N&N Cafe Welcomes You to the Jungle
We stumbled onto a hidden gem of a cafe the other day while motoring around the hilly back roads of Chalong: N&N Cafe. Friendly owner Khun Boo has turned a vacant scrap of jungle owned by her family into an eclectic roadside coffee shop and garden. She and her partner designed the structure themselves, plunking it right next to a small stream that’s home to herons, butterflies, lizards and little “dancing birds” as she calls them.
It’s the perfect pit stop, with plenty of beanbags, cafe tables and swinging hammock chairs where you can sip a strong iced latte, Thai tea or durian smoothie and nibble a croffle while enjoying the tree-shaded view of the trickling water. But save some room for a full meal, if possible.
“You’ve got to try my moo tod or my nam prik pla tod*. They’re really good,” Khun Boo (see photo, below) mentioned as she handed me my coffee on my visit. Then she unscrewed a jar of pungent, housemade chile-wafting fish paste and waved it under my nose. It smelled amazing and yes, we stayed for lunch.
She was out of moo tod (fried pork, หมูทอด) that day, but my husband and I devoured a little fried fish with a side of that intense dipping sauce studded with teeny bitter eggplant. We also nabbed a roaring hot dish of lightly cooked pork, mushrooms and greens tossed in a fresh, bold chile-lime sauce. “It’s called ‘Forgot Husband,’” Khun Boo told me, with a laugh. “Because the ladies like to eat it in the afternoons with plenty of beer and whiskey.”
The cafe is typically open mid-morning through dinner time, transforming into a cheerful bar populated by Thai bikers and the odd tourist as the sun goes down. But Khun Boo says she stays open until people leave. That flexibility has led to a few 3 a.m. closings, when locals stage bonfire parties fueled by her Thai barbecue. (She says guests can book the space and order food in advance.)
You’ll be treated like extended family regardless of what time of day you visit though. When we stopped by, Khun Boo asked us if we wanted some coconut juice. When we said yes, she just handed us a fresh coconut and a giant knife and said, “go to it.” Turns out another customer had helped knock down a few coconuts from the tree in N&N’s garden earlier that day and she was sharing the wealth. With some whoops of encouragement from N&N’s resident grade schooler, we cracked the coconut and enjoyed our sweet reward.
I can’t wait to see what our next visit brings…
*She could have said nam prik pla tu (น้ำพริกปลาทู), but the dish was served with a whole fried fish, pla tod (ปลาทอด) so I may have conflated the two. It was a little unclear. Apologies in advance for any miscommunications or culinary idiocy, I’m still learning!
N&N Cafe
38/3 Moo 5 Soi Nakok, Chalong Muang, Phuket 83130 [MAP LINK]
+66 94 593 9553
Open 10 am-8 pm daily