The Hit And Run Restaurant "review" Thread

[Jingthing]

6 hours ago, redwood1 said:

 

https://www.marcospattaya.com/

 

Marcos, Very very good pizza.....

Yeah I like Marco's pizza, but I like Frankie's more and it's closer to where they're staying.

FRANKIE'S INN, Pattaya - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews - Tripadvisor

[GypsyT]

You who like pizza may have an answer;

 

Why is Pizza more expensive here than in the US or EU?

 

I don't know any other food being so.

 

[Henryford]

14 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

You who like pizza may have an answer;

 

Why is Pizza more expensive here than in the US or EU?

 

I don't know any other food being so.

 

 

Is that the case? A medium/large pizza in Dominos in Pattaya is US$ 4.80/6.25. How much are they in the US/EU?

[NextG]

57 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

You who like pizza may have an answer;

 

Why is Pizza more expensive here than in the US or EU?

 

I don't know any other food being so.

 

It isn’t, unless it uses imported ingredients. Strange assertion. 

[moogradod]

2 hours ago, NextG said:

It isn’t, unless it uses imported ingredients. Strange assertion. 

It makes alsways sense to define the item under discussion until a consensus is reached. In this case a pizza. For me that means a Neapolitan Pizza which calls for imported ingrediants, like real Mozarella, Olive Oil, Carciofi etc.

 

I find that under these conditions, a pizza is surprizingly cheap here. I would rather like to pay the double prize, if they were not so stingy with the size of toppings, which they must be given the exuberant import taxes.

 

This is as well true for any other dish in a restaurant. The real ingredience is the biggest cost driver.

[NextG]

9 minutes ago, moogradod said:

It makes alsways sense to define the item under discussion until a consensus is reached. In this case a pizza. For me that means a Neapolitan Pizza which calls for imported ingrediants, like real Mozarella, Olive Oil, Carciofi etc.

 

I find that under these conditions, a pizza is surprizingly cheap here. I would rather like to pay the double prize, if they were not so stingy with the size of toppings, which they must be given the exuberant import taxes.

 

This is as well true for any other dish in a restaurant. The real ingredience is the biggest cost driver.

The way to get around that it to supply them with the necessary ingredients. 

[moogradod]

6 minutes ago, NextG said:

The way to get around that it to supply them with the necessary ingredients. 

You would not believe it but I have contemplated this idea before ! Instead of paying for the pizza I would then go for an expensive wine

[NextG]

Just now, moogradod said:

You would not believe it but I have contemplated this idea before ! Instead of paying for the pizza I would then go for an expensive wine

So what has stopped you? Obtain the quality of ingredients that reach your standard. Then pop along to the pizzaiolo with the wood fired oven. You pay him for the base pizza and a little extra for his work. No problem to take your own standard of wine along and offer to pay corkage. Life is too short to suffer bad food. Don’t waste your time eating rubbish if you can afford a good quality. No decently run restaurant will refuse. They still make money on the pizza, with further profit on a corkage charge. You of course will return to the place time and again due to being happy with the quality and service. 

[Jingthing]

4 hours ago, GypsyT said:

You who like pizza may have an answer;

 

Why is Pizza more expensive here than in the US or EU?

 

I don't know any other food being so.

 

 

A pizza at the level of Frankie's would be 20 to 25 dollars in the US.

Here it's 9 to 12.

[NextG]

12 minutes ago, moogradod said:

You would not believe it but I have contemplated this idea before ! Instead of paying for the pizza I would then go for an expensive wine

Not so different to visiting Lan Pho seafood market, buying the seafood you like and then getting one of the surrounding eateries to prepare it in the style that you want. 
Don’t be afraid nor embarrassed. Everything is possible. 

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, GypsyT said:

I don't know any other food being so.

A good beefsteak maybe.

[GypsyT]

"Is that the case? A medium/large pizza in Dominos in Pattaya is US$ 4.80/6.25. How much are they in the US/EU?"

 

Here's the answer how much pizza buyer must work for it;

 

"The hourly minimum wage of Thailand (1.26 USD) is way lower than that of the USA, which is around 7.25 USD."

 

[Shop mak]

On 9/22/2023 at 3:39 AM, Jingthing said:

Let's Wok

American Chinese food Soi Lengkee

However, tasty food is tasty food. I have had a better than expected experiences at Let's Wok on Soi Lengkee located in the American Bar and Grill restaurant.

+1 for Let's Wok.

It's tasty and good.

 

My fav is Beef in black pepper sauce (Grab 360 baht + rice 50 baht) but beef sometimes chewy, sadly.

 

Sweet&Sour hong kong style, has been good every time. But small portion (Grab 280 baht and add on rice 50 Baht)

 

Grab add 30% on top of restaurants prices, if I'm not wrong. Even I take that into consideration, my conclusion is:

Very good food, but overpriced compared to portion size.

I would order much more, if meals cost 50-70% less.

 

[Jingthing]

4 hours ago, Shop mak said:

+1 for Let's Wok.

It's tasty and good.

 

My fav is Beef in black pepper sauce (Grab 360 baht + rice 50 baht) but beef sometimes chewy, sadly.

 

Sweet&Sour hong kong style, has been good every time. But small portion (Grab 280 baht and add on rice 50 Baht)

 

Grab add 30% on top of restaurants prices, if I'm not wrong. Even I take that into consideration, my conclusion is:

Very good food, but overpriced compared to portion size.

I would order much more, if meals cost 50-70% less.

 

I agree with you that their food is overpriced. For example even their rice which would typically be 10 to 20 baht in a regular Chinese restaurant.

Of course they are free to charge what they want but I choose to not pay their prices and use authentic Chinese restaurants instead. Which are generally not cheap here either.

[champers]

Dragon Belly restaurant on Beach Rd Soi 3 has opened in The Moon hotel. It proclaims it produces "modern Chinese" food. This includes dim sun which is not commonly found in Pattaya, I believe.

It is part of the A-One group as are many properties on that soi.

I imagine it will be very busy the next few days so maybe wait a week before trying it out.

Edited November 23, 2023 by champers

[cogalar]

On the recent subject of pizza, I used to enjoy pizza from a stall run by an Italian guy half way down Paratumnak Soi 5 where the road forks.  He was there most nights from 18:30 onward. 
 

I went on Friday evening and noticed a new shop had opened where he used to park outside of and wondered if he’d been moved on as he was nowhere to be found (I had a drive around to see if I could spot him elsewhere) 
 

Pizza was tasty and decent value for money. 
 

Does anyone know where he is these days? TIA. 

[Jingthing]

New apparently gourmet level Turkish restaurant opens in South Pattaya.

 

Istanbul Restaurant

Pattaya Tai (near 2nd road corner)

 

I have eaten at the Turkish restaurants in Pattaya over the years and also been to Turkiye, and it's obvious to me just by looking at the menu that this new one is at a higher level than ever seen before here.

 

Of course the proof is in the eating but I can tell you there are dishes on their menu that you've never seen before.

 

Clearly to have a full meal there, it won't be cheap, as you'll need multiple dishes (similar to a full Indian meal) but the prices don't seem extortionate at the per dish level.  I guess going in a group and just ordering mezzes to share would cut the per person cost down. 

 

As people try this place, please report back here your impressions on specific dishes.

 

Istanbul Restaurant Brings World Class Turkish Food at Affordable Prices to Pattaya - The Pattaya News

 

Istanbul Restaurant - Pattaya (foodmenu.online)

 

Edited February 7 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Nana's Georgian Kitchen

Pattaya's go to place for excellent Georgian food (not grits)

Pratumnak general area

Available on Grab delivery

 

If you don't know, Georgian food from the nation of Georgia (bordering Russia, Turkiye, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Black Sea)  is widely considered by far to be the best national cuisine of the former Soviet states. 

 

Now I had never tasted Georgian food before living in Pattaya, so I can't call myself an expert but the charming anti-Putin Russian of the quickly growing Sanctioned Ivan youtube channel (and Sanctioned Drive if you're into cars) has made it clear that this restaurant is indeed authentic and excellent.

 

If you don't know Georgian food do some research first but I can say the most famous dishes are the Khinkali dumplings and the Khachapuri (sort of a pizza but very different).

 

I had eaten from this place quite often some years ago (via Grab delivery) and I do think the food which was good before is even better now. Good news, huh?

 

The prices aren't cheap but fair for the high quality.

 

Last night I had chicken pieces in a Georgian spiced cream sauce with pomegranates and special Georgian bread. Flippin' delicious! 

 

In my experience, I would suggest going for the Georgian dishes over the obviously Russian dishes like borscht and stroganoff (go to Russian places for those). 

 

This link has lots of photos:

https://restaurantguru.com/Nanas-Kitchen-Pattaya#gallery

 

Most famous dishes:

 

Off the food topic, but may I suggest the Gattsu youtube channel of an extremely funny Georgian guy (and friend of the famous NFKRZ now in Portugal).

 

 

Edited November 3 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Hey there local eaters. How about getting this ball rolling once again?

 

My post today is very roughly about local SOUL FOOD restaurants.

 

While all countries (hopefully) have foods that are soulful, of course I'm referring to black American cuisine which has roots in the deep south and even Africa. 

We've got two. One is closer to that label and the other is more modern and expansive.

 

To start, Soul Bistro and Lounge in Pattaya.

 

Soul Bistro Restaurant & Lounge, Pattaya City - Restaurant reviews

 

I had a meal there consisting of jerk chicken (not soul food but I wanted it) and sides of candied yams and collard greens.

Not surprisingly the jerk chicken wasn't really Jamaican but the flavor in the sauce was pleasant. The sides were the highlights especially the collard greens made probably with different greens than you would get in the U.S. and smoked turkey instead of the traditional ham hocks. The side portions were small but I did very much like the collard greens.

 

To me, more exciting are the pair of restaurants called Qulture Lounge and Cafe on Jomtien 2nd road, near soi 14, Riviera Condo . 

 

QULTURE LOUNGE AND CAFE, Jomtien Beach - 29/1130 Moo 12 Nong Prue Bang Lamung Chonburi - Restaurant Reviews & Photos - Tripadvisor

 

There are TWO of them, count 'em two. One on the left is a sophisticated (and expensive) dinner club kind of place, opening at 4 pm. I looked at the menu, and wow, incredible, but the prices are high as well (though I expect worth it). A dish that caught my eye specifically was red beans and rice with andouille sausage which is a Louisiana favorite I've never seen locally before.

 

I arrived at 3 at the dinner place not knowing the hours and was directed to the more casual cafe down the block on right. The cafe is open until 5 pm closed Sundays.

The cafe option is more of a casual coffee shop with breakfast foods but there are also a number of main courses as well that you could roughly classify as southern, soul food, etc. But overall I think they are branding it as a BREAKFAST place.

 

I was tempted by the shrimp and grits plate but at 700 baht I decided maybe next time. So I had the pancakes which might have been the best pancakes (220) I've ever had anywhere (included fresh fruit and whipped cream) and a side of two pieces of Southern Fried Chicken (160) (also excellent). 

 

Both places have stuffed french toast which is a dish I've never had but apparently regulars rave about. Yes it might sound weird but having some fried chicken paired with your waffles, pancakes, or french toast is definitely on theme with soul food.

 

Even with just one visit, I wouldn't be surprised if this place serves some of the best breakfast food in town (and I do recall even an English breakfast). 

 

I would love to go back there and sample the menu, including the expensive stuff. It's clear to me the cafe part is quite popular, both for coffee and food.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Jingthing

[Yellowtail]

Any place serving crow-burger? Just kidding. Nice to see the thread still going.