01/08/08: Es Vive Hotel Thai Buffet

I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this before, but my favourite food in the entire world is Thai. I could eat Pad Thai for breakfast, Panang Curry for lunch and Tom Yum soup for dinner every single night of my life. Though the fact I don’t live in Thailand means indulging these cravings is kind of difficult – I mean, Ibiza boasts a few very good Thai restaurants, but with so many other things on the social schedule, it’s a little hard to visit them every day!

And between you and me, with so many other fabulous restaurants on the island, I guess I don’t really want to limit myself to just one style of food anyway.

So you can imagine Miss W’s sheer delight when she discovered that Es Vive hotel throws open it’s gorgeous turquoise gates every Friday for an all-you-can-eat Thai buffet! Now, while the idea of all-you-can-eat buffets generally conjures up some Homer Simpson-esque imagery in my mind, I was so excited at the idea of filling my Thai quota in one afternoon that I donned my Camilla kaftan (you know a kaftan is the ideal outfit when you plan to eat a lot, as the flowy-ness hides any unsightly tummy bulges!) and hotfooted it down to the hotel.

The smells wafting from the woks set up beside the poolside DJ had my mouth watering before I’d even walked through the gates and I couldn’t get myself to the rice cooker fast enough. Bypassing the obligatory small talk with everyone I knew – which is not like Miss W at all – I made a beeline for the chicken Panang curry and then settled down into a comfy lounge chair and began to socialise!

It seemed as though the entire hotel was taken over by island residents rather than guests, which is a testament to the quality of food if you ask me. Miss W was grateful for the kaftan, as she made multiple trips back and forth for amazing green curry, pad thai and much more, sizzling fresh on the flaming woks all afternoon.

Miss W was also pleased to note her new favourite island resident DJ, Mr Doris, was behind the decks, providing a funk-soul soundtrack to the afternoon. And speaking of DJs, it seemed anyone who was anyone in the English clubbing fraternity was there and there were quite a few DJs – not mentioning an names – who looked suspiciously like they were still going from the night before, meaning there was more lounging and less eating going on than Miss W expected!

THE LOWDOWN
THE GOOD: Thai food. All-you-can-eat. Enough said.
THE BAD: The August heat made indulging in spicy food in the sun by the pool just a little too difficult. While there’s plenty of shade underneath the canopies and umbrellas, I think this may be an experience best left for later in the day rather than lunchtime. Thankfully, the buffet goes until 9pm!
THE GOSSIP: Hotel hot-shot and Base Bar main man Jason Bull was nowhere to be seen… maybe the energetic dynamo does actually get some sleep every now and again!