‘Nikita’s Restaurant’ – Thai and Western restaurant on Rawai beach

Nikita’s Restaurant, situated at the Eastern end of Rawai beach, has been in business for some 30 years according to British owner Tony. For as long as I can remember, this restaurant has been serving incredible authentic Thai cuisine in one the most tranquil and idyllic locations in the area.

“I really wanted to get it (the menu) perfect, it is a piece of art”.
Tony the owner of ‘Nikita’s restaurant’.

Tony told the Bowl how he first arrived in Thailand in 1988 aged 28yrs. He and his friends were on a 9 month surfing tour in Australia and upon their return journey home they visited the usual suspects of Indonesian surfing destinations, namely Bali, Sumatra and Java. From Java they went to Singapore for a connecting flight home, however, decided to leave the surf boards in Singapore and get the train up in to Thailand. In his own words “To cut a long story short, we ended up in Thailand”.

Left to right: Tony (the owner of Nikita’s restaurant) and James Alexander.

Tony (the owner of Nikita’s restaurant).

Daytime aerial view of Nikita’s beach strip .

Tony met his Thai wife Nitaya who at the time owned a bar in the current location of Nikita’s. They got together and decided to create a restaurant. The suggestion of the name Nikita from the Hollywood blockbuster – about a Russia assassin – was put forward and because there was some familiarity between the name of that film and Tony’s wife Nitaya, the name was chosen.

When I first came to the restaurant in around 2005-2007, I believe Nikita’s was serving just Thai food with some western dishes, however, a recent visit really caught my attention as some considerable changes had been made.

Nikita’s itself was as I had remembered, tranquil, relaxing and stunning, although this time the menus (two menu’s one Thai and one Western) looked clean, well prepared and impressive.

Not only was there an extensive selection of Thai dishes all beautifully photographed and described, there was also a second menu with a selection western dishes to include a fine selection of Soups, Salads, Burgers, Club sandwiches, Tacos, Pastas, Pizza’s, Calamari and BBQ Pork ribs to name but a few. A link to both the Thai and Western digital menus is provided below.

I decided to order a favorite Thai dish of mine called Tom Kha soup with rice, and with Tony’s permission filmed the resident Thai Chef P. Paa making it in the kitchen. I always enjoy meeting the people who put our meals together in restaurants and it was a pleasure meeting P. Paa. She was clearly a master at preparing these foods and guided me through the process of cooking the soup I ordered and what ingredients go into creating it.

When the dish was finished I sat at a table located right on the beach in Nikita’s and got to enjoy my lunch whilst admiring the stunning vistas surrounding the area. To my right was the Andaman Sea and Koh Bon (Long Beach Island) and in front of me the restaurant itself and lovely overhanging trees and natural setting. I can think of less than a handful of venues in Rawai where you can have this kind of lunchtime experience.