Meg_2003 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I've eaten there twice so far.. Once at Yayoi which was good, and once in the food court. It was 11:30pm on the opening day that I ate in the food court.. I ordered Carbanara and it was quite good. I wouldn't say it was worth the 150 baht I paid for it.. But I enjoyed it. (Maybe due to hunger?) , but for the price, I'd definitely prefer the proper restaurants on 4th floor! The state of the food court was shocking. Almost EVERY table was full of dirty dishes! I almost couldn't find anywhere to sit to eat my meal! I saw the cleaning lady walking around picking her nails instead of clearing the tables.. Not a good start at all... I'll stick to the proper restaurants for meals in the future! Our bill in the food court added up at almost the same cost as our meals and fancy drinks in Yayoi ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) Yes, the lower level food court was indeed filthy and that is shocking for the first day of a grand opening. Let's hope they get the cleaning act together, it would be surprising if they didn't, cleaning labor isn't exactly expensive here. I also don't think I will be eating in the luxury food court much either. For example Koreana restaurant had a stall. The prices seemed the same or more than actually going to a local Korean restaurant and it looked like you get less food at the court (and many fewer side dishes). I also don't want snooty waiters at a food court, even a luxury one. Plus they charge tax. BTW, what is this Yaiyoi place, thats new to me? A regular Japanese food place or a special concept? Edited January 25, 2009 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zodiac Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Visited the new place a few times. Jammed packed with people, the restaurants seem to be doing a roaring trade, though not the (overpriced) shops. Its almost like rent-a-crowd in the building. Maybe a lot of the Thais walking around are from out of town like from BKK or maybe because its the Chinese New Year. Any idea anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) Speak for yourself. I'd be lucky to visit Tescos once every 6 months, that's how great I find that shopping experience. I've been to the new mall twice in 2 days.I never use food courts in any mall, so I wouldn't be able to judge a mall by the food courts, but they have a great variety of restaurants upstairs. For people like myself who easily break into a sweat in tropical climates, they will really appreciate the cooler aircon compared to the other malls in town. He was speaking for himself, out of his experience. You, on the other hand, by your own admission, cannot have an opinion as you have not had the experience. Obviously you're only interested in stirring for a fight but it was pretty obvious what I meant - don't judge a mall by the food court. I even added a comment about the aircon at the new mall. How about contributing to the thread instead of baiting? Edited January 25, 2009 by tropo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Yeah, its scary super crowded now. I am looking forward to low season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmybkk Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I was wondering the other day about the impact this mall will have on Pattaya traffic - assuming it is a "hit", especially on weekends with the Bangkok Thais who drive, the area could be really, really congested. 2nd Road can probably cope with it but how about all those cars exiting onto poor little 2-lane Beach Road? Not to mention all the baht buses that will be hanging around turning it into poor little 1-lane Beach Road. Add to that a 300-room hotel when it opens and the North end of Beach Road could become a no-go zone for anything with 4 wheels. I was at the Dusit today and could see Beach Road was backed up (moving, but slowly) all the way to the Dolphin Roundabout. No idea if that was caused by Central or not as I didn't go past but there were quite a few cars on 2nd Road trying to access the parking. I remember reading a letter in the BKK Post from a guy who went to Siam Paragon in BKK and he reckoned it took him 3.5 hours to exit the parking coz of traffic on Rama II. Are we headed for something similar? Would it have made sense to construct this a little away from the centre of Pattaya? Any thoughts...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyluke Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 (edited) Went there today and picked up two customers card, both free of charge : 1.-) Central Food Hall card : you obtain 5% discount at Central Food and Tops.( At Customer Service) 2,-)The 1 Card ( Expatriate and International Visitors Card) : All over Thailand : 5% discount at Central Department Stores, Zen Central World, Robinson Department Stores, Power Buy, Supersports, B2S, Homeworks ( A counter on first floor ) plus : Voucher of 100 Thb Cash Coupon B2S ( Minimum purchase of 1.200 Thb) Voucher of 100 Thb Cash Coupon Central Voucher of 100 Thb Cash Coupon Zen Central World Voucher of 200 Thb Cash Coupon Robinson Voucher of 10 % Discount Digital Photo Voucher of 10 % Discount Supersports all these vouchers valid thru 31 December 2009. Edited January 25, 2009 by luckyluke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Went there today and picked up two customers card, both free of charge :1.-) Central Food Hall card : you obtain 5% discount at Central Food and Tops.( At Customer Service) 2,-)The 1 Card ( Expatriate and International Visitors Card) : All over Thailand : 5% discount at Central Department Stores, Zen Central World, Robinson Department Stores, Power Buy, Supersports, B2S, Homeworks ( A counter on first floor ) plus : Voucher of 100 Thb Cash Coupon B2S ( Minimum purchase of 1.200 Thb) Voucher of 100 Thb Cash Coupon Central Voucher of 100 Thb Cash Coupon Zen Central World Voucher of 200 Thb Cash Coupon Robinson Voucher of 10 % Discount Digital Photo Voucher of 10 % Discount Supersports all these vouchers valid thru 31 December 2009. That's great!. How and where can we pick up these cards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya_girl Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 What a great addition to Pattaya this is. Plenty of Restaurents to choose from, but the Shops were not really my cup of tea. I went outside onto the Balcony on the top floor - wow, what a great view, its very high up. Went back down in the lift with no air con, it was very hot. All in all, very nice. Pattaya seems busy again now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyluke Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 That's great!. How and where can we pick up these cards? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx As mention before : 1 : At customer Service Central Food 2 :There is a counter on first floor with the mention "The 1 Card" 3 ladies are there to help you ( bring you passport or drivers license) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaimate Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 My prediction for the first store to close will be Ed Hardy. Their 7,500 baht T-shirts and 13,000 baht hooded wind-breakers are gonna be tough sells to customers like the one I viewed there last night browsing the store in his 99 baht Singh beer t-shirt and 89 baht flip-flops. funny you should say this,my son, 15 and his friends said that the store had nice clothes but far far to dear ,when you can buy the same things less than a quarter of the price elswhere in Pattaya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryu Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I was wondering the other day about the impact this mall will have on Pattaya traffic - assuming it is a "hit", especially on weekends with the Bangkok Thais who drive, the area could be really, really congested. 2nd Road can probably cope with it but how about all those cars exiting onto poor little 2-lane Beach Road? Not to mention all the baht buses that will be hanging around turning it into poor little 1-lane Beach Road. Add to that a 300-room hotel when it opens and the North end of Beach Road could become a no-go zone for anything with 4 wheels.I was at the Dusit today and could see Beach Road was backed up (moving, but slowly) all the way to the Dolphin Roundabout. No idea if that was caused by Central or not as I didn't go past but there were quite a few cars on 2nd Road trying to access the parking. I remember reading a letter in the BKK Post from a guy who went to Siam Paragon in BKK and he reckoned it took him 3.5 hours to exit the parking coz of traffic on Rama II. Are we headed for something similar? Would it have made sense to construct this a little away from the centre of Pattaya? Any thoughts...? You are absolutely right. The shopping center is great - but on the wrong place! It should have been placed outside (somewhere between 3rd and Sukhumvit) not on the beach road. I've been there yesterday. Traffic jam started on the 2nd road on the junction Pattaya Tai, it took us more than 30 min for this few meters. Think the jam must be on Beach Road as well. Finally we arrived it and said now we are here already, let's go inside. Inside it's impressive, you feel like you are in BKK, not in Pattaya. Anyway, when I wanted to drive out of the car park building I've been in the traffic jam already in the building on the 4th floor!!! It jammed because the cars couldn't drive on the 2nd road and beach road fast enough. So already in the car park there was no forward and backward. This shopping center causes complete traffic chaos in Pattaya. But what should they do now? In my opinion the best would be they clear the left lane on the 2nd road already 700m before and after central. No motorcycles, no cars, no kitchens,.... so you get an additional lane. Same on the beach road. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyW Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 It would not be Pattaya without a traffic <deleted> up!!!, you are right, clear all the "Junk" off the left lane of beach road, but i guess that would mean somebody losing their "tea money"!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSixpack Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 This shopping center causes complete traffic chaos in Pattaya. But what should they do now? In my opinion the best would be they clear the left lane on the 2nd road already 700m before and after central. No motorcycles, no cars, no kitchens,.... so you get an additional lane. Same on the beach road. What do you think? No baht buses . . . or half the number they have now. Great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sriracha john Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 My prediction for the first store to close will be Ed Hardy. Their 7,500 baht T-shirts and 13,000 baht hooded wind-breakers are gonna be tough sells to customers like the one I viewed there last night browsing the store in his 99 baht Singh beer t-shirt and 89 baht flip-flops. funny you should say this,my son, 15 and his friends said that the store had nice clothes but far far to dear ,when you can buy the same things less than a quarter of the price elswhere in Pattaya. Actually, it is far less than 1/4. The T-shirt I particularly cited the price (7,500 baht) on was obtained recently for 450 baht and it's replication was very, very good as to be indiscernible from an original. As mentioned previously, the customer base traipsing about from the Beach road beer bars didn't really seem to fit in with Central's traditional higher end clientele. Will a few nice restaurants be enough to sustain a 7 floor shopping mall of mostly exclusive shops? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxxx Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 more bitching by cheap charlies who wont pay more then 30b for a meal or 45b for a beer... 3,00thb is fine for a tshirt when you appreciate the brand and quality, or want something new that looks good, i spent 10,000 there yesterday on 3 pairs of shorts and a shirt (puma, nike, ripcurl). i can never find any good looking that's a copy in pattaya, the copy stuff always looks a few years old and just average imo. also, the mention that "I also noticed the missing English signs, amazing in a place where half of the trade will be by foreigners." there's a boatload more well off & rich thais around then there are westerners. 70m thais and 5k westerners, 90% of the westerners are cheap and 90% of the thais are poor, that still shits all over the numbers of thais that will be shopping there, i doubt half will be english speaking foreigners, by the looks of this topic, the cheap english speaking people will be going elsewhere so that leaves it to the and Russian and Chinese who dont speak english anyway. then again, i didnt seem to have any problems with things not being translated there, maybe i missed the lack of english? </end rant> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Langsuan Man Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 To add my two baht worth to the comments. #1. Lack of signs. Come on, if you lived here in Pattaya and watched the construction it is a miracle that 99% of the retail space is finished. If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would not believe it was possible. I am sure that the signs will be in place within the week. #2. Tourist vs. Thais. This weekend was the perfect weekend for it to open, to take advantage of the Chinese New Years trade. Mostly families out for the day. So far not a lot of the half naked beach goer types that love to display their pecks and abs in Patts, but it is early. #3. No Central Department store. Was this poster blind??? The Central Department store takes up 5 floors of the Mall at the Second Road end. The store is open to the mall on all levels and has it's own elevator and escalator system. #4. Most of the stores that were open, which was the majority, were fully stocked. The displays were up, prices were shown, and cash registers were programmed and working. The staff seemed knowledgeable and could find stuff in their respective stores. #5. All the escalators were working on Saturday at around 1 PM, although when I left at 3 one was being serviced. All the elevators were working and the ones at the beach road end were mostly full. And yes they were hot, but what did one expect, they are in the sun during the day and are on the OUTSIDE of the mall, thus non air conditioned. #6. The traffic jam on Beach road was primarily due to the BIB who were forcing the left lane to turn into the soi past the shopping mall. The two right lanes were slowed by drivers trying to get to the far right to pass. There is no delineated Baht bus stop. Some people are getting a Baht bus a few yards before the Mall and some are grabbing one in the far right lane. The real traffic problem is caused by the parking in front of the Pattaya Police Station. #7. Ice rink. Sorry but I don't think what you posters saw was a real ice rink, but was just one of the many things designed for children on opening day. (the surface looked like ice but was white plexiglass). Just like the two story rubberized climbing cone, the Aborigine dancers, mimes, and the clown. #8. If you are in the market for a flat screen TV this is the place to see them all in their glory. There is a huge Power Buy, Samsung Store, Sony Store, and a LG store. Time will tell what impact it will have on Pattaya but when you consider that there will only be two ways to get there from Sukumvit it will have a major impact on the traffic. 1. Pattaya Tai, right onto Second Road, 2. Pattaya Klang, left onto Beach road. The problems will be magnified by drivers having to move over two or three lanes to enter or exit the mall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) more bitching by cheap charlies who wont pay more then 30b for a meal or 45b for a beer...3,00thb is fine for a tshirt when you appreciate the brand and quality, or want something new that looks good, i spent 10,000 there yesterday on 3 pairs of shorts and a shirt (puma, nike, ripcurl). i can never find any good looking that's a copy in pattaya, the copy stuff always looks a few years old and just average imo. I examined the quality of these T-shirts that were supposedly marked down from 3,200 baht. They were definitely not worth even the marked down price. I'm not a cheap charlie, but I'm not going to pay $100 for a t-shirt even back in my homeland. All these expensive t-shirts were made in China. Edited January 26, 2009 by tropo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxxx Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 everything's made in china, high end low end, who cares. my only problem with central is the big sporting shop, whatever it was called, was 80% clothing, 10% treadmills and 10% sporting goods... would have like to have seen more sporting goods in there... aside from that's a nice place, will do well for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyTheMook Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 At 8:30 this evening it was jam packed. Just about every restaurant was full.There's an interesting new sushi + shabu shabu buffet called "Shabushi". For 239 plus 17% for service and taxes you can eat all the food you want taken from an extremely long "train" which snakes through the whole restaurant. You have your own personal shabu cooking pot right in front of you and you can order from a selection of 3 soups to cook your food in. The train carries a large selection of shabu items to cook (ala MK) plus a limited selection of sushi and you just grab what you want. If what you want is not on the "train" you can order it. They have a self service area for other foods such as gyoza, fish, fried and steamed rice. There's also a self service area for drinks, fresh fruit and ice cream. Very cool , hope it is as good as the one in Bangkok. These are always very busy up there and the food is pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmyd Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Shabushi sounds like a copy of Hot Pot in TukCom, which is only 149 baht/person and is quite good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rimmer Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 My GF bought me a very nice OTOP Chiang Mai style shirt last week in the market down town for B199. This morning on our first visit to Central we saw the same shirt on display in one of the shops for B2700 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeetJohnDoe Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 My GF bought me a very nice OTOP Chiang Mai style shirt last week in the market down town for B199. This morning on our first visit to Central we saw the same shirt on display in one of the shops for B2700 Aircon is expensive I made my first visit to the mall this afternoon too. My impressions: It's nice and the interior design is interesting with it's angles and all but it felt somewhat closed-in to me. Maybe I am just used to mall that have a more open feel to them. It was interesting walking through Central's cosmetics department on the ground floor and seeing all the "pretties" at the counters selling their wares and then turning my head and seeing some singlet shirted flip-flop wearing tourist just in off Beach Road with his girl de jour in tow walking next to me. The contrast between these city/Bankok looking sales girls and the "local" girls and their skimpy outfits was interesting to say the least. I wonder what all the nicely dressed Thais make of such a scene. As I walked about, I really wondered WHO was going to buy enough of the high-priced merchandise on offer to make the mall a success. Sure, there is some demand for such goods and I like to buy something nice on occasion, but is there enough on a regular basis to keep this mall going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raro Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 2,-)The 1 Card ( Expatriate and International Visitors Card) I just wonder how many of those complaining about dual pricing will refuse this card... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyke Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 2,-)The 1 Card ( Expatriate and International Visitors Card) I just wonder how many of those complaining about dual pricing will refuse this card... If only there was a mere 5% difference in dual pricing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg_2003 Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Had another afternoon out at Central today, Looks like the Traffic is turning into a bigger problem. This afternoon the traffic was almost backed up from 2nd road/Pattaya Klang intersection all the way back to 3rd road intersection. We tried to enter on the Beach road entrance, but were told we would have to drive around the block and enter at the 2nd road entrance. We then had to wait through all the traffic on 2nd road before being able to actually get to Central (which was then allowing in the traffic from beach road!) We were traveling on Motorbike and we had a struggle finding a parking spot.. It seemed busier than the opening day! Had a look at the Shabushi*? restaurant which looks well worth the price, but there was a huge queue and we were too hungry to wait as the lady on the counter said it would be 20-25 minutes or so. But this restaurant certainly does look well worth the price and we will definitely be giving it a try.. Are drinks also included in that price? Walked around a few of the shops, and the ugly looking ladies clothes were quite expensive and nothing special. I don't mind paying a lot for a decent looking dress or top, but Ive purchased better at Theprasit market for under a quarter of the price! And I am no cheap charlie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeetJohnDoe Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Looks like the Traffic is turning into a bigger problem. This afternoon the traffic was almost backed up from 2nd road/Pattaya Klang intersection all the way back to 3rd road intersection. That's pretty normal on most days anyways...and don't forget, this is Chinese New Years, which is a major holiday in Thailand, especially for the wealthy Chinese-Thais who would be the ones to be shopping at Central in the first place. Things will die down once the holidays pass and the newness factor wears off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyTheMook Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Had a look at the Shabushi*? restaurant which looks well worth the price, but there was a huge queue and we were too hungry to wait as the lady on the counter said it would be 20-25 minutes or so. But this restaurant certainly does look well worth the price and we will definitely be giving it a try.. Are drinks also included in that price? Drinks are included as well as ice cream and fresh fruit for deserts. The one in Central Mall in Bkk has an 45min to one hour wait every time I go there. I'm looking forward to trying this much closer one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTYstefan Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 strange later when the mall is getting older they will have promotions and other cheaper stuff. it is just that they have to make the profit for the loss on the furbishing. i have not been there yet but i will go there and have a look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 everything's made in china, high end low end, who cares. If I'm going to pay 3,200 baht for a t-shirt I care. Not everything is made in China. There are some very good quality clothes made in Thailand. These shirts were not high quality. The price was for the brand name only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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