Lucky Crab

Lucky Crab is a straightforward, Thai-run seafood place in Haad Rin, and the thing that keeps coming up about it is exactly what you'd hope for from a seafood restaurant: the catch is fresh, day to day, not sitting in a freezer waiting for tourist season.

Two dishes get mentioned more than anything else — the spicy seafood salad (properly spicy, not toned down) and the steamed squid with chili-lime sauce, which is the kind of simple, well-executed dish that separates a good seafood kitchen from a mediocre one. Fried rice rounds things out if you want something less fiery alongside.

It doesn't try to be a scene — no beach club atmosphere, no DJ. It's a seafood restaurant doing seafood well, which on an island full of places chasing the Instagram crowd is honestly a bit refreshing.