Recent Dining Experiences - Reviews

[Shagger]

Tried the new Mexican joint in Jomtien "Amigo's". Food not impressive at all except for maybe the African chicken but overall I would say, waste of time, expensive and service is crap.

[cochran]

Last night we stopped by The Balcony on Pattaya Nua. We almost turned around and left, because as we rounded the corner it looked like the building was closed and condemned. As we stepped on around, we realized the restaurant is on the right side of the building only, and not on the side nearest the street.

We sat outside, in a nice little courtyard. There are several small tables, with large umbrellas, on a brick patio. The area also features a couple of large waterfall installations, which look nice but are very loud, to the point of impeding quiet conversation. Overall a decent atmosphere visually, but depending on your dinner companions you may be better served by staying indoors.

Appetizers were minestrone for her and foie gras for me. Her soup was quite thick and had little in the way of broth. She asked me, "Is it still soup if there's no water in it?" Flavor was good, with a tomato base, but the vegetables were a little overcooked ( I think this is what happened to the broth - the potatoes cooked down to starch). Mine was served with cooked apples, red cabbage, and vinaigrette. Maybe I had the wrong expectation. The actual serving of liver was quite small, had almost no texture, and not a lot of flavor. At 500 thb for the appetizer, I expected more.

My gf was drinking blue margaritas, and enjoyed them enough to have a second. After my overboard experience last Friday, I stuck with Coke. No surprises there.

Main course for her was a gratinated white snapper, served with fried potatoes and vegetables. Looked good, and smelled good. I didn't try this one.

I ordered a salmon steak (which turned out to be a fillet, but this is not a big deal for me), served in a dill sauce with french fries (shoestring style) and mixed steamed vegetables. The salmon is served well done, which is okay with me, but if you prefer something else, you should specify. The menu says the fish is marinated in olive oil and rosemary before cooking, and you can slightly taste the rosemary. The sauce was creamy and well seasoned, with extra served in a small gravy boat on the side. Nice touch, that. Decent piece of fish, and the serving size is quite reasonable. The french fries were not overcooked, but also not overly tasty. There's only so much you can do with a prepackaged, skinny french fry. The vegetables were steamed to the correct level, still a little crisp, and had a very buttery flavor. I'm skeptical enough to think that these may also have been prepackaged, but were still rather good.

Overall we spent almost 2k thb. I think it was a little expensive for what we got. I'm borderline on this place. There were a few positive notes, but also a helping of negative ones, leaving me quite ambivalent. I won't say we'll never go back, but I am sure this doesn't make our list of favorites.

I am totally jonesing for some Indian food, but also plan on a visit to the gym tonight. This typically means a quick bite here in the industrial park. We'll flip a coin and see where we end up....

[aussiechick]

PattayaParent - should try Sea Zone on Walking Street, never had a bad meal yet - somtimes the service is slow - but they also have the best Irish Coffee to complete the night.Every time my brother-in-law visits he always has the LARGE seafood platter and claims that nowhere does it better and for such a reasonable price.

[PattayaParent]

Tried the new Mexican joint in Jomtien "Amigo's". Food not impressive at all except for maybe the African chicken but overall I would say, waste of time, expensive and service is crap.

I'm surprised you had bad service there. We were the only people in the place and had 20 waiters to ourselves!!

Cochran, for Indian try The Taj on 3rd Road just opposite excite, good food and nice place but a bit more expensive that other places although not as costly as Indian by Nature.

Aussiechick, I don't usually do seafood in Pattaya but it was a special occassion for a friend and his choice of venue.

Edited April 29, 2009 by PattayaParent

[Jingthing]

Tried the new Mexican joint in Jomtien "Amigo's". Food not impressive at all except for maybe the African chicken but overall I would say, waste of time, expensive and service is crap.

Amigos is not a Mexican joint, not even close. It is a seaview restaurant serving mostly Thai food with a small number of Macau (China) style Portuguese dishes. Some more detailed info about what to expect here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=2686695

BTW, I disagree with Cochran about this place. I recommend a visit there for those looking for Portuguese food (where else are you going to get it?) and I am also concerned about their long term business prospects, so don't dawdle.

Edited April 29, 2009 by Jingthing

[cochran]

PattayaParent, Taj is on our list. We had to walk past it on our excellent visit to Cherry's and decided to try it out. Which type of Indian cuisine would you say they have? Is it more like Indian by Nature, or more like Ali Baba's, or something else? Looking forward to this one.

JingThing, hold on a sec - you said "I disagree with Cochran about this place." If we're talking about Amigos, I haven't eaten there. Any reviews posted about this one are from someone else. I was interested in this place because I know nothing about Portuguese food, but the reviews here have been so mixed that I haven't made the trip.

Edited April 29, 2009 by cochran

[Jingthing]

Sorry for the error Cochran, thanks for the correction, posting before coffee is my excuse.

[cochran]

No problem, but go get dosed up! Lack of caffeine can ruin your whole day!!

[cochran]

Thursday night - the new Brazilian chiarascurria between Central Festival and Beach Road (I think the name was Zico).

This is a new restaurant. According to the staff, they've been open just under a month. They feature indoor and outdoor seating, and the decor is nice but not overdone. A note on seating: sit inside. This place has good music to accompany your meal, but if you sit outside, it has to compete with traffic noise from beach road and with music from the mall, and it is just too much discord.

As we were seated, we were offered a complimentary cocktail, a capairina made with vodka instead of rum. This is served with a giant leaf as garnish. While the sugar tends to settle in the bottom of the glass, this was actually a good, refreshing drink served with plenty of ice. I ordered a second one before we were done here. They also make a good margarita, but be aware this is served chilled and without ice in the glass.

The salad bar is simply the best-supplied spread I've seen in Pattaya so far. Nice bowls of crisp, fresh, assorted greens (not all mixed together, but grouped in the salad bowl so you can pick what you like), parmesan, bacon, egg, tuna salad, peppers, onions, potato salad, pasta, etc etc. Wide array, all cold and fresh and quite tasty, especially the sliced roast turkey. Could have easily made a meal from the salad bar.

The staff assumes you haven't been to this type of restaurant before, as they should, and helpfully explain to you the red and green card system that they use. According to the server, they offer 15 different skewers as entree. Before the "parade of meat" begins, you are given a huge plate and shown to their selection of side dishes. Tonight's offerings were a vegetable beef soup / stew, steamed vegetables, steamed rice, spaghetti with tomato sauce, and a type of potato puff (mashed potatoes with a panko-ish coating). These are not the type of side dishes I've seen in other restaurants of this type, but perhaps this is what plays here. Others who have eaten at real churrascarias in Brazil can chime in on authenticity. The soup was very good, rich and hearty and not overly salty. The tomato sauce for the spaghetti was not great, and the potatoes didn't have much flavor. The steamed vegetables were good, but were getting a little limp already, and we were there before eight pm.

The main event: endless skewers of protein. We were offered: roast pineapple (?), prawns, white snapper, salmon, beef tenderloin, beef sirloin, chicken drumsticks, roast turkey, duck, pork sausage, pork tenderloin, shark, and maybe a couple other things. I lost track!! I didn't try the pineapple or the prawns or white snapper. The salmon was delicious and is a recommended pick. Be aware its a little dry on the edges but is great beyond that. The beef tenderloin, as well as the duck, was a bit too chewy for my taste, even though the beef was clearly medium and not overcooked. I didn't try the chicken or the sirloin. The roast turkey was my absolute favorite of the night. Good smoky flavor on the skin, tender and moist inside. Awesome. The pork sausage was very reminiscent of a bratwurst. The pork tenderloin was nicely done as well. The shark was an interesting flavor, but was unfortunately a little too dry. Is this normal with shark?

The place also offers blueberry cheesecake, a warm brownie cake, and an apple dessert, but we did not try any of these. no room left!!

Pointers: Sit inside. Order drinks. Don't go here unless you're really hungry, because you will eat a lot. Or maybe I just lack willpower in the face of grilled animals...

Total tariff was just over 2000. It was seven fifty each for the meal, as reported in another thread, and in my opinion worth it. We'll definitely go back here. Super convenient, good food, nice energetic music, enjoyable atmosphere.

[Jingthing]

Others who have eaten at real churrascarias in Brazil can chime in on authenticity.

The buffet doesn't sound like you would get in Brazil, but part of it would be salad items, but there would be a lot more, and it would be Brazilian. I think 750 is a good price point for them. 1000 too much especially considering the buffet which is not like Brazil.

[MeetJohnDoe]

Thursday night - the new Brazilian chiarascurria between Central Festival and Beach Road (I think the name was Zico).

We were offered: roast pineapple (?), prawns, white snapper, salmon, beef tenderloin, beef sirloin, chicken drumsticks, roast turkey, duck, pork sausage, pork tenderloin, shark, and maybe a couple other things.

The shark was an interesting flavor, but was unfortunately a little too dry.

A very thorough and good report. Seems like a lot of seafood, however, for a cutascuria, but I guess that's a concession to the locals' obsession with seafood.

On principle, however, I do not eat at any restaurant that serves shark, so thanks for the heads-up.

Edited April 30, 2009 by MeetJohnDoe

[Jingthing]

On principle, however, I do not eat at any restaurant that serves shark, so thanks for the heads-up.

Why? If they are serving shark meat then the shark hasn't been killed only for its fin. Shark meat isn't my favorite taste but I have had it done very nicely in California.

[MeetJohnDoe]

On principle, however, I do not eat at any restaurant that serves shark, so thanks for the heads-up.

Why? If they are serving shark meat then the shark hasn't been killed only for its fin.

Shark populations are critically endangered world-wide (as are most of the other main fisheries). It didn't make any difference to the shark that more than its fins were consumed...it still ended up dead! The point is avoid consuming endangered non-farmed fish species.

The whole seafood/fishing industry is atrocious...with massive drift-nets sweeping at one go huge swaths of the mid-ocean and the ocean floor, ensnaring and drowning rare turtles, porpoises, whales, and other marine mammals as well as all life on the ocean floor. The sicking thing is not only the complete destruction of the ocean eco-system but that something like 50% of more of the catch is thrown-back as "by-catch" or unwanted inedible fish...but by that time, these fish are already dead or injured/stressed and soon die when back in the water.

Edited April 30, 2009 by MeetJohnDoe

[Jingthing]

Well, I am not a fisheries expert but watching a tv show about shark fin soup, I think they said most shark were finned and then tossed, so if this was stopped and shark were only taken whole, the problem wouldn't be this bad. I respect your passion. I don't really love shark meat anyway but I wouldn't boycott a place for offering it. I did have shark fin soup a few times and it is quite delicious, but I can live without it and it is too bad it is so popular with Asian people.

[Ulysses G.]

On principle, however, I do not eat at any restaurant that serves shark, so thanks for the heads-up.

Why? If they are serving shark meat then the shark hasn't been killed only for its fin. Shark meat isn't my favorite taste but I have had it done very nicely in California.

The shark I had in San Francisco tasted much like swordfish - which I love. The local stuff here does not taste very good to me.

[timekeeper]

Thursday night - the new Brazilian chiarascurria between Central Festival and Beach Road (I think the name was Zico).

This is a new restaurant. According to the staff, they've been open just under a month. They feature indoor and outdoor seating, and the decor is nice but not overdone. A note on seating: sit inside. This place has good music to accompany your meal, but if you sit outside, it has to compete with traffic noise from beach road and with music from the mall, and it is just too much discord.

As we were seated, we were offered a complimentary cocktail, a capairina made with vodka instead of rum. This is served with a giant leaf as garnish. While the sugar tends to settle in the bottom of the glass, this was actually a good, refreshing drink served with plenty of ice. I ordered a second one before we were done here. They also make a good margarita, but be aware this is served chilled and without ice in the glass.

The salad bar is simply the best-supplied spread I've seen in Pattaya so far. Nice bowls of crisp, fresh, assorted greens (not all mixed together, but grouped in the salad bowl so you can pick what you like), parmesan, bacon, egg, tuna salad, peppers, onions, potato salad, pasta, etc etc. Wide array, all cold and fresh and quite tasty, especially the sliced roast turkey. Could have easily made a meal from the salad bar.

The staff assumes you haven't been to this type of restaurant before, as they should, and helpfully explain to you the red and green card system that they use. According to the server, they offer 15 different skewers as entree. Before the "parade of meat" begins, you are given a huge plate and shown to their selection of side dishes. Tonight's offerings were a vegetable beef soup / stew, steamed vegetables, steamed rice, spaghetti with tomato sauce, and a type of potato puff (mashed potatoes with a panko-ish coating). These are not the type of side dishes I've seen in other restaurants of this type, but perhaps this is what plays here. Others who have eaten at real churrascarias in Brazil can chime in on authenticity. The soup was very good, rich and hearty and not overly salty. The tomato sauce for the spaghetti was not great, and the potatoes didn't have much flavor. The steamed vegetables were good, but were getting a little limp already, and we were there before eight pm.

The main event: endless skewers of protein. We were offered: roast pineapple (?), prawns, white snapper, salmon, beef tenderloin, beef sirloin, chicken drumsticks, roast turkey, duck, pork sausage, pork tenderloin, shark, and maybe a couple other things. I lost track!! I didn't try the pineapple or the prawns or white snapper. The salmon was delicious and is a recommended pick. Be aware its a little dry on the edges but is great beyond that. The beef tenderloin, as well as the duck, was a bit too chewy for my taste, even though the beef was clearly medium and not overcooked. I didn't try the chicken or the sirloin. The roast turkey was my absolute favorite of the night. Good smoky flavor on the skin, tender and moist inside. Awesome. The pork sausage was very reminiscent of a bratwurst. The pork tenderloin was nicely done as well. The shark was an interesting flavor, but was unfortunately a little too dry. Is this normal with shark?

The place also offers blueberry cheesecake, a warm brownie cake, and an apple dessert, but we did not try any of these. no room left!!

Pointers: Sit inside. Order drinks. Don't go here unless you're really hungry, because you will eat a lot. Or maybe I just lack willpower in the face of grilled animals...

Total tariff was just over 2000. It was seven fifty each for the meal, as reported in another thread, and in my opinion worth it. We'll definitely go back here. Super convenient, good food, nice energetic music, enjoyable atmosphere.

another great revue cochran, thank you.

i may go here tonight after reading this.

i have been to the one in Samui and look forward to going here

[Phil Conners]

Re Zico - thanks Cochran.

Don't remember seeing anything like the potato puff you describe in Brazil, but there are a lot of things in the salad bars so why not.

Two kinds of beef - and they were chewy ... no lamb ... probably an interesting experience for those who haven't tried the real thing ...

I'm still on the fence on this one ...

[Jingthing]

I wonder if you like the beef offering and request they serve you that five times, will they give you attitude or say cannot sir? It sounds like possibly there are not enough beef offerings, also a difference from Brazil. They really should keep the price at 750, not 1000, with these limitations.

Edited May 1, 2009 by Jingthing

[junki3korean]

Moom Aroi in Naklua is prolly the best Thai-Seafood Restaurant, I have dined in Pattaya.

From Atmosphere to food they done it well! well priced too!

8-10

ANdy

[cochran]

Hello, everyone. Been a few days and I wanted to quickly catch up.

Not much to add for this past weekend, as the gf and I went out to Koh Chang for the long weekend. Did manage to drop in at Nicky's on Friday morning before we left Pattaya, and I'll say again this is my favorite breakfast in town so far. Asked for the bread toasted this time, hold the beans, and I'm a happy guy.

Koh Chang was a great time, but staying focused on our topic here...this is not a good getaway for the "foodie" crowd. We had some average food and some bad food and one really good meal.

We stayed at Paddy's Palms, because I thought it would be a hoot to crash out behind an Irish pub on a Thai island. Also their rates are great - 1300 baht per night, including breakfast. Room was clean and in good repair, nothing fancy, but seemed well kept. The food in their restaurant was just average though. Not as good as Jameson's for sure, and the service was terrible at lunch time. It recovered somewhat for breakfast, but off putting at midday for sure. I did try Magner's cider here in the pint bottle and enjoyed it very much. So far, Stowford Press draught is still the best, but the bottled Magner's is a close second.

We had dinner one night at Texas Steak House, and...well, I just should have known better. When I asked for the imported beef and got the old "mai mii", should have put on the walkin' shoes then. But stayed and had the domestic version. It must have spent quite some time in the MSG/tenderizer/marinade, based on the aftereffects. I won't go into detail. This place is best left alone, but does make a decent margarita.

We also tried the Blue Lagoon restaurant at lunch and were very pleased with it - food was not over-the-top incredible, but the setting and the atmosphere were very nice and we had a long, leisurely late lunch there. Not expensive, and very relaxing, with good drinks - Tom Collins for me and a screwdriver for her.

On Saturday night, the 15 Palms. We ordered, waited, tasted, paid and left. Meals were almost untouched. This food was simply not good at all. Very little flavor, didn't really measure up to the menu descriptions. Great location and loads of potential, but not a winner. My first choices for food and drink here were both unavailable, so I was already not too pleased. Olde English cider in the can is terrible, by the way (not as bad as Blackthorn, but darn close).

We left 15 Palms and went to Invito Italian restaurant and this was where we had the one really good meal of our stay. I had a four-cheese pizza and my girl ordered poached sea bass. We were both very pleased. The cheese pizza is not overloaded, and you can really taste the parmesan on it, which is a good thing in my book. The only problem here was the lack of a bartender (he'd not shown up or something), so the drink availability was limited. I had an Irish coffee to finish my meal, and it didn't taste quite right. Come to find out, the waiter who made it substituted Johnnie Walker Black Label for the intended Jameson's. Otherwise, good meal and nice place, quite a departure from the normal beach shacks.

I know you don't go to Koh Chang for the food, but for the scenery and activities and relaxation the place offers, but this is just my take on the food scene there. After all, you do have to eat something!!

No report from last night. Had a late lunch on the way back yesterday, so went to the gym and skipped dinner. Maybe tonight I'll get to indulge my Indian jones...

[aussiechick]

cochran - I finally made it to Jamesons this morning for breakfast, after you stating how good it was I realised it had been a while since I had had breakfast there. You are right it is good and VERY filling. 2 eggs, bacon, sausage, fried tomato, fried potatoes, baked beans, fried bread, coffee, orange juice, toast and jam. Can I go and sleep it off now? There won't be much work out of me today!

Thanks for the recommendation (I think) - well worth it.

[cochran]

aussiechick - you're welcome. I know what you mean - you get up early for breakfast and then you need a nap to recover! I do think Jameson's is the 2nd best in town, so far, and that makes it pretty good in my book!

Revisited Indian by Nature last night for dinner - murgh-something chicken from the tandoor, a little rice, and garlic naan, with massala poppadums for a starter. Great, as expected. I like this place a lot. The gf had a lamb vindalho curry that tasted really good as well, and we tried paneer tikka - basically tandoor-cooked cubes of cottage cheese. I'm not a fan of this dish, at all, but as far as I know it was cooked and seasoned well. Let me say that in general, if you like Ali Baba, you'll absolutely LOVE Indian by Nature. Easily as good as Madras Darbar, but a different menu and a better atmosphere.

[patklang]

cochran - I finally made it to Jamesons this morning for breakfast, after you stating how good it was I realised it had been a while since I had had breakfast there. You are right it is good and VERY filling. 2 eggs, bacon, sausage, fried tomato, fried potatoes, baked beans, fried bread, coffee, orange juice, toast and jam. Can I go and sleep it off now? There won't be much work out of me today!

Thanks for the recommendation (I think) - well worth it.

WOW

Can you eat all that,far too much for me lol

[aussiechick]

patklang - I left the toast and jam

[stuffonsticks]

Went into Royal garden yesterday for first time in a while and theres a new place called Coffee House just opened on the ground floor second rd end.

The food was outstanding,place was empty but its buy one meal get one free. Highly recommended.

Also recommend Robins Nest on Soi Diana and for a good breakfast Tropical Burts,second rd opposite Greggs that used to be good but isnt now.

[dalmatian]

If anybody gets over the darkside (east Pattaya) then I do recommend dropping in at Cafe Uno. Very unassuming place with about 6 tables but does great food. He seems famous for his paninnis but his pizzas and indian fayre compare favourably with the best italian and best indians out there. Their Chicken Jalfrezi is the best I have tasted and for the price 195 baht including poppadoms and rice I don't think you could get a better deal anywhere. Have had their tuna melt paninni for 110 baht, personally too much for me but the wife is always happy if I bring a piece home in a doggie bag. If he was located down in walking street or Soi Bukhao I think he would be packed to the rafters everynight, would need more than 6 tables. The boss is Craig, great guy, get down there and try for yourself. Think he delivers aswell.

[patklang]

patklang - I left the toast and jam

Thank god for that hehehehehehehehe.

BTW

how many hours did you sleep after that monster brekkie lol.

[cochran]

dalmatian - this place has been recommended earlier in this thread as having great burgers as well. I know nothing at all about the darkside, so could you be so kind as to give detailed directions on how to get there? If you know their operating hours and days closed that would be helpful too. Its a new month, so its burger time!

[Phil Conners]

I've had paninis at Cafe Uno and agree they are very good. Last week I had my first pizza there though and I wasn't impressed. The dough was undercooked and the taste was just ok. For pizza I much prefer Dao's Cafe around the corner, or Pizza Big in Naklua.

[MeetJohnDoe]

dalmatian - this place has been recommended earlier in this thread as having great burgers as well. I know nothing at all about the darkside, so could you be so kind as to give detailed directions on how to get there? If you know their operating hours and days closed that would be helpful too. Its a new month, so its burger time!

Normally, we Farsiders like to keep these places to ourselves. However, in the interests intra-Pattaya harmony I will give you directions

First you need to know soi Khow Noi...if you are at Central Pattaya road and the Sukhumvit intersection, make a right and merge over to the left lane. Driving down Sukhumvit towards South Pattaya Road, at the SECOND 7-11 (there is one on the left just after the turn...go to the next one), make a left and you will be on Khow Noi. Drive up KN about 1 kilometer. Cafe Uno is on a corner plot on the left side of the street. If you see a sign for Dao Cafe or Noi's Bar, you just passed it.

I too like the food at Uno...just be aware that it's a small operation so wait times can be long, especially if there are others there. Also, the pizzas are only served from 6 pm onwards. There have been mixed reviews on the pizzas...like Phil, I think Dao's can't be beat...but I like them oily.

Edited May 8, 2009 by MeetJohnDoe