When the day-trippers vanish and the shadows stretch long over the wooden shophouses of Nathon, the real Koh Samui wakes up.

Pull up a stool for boat noodles, with a rich broth that stirs the palate. Be drawn toward the hiss of bubbling oil at a street-side stand for kluay-kaek banana fritters, before seeking out a local obsession you won't find at the hotel: Samui red-sauce fried rice.

We’ll stop at a local market to deconstruct the ingredients that form the backbone of Southern Thailand. From there, we shift gears into the world of steam at a neighbourhood dim sum haunt. Work your chopsticks over pork wonton-wrapped khanom jeeb and shrimp crystal dumplings. This is paired with khao kluk kapi - shrimp-paste fried rice, a colour wheel of sweet pork and sour mango that hits every taste bud at once.

Grab a freshly baked chicken curry puff for that buttery, cumin-heavy crunch, before trying a total menu disruptor: deep-fried papaya salad. It’s a crispy, zesty remix of the classic, served alongside a Thai chicken laap to collide the flavourful herbs of Northern Thailand.

Our foodie expedition next takes us behind the curtain into a local family kitchen. This is home-cooking at its most honest. We’ll share plates of deep-fried fish brushed with a salty-sweet glaze, creamy yod maprao coconut shoot and shrimp soup, and the “queen of southern greens,” stir-fried melindjo leaves, and the literal heart of the tree in a fragrant chicken banana stalk curry.

We wrap up the day at a modern joint for the innovative egg yolk ice cream. It’s velvety, and the perfect cool-down after a day of chasing the island’s jungled menus, one bite at a time.

Join our food-obsessed guides as we navigate corners of “Coconut Island” you’d never find on your own - escaping the hotel pool menu, and diving headlong into the high-octane heart of the real Samui.