Phuket View restaurant on Rang Hill.

 

Has anybody recently been at this restaurant ?

 

Once upon a time t was a good and pleasant restaurant, later it fell down and it has been closed for a while.

 

Yesterday  (I was going to the always very good Tung Ka Café, one of my favorite in Phuket....)  I noticed that it is open again, with a good number  of cars parked outside, I suppose that the management has changed.

 

Anybody with a recent experience ?

 

 

 

 

29 minutes ago, federicoP said:

Once upon a time t was a good and pleasant restaurant, later it fell down and it has been closed for a while.

Fell down? Physically or figuratively? 

2 hours ago, oilinki said:

Fell down? Physically or figuratively? 

 

Ah, ah, english definitively is not my language ??

 

 

 

 

Decided that I needed to have a damn good steak that would be cooked to perfection, because although I love cooking and can produce a few good dishes, my efforts at the perfect steak have been inconsistent to say the least.

 

Not only that, I needed cheering up because my Thai daughter and her mother have just left Patong to go and live in the north of France and I was sad.

 

I decided to go to Churasco, as I had been once before many, many moons ago, and I chose the Black Angus aged 350 g steak, medium cooked (which in this place is still nice and pink in the middle) along with a baked potato with sour cream.

 

I would have liked to have had a couple of nice glasses of wine to accompany it, but the only wine they had by the glass, was the house wine, and when I enquired, the staff didn't know what it was/from whence it came, so I asked to look at it and shock horror, it was the Montclair red wine and I couldn't bring myself to drink such an inferior wine with such a nice steak.

 

So, I had to order a bottle of Evans and Tate, Western Australia Shiraz, (about 1600 baht a bottle in total) which made the whole dining experience a little more expensive than I had originally anticipated, but I wasn't about to be undone by Montclair!

 

Well, the steak would have to be one of the best I have ever tasted in my life and done to perfection, so much so that the next night I couldn't help but thinking about it and was tempted to go back for another!

 

The wine was good and the service was excellent so I couldn't really complain, although I did mention to the manager that I thought such a good restaurant with good food, should at least get away from serving Montclair, which is inferior, as IMO It tends to undermine the offering, and I offered to send her the name of a wine distributor who can supply some South American wine at around 400 baht a bottle.

 

Of course the restaurant comes with the usual 10% +7% add-ons, which I am not keen on because the way it is calculated is a bit of a rort IMO.

 

Overall, if it is just the food one is after, and especially a steak, then this has to stand out amongst the best of them.

 

On Tuesday, October 30, 2018 at 4:04 PM, xylophone said:

a bottle of Evans and Tate, Western Australia Shiraz, (about 1600 baht a bottle in total)

"In total"? You mean the total cost of steak AND the wine?  ????

 

9 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

"In total"? You mean the total cost of steak AND the wine?  ????

 

No just the wine with service charge + VAT!! 

 

Total bill for a steak with wine was around 2900 baht...…...expensive dining IMO.

6 hours ago, xylophone said:

16 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

"In total"? You mean the total cost of steak AND the wine?  ????

 

No just the wine with service charge + VAT!! 

 

Total bill for a steak with wine was around 2900 baht...…...expensive dining IMO.

Shame! Because that would've been a pretty good deal! ????

 

Today I tried a restaurant in the new Central Floresta on the ground floor in the food hall opposite the Tops supermarket.

 

There are a couple of these small grill places next to each other - one does meat, the other seafood I think. You can choose the piece of meat you want. A girl takes you to the butcher, the guy I spoke to was/spoke English so I chose 300g of Aussie grass fed tenderloin. It was delicious, but I asked for medium to well done and it was a little too well done. Next time I'll say "burnt on the outside, bloody in the centre". 778 Bt for 354g. The "cooking service", fries and pepper sauce was 165 Bt. The fries were enormous but the pepper sauce wasn't very good at all but, as the steak was so tasty, I wasn't too worried.

 

(The red wine on the shelf was... yep, a box of Mont Clair ???? )

On 10/30/2018 at 9:04 AM, xylophone said:

 I love cooking and can produce a few good dishes, my efforts at the perfect steak have been inconsistent to say the least.

 

 

I shelled out for a very good skillet 15y or so years ago when back in Aus for a visit, that skillet was the key, so easy it's incredible!

Buy a good cut from Villa Mart, season with salt and whatever you like an hour or so before cooking (have the meat at room temp when about to cook and rub a bit of oil over it), get the skillet nice and hot, through the steak in and give it 2.5 to 3mins for med-rare, flip once and do the same. Let it rest for 5mins after cooking.

What's the update on the Green Man in Chalong? I have not been there for 13-14 years, ever since they got rid of the Indian chef. I drive by there and see the front in a complete mess, not many cars there. Looks very run-down from the outside.

12 minutes ago, Somtamnication said:

What's the update on the Green Man in Chalong? I have not been there for 13-14 years, ever since they got rid of the Indian chef. I drive by there and see the front in a complete mess, not many cars there. Looks very run-down from the outside.

Quite sad, really and a shadow of it's former glory. Howard and Mrs Howard still mine hosts, but are tired looking, as is the building and grounds. Going through the motions only. Occasional regular, or like me those who drop by for a quick one for old times sake if passing....

A faded vanity project. Probably also suffered a lot due to the tunnel works making it hard to access.

"Howard and Mrs Howard still mine hosts,"

 

That was always the problem from the very start. They wanted it to be a social club for the local elite only. Looked down on the common folks.

 

I frequented the restaurant in the early days, had a bad stomach a couple of times, mind you I often have that reaction to sea foods if not so fresh. 

 

I gave up completely 13 years ago due to the bad attitude of the then English so called manager.  Never been back. Pity really as it my nearest real pub/eatery.  

 

 

 

GM never did it for me ' Mine Hosts' seemed to be the Sybil and Basil type snooty expats everyone tries to dissociate themselves from.

 

One of the things that may provide its longevity is that it's the local Masons' hangout- yet another reason not to bother. I'm not a fan of in/exclusive 'secret (but oh no we're not) societies.

"GM never did it for me ' Mine Hosts' seemed to be the Sybil and Basil type snooty expats everyone tries to dissociate themselves from."

 

FYI, Sybil is a nice Thai lady.

I have time on my hands today. We're waiting for tropical storm Pabuk and are prepared to stay at home for a day or two. There are sandbags at the front gate as we had a flash flood off the nearby hill a few years ago, which flooded the garden and our workshop to a depth of 20cm. I don't want that again!

I like TGM. I don't go often because it's expensive but I like Howard and Nui a look forward to catching up with them every few months.

I'm pretty sure I know what snooty means and neither Howard nor Nui is that.

It's not 'The Aussie Pub' but I don't think it's snooty or pretentious.

I have spoken to people who feel a bit uncomfortable in TGM and I understand it to an extent. However, I don't think it's the fault of the owners. They are not deliberately creating an environment to deter people, it's simply that it's a little more than a bar girl bringing you a pint and you being left alone. Howard will welcome you and stay for a chat. It happens that he's a pretty intelligent guy but I've honestly never heard him talk down to anyone. Some of his views are a little eccentric but he's cheerful and welcoming.

 

It's tough to get praise on Thai Visa!!
Far from being 'a vanity project', TGM is a pretty faithful attempt at recreating an Elizabethan half-timbered house, with a lot of features that are much more than cosmetic. The enormous timber beams are structural, the design is authentic and there are many features which give it a realistic feel such as the use of not-at-all-Thai brickwork in the floors and outdoors. Add to that an arched-roof cellar built in brick (no small feat), and sympathetically designed surrounding buildings and you have what any architect would consider one of the best built structures in Phuket, and certainly the closest of any to a historical design.

TGM could certainly do with some maintenance. It has clearly not had much spent on it since it was built, however it's hardly falling down and if anything, looks more realistic as an older building.

 

I'm not a big fan of the Masons but I live and let live. What I can say is that Howard and his masonic friends did great work at the time of the tsunami and as far as I know they still carry on helping the community, much as does Rotary, etc.

There's a Friday afternoon bridge club which has been going on for years. The pub quiz on Thursdays is one of the best-set that I've ever been to. I did say that Howard was intelligent didn't I?

 

Rather than fading into sad irrelevance TGM is now a centre for various forms of dance in Phuket.

It's not an interest of mine by a long way, but various types of dance lessons are run from one of the buildings at TGM (which has a sprung floor, if I remember!) and the pub has well-attended dance nights at least twice a week with an enthusiastic and cosmopolitan following of slim and gorgeous young women, and naturally optimistic men!

There are also open-mic nights, theatre nights and choir nights.

I could go on. Suffice it to say that Howard and Nui seem to be happy in their niche, a niche which is evolving rather than stagnating.

Good luck in the storm. We're probably not going to get a pasting in Phuket but it might be interesting!

 

????

 

 

 

Sorry, but when TGM opened, it purposely did not put Thai food on the menu as it didn't wan't certain types of couples that the "host" looked down upon. I know that for a fact as the "host" told me that.

The "host" is/was a complete snob.

After Sanjay left as cook, you could never get the same dish twice made the same way. Sometimes OK, sometimes dreadful.

Then came the rather obvious gambit to try and keep customers there all evening during the quiz.

The break between the first round and the second round got longer and longer. As did the break between the end of the quiz and the "landlords" question. By that time, it was past 11:30 at night. Most people saw through it and slowly drifted away.

 

Then came the Christmas dinner fiascos. Cost an arm and a leg, had to be booked in advance and was always late and sub-standard, or, menu items that were promised didn't appear. It wasn't just a single Christmas, either. Happened a couple of times.

 

Have no idea if he's improved as I haven't been back for many, many years.

9 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

The "host" is/was a complete snob.

 

Exactly !

 

29 minutes ago, Tapster said:

I'm pretty sure I know what snooty means and neither Howard nor Nui is that.

 

What bubble are you living in ! 

Sad, really. It was an institution in its heyday. I hope it recovers and for God's sake, do some gardening work!

So, you really didn't read my post, then?

He had some great F1 memorabilia upstairs, I could never relate to Howard, just came across as a tossa, used to enjoy the quiz but as said it got silly with the long breaks and the English bloke that started doing the questions (name began with a B I think, he used to run something in Patong, can't remember what that was either) was another tossa. Miss the onion bargies though!

I often go to Red Duck, really nice place, not very expensive and food is amazing

Already then. Anyone ate at The Deck in Kamala? (Lebanese fusion food). I crave M.E. food.

1 hour ago, Somtamnication said:

Already then. Anyone ate at The Deck in Kamala? (Lebanese fusion food). I crave M.E. food.

Aren't there a lot of M.E. restaurants in Patong?

On 2/18/2019 at 1:31 PM, Somtamnication said:

Already then. Anyone ate at The Deck in Kamala? (Lebanese fusion food). I crave M.E. food.

 

Good food, but a little expensive.

Where is the good calzones in phuket??  I need it

Casa (Cosa) Nostra in Chalong. They also deliver.

We are fortunate in that there are several good eateries fairly close to our house.   One of them is "Ceres", a Korean restaurant on Chaofa West, about 500 metres or so north of the TOT offices.   We usually have lunch there once a week or so, and are always impressed by the freshness and quality of the food.   Usually I go for the spicy pork, though today they had a beef soup on as a special.   This doesn't happen very often as the beef is imported from Korea.   M'Sahib had a noodle soup and a seared tuna salad.   Doesn't matter what you order, every meal comes with a range of between 6 to 8 accompanying side dishes (gratis) such as kimchi and other fermented vegetables etc.   Today's lunch was 850 baht, which was inclusive of a litre jug of draught Leo for me, and a fresh passion fruit drink for M'Sahib.   Some photos.

I always wondered about that place. Thanks for the info, Pagallim. (BTW, Farang Paradise still open?).

52 minutes ago, Somtamnication said:

I always wondered about that place. Thanks for the info, Pagallim. (BTW, Farang Paradise still open?).

Yes, FP is still open.   A bit more on Ceres, there's quite a large car park to the rear, and re the building itself, with comfortable air con inside, bistro style with some interesting old TV sets/sewing machines for decoration.   Outside at the front, the tables are set up with Korean BBQ/cook your own meat facilities.   The staff are also very good, as is their range of beers, and their wines are very reasonably priced. 

We've been to this place a few times recently, and have been impressed with the quality of the food and service.   "Phuket Coffee" is about 100 metres from the Phuket Immigration offices in Phuket Town.   There's a large inside area with air con, as well as a large, well shaded terrace with multi fans and a water mist system for ambient cooling.   The terrace is right next to a small reservoir.   Lunch today with a couple of friends, lots of different dishes and desserts, 5 large Heineken's, 3 gourmet coffees, and several soft drinks.   Total for 4 of us was 1900 baht, which for what we'd eaten and drank, seemed ridiculously cheap.   Some photos:

 

3 hours ago, pagallim said:

We've been to this place a few times recently, and have been impressed with the quality of the food and service.   "Phuket Coffee" is about 100 metres from the Phuket Immigration offices in Phuket Town.   There's a large inside area with air con, as well as a large, well shaded terrace with multi fans and a water mist system for ambient cooling.   The terrace is right next to a small reservoir.   Lunch today with a couple of friends, lots of different dishes and desserts, 5 large Heineken's, 3 gourmet coffees, and several soft drinks.   Total for 4 of us was 1900 baht, which for what we'd eaten and drank, seemed ridiculously cheap.   Some photos:

 

 

 Can't quite place that. I guess turn left at lights away from Siphan Hin. Towards lake ?  Looks like worth a visit.