

ℹ Quiet atmosphere — the room is not always full

Ragù and thin-crust pizza from a one-chef kitchen, plus date-sweetened mousse

The order splits between the ragù — a serious contender for the best on the island — the carbonara and the thin-crust pizza. Baked aubergine with tomato and parmesan is the menu's quiet success, and gluten-free pizza is worth arranging a day ahead.

ℹ Dishes come out slowly and the standard isn't always consistent; gluten-free pizza by advance order

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

A pizzeria with not much atmosphere, directly opposite Big C — one of those places you come to for what's on the plate, not for the surroundings. If you'd rather stay in, delivery works, and the pizza still arrives in good shape as far as Srithanu. With kids it works too: the play corner on the upper floor is sweet, aimed mainly at little ones, though five-year-olds will find something to do as well.

ℹ No air conditioning on the upstairs play floor

Melanzane parmigiana and aubergine lasagne, plus pizza that delivers

Aubergine is the story: the melanzane parmigiana and the aubergine lasagne are what the reputation rests on, with pasta in gorgonzola sauce and mushroom-cream gnocchi beside them. The pizza holds up on delivery too — easy to turn into the standing order at home.

⚠ Opinions are divided

Handmade pasta made in front of you — the tortellini is the reason to come

A no-frills Italian on the Haad Yao–Haad Salad stretch: one older Italian man in the kitchen, making everything with his own hands. From the menu, it's worth hunting down the sweet potato tortellini. Come hungry and focused — the plate here is the entire story, with no production around it.

ℹ No pizza and no atmosphere — you come for the food

Handmade pizza and pasta from Italian ingredients, open until five in the morning

Italian is taken seriously here: the ingredients come from Italy, the dough proves for 72 hours, and the vegan cheese is made on site. Pepperoni fans will have to do without — there isn't any — but the handmade pastas and the Nutella calzone make up for it. Delivery runs until five in the morning.

Thong Nai Pan Noi's Italian — pizza in the restaurant strip

At its best, the meal feels like a real Italian trattoria, and the pizza is the reliable way there. On other visits it's decent Italian without standing out — which makes it worth knowing mainly if you're in Thong Nai Pan anyway.

⚠ Opinions are divided

An Italian in Srithanu where the pizza and the seafood pasta are the point

One of those Italians where the right order decides the evening. The pizzas, even if they are not especially large, are the anchor, and the seafood pasta holds up well too; the fish dishes, by contrast, convince less for the price. Stay on the pizza and pasta side — that is where the place is at its best.

⚠ Opinions are divided; prices are high

Pasta in tomato sauce, simple and good, delivered straight to your door

An order for a quiet night in — a comforting plate that shows up exactly as you expect it, no surprises. Beyond the pastas, the menu also hides a borscht, an unexpected answer for anyone after a vegetarian soup by delivery. Order through the KPG delivery app.

Thin-crust Neapolitan pizza, at a new address on the Wok Tum coast road

It dropped off the radar for a while and then resurfaced. People come for one thing — Neapolitan pizza with a base that is actually thin, not menu-thin. Get there with a pin saved in advance, not a spontaneous Google search.

ℹ Hard to find on Google — it has moved to Wok Tum