Bangkok Dining Deals

[thecatman]

While on the subject of buffets, I thought it worthwhile to post this link again.

One recommendation of mine from this list would be 'Al Massimo' at The Chaophya Park Hotel on Ratchada.

You get to choose a main dish off the menu, there's a choice of 8 or 10 dishes including Rock Lobster, Tenderloin steak, King Tiger prawns, & grilled Salmon, to name a few. Then there's also the buffet which you can help yourself to with much of the usual fare and a 'pasta station'.

An after meal Coffee is included in the price.

It's 650Bt per head (no ++), but there's also a current promotion running at all this hotels restaurants til March/April 2010 which offers 3 eating for the price of 2 (or in our case it was 6 for 4).

Edited December 30, 2009 by thecatman

[Mexicanbkk]

Hi guys, just want to let you know that we don't serve any more the Saturdays' buffet, instead we offering ALL you can EAT a la carte for 350 B

every Saturday form 10 am till close,

Every day buy 2 get 1 free on all beers, tequilas, margaritas and Sangrias

In the meantime please be patient or come early, some times we have to many costumers that we can handle, thank you for your understanding.

By the way, today i am going to Los Cabos to congratulate Howard and try his food, may be later i will do the same for La Monita

Salud !

Jorge B

[midasthailand]

Hi all, given that I appreciate the information provided on this thread I thought it would be a good idea to provide some info myself.

On Sat afternoon on the way home from Central Bang Na we passed ToniLaRoni restaurant (previously a Balinese restaurant) and decided to stop for an afternoon drink. The restaurant opened in its current format late 2009 and its menu is Italian themed. The difference with this place (Thai owned, Italian managed) is that the manager is an agent for Carnival, Disney and Appollo cruise lines and he runs courses for Thais wanting to work in the hospitality area on cruise ships. The courses are of three months duration and cost 30,000 Baht /student. The students learn during the day and work in the restaurant during the evening (for no salary) to gain experience. Apparently they gaurantee placement for their graduates.

Anyway, we got talking to the waiter after ordering the Stella Artoris (pint 200/ half pint 100) and Chardonnay (180 for a very generous glass) decided to try some snacks. My friend ordered the mussels and beer (@ 220 Baht) what she got was a half pint of Stella and a very generous plate of green lipped mussells (14 of them) in white wine and tomato sauce. I ordered the wood fired pizza for 240 Baht (mushroom and pepperoni). Both dishes were quite good. The atmosphere in the restaurant was very nice with a lot of trees/greenery in the outside area where we were. There is also and air con room for those that have not acclimatised. Music selection played during our 2 hour stopover was the right volume and a good easy listening mix. total cost for 1 chardonnay, 3 pints of Stella, 2 half pints of Stella and the food was 1064 Baht. I would definitely visit again. The staff are excellent, as you would expect from people aspiring to work on a cruise ship. My only regret was that we were there prior to sunset and were the only customers.

How to get there: on the Bang Na / Trad freeway travelling away from Sukhumvit, go past Central Bang Na and take the Big C exit onto the main road, drive approx 1.5 Km's until you pass under Srinakarin road bridge and take the next left. about 500 M on your right you will see the restaurant just before a new condo construction site and after Khrua Sompong (a Thai restaurant)

Not up to JFChandlers standard of reporting I know, but thought it worthwhile reporting on.

Cheers

[theoldgit]

On that subject haven't from JFC in a while, presume he is researching his book.

[midasthailand]

The black pepper was not an issue, they brought some in a little bowl.

John & I both would have liked our food to be "hotter" More spicy. We would have liked to be able to get some "Extra hot salsa" sauce. T & S do have this on request.

Yes the Mexican rice was too dry. btw - the food is served on seriously hot plates - a nice touch. Thanks to our host Robb. It's all downhill from here.

Seems your prediction of it being "all downhill from here" is on the mark. I ate there last night and to be brutally honest I thought their food was terrible (both quality and quantity) we ordered the chicken nachos, shrimp Fajitas and Pork Burrito as well as a jug of Margharita. The Nachos were almost inedible with very little meat content and very dry. The fajitas were served with tiny bowls of cheese, salsa, sour creme and what may have been guacamole, there were not many shrimps and the onions and pepper base was 98% onion. The Burrito was passable. The margharitas were weak. So for 1100 Baht I was very very disappointed. I will not be returning!

[mpetersen]

MPetersen, yep, I've looked at a couple of those hotel-chain based member cards... As you mention, Marriott has one, as does the Landmark just down Sukhumvit Road a bit. Last I recall, the Landmark one was around 6,000 baht per year, and I think the Marriott's was higher.

If a person has a business/company that involves entertaining or has an expense account, or even a large family, those make for very good deals, admittedly, discounts off of food and drinks at the hotel eateries that are already over-priced for the general market. But indeed, there are some very nice places to eat and drink at the Marriott, Landmark and other of the hotel properties around Bangkok. And the hotel stay or discount vouchers and other included items help offset the card purchase cost, if you'll really use the benefits offered.

What's the deal and the details/location for the Courtyard eatery you mentioned above??? That's more in my price range target, so I oughta check it out!!!

Courtyard bangkok Mahdlekluang 1, off Rajadamri behind Four Seasons Hotel. Courtyard also has a property in Hua Hin, and 3 or 4 in Phuket. Their Momo cafe has a nice selection, and is well priced even without discount. I reckon at 50% off (when two people dine), it's cheaper to eat at Momo cafe than to buy groceries!

The Landmar and Shangrila Dining programs are fine, but I really think the food quality at Marriotts is superb, and of course, even though the membership is 6900 THB (maybe slightly higher than Landmark), you can use it in a whole lot more places all around Thailand and even beyond.

As well, this year, if you hold an HSBC Premier or Platinum card you can eat for 50% off at the terrace at Marriott Riverside Resort.

M

[jfchandler]

The Terrace Restaurant at the Landmark Hotel on Sukhumvit Road between Sois 4 and 6 has never been one of my favorite places to eat, mainly for the kind of reasons explained below... But it does have some somewhat redeeming values, which include

-- a great location for watching the world go by,

-- a convenient location to the heart of lower Sukhumvit, and

-- an ever-changing series of food and drink specials, which sometimes, but only sometimes, are enough to draw me back for another visit.

Such was the case the other day when I noticed that, for the month of August, they are offering a special of all-you-can eat beef carpaccio and a pint of local draught beer for 399++ baht. While that entree isn't exactly my cup of tea, beef is a favorite of my Thai wife, so we headed on over to the Terrace and she agreed to give it a try.

I had in my mind to try their well-reviewed Reuben sandwich for the first time, but once there, saw on their specials menu another item of more interest to me, a double decker so-called "Wagyu" beef burger and french fries for 250++ baht, or 350++ baht if you add on a glass (not a pint) of local beer. There also are four other different sandwiches offered on the same terms. Not a bad deal just on the basis of price alone. (Curiously, their definition of "local" beer, though, somehow excludes San Miguel Light, but does include Heineken, Chang, Singha and Tiger...)

Ahh, the Landmark Terrace, some things always change, like their specials, but some things seem to always remain the same. Like their propensity to mangle your order... The wife and I both ordered Heineken beers, hers a pint and mine a glass... And a long while later, our beers arrived, her Heineken in a lovely tall vase-type glass, and my Tiger beer in a regular glass... Wait a minute!!! Where did the Tiger come from??? Sent the Tiger back, and eventually got the Heineken I had asked for... Strike one.

And then there's their service, which makes Bangkok traffic seem like the Indianapolis 500... Our visit was mid-afternoon on a weekday, so the lunch hour rush had already passed, and only a few outside tables were occupied. But we probably waited about 10 minutes from the time of placing our order to the time we received just our beers... Hmm.... And then, when our food arrived, we quickly noticed, no salt or pepper on the table. And no catsup or mustard offered or brought for my burger or fries. Strike two. Finally was able to flag down our waitress and she brought the requested items to the table.

Once into my burger, I discovered it's literally impossible to eat holding in your hands, since it's too tall to fit any portion in one's mouth, and has the tendency to slip and slide apart. Neither of those traits are necessarily bad for a burger. So I set about eating it with knife and fork on my plate, and quickly discovered a couple of moderately sized beef patties that both were quite firm, relatively dry (or better put, lacking in any juicyness) and missing any of the flavor I would expect of Wagyu beef, which is going to tend to have a higher fat content and I wouldn't expect to be dry. But nonetheless, the burger was OK for the price, quite filling and the accompanying french fries were crisp and fresh and tasted fine.

Then there was my wife's carpaccio... Now in the world of food, there are some things I know on the basis of extensive travel and experience... But carpaccio isn't one of them. I've eaten it before, occasionally, just enough to recognize it when I see it. And on that basis, I tried a bit of the dish and it seemed OK. Nice balance of beef and arugula... Cheese shavings mixed in. But the sauce looked to be based on balsamic vinaigrette rather than olive oil or Aioli or even mustard sauce. To say any more on the subject would be to tempt ill-fate.

So instead, let me opine that once again the Terrace's service became an issue. About half way thru her first plate, I asked my wife if she liked it and wanted to have another place, to which she replied yes. So at that point, I figured ordering the second plate then would mean it would arrive before she finished the first place, since my wife wasn't eating speedily. WRONG!!! The second plate only arrived quite a while after my wife had finished her first plate. So at that point, I asked if she'd want a third plate, and she said yes, so we ordered the third plate right then before she even started to eat the second plate. And sure enough, the third and last plate finally arrived well after she had finished the second one. I mean, carpaccio is not that complicated or time-consuming a dish to prepare, especially when it's being offered as a special, so what exactly was the kitchen doing that was taking so long... Maybe next time, the solution would be to order all three plates right from the get-go... But that's assuming there will be a next time... Strike three!!!

Total bill for the two of us, including the mandatory tax and tip and a 50++ baht bottle of "Landmark" water, came to about 940 baht... which is not bad for the food and drink we had. But considering the Landmark is supposed to be a multi-stars hotel and eatery, is it really too much to ask that they can manage to get their orders delivered properly, have salt and pepper on the table and not expect their guests to have to go off on safari in order to find their waiter/waitress???

[jfchandler]

Here's the Landmark Hotel's advertisement for their carpaccio promo...

And then, maybe a bit more promising offer...

2 for 1 promo on Carlsberg beer pints at the hotel's Huntsman Pub daily from 3 to 9 pm for 220 baht (being the price of two pints).