The Hit And Run Restaurant "review" Thread

[marcusarelus]

2 hours ago, ThaiBob said:

Just to be clear, a pork steak and not a pork chop? Pork steaks are an inferior cut of meat so your experience is not a surprise. My experience is most restaurants serve pork chops. 

Seems here they sell a lot of pork collar steaks in Thailand.  I like em. 

[l4ml4m]

hello, do you know any vegetarian restaurants around Pattaya ? Thank you.

 

 

[marcusarelus]

On 12/6/2018 at 3:01 PM, marcusarelus said:

This is from Arno's post

Made my own.  Ground beef from Makro.  Notice the bacon is done.  Bread is Parmesan cheese bread and the potatoes are batter dipped fries baked with a light spray of olive oil.  My taste buds said Arno's 3 mine 8. 

Edited December 9, 2018 by marcusarelus

[bkk6060]

18 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

Made my own.  Ground beef from Makro.  Notice the bacon is done.  Bread is Parmesan cheese bread and the potatoes are batter dipped fries baked with a light spray of olive oil.  My taste buds said Arno's 3 mine 8. 

Then ask for your bacon well done.

Arno's is and looks great.

Yours truly looks like a burnt pile of C to me.

But, keep trying....

Edited December 9, 2018 by bkk6060

[marcusarelus]

10 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Then ask for your bacon well done.

Arno's is and looks great.

Yours truly looks like a burnt pile of C to me.

But, keep trying....

Top Arno's was like eating rubber, difficult to chew and difficult to swallow as opposed to mine on burger. 

[SheungWan]

On 12/7/2018 at 10:09 PM, DrTuner said:

Best Thai food joints are either ran by farangs or outside Thailand. Like Naam in BKK. Pattaya is a tourist destination so can fully expect decent farang grub.

I have found that the nicest Thai restaurants in Pattaya are run by Thais. I particularly like the zinc table places like Leng Kee. I prefer them to the mid-price Western food restaurants which just bore me now.

[madmen]

Seems here they sell a lot of pork collar steaks in Thailand.  I like em. 

Yep those cuts look great. Switching from beef to pork here wasn't an issue and now prefer it. Some really fatty pork like pork belly cook perfect in the microwave

[madmen]

Seems here they sell a lot of pork collar steaks in Thailand.  I like em. 

Yep those cuts look great. Switching from beef to pork here wasn't an issue and now prefer it. Some really fatty pork like pork belly cook perfect in the microwave

[DrTuner]

1 hour ago, marcusarelus said:

Top Arno's was like eating rubber, difficult to chew and difficult to swallow as opposed to mine on burger. 

I like my bacon with a bit of chew, the crispy bits are for salads. I just remembered you are a senior citizen, still have a good set of gnashers?

 

Your chips look brilliant, add a cheesy dipping sauce and yum. Maybe some garlic salt or other herbs if on a diet. Of all the places in Pattaya I'd give the trophy for best fries to .. Burger King. It must be the higher temp I think they use, but for some reason they get the right amount of crisp on them. Eaten fresh and not delivered, of course. Unhealthy as can be but at least you die with a good taste in the mouth.

[DrTuner]

1 hour ago, madmen said:

Some really fatty pork like pork belly cook perfect in the microwave

One point to Thais, fatty pork is best when cooked over coal fire using one of their concrete bucket grills. Correct amount of carcinogens to make it delish and you can hear the satisfying death knell screams of health nuts and vegans choking on their carrots from miles away. Ninja is a good enough buffet to go for honey pork or pepper bits if you don't have your own grill.

[thailien8]

In Bollywood Kurry this afternoon for my 5th or 6th meal since they opened.  Luckily I had nearly finished eating when I smelled incense smoke.  The rotund owner had a fistful of joss sticks inside the aircon room where I was the only customer at the time.  I don't like this smell, especially while eating, so quickly gathered up my things and moved to a table in the foyer.  No sooner was I settled, than the owner came out there with his stinky sticks.  When I objected, he got angry and yelled something at me.  I check-binned out of there immediately, never to return.  

[Jingthing]

Arno's burger blues.

Last time ordered medium rare and it was more like rare.

This time ordered a medium and it was more like medium well or even well done.

No I didn't complain.

But I doubt I'll go back often now. Good news for my health I suppose.

If you have no idea how they're actually going to cook it when you call your preference out, I have no idea how that makes for happy customers.

 

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[Jingthing]

Possibly exciting new restaurant on the way.
Mr. Pho as far as I pho the first dedicated Vietnamese Pho specialty restaurant ever in Pattaya is being prepared for opening I don't know when.
Its on Tappraya on the bottom area of the hill between Pattaya and Jomtien near the well known Residence Garden hotel/restaurant.


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[DrTuner]

50 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Arno's burger blues.

Last time ordered medium rare and it was more like rare.

This time ordered a medium and it was more like medium well or even well done.

No I didn't complain.

But I doubt I'll go back often now. Good news for my health I suppose.

If you have no idea how they're actually going to cook it when you call your preference out, I have no idea how that makes for happy customers.

Well that escalated quickly. The problem with branches of farang restos is if the farang isn't there lording over the Thai staff 24/7/365 with a lead pipe and a whip, the place get thai-y-fied in no time, meaning in turns into a dump. Usual end result is the branch gets closed. Let's see how long the clock will tick on this one.

[Jingthing]

I almost think there is a modestly priced Indian restaurant Conspiracy in Pattaya...I did a back search on Pattaya Indian restaurants on Thai Visa and it seems that most Indian restaurants/buffets that started to get a buzz because they offered good value did not last long....While the zillions of Indian restaurants that have high prices and no customers in Pattaya seem to be sticking around for years and years now.....

You think in the last 10 years a least 1 Indian restaurant in Pattaya would have developed a great reputation with farangs because they offered good food at a great value....But non have as far as I can tell...

 

I do plan on trying out the 200 baht Indian buffet on the 2nd floor of the old Tops supermarket on 2nd and Central road....  

Reza was an Iranian buffet. Not Indian.

 

That Tops buffet you referred to if it's still there I can say I had a look at it a good while back and it didn't look appealing enough to me to even try.

 

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[Jingthing]

HuaTai Sichuan Chinese Restaurant
2nd road, North Pattaya, across the road from the Burger King anchored Korean food town outdoor mall, easy walk to or from Terminal 21
 
This is a newer restaurant but it appears associated with a big local restaurant brand called HL. In the front they have a "Special Foods Menu" which is all Sichuan food, no English descriptions, and a lot of seafood (so not cheap).
 
Once inside they also have a more standard HL branded menu that is not specifically Sichuan and is a menu you can find at a number of other restaurants in town. 
 
One of my favorite dishes in any cuisine is Sichuan boiled fish filets "Mala" hot pot in hot chili oil. Mala means Ma for "numbing" Sichuan peppers which aren't technically peppers and La is for better known red hot chili peppers. This dish is not technically a soup as the broth is dominated by OIL so you're not supposed to eat much of the actual liquid as it's for flavoring. Also included in the flavoring is Sichuan fermented broad bean chili paste and fresh garlic. In other words, if you order this dish full strength, you're probably an advanced CHILI HEAD because it's HARD CORE.
 
Once inside I was only offered the more boring generic HL menu. So I had to ask for the special menu that I saw outside.
 
When I was there was a very sweet quite old semi English speaking Chinese lady. 
 
So I recognized the Mala fish pot from the picture on the special menu. This is a large dish and at 420 baht that's a standard price for it in Pattaya. But for that, you want it to be good, and it's not always good in Pattaya.
 
The biggest issue with Sichuan dishes in Pattaya when they are supposed to have Sichuan peppers is that the locally sold Sichuan peppers completely lack the mouth numbing ZING of the real deal. They are also often STALE which actually destroys the flavor of dishes. Not good.
 
So the better places import them directly somehow from China.
 
So I took a chance and had the dish. I ordered it very Mala and first the Chinese lady tried to correct me and said "not spicy?" so I had to dramatically insist on VERY VERY VERY MALA along with hand gestures. The thing is when fighting farangitization of spicy dishes whether at Thai, Chinese, or Indian restaurants sometimes you have to go overboard just to make sure they don't serve you bland food. But if they take your request literally, you're going to get something that probably the majority of people don't really want to (or can't) eat.
 
 

 
 
So they took me literally which is fine with me but it didn't really need to be THAT hot and spicy!
 
Also included in the hot oil along with the ample portion of nicely cooked fish filets are special mushrooms and Chinese cabbage. All the ingredients get heavily flavored by the oil including the vegetables. 
 
Eat with rice. Lots of rice. 
 
The picture makes the dish look smaller than it really is. Anyway, as you can see there were "adequate" spices. But the risk factor here being the Sichuan peppers, well, these Sichuan peppers while not the freshest I've tasted, but at least they weren't stale, and they were VERY VERY powerful in the mouth numbing department. It was almost nuclear. A great test is ordering plain water and then after having real deal mala food the water becomes SODA water in your mouth. You may like this sensation or you may hate it but you should try it if you haven't. I confirmed with the lady that indeed they can't buy the Sichuan peppers they use in Thailand and must import them directly from China.
I'll never understand why you can't buy decent Sichuan peppers locally in Thailand, but there you have it.
 
If you go have a look at the special menu and you will recognize some other dishes such as something similar to Kung Pao chicken, but probably not most of them. I couldn't use my smartphone translate apps because the text was vertical. Maybe my error but it couldn't make it work.
 
 
 
 

Oh balls.
That was quick.
Above restaurant now closed.

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[KittenKong]

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Mr. Pho as far as I pho the first dedicated Vietnamese Pho specialty restaurant ever in Pattaya is being prepared for opening I don't know when.

Good. I like pho.

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

Good. I like pho.

Me too, and I've yet to have an actually decent pho in Pattaya. The fact that this new place is named after pho gives hope but we'll have to taste and see. 

[Jingthing]

Duplicate

Edited December 12, 2018 by Jingthing

[ThaiBob]

On 12/12/2018 at 3:55 AM, DrTuner said:

Well that escalated quickly. The problem with branches of farang restos is if the farang isn't there lording over the Thai staff 24/7/365 with a lead pipe and a whip, the place get thai-y-fied in no time, meaning in turns into a dump. Usual end result is the branch gets closed. Let's see how long the clock will tick on this one.

There is no farang managing that I could see (unlike Italian Osteria nearby which has an active farang manager and a cook too). Any inconsistencies from kitchen comes from the kitchen staff although my recent experience was the burger cooking now matched the pictures on the menu (rare, med rare, medium, etc.). If they don't I would say something. 

Edited December 18, 2018 by ThaiBob

[Jingthing]

There is no farang managing that I could see (unlike Italian Osteria nearby which has an active farang manager and a cook too). Any inconsistencies from kitchen comes from the kitchen staff although my recent experience was the burger cooking now matched the pictures on the menu (rare, med rare, medium, etc.). If they don't I would say something. 

Mine definitely didn't match the picture. But next time I will show them the picture and if it's way off that would give better ground beef for complaints. Still I wouldn't complain for a little bit off. Restaurants in the USA now are reportedly undercooking steaks a little bit to deal with complaints. You can cook a little longer but you can't make it more rare.   

I did notice a Thai manager there. Actually he looked at me a little funny the last time in a way that made me think he knew the kitchen made a mistake. I was probably too polite that time not to complain.

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[pegman]

15 hours ago, ThaiBob said:

There is no farang managing that I could see (unlike Italian Osteria nearby which has an active farang manager and a cook too). Any inconsistencies from kitchen comes from the kitchen staff although my recent experience was the burger cooking now matched the pictures on the menu (rare, med rare, medium, etc.). If they don't I would say something. 

Eating rare or undercooked hamburger in a country like Thailand sounds problematic to me. Especially if your body is not use to ingesting high bacterial levels. 

[Spidey]

33 minutes ago, pegman said:

Eating rare or undercooked hamburger in a country like Thailand sounds problematic to me. Especially if your body is not use to ingesting high bacterial levels. 

I guess that you won't be trying the raw prawns then? Gung sae nam pa, raw prawns marinated in a spicy sauce on a slice of cucumber and a slice of garlic and a slice of lime on the side. The perfect accompaniment to a glass of ice cold beer. Have eaten it at parties and in restaurants with no ill effects.

[pegman]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

I guess that you won't be trying the raw prawns then? Gung sae nam pa, raw prawns marinated in a spicy sauce on a slice of cucumber and a slice of garlic and a slice of lime on the side. The perfect accompaniment to a glass of ice cold beer. Have eaten it at parties and in restaurants with no ill effects.

The surface bad stuff can be washed off. With a hamburger it gets mixed in and ends up inside. That is why in some countries, such as my homeland, the ctr must be cooked to 160F. I know some countries like France allow rare burgers but they also do health inspections. I have never heard of a restaurant closed for health concerns in Thailand.

[Spidey]

35 minutes ago, pegman said:

 I have never heard of a restaurant closed for health concerns in Thailand.

Not really likely to as they don't have regular health inspections.

 

Never really understood why people eat burgers in Thailand. A burger stands and falls on the quality of it's beef. Not easy to find quality beef in Thailand and very expensive if you can find it. Doubt that any restaurants use anything but Thai beef, despite their claims. If a restaurant in Thailand claims to use 100% Australian beef in it's burgurs there's no guarantee that it's true. I've lost count of the number of bars that have served me a glass of Jack Daniels that has zero genuine Jack Daniels in it.

 

There is no consumer protection in Thailand.

[hackjam]

Reckon there would have to be multiple deaths in a restaurant, at the tables,  before any action would be taken.

I got so hacked off about poor quality burgers in Pattaya that I started to made my own, turn out good.

I do consider that burgers at the like of Jim's and Big Khudna in Jomtiem to be good. The best burger I have had in Pattays was at Hard rock beach road but expensive. There is a lady selling burgers from a stall at start of second Rd, Jomtiem just after lights and before Rompol market cheap and OK.

Edited December 19, 2018 by hackjam

[mogandave]

Was in Pattaya today to visit a friend that just got back in town.

I’m sure it’s been reviewed here, but he recommended “Robin Hood” upstairs in the shopping center on 2nd Road. McD & Sbucks downstairs and it has parking...

Nice clean place with decent seating and nice looking wait-staff.

Anyways, I had the “Hunters Chicken” which I thought was great. Huge split chicken breast (I think) broiled and topped up with nice thick-sliced bacon and melted cheese. It was excellent. Served with a big serving of real nice shoestring potatoes and small portion of decent (albeit too wet) coleslaw. Best meal I’ve had in a while, and the biggest I’ve had since visiting the US. I was hungry, and could not finish it.

My buddy had the American breakfast which looked pretty good as well.

Total for both of us was under B500 which I thought was a good value.

[Jingthing]

Actually that just might be the first "review" of Robin Hood here. Clearly they are trying very hard and people are noticing. I haven't been though. 

[Jingthing]

Update on Hopf/Hops Brew House

Old news that Hopf on Pattaya beach road rebranded as Hops Brew House.

For years now there was a sign on a new building on Tappraya road top of the hill indicating a new Hopf would be opening there.

The sign has been torn down.

I suppose it's possible they tore down the sign because it will be a new Hops Brew House and not a Hopf. I reckon there was some legal issue with the old name. But given that the place has been empty with the old sign for years now, I seriously doubt it will have anything to do with Hopf or Hops Brew House.

Oh well. 

Edited December 20, 2018 by Jingthing

[TaaSaparot]

While on the topic of Thappraya, I see the longstanding PIC Kitchen on Soi 4 is moving to Thappraya "late 2019" in the same grounds as the Sugar Hut.

 

Must make a sentimental visit to Soi 4 while still open.