Lodge manager and chef, George Newling-Ward, has once again transformed the food and beverage offering at the popular southern Thai ecolodge, Anurak Community Lodge. The lodge nestles beside Khao Sok National Park in the heart of nature. Read on to learn more about the ecolodge, its manager and chef, and its sustainability.

Caribbean Chef George Newling-Ward and Anurak Community Lodge

George Newling-Ward aims to make food and drink at Anurak Community Lodge a reason to visit besides hiking, biking, kayaking and planting trees in one of the most visually spectacular nature settings in southeast Asia.

Newling-Ward was previously the manager of the ecolodge between 2018 and 2022. Fast-forward to now and the critically acclaimed chef from the British Virgin Islands has returned to Anurak Community Lodge in October 2024.

This second time around, the chef’s motivation is to offer mouthwatering southern Thai specials with high-quality, locally sourced ingredients as much as possible.

About the menu

Newling-Ward is guided by a respect for community, culture, conservation and sustainable Thai favorites. These include Kua Kling dry curry with minced pork and kaffir lime leaves. Moreover, another favorite is Gaeng Som Pla, a spicy sour orange curry with fish and bamboo shoots.

Moreover, mainstream Thai essentials, including Pad Thai, Geng Keo Wan, Panaeng, Massaman and Pad Kra Pao, and more, are also available.

Garden to Table at Anurak Community Lodge

Speaking of the food on offer, Newling-Ward said:

Our Anurak vegetable garden is now producing a variety of veggies that go onto daily specials such as our cucumber, watermelon and feta cheese salad, stir-fried Bok Choy and stir-fried pumpkin with egg. Exact ingredients for our menu depends on each day’s harvest. It is garden to table at its best.

One major feature of the ecolodge is the open-sided sala bamboo dining space, which has been refurbished to host fire-side “jungle curry” nights with much of the cooking done inside hollow bamboo wood.

Wine and dine

When it comes to the new wine list at Anurak Lodge, Newling-Ward recommends 2014 Bordeaux, a 2022 Rose, the extra dry prosecco blu 2022 from Italy, and the Ki Raro Blocks sauvignon blanc 2023 from New Zealand. The acclaimed chef said:

I believe we have the best wine selection at reasonable prices in the whole Khao Sok area.

Community flavor coffee

The ecolodge will now serve coffee with a community flavor. This hails from the shade-grown, single-source Arabica by Seed of Hope. Moreover, the coffee is grown in the coffee belt of northern Thailand, where a percentage of the profits provide scholarships for Hill Tribe students.

To accompany coffee at breakfast, the ecolodge now makes its own jams, and Newling-Ward recommends the pineapple-ginger preserve.

Chef Newling-Ward’s past career

After learning his trade in the British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, and the Savoy Hotel in London, Chef Newling-Ward opened a catering business in Bangkok in 2012. Moreover, he worked as a food and beverage director and executive chef in resorts, hotels and restaurants in Phuket. Meanwhile, he transformed the food and beverage at Anurak Lodge during his first stint as lodge manager from 2018 to 2022.

Speaking of his latest work, Newling-Ward said:

Anurak Lodge has aspirations and quality control mechanisms over and above what you may expect in a 19-key 3.5 star ecolodge in Khao Sok. Anurak Lodge’s various awards prove the point.

Awards for Anurak Lodge

In November 2024, Anurak Lodge won the Tourism Authority of Thailand 2024 Responsible Tourism Award in the “Responsible Tourism Accommodation” category. Back in 2018, the ecolodge won the SKAL Sustainable Tourism Award for rural accommodation. Moreover, in 2020, the property was the PATA Grand Award Winner in the sustainability category.

Meanwhile, the ecolodge runs a popular “Rainforest Rising” project where its guests plant indigenous species of trees to help rewild land previously used as a palm oil plantation.

“Anurak Lodge has always been strong on sustainability,” Newling-Ward said.”But I also want guests to know that we offer a great food and drink experience. Indeed, I like to think that our dining more than matches our sustainability and ecotourism credentials.”

Readers can learn more about Anurak Community Lodge from the ecolodge’s website.