Phu Talay

  We stayed at a lovely place called Baan Rim Nam (House on the water), an old fisherman's house on stilts, right on the "klong" or estuary near Klong Prao beach.  Baan Rim Nam is run by Ian, an Englishman with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the island and author of the best Koh Chang website:
iamkohchang.com

We spent our first night on the island in one of Porn's Bungalows (Porn is a common Thai nickname, apparently) a tiny wooden beach hut, with what felt like a multitude of unidentifiable wildlife clamouring to get in .  After this rustic experience Baan Rim Nam felt like proper luxury, at about £20 a night.  We had a large, tastefully decorated (in a rustic Thai style), air conditioned room and en-suite bathroom, with double doors opening out onto a huge deck on stilts over the Klong.  The deck was a wonderfully serene place to be at night, (or anytime) with all the comforts you could require; super comfy hammock, fridge full of cold beer running on an honesty box policy etc.  There is no restaurant here but for a nominal charge Ian will do you toast and and a pot of proper English tea for brekkie, the best (and only) tea I had on the island.  The lack of a restuarant isn't a problem when, just across the Klong, there are several top notch seafood restaurants.  Delighfully, a boatman will come over and pick you up and take you to your restaurant of choice.  On our first night we picked Phu Talay seafood restaurant.

What followed was a smorgasbord of seafood...steamed mussels with holy basil, chilli and lemongrass...

Peppered soft shell crab...

And a delicious soft shell crab stew, not pictured!  We thoroughly relaxed sitting on a deck right by the water, with a warm breeze and no sound but wind charms, lapping waves and softly spoken Russian from the table next to us (we encountered a  lot of Eastern Europeans on Koh Chang and this restaurant boasted a Russian menu; slightly confusing when I got an English menu and the boy got a Russian one, both with different dishes on, but we muddled through).  It was a lovely, romantic setting and the food was fantastic, super fresh seafood flavoured with aromatic herbs and spices, and some strange vegetables I hadn't encountered before (I later found out that these were baby aubergines).

If you are ever on Koh Chang I would whole heartedly recommend stayng at Baan Rim Nam for a few nights if you can, and being ferried across the water to Phu Talay or one of the other seafood places here, a really great experience!