Recent Dining Experiences - Reviews

[cochran]

Quick note from Sunday night dinner: Narissa chinese restaurant, affiliated with Siam Bayview Hotel.

Had the shredded chicken Szechuan style (served cold on a bed of julienned cucumber with a thick, peanut flavored sauce), steamed fish in soya sauce, and the crispy duck.

The sauce for the chicken takes some getting used to, but is quite flavorful if you like slightly spicy peanut butter. The fish was average, but the duck was killer!

Word of advice: when they say crispy, they really,really mean it. The duck was actually quite dry, which was fine with me, but may not suit others. Its served with very thin crepes, sliced green onions and cucumber, and a sweet duck sauce. Delicious dish. The large is enough for two people.

Drinks here were very good as well. Total bill about 1800. Wasn't our first visit here, and won't be our last.

[jcowle]

If you like Japanese food there is a small new restaurant called Wasabi Tei on 3rd road a few shops down from the Family Mart on the corner where Xzyte dico is located (red and black decor easily seen from the road).

The Chef spent 15 years in Japan and it shows in his cooking, cheap too.

Buddy.

Eat here last night can also confirm the food was great and reasonably priced.

Well worth a visit.

JOHN

[eyebee]

Although it can't be called "fine dining", I just have to recommend a little Italian restaurant I have discovered recently. It is located on soi X-Zyte (the first turning off soi Chayapoon, and where the Continental Bakery is located). It's rather difficult to find and has no name. Walk up soi X-Zyte from soi Chayapoon and keep looking to the left. Just after the Continental Bakery you will see a bar called the St George & Dragon and just after that an outside bar called the Essex Arms. Look down a little alley just after the George and you will see a couple of long tables, with usually a number of people sitting there. This is the restaurant. You can sit outside on the long table with a number of Italians or inside on more traditional small tables.

Five of us went the other night. I had mushroom bruschetta to start (Tomato is also available), very tasty, although the bread was slightly over-toasted. Followed this with a huge bowl of penne pasta in a smoked bacon sauce. Very tasty! I also had three glasses of house red wine, not the greatest in the world, but quite drinkable. Total cost of the meal? 360 baht! This must be the best deal in Pattaya. All my dining companions were also very satisfied with their meals. Highly recommended.

[eyebee]

Why is it that every time I write a post, the topic dies? Anyway, this is for a *bump* as the topic is too good to die.

[MeetJohnDoe]

Why is it that every time I write a post, the topic dies? Anyway, this is for a *bump* as the topic is too good to die.

Don't worry...it's the weekend so some folks are sure to go out to eat and report back.

At the very least, we will probably get another report from that fella who only goes out with his girlfriend to fancy places and then regales us with the details of everything she ate (I think he is so in love he would give us a bite by bite description of her chewing if he could )

Edited May 23, 2009 by MeetJohnDoe

[syd barrett]

Although it can't be called "fine dining", I just have to recommend a little Italian restaurant I have discovered recently. It is located on soi X-Zyte (the first turning off soi Chayapoon, and where the Continental Bakery is located). It's rather difficult to find and has no name. Walk up soi X-Zyte from soi Chayapoon and keep looking to the left. Just after the Continental Bakery you will see a bar called the St George & Dragon and just after that an outside bar called the Essex Arms. Look down a little alley just after the George and you will see a couple of long tables, with usually a number of people sitting there. This is the restaurant. You can sit outside on the long table with a number of Italians or inside on more traditional small tables.

Five of us went the other night. I had mushroom bruschetta to start (Tomato is also available), very tasty, although the bread was slightly over-toasted. Followed this with a huge bowl of penne pasta in a smoked bacon sauce. Very tasty! I also had three glasses of house red wine, not the greatest in the world, but quite drinkable. Total cost of the meal? 360 baht! This must be the best deal in Pattaya. All my dining companions were also very satisfied with their meals. Highly recommended.

Thanks for the info. I know this soi, it is called soi Suavaphuni or something, I just call it soi flood because when it rains it is 2 feet deep with water.

I have noticed the Italian there, I will give it a try and report back.

[ericg1953]

For the 2nd week in a row I hit the BBQ Rib night at Cherries. It is every friday nite....all the ribs you can eat..salad bar,dessert and coffee...249 baht and the ribs were the best I have eaten anywhere here. I think it's a great value and a great meal.

[JimmyTheMook]

If you like Japanese food there is a small new restaurant called Wasabi Tei on 3rd road a few shops down from the Family Mart on the corner where Xzyte dico is located (red and black decor easily seen from the road).

The Chef spent 15 years in Japan and it shows in his cooking, cheap too.

Buddy.

Eat here last night can also confirm the food was great and reasonably priced.

Well worth a visit.

JOHN

Will try this place after these two recommendations.

[cochran]

Come on MeetJohnDoe, you wouldn't want me to leave out half the story, would you?

Saturday night we went to the Bartimes restaurant on Walking Street. It was recommended early on in this thread, and we were on our way to a repeat visit to La Notte when we stopped in.

I have to start being more careful about the drinks I order when I'm out in public. I'll order something on the menu that sounds like it will taste good, only to have it arrive at the table looking rather...unmanly. Know what I mean? You'd think they could serve stuff in a regular glass without fruit and flowers and etc if a male orders it. Oh well. Their signature cocktail is pretty good, but looks a little fruity. Give it a shot, but take a miss on their Blue Hawaii. Not so good.

Appetizers: The chicken wings have a good flavor, but they are served very very hot, right out of the fryer, so be careful. The Thai style grilled pork was a little chewy for my taste.

Entrees here were not very good. Duck with a green pepper sauce for her (served with mashed potatoes and a small side salad) and a filet for me, served with goose liver on top, and a side of potato casserole and mushrooms. Serious lack of flavor here. Steak was undercooked, and didn't seem seasoned at all. Tenderness was okay, texture was more or less there, but no flavor at all. The goose liver tasted very bad - may have been turned, I don't know. Anyway, stop in here for a drink and move on...my recommendation.

[cochran]

Can anyone recommend a really good German restaurant in Pattaya? Food quality more important than beer quality in this case...

[jbaldwin]

Can anyone recommend a really good German restaurant in Pattaya? Food quality more important than beer quality in this case...

Gerhard's, Soi 16/2, Naklua Road

[davethailand]

I don't eat out that much but one place i do go to regularly is Captains Corner at the Residence Garden on Thrapaya rd (spelling?) best Wiener schnitzel I've had in Pattaya and also the 395bht bbq buffet is also very good with a large choice of meats etc and also a selection of Thai dishes. Its one of the rare places in pattaya where I sit by the pool where there is nice lighting and eat and it actually feels like I'm not in Pattaya and more like I'm on holiday elsewhere.

[PattayaParent]

Went to the Saturday night International buffet at Hard Rock Cafe. Western food, Japanese, Thai, pig on a spit and barbequed seafood (rock lobster, squid, prawns).

All very tasty but the 'restaurant' has more of an American Diner feel to it, which may go with the theme I expect but doesn't give a 'fine dining' experience.

950 Baht all you can eat AND all you can drink Singha Light beer being the only beer available, and house wine. Whisky also available but I don't know what sort.

750 Baht on weekdays (Sun~Thu) when the pig is not available

[xminator]

How have the last year treated the restaurants around Jomtien Complex? Is Hot Stone Grill still there? What about that Italian place? Heard the Hungarian place closed, is that true? I miss the restaurant hunt now that I do the money grind in Europe...

[Lost in LOS]

How have the last year treated the restaurants around Jomtien Complex? Is Hot Stone Grill still there? What about that Italian place? Heard the Hungarian place closed, is that true? I miss the restaurant hunt now that I do the money grind in Europe...

stone grill still there

italian place still there

olivers still there

hungarian is now hot legs sports bar........progress

[cochran]

Update:

Its been a little slow lately on the new restaurants front. Work is getting increasingly demanding and there's just not as much time any more. Also was out of town this past weekend at Kao Yai National Park - worth the trip, beautiful place.

jbaldwin, we followed up on your recommendation last week of Bei Gerhard, soi 16/2, Naklua. For those unfamiliar, this is a German restaurant (Schwabian, to be specific) with an open-air setting. Parking was not too difficult, and as we were there fairly late in the evening, the temperature wasn't too bad either. One gripe with the environment: there were people constantly wandering in and out of the place trying to sell copies of DVDs. This did nothing to enhance the atmosphere or to encourage a nice dinner conversation.

On to more positive things. I have commented before about the lamentable lack of choices in beer that you typically find here, and was pleased to see that this place offers Erdinger wheat beers, in regular, dunkel, and cristal varieties. I really like this beer, though many of my German friends / colleagues tell me they don't think its very good. Gerhard does not have too much of a selection either, but at least there's some variety as compared to other establishments.

As an appetizer I ordered the french onion soup. Its decent, not spectacular. You can really taste the sweetness of the sauteed onions in the soup, and there are plenty of croutons (though they're rather soft) and enough cheese on top to satisfy. I would say that the soup is typical.

I wanted to try their potato salad, but didn't get to it. As an entree I ordered their homemade maultaschen in bacon and onion broth. This is like a huge German multilayered ravioli, with minced meat and spices. My serving was three large pieces, and it was more than enough. There is a ton of shredded bacon in the onion broth, and the dough on the maultaschen was firm but soft. This was a really good dish, and the first time I've been able to find it since about 2004 when I briefly visited Schwabia (most of my time in Germany has been in Saxonia, and I don't enjoy Saxonian cuisine as much).

My gf ordered what she thought was a plate of mixed sausages, but was really a plate of cold cuts with some cheese and pickles. She said the flavors were okay, but it wasn't what she was really in the mood for.

All told - good beer, decent appetizer, really tasty main course. The place was not too expensive, and is for sure worth a visit. Somebody let me know about that potato salad, okay?

[Jingthing]

Gerhards sounds wunderbar! Does anyone know the opening hours of that place, for example, open for dinner only, closed between lunch and dinner ... ?

[cochran]

I can't believe the last post on here was from June 1. In my defense, I just got out of the hospital here (in from the 6th until the 10th with pneumonia), so haven't really been out and around on the food scene. For the record, I don't really recommend the Sodexho cafeteria service in the hospital as a "top pick". I have had worse food for sure, but not voluntarily!

So we're back on track now. Revisitied Zico's churascarria last night for my first night back in action. I'm thinking maybe Taj tonight for an Indian fix, but not sure. Haven't been back to Cherry's, and really liked that one. I'm not allowed any alcohol for ten days, so the wine list is totally irrelevant for a change!

[CGW]

Good to see you back, hope you make a full recovery quickly, look forward to your reviews..........

[PattayaParent]

If no alcohol is allowed maybe it's time to check out some of the Arabic restaurants?

I went to the new one on the corner of Soi VC (site of the old Manhattan Cafe) and the food and service were good.

It's a bit chaotic ordering as there's 4 thick picture book menus and a couple of printed menus to look through so if you know what you want before you go it will be a bit easier.

The 'mutton grab' and chicken sheesh kabab were both good as were the hummus, muttabal and babbaganouche and salad.

The guy I assume was the manager was very helpful and wanted to ensure that we were happy with what we were ordering and receiving but as we are ME 'old hands' it was easier.

[cochran]

PattayaParent, Arabic/ME food sounds pretty good, actually. I've eaten in the one Iranian restaurant (Paradis) on 2nd Road and thought that was pretty good. I'd love some good hummus and pita - it has been a while since I had that.

Last night we did end up at Taj. I have to say this did not impress too much. Its different than Indian By Nature and Madras Darbar. Ingredient quality doesn't seem to be up to standard, and the level of heat in the spices was higher than the others. I ordered massala pappadums for an appetizer. While the crackers themselves had more flavor (quite tasty, actually) the vegetables on top didn't seem as fresh, and they included carrots, which kind of threw the flavor off. To compound the issue, they were very spicy.

Main course was tandoori chicken for me with vegetable jalfrezi and garlic naan, and a crab curry for my gf. Nothing really stood out here, except for the blazing heat. We ordered everything medium spicy, and I guess we should have gone for mild. The chicken didn't have a lot of flavor, but wasn't actively displeasing. The naan was a little overcooked, I think.

I don't think we'll make a return trip. The other two places are just far better, in my opinion, and I don't think the prices at Taj justify the quality/freshness/flavor that you get.

[Bel Mondo]

I have to confess that I was really looking foward to my first meal at the new Pagoda restaurant in Jomtien Complex last night. This is the place that used to be called Flamboyant, which didn't last very long. Maybe I expected too much of its successor.

Physically, the place is the same, except the new owner has put a red bamboo screen up to block the view of the kitchen, which used to be open to the dining room. It blocks the view of the kitchen but the red bamboo itself does not compliment the dining rooms. Color has been added to the former minimalist setting by having bright red cushions on all the wood seating and by hanging asian-motif umbrellas "Mary Poppins" style from the ceiling. There are also traditional Asian art and wall-hangings with no particular theme.

The white table-cloth setting was fine, except for the big green liquid candle that looks out of place on the table.

My big disappointment was with the food. It was bland and unappealing. My soup was weak and lacked any hint of being fresh or homemade. My main course was a pork dish that also lacked taste and the very bland vegetables that came with it didn't help. The whole plate just lacked any real taste or excitement.

I found the wines overpriced - 240 Baht for a glass of red wine from Chile is way over priced.

None of our party thought that anything we ate was special, even if the prices are reasonable. The food coming out of the kitchen needs a real upgrade before this place can amount to anything special in the way of restaurants.

[MeetJohnDoe]

I have to confess that I was really looking foward to my first meal at the new Pagoda restaurant in Jomtien Complex last night. This is the place that used to be called Flamboyant, which didn't last very long. Maybe I expected too much of its successor.

Oliver's, Zzas , and Dick's Cafe are about the only places in the Complex that are any good. Places like Flamboyant nee Pagoda and Paradise Restaurant are all style over substance. Just look for the gay restaurants (the aforementioned) if you want good food. By the way, this works any place in the world

[PattayaParent]

I like Taj becuase of the spiciness of the food Cochran. I find all the other places bland even though ordering the spicy stuff.

[myfriendyou]

Having just moved to the dark side decided to try cafe uno last night and just have to give Craig a plug, 4 of us, pasta, cumberland sausage and mash, gammon steak, and chicken jalfreezi, I would say we are not picky eaters but know good food and what we like, we could not fault any of the dishes except to say the portions were too big for us, however the pasta was so good we took it home for lunch today.

4 people who will definately be back, if you live on the dark side or even if not go have a taste, don't expect Mata Hari expect a great meal from a good menu at a price that seems impossibly cheap.

We dine out at a variety of places, ranging from Mata Hari, Mantra etc to the small Italian on Thappaya rd, our choices are based on the foodand what we are in the mood for, not the price, Cafe Uno is on our list. Try it if you haven't already

[timekeeper]

I have to confess that I was really looking foward to my first meal at the new Pagoda restaurant in Jomtien Complex last night. This is the place that used to be called Flamboyant, which didn't last very long. Maybe I expected too much of its successor.

Oliver's, Zzas , and Dick's Cafe are about the only places in the Complex that are any good. Places like Flamboyant nee Pagoda and Paradise Restaurant are all style over substance. Just look for the gay restaurants (the aforementioned) if you want good food. By the way, this works any place in the world

also Cafe Ritz, highly recommended by many TV'ers on here

including me!

[cochran]

Recently stopped in at the Butcher's Arms on Buakhow (Tuesday night, I think) as it was on the list and we hadn't been there before.

When you walk into the place, the first thing you notice is how much like the Pig & Whistle it is. It actually reminded me that while I have had breakfast and P&W, I should give their dinner menu a shot as well.

The drinks are good here. Mine was a bottle of Magner's, so the quality is not dependent on the house, but the temperature is. This one was good and cold. The lady had a margarita that was quite good.

The split pea soup with ham was very good - hot, satisfying, great flavor and texture (What's the difference between pea soup and roast beef? Anybody can roast beef.... The shrimp cocktail is quite different from what I'm used to seeing. Instead of cocktail sauce, the prawns were served over what looked like slaw, with thousand island dressing.

For mains, I ordered the roast pork dinner (roast pork, gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed steamed veg, yorkshire pudding) and she had bangers and mash.

The roast pork was tender, but could have used a little more seasoning. Very good potatoes and gravy, and the steamed vegetables still had a little crunch to them, which is very good. The yorkshire pudding was...well, yorkshire pudding. I'm no judge on this dish - I guess its an acquired taste. The sausages were very good - great flavor there, and probably just as tasty as the sausages from Nicky's that I like so much for breakfast.

We didn't order a dessert, but the menu does have a good selection of pie, which was tempting, but I was too full. Cost was reasonable. If you're in the mood for standard English pub fare, give this place a shot.

[Phil Conners]

(What's the difference between pea soup and roast beef? Anybody can roast beef....

Well, I hadn't heard this one before ...

[syd barrett]

Recently stopped in at the Butcher's Arms on Buakhow (Tuesday night, I think) as it was on the list and we hadn't been there before.

The sausages were very good - great flavor there, and probably just as tasty as the sausages from Nicky's that I like so much for breakfast.

Thanks for the sausage information.

With a name like 'The Butchers Arms' then their sausages have to be up to scratch.

I'll check the place out, thanks!

[ojan]

We discovered a place in Soi Baukow called PITINI CAFE .Must say a BIG THUMBS UP for the food and prices !!! We had the Fish and really enjoyed it (big meal) .Clean place very efficient staff and great coffee ......we'll be back!