Ka Jok See Restaurant

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Sonja had told us that it was adult night out on Saturday, so Edward, Ludwig, Chris & Frankie stayed home with DVD and all we were told that we were going to Phuket Town and be ready by 7.30pm. So myself, Tish, Sam, Sonja, Jacque, Chris & Aidan travelled to Phuket by taxi, without a clue what was planned for us. Ka Jok See is Phuket Town's most popular restaurant. It's hidden away on a side street called Takua Pa just a half block from busy Ratsada Road, the city's main thoroughfare. There's no sign outside just a wall of tropical plants greets the customer.

Ok so we are here to have a meal, how wrong could l have been. We ordered cocktails (Yep Mai Tai) and sat chatting, Food was ordered and then one by one each of the girls were approached by some handsome guys to join them for a dance. Ok so were here tonight for the girls to be entertained, Jacque and myself were happy with that and watched as the girls were dancing the fox trot etc.

The food arrived and as Tish said later the next day, the best food so far. The restaurant was packed and over the next hour or so many people tried to get tables and were turned away. Sonja then told me that there is a waiting list until end of January to get a table here. Once the meal was finished and more cocktails drunk the music stopped. From the far corner of the room a tall woman appeared and started singing.

Was it a woman or not? Was she singing or not?

Each of us by now was on our feet and with "We are Family" being sung we were all dancing. No it wasn’t a woman but a ladyboy and no he wasn’t singing but was a great lip-sync performer. By now the restaurant was in full swing and everybody was dancing and all the tables had been moved to the edges, even the Singer had been move to the centre of the room on top of one of the table. The next hour we most have danced to every camp record ever recorded. Rose petals were being thrown into the room and then the word "MAHITO" became one that l shall always remember. Mahito is a shooter cocktail and during tonight they must have brought out a least 10. Each time we formed back as a group and shouted "MAHITO" and downed the drink.

Ka Jok See is a success due to the recipes that Khun Lek has developed over the years as well as his soft lighting and nightly music and entertainment sessions which sometimes last far into the night. He has a collection of thousands of CDs and a great sound system. He knows how to take his customers through an evening keeping them excited while having great food.

The ambience of Ka Jok See seems European as when chatting l had said to Sonja that looking into the restaurant you could be in Paris or Rome and l would never have said Thailand. The lighting is soft and warm from fixtures that seem as old as the historic Sino-Portuguese house where the restaurant resides.

"Khun Lek always knows how to make a party, to keep his customers happy by anticipating what they want," comments one of the regular guest here that l started chatting too. "I've had some of my favourite nights eating, singing and enjoying myself at Ka Jok See."

"You never know who you will see at Ka Jok See," she says. "At night, the limousines pull up outside and it could be a rock star staying at the Amanpuri who has to have dinner at Khun Lek's to make his visit to Phuket complete."

The changed throughout the evening from the camp pop to Latin American, gipsy kings and l think at one stage l was dancing to a folk song version of ABBA. We danced on tables, limbo dancing and even danced over a candle placed in the middle of the restaurant. I can’t remember what time we left but l do remember the journey home and all the laughing about what fun we had. It was one of the best evening out l have had since travelling and is in the top 10 of all time evenings too.

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Comments

[sandie vickers]

WH AT CAN I SAY
WELL GEOFF YOU SHOULD KNOW NOTHING SHOCKS ME YOUR BLOGS CHEER ME UP AND MAKE MY DAY GREAT TO SEE ALL THE FUN YOUR GETTING UP TO THE LAST BLOG WAS SO FUNNY HOPE NAN WASNT TOO SHOCKED. ITS STILL FREEZING HERE ALTHOUGH THEY SAY ITS GOING TO GET WARMER. TAKE CARE AND CONTINUE HAVING FUN LOVE SANDIE AND KERRY XX