Shopping / Kitchens and bathrooms

Cooked 4 hours in wood-fired oven with fresh rosemary, served with roast potatoes.

Brought to worldwide attention by the 2000 Hollywood adventure drama, The Beach, the Phi Phi Islands are Thailand's superstars. The islands are a bit of a backpacker legend and a hot topic of conversation amongst many travellers. Their natural beauty is enough to entice any visitor, as the sheer and stately limestone karsts and verdant jungle views are absolutely breathtaking. However, it tends to be the allure of the party scene that brings most visitors Phi Phi.

The Phi Phi Islands are located equidistant between Phuket Island and Krabi Province on the mainland. There are a number of speedboats and ferries leaving every day at various times and any hotel or tour operator can help with buying tickets and transfers to the pier.

Phi Phi's main islands are Koh Phi Phi Don and Koh Phi Phi Leh. Koh Phi Phi Leh is a day-tripper's paradise, and is where the majority of The Beach was filmed. Koh Phi Phi Leh is home to striking Maya Bay – the eponymous 'beach' of the movie. Sheltered on three sides by towering 100-metre-high cliffs, white-sand Maya Bay enjoys striking turquoise waters teeming with vividly coloured tropical marine life. Perfect for snorkelling, Maya Bay also has some great scuba diving.

Phuket Lobster Thermidor with mushrooms, whipping cream, white wine, served with saffron rice and flower beans with mashed potatoes

Ingredients

• 350 gm Phuket lobster
• 50 gm wild mushrooms
• 10 gm chopped onions
• VSOP cognac
• white wine
• Dijon mustard
• cooking butter

Method
Cut half of Phuket lobster. Keep head. Extract the meat from the shell. Bake the lobster meat with chopped onions, mushrooms and Dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Cook medium flambé with VSOP cognac.

Add whipping cream and finish with warm butter sauce topped with parmesan cheese in lobster shell.

Served with mashed potatoes with mozzarella cheese.