Village Chinaman,Or What Was The Other Title?

[jori]

It is with deep regret that The Village Ch*****y has now closed,or so it was announced. This is a terrible blow to all concerned,but hope springs eternal and it will be a comfortable drinking den in the near future.

[Michaelaway]

Oh, wow. The Village Person of Chinese Descent is closed?? That's terrible news. Gone so fast, I never got a chance to give then a try. Too bad, never want to see a new company close so soon after inception. Was it as simple as not having enough customers? Tough to understand... their menu looks (looked) pretty good. Well, good luck to The Chippy...

[Jingthing]

Not a big loss except presumably to the owner. The food was meh and poor value. It's a merciful blessing they didn't let it drag on.

In any case, what's the hap with that Chinese place a few doors down from Jolly Friar? Is that place already closed, going to open soon, or what? It looks like a sincere effort at something, so I want to know the story.

Edited February 17, 2011 by Jingthing

[timekeeper]

from another thread about this place, so its no surprise to me

Posted 2011-02-04 07:51:33

as it was Chinese new year i thought i would cross over from the dark side and try out the village Chinese place off 3rd road

so about 7-30 pm:

we found it ok

got parked ok

it looked ok

small place about 25 covers

party of 10 in there already

2 outside apparently waiting for takeaway

waitress tells us we will have to wait long time

i say how long?

she says maybe 1 hour

i say why?

she says have 'big' party

i say you have 25 seats but only 10 people sitting

she say have takeaway order

i say for how many?

she says two, pointing at the two people outside

i say that's only 12 orders

why have to wait one hour?

she say have short staff cooks

i say how many you have?

she says 2

i say how many you normally have?

she says 3

i think big difference!

time to go....

i loitered outside the village chippy whilst the wife fetched the car

lady came out, asked if she could help me?

i said i was going to Chinese next door but they too busy

have a big party of 10 !!

she smiles, shrugs her shoulders and goes back into the chippy

[grahamhc]

Yes, The Village CH*NKY has closed. Seems like 2 reasons gave it the Death Knell

Firstly, a lack of customers, and in order to increase that, he decided to open later and close later. So the hours changed from 11:00am-11:00pm to 4:00pm to 2:00am, to encourage the going out and returning home trade.

Secondly, on the second day, the Chinese cooks asked for a 20% pay rise as they had to work after midnight, when although they worked less hours.

So the owner closed it on the spot. He has decided to turn it into a pub - more details later

The VILLAGE CHIPPY is still going strong and the waiting staff are now helping in there with the ever increasing take-away and home delivery orders.

I was there outside the CH*NKY having a Asahai Japanese Beer, and heard the owner tell someone that in 3 days only 5 customer had to be turned away, and on that volume, one cannot pay the bills .

:jap: FOR CHINESE FOOD LOVERS :jap: ... Remember that Katai's China Garden in Soi Leng Kee is due to open at the end of this month or in March, so not a long way to go to get your chopsticks working

Edited February 18, 2011 by grahamhc

[actiondell4]

Seems strange this business couldnt turn a profit,but as I predicted in another thread about this place and its turning away of customers when they got that it would fail.

Really I thought a Chinese restaurant would do well but if they are turning away customers because they cant handle the volume of orders ,well thats money lost plus return customers.

There seems to be no good chinese in Pattaya,tried the one in Soi Bukcow opp Cant/tales but did not like it.

Sadly never got to try the Village Chippy.

Bad management? most probaly,of course to them its everyone else s fault.This,that etc

Edited February 19, 2011 by actiondell4

[Jingthing]

The Chippy is still running. The Chinese thingie one didn't offer very good food, so they closed, so what?

[actiondell4]

Well thats your opinion they didnt offer good food.

in fact i heard far different,that there food was good.

it seems the management to me.

[bob4you]

I heard partnership problems,personal opinion is poor marketing effort by the management. Personally I got to try it once with my favorite Chinese food, Egg Foo Young with lots of gravy/Sauce. It was very good but a trifle over priced.

The Chinese Garden is sure to be a success as it is owned by the same owner as Jolly Friar who has his stuff together as far as pricing and marketing to wit, the Frugal Freddy Group will be helping kick off the new establishment the last week in March. I'm betting they open on time as opposed to 2.5 months behind schedule as the Village Chi--y did.

[Jingthing]

If it makes people happy to think a place that is closed for good HAD good food, I wouldn't want to burst your bubble. I also tried the egg foo young. It was shaped like a large torpedo and was basically a very greasy omelet which tasted of cheap salad oil (it left a pool on the plate you could swim in). The sauce was a mystery to the server until I complained about its non-existence, so it came much later. The Sechuan soup wasn't bad, but the portion was tiny and also overpriced (because it was tiny).

Edited February 20, 2011 by Jingthing

[smedly]

If it makes people happy to think a place that is closed for good HAD good food, I wouldn't want to burst your bubble. I also tried the egg foo young. It was shaped like a large torpedo and was basically a very greasy omelet which tasted of cheap salad oil (it left a pool on the plate you could swim in). The sauce was a mystery to the server until I complained about its non-existence, so it came much later. The Sechuan soup wasn't bad, but the portion was tiny and also overpriced (because it was tiny).

agree 100%

tried this place several times and concluded it was not great food and way overpriced, people need to realise how much the raw materials are here in Thailand including Veg - rice - poultry - pork etc, it is very very cheap, I have said it many times before and will say if again..................everything in Thailand should be at least 1/3 the price it is in the west, if you are paying more then something is wrong, By the time you added rice or a hand full of chips to your order it was up around 200baht = £4 sterling, I recently bought a chinky takeaway in the UK and it was £4.50, Thai eating places around the town are all sub 100baht and usually sub 50baht for pretty much the same stuff just cooked slightly different

[actiondell4]

1/3 the price ? I agree with you,however i noticed fish and chip places such as Simons at Jomtiem,NOT Simple Simons,but Simons on the main road jomtiem have the same price ,actually more than Western Prices.

Had fish and chips with tartare sauce the other week in Australia.

Cost was 8.50,thats around 180 baht or so?

So it was a big piece of fish and real potato chips,plus tartare sauce and slice of lemon 8 dollars 50 cents,around 180 baht.

i think its more expensive in Pattaya.

[JimSiam]

1/3 the price ? I agree with you,however i noticed fish and chip places such as Simons at Jomtiem,NOT Simple Simons,but Simons on the main road jomtiem have the same price ,actually more than Western Prices.

Had fish and chips with tartare sauce the other week in Australia.

Cost was 8.50,thats around 180 baht or so?

So it was a big piece of fish and real potato chips,plus tartare sauce and slice of lemon 8 dollars 50 cents,around 180 baht.

i think its more expensive in Pattaya.

Actually $8.50 AUD is about 261.00 baht right now

[Danlo]

The location and new chip shops all over the place as well as everywhere offers fish and chips was always going to be its downfall.

Beats me why so many people come to Thailand and eat it when the Thai food is far more healthy, tasty and reasonably priced.

[Jingthing]

I would agree for tourists, but for resident expats, this is home now and it is quite normal for many people to eat many different kinds of foods. All Thai all the time is BORING even to more and more Thais.

[timekeeper]

I would agree for tourists, but for resident expats, this is home now and it is quite normal for many people to eat many different kinds of foods. All Thai all the time is BORING even to more and more Thais.

agreed my wife often says she is bored with Thai food and wants something different

she rarely eats Thai with me when theres other options

[smedly]

The primary reason falang's in business in Thailand fail is because they get the prices wrong, they seem to think we don't notice and we are all brainless, PRICE MATTERS - get it wrong and you may as well pack up, the village is not in a tourist area so primary customers are expat, why should I pay 30baht for a scoop of very cheap boiled rice when I can get chicken fried rice with all the trimmings for 35baht, it's not a means issue it's principle, also if you can't maintain your quality - serve me one bad meal and I'll never be back, I can name many places I eat on a regular basis and still do because to food is consistant and priced correctly.