Chok Chai Steak House - What's The Fuss About?

[Tango7]

I went to Kao Yai over the weekend... Kao Yai National Park is another rip off for tourists charging 400 Baht for an adult tourist whereas a car full of 8 Thai Adults came to 218 Baht ( large 4 x 4 before you ask ).

On the way to Kao Yai my Thai hosts were all excited about eating at Chok Chai Steak House and were talking about how good it was. I'd also heard this many times and we also looking forward to a good steak.

On arrival, there were a bunch of waitresses wearing cowboy hats and trying to look like ranchers and we were seated in a largish restaurant area with plastic trees, plastic plants. The tables had bottles of tomato ketchup and chili ketchup.

The menus arrived and the steak list was fairly limited although there were t-bone steaks, rump steak and filet mignons, but the other steaks were "prime"steaks.

We all ordered steaks with the exception of my wife who opted for the sausage selection.

I had a 300g prime steak (not imported). All the steaks arrived on a sizzled hot plate and my steak came with frickin' gravy poured over it. I don't know what kind of steak it was, but it wasn't a normal steak. It was very tender but stringy and not at all like a sirloin etc.

I then watched as EVERY Thai in the place dumped half a bottle of ketchup on their steaks.

The steaks weren't really steaks. They were more sizzling chunks of beef served with 5 french fried, boiled cabbage, carrott cubes, beans and some other white veggie ( as served in every Thai restaurant ).

No idea why Chok Chai is so popular as it is very, very average and I've had much better steaks elsewhere and not just Western steak houses. Nang Nual in Pattaya serves a good steak for example.

So, why do the Thais flock there ? On the way back to Bangkok, there were literally thousands of people swarming around the grounds of Chok Chai..all lining up for ice-cream and a chance to have a 'steak".

To cut a story short, if going to Kao Yai, don't go to Chok Chai expecting a good steak. It doesn't exist. Go there purely to grab a bite to eat and keep your expectations low.

[mark5335]

I don't understand the fuss about Chokchai Steakhouse either. They have managed to build a local name brand which the locals seem to admire. I have eaten in the ChokChai Steakhouse at Asoke a few times but find that the steaks in farang pub/restaurants around Sukhumvit to be similar priced but much better quality (imported beef).

[bkkjames]

I don't understand the fuss about Chokchai Steakhouse either. They have managed to build a local name brand which the locals seem to admire. I have eaten in the ChokChai Steakhouse at Asoke a few times but find that the steaks in farang pub/restaurants around Sukhumvit to be similar priced but much better quality (imported beef).

Simple, you don't miss (qood steak) what you never had.

[kurnell]

My missus liked Chok Chai. Then I took her to Tenderloins. We haven't returned to Chok Chai for 5 years.

[Tango7]

My missus liked Chok Chai. Then I took her to Tenderloins. We haven't returned to Chok Chai for 5 years.

Took mine to J W Marriott's Steak restaurant (forget the name), but we've never been back. It was a superb steak and a wonderful bottle of wine but it cost an arm and a leg !!

[bkkjames]

My missus liked Chok Chai. Then I took her to Tenderloins. We haven't returned to Chok Chai for 5 years.

Took mine to J W Marriott's Steak restaurant (forget the name), but we've never been back. It was a superb steak and a wonderful bottle of wine but it cost an arm and a leg !!

haha, guess you never looked at the menu first? "Just give me two steaks rare, knock off their horns and wipe their asses and throw em down here on the plate"

[onnut]

I normally stop off for a bite to eat on the way up country or back again. to be honest I think their steaks are pretty average for Thailand and the things keep cooking while at the table because of the hot plate they are on. I think they best thing about Chok Chai is it is a break from a long drive.

[teacup]

I don't know what all the fuss about. It's sooooo easy to cook it yourself at home and at a fraction of the cost in some posh resturants.

Mine turned out .........always perfecto!!!

Edited March 16, 2009 by teacup

[tartempion]

Stopped there once on my way to somewhere, looked around admiring the circus, tried a hamburger and moved on.

Now I know where NOT to stop for some food

[bkkjames]

Stopped there once on my way to somewhere, looked around admiring the circus, tried a hamburger and moved on.

Now I know where NOT to stop for some food

yea, my understanding is they opened this chain of restaurants because they didn't know what to do with all those old milking cows once they stopped givin milk.

[Maizefarmer]

CC is a business that is centered around brand success.

First and foremost for those who dont know, Chok Chai is a dairy famring business started by a Thai who made oodles of money in the Vietnam days building airstrips for Uncle Sam. The meat you are eating there is from the cows on the farms - cows that were on the CC farms!.

It is business with a brand - a brand that is successful because it caters well for Thai tastes. You could open up next door to CC with the a resturant selling the finest Kobi beef from Japan - but as a business you wouldn't do much good.

Its a successful product for the Thai market - and that I think is all that the company cares about.

I have had a few god steaks there, but by & large I agree - they're nothing to shout about - by Western standards.

[Chaimai]

I must have been lucky, my tenderloin was one of the best steaks I have ever had - and that includes a number of top London restaurants.

I also really enjoyed the set up at Chok Chai farm. It is a well-balanced tour and it was also the first time I had ever been on a horse or a quad bike.

I would have it on a 'should do' list for all Farang visitors. It is a good place to go with a Thai partner because it is largely geared to the Thai market.

[bkkjames]

I must have been lucky, my tenderloin was one of the best steaks I have ever had - and that includes a number of top London restaurants.

I also really enjoyed the set up at Chok Chai farm. It is a well-balanced tour and it was also the first time I had ever been on a horse or a quad bike.

I would have it on a 'should do' list for all Farang visitors. It is a good place to go with a Thai partner because it is largely geared to the Thai market.

Which is it - for farang or Thais?

[pnustedt]

When driving from the east of Isaan I often find myself passing Chok Chai around lunch time. It makes a welcome break, especially with a bunch of kids who thoroughly enjoy the experience and the steaks are as good as you can find at our home town. I guess it all depends where you are coming from!

[DaleBlue]

Agree that it is not that good. But it is the only place with a reasonable eatable steak around. Try naming another similar place around that area?

[henryalleman]

I regularly go to CC at Rangsit, never disappointed, good steak, good service and not expensive. In short one of the best places to eat steak in Thailand.

I always go alone with my wife, never go with my Thai family because they not interested.

[alaina]

I agree that the steak is pretty mediocre by Western standards, but pretty good by Thai standards. It is the ice cream and butter that makes the trip worth it. Their grappa sorbet is amazing.

[happylarry]

Cant agree about the ice cream....last time I was there I had a rum and raisin ice cream and all it tasted of was condensed milk.

HL

[Heng]

It's called marketing, and apparently it still works.

[bendejo]

Maybe when people tell each other about the place they talk of how good the ketchup is.

There is (was?) a pizza place in the Silicon Valley area in California called Ciro's, whose pizza was just like the cheapest frozen crap from the supermarkets, more or less of a big saltine cracker with sauce and other stuff on top. Everyone knew the place and it was always busy. And it wasn't like there weren't better pizza places in the area. Go figure.

I guess fashion has something to do with it, and as with clothes fashion it's not about looking good, it's about looking fashionable.

[teletiger]

You heard it here first from Maizefarmer. You're eating COWmeat. Not 18 month old corn fattened bullocks, but wanked out COWmeat. I'm sure this is all in HMHO.

Talk to any Thai about "aging' beef in a fridge for 21 days ....and they will likely throw up on you.

A little beef stall in Lampang boasted to us "killed this morning".

Villa market in Bangkok used to sell Aussie rib eye. 5000 Bhat per kilo. Highly marbled. Looked the business.

Steakhouse in Pak Chong...Ordered rib eye.....got a piece of silverside. 800 Baht....with frozen veg.

However....Pork dishes on Thailand are on a par (or better than) Germany/Aut. "And that takes some doing."

Regards

[trogers]

Talk to any Thai about "aging' beef in a fridge for 21 days ....and they will likely throw up on you.

On the contrary. Have you try the Thai dish - neu dak deau? They hang strips of beef for days until maggots infest, and then deep fried.

[bkkjames]

You heard it here first from Maizefarmer. You're eating COWmeat. Not 18 month old corn fattened bullocks, but wanked out COWmeat. I'm sure this is all in HMHO.

Talk to any Thai about "aging' beef in a fridge for 21 days ....and they will likely throw up on you.

A little beef stall in Lampang boasted to us "killed this morning".

Villa market in Bangkok used to sell Aussie rib eye. 5000 Bhat per kilo. Highly marbled. Looked the business.

Steakhouse in Pak Chong...Ordered rib eye.....got a piece of silverside. 800 Baht....with frozen veg.

However....Pork dishes on Thailand are on a par (or better than) Germany/Aut. "And that takes some doing."

Regards

At villa, i have been getting the 21 day aged TF ribeyes at 880baht per kilo. Overall very happy - good marbling and flavour when I grill them on my bbq.

[teletiger]

Talk to any Thai about "aging' beef in a fridge for 21 days ....and they will likely throw up on you.

On the contrary. Have you try the Thai dish - neu dak deau? They hang strips of beef for days until maggots infest, and then deep fried.

Neu dak deau? translates as "one sun beef". As in, hung in the sun for one day. Any "maggot infested beef" must be that way to start with.

James, what is TF? (Top fillet?)

Regards.

[jfchandler]

TF... as in Thai-French beef???

[jfchandler]

All this meat talk made me hungry, so last night we went for dinner to the Chokchai Steakhouse on Sukhumvit Soi 23, located in the Prananmit Plaza shopping center.

A lot of the comment here re Chokchai has been at the extremes, very bad or very good, and a lot of it aimed at their Pak Chong farm restaurant. They also have a branch in Rangsit. But we went for the first time to the Asoke area branch, conveniently located about a 5-10 minute walk up from the Sukhumvit MRT station.

All in all, we had a good dinner, and a pair of quite good steaks, at a very reasonable price for Thailand (about 1,000 baht total covering two steak dinners, a pair of non-alcohol drinks and three deserts, and an included 10% service charge). The Asoke restaurant itself is quite nice and comfortable inside, good furnishings befitting a steak house, pleasant atmosphere, and plenty of wait staff when we needed them. We visited on a Saturday night at about 7 pm, and found the restaurant about 3/4ths full, and entirely with Thai or Korean patrons, except for myself.

Our waiter didn't speak any English, but the nearby manager did, and helped explain about their steaks, since the menu descriptions about their different levels of beef quality are only in Thai script. Basically, they seem to have three levels of beef available: their premium, 30-day dry aged steaks in the 600-700 baht range; their regular 15-day dry aged steaks, the same types of cuts but at about half the price in the 300 to 400 baht per entree range; and then just regular steaks, under 300 baht per entree. For our first visit, we chose the middle range steaks, not wanting either tire rubber (as some have complained) but also not wanting to blow a wad...particularly on the first visit.

For 340 baht, I got their dry aged prime rib, bone-in steak requested medium rare, and indeed it was served up on a grill platter at just that level of doneness. I chose the larger "senior" cut, which the manager said was about 500 grams, while they also offered a smaller and slightly less expensive "junior" cut of the same at about 400 grams. The prime rib steak was perfectly tender, nicely grilled, not excessively fatty and quite satisfying all in all.

The GF had their "top blade" steak in the same category, only one size offered of that, at 300 baht and it likewise was a generous, well-cooked cut. Neither was the least bit tough, as some have complained above.

Both entrees came with a small baked potato topped with a bit of butter and sour cream, a medley of steamed vegetables (wedges of carrots, beans, and squash), and a small pitcher of unremarkable brown gravy. To my pleasant surprise, a request for ground black pepper quickly produced a manager with a grinder. But I really would have preferred some au jus to the brown gravy, though none was on offer.

For desert, they offer a range of their own brand of ice cream, "Umm!.. Milk". We had a generous bowl of their rum raisin flavor for 50 baht, and tried what they call their Chokchai Log Cabin for 85 baht, the latter consisting of a scoop of chocolate ice cream, topped with chocolate sauce, some chocolate-coated Pokki-style sticks and sprinkled with corn flakes. Between the two, the regular, simple ice cream was better, having a very smooth, creamy and clean taste and consistency, as did the bowl of "fresh milk' flavor ice cream the GF also tried. As an aside, just outside, they also have a separate "Umm!..Milk" ice cream shop offering small and medium sized containers of the the same flavors and bottled milk varieties either to eat there or take home.

While I can't comment on their Pak Chong location, I'd say that 340 baht for a decent, good sized prime rib steak served in a nice setting off Sukhumvit Road is quite a good value. As I was ordering and eating, it occurred to me that the price of the middle-level prime rib steak there is roughly equal to the price of a single alcoholic beverage drink at any of the fancy hotel steak house restaurants in town. (Hmmm......which to choose, a glass of wine or a prime rib steak???)

No, the middle level prime rib steak at Chok Chai wasn't equal to top-flight steak houses like Ruth's Chris or Arnie Morton's in the U.S., and I didn't expect it to be. But for the money, it was quite good and had none of the failings so often found in regular Thai beef. Rather, it certainly was good enough to make me want to go back again soon, both to try the top level steak cuts to see if they are noticeably better/different for the money, but also to try a few other things that looked tasty and seemed good values on their menu: a 180 baht Chokchai Ranch (Steak) Salad, a 160 baht Chokchai Steak Burger with Cheese, Bacon and Grilled Onion, or the regular Chokchai Burger (with or without cheese) for 130 baht.

After the first visit to Chokchai Steakhouse, all I can say is "Umm!.. Steak"