The Hit And Run Restaurant "review" Thread

[AlexCanada]

Enjoyed my 69 baht Bacon Burger at Carl Jr. last week.  Have had a weird craving for another one since.  I think the group agreed on Teddy's and Arno's.  There is also Jim's burger behind Central Marina.  Oddly I enjoyed my MC Burger the one time I tried it.  My buddy hated it though.  We had the sourdough melt and it was certainly not sourdough bread.  Why call it sourdough melt then?

[Jingthing]

Enjoyed my 69 baht Bacon Burger at Carl Jr. last week.  Have had a weird craving for another one since.  I think the group agreed on Teddy's and Arno's.  There is also Jim's burger behind Central Marina.  Oddly I enjoyed my MC Burger the one time I tried it.  My buddy hated it though.  We had the sourdough melt and it was certainly not sourdough bread.  Why call it sourdough melt then?

Teddy's no.

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[Jingthing]

Nawab

Indian and Bangladeshi Restaurant

Corner location

South Pattaya 2nd road roughly across from City Walk

My understanding is that this restaurant used to be located on Pratumnak Hill but not sure.

The outside menu presents rather predictable Indian food choices but also a rather robust menu of Bangladeshi dishes. They are mixed up on the menu so you'd have to know the food to tell the difference. The prices are a tad under moderate for the Pattaya market.

I went with chicken legs tandoori, four legs at 180 baht.

Sadly to my taste the chicken was dry and the flavoring rather lackluster.

Also had two Bangladeshi side dishes, tomato bharta 80, and mashed potato bharta 50.

These are fairly basic dishes with mustard oil being the dominant flavor. I asked for very spicy and lots of mustard oil and the request was well met.

Chapatis at 25 baht. 

So as you can read it was a mixed bag for me. The Bangladeshi dishes were good enough to stimulate a potential repeat visit (but no rush) and I haven't tried an actual curry dish there yet. I won't be ordering tandoori there again though. So jury is still out on this place for me. 

 

Walking down the road towards South Pattaya Road I noticed yet another new Indian/Bangladeshi restaurant! Yes, as I've said before, it's almost getting ridiculous. Are we in Pattaya or Pune?

This place is roughly across from Delhi Darbar (yes another Indian restaurant, ha ha). I scanned the menu quickly. Yes the standard Indian and Bangladeshi dishes. 

 

Edited January 9, 2019 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Miscellaneous Snippets at or near Avenue Mall

 

Robin Hood Tavern which I went to seeking their Wednesday night Thai buffet which I saw advertised on Facebook today greeted me with no have Thai buffet. 

 

Checked out the new indoor Avenue Mall aircon food court at peak dinner hour. Almost no customers and it looked like over half the vendors were empty. Hmmm. Not inspired to eat there especially compared to T21. Does anyone know what the RENT is on one of those places? 

 

Oriental "Fusion" (across the street)

Previously mentioned multiple times here

They've finally consolidated the menu. Now only Thai, Italian, and maybe some Chinese. They used to have a number of other international choice categories as well such as Malaysian but they never actually were doing that completely. 

 

Jingcheng Chinese Restaurant

Fully CLOSED!

Has been closed for a long time already but finally all the windows are covered.

This place was one floor up from ground facing the front of the mall.

For a brief period of time they were doing some of the best Chinese food in town. From fancy dishes like Peking Duck to Sichuan standards.

Then the food declined. 

It was very large and ambitious. But for some reason they didn't find enough customers or tours. So … game over.

 

 

Edited January 9, 2019 by Jingthing

[AlexCanada]

Not sure what the rent is currently for Avenue mall's new indoor food court but before the renovations all booths were 100 baht per day.  Many were double booths. 

Edited January 9, 2019 by AlexCanada

[Jingthing]

50 minutes ago, AlexCanada said:

Not sure what the rent is currently for Avenue mall's new indoor food court but before the renovations all booths were 100 baht per day.  Many were double booths. 

Wow. That's cheap. I reckon the indoor place would be much more expensive than that. 

[NewGuy]

Jingcheng Chinese Restaurant - I couldn’t sit down and study the menu because they didn’t have one. I turned down the offer of a flashy food list on an iPad. So we left. Nice looking place though.

[Spidey]

24 minutes ago, NewGuy said:

Jingcheng Chinese Restaurant - I couldn’t sit down and study the menu because they didn’t have one. I turned down the offer of a flashy food list on an iPad. So we left. Nice looking place though.

Absolutely the best food in Thailand is to be found in Thai "tin cup" restaurant's. No menu, only one dish on offer.

 

Stopped at one for lunch, in a small town, en route to Koh Chang, with a friend over on holiday from the UK. He insisted that he didn't like Thai food but agreed to try it. Stewed pork with rice, 40 baht.

 

The restaurant was heaving, all Thais (always a good sign). All trestle tables and we joined 4 RTP guys, having their lunch. We all cleared our plates and my friend had a second plate. When paying the bill he asked me what kind of pork it was. I pointed out to him that they only served meat from pigs heads. He baulked at that but had to admit that it was the best food he'd eaten in Thailand.

Edited January 10, 2019 by Spidey

[TaaSaparot]

11 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Robin Hood Tavern which I went to seeking their Wednesday night Thai buffet which I saw advertised on Facebook today greeted me with no have Thai buffet. 

 

This place has totally lost the plot !

[TaaSaparot]

29 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Absolutely the best food in Thailand is to be found in Thai "tin cup" restaurant's. No menu, only one dish on offer.

 

Stopped at one for lunch, in a small town, en route to Koh Chang, with a friend over on holiday from the UK. He insisted that he didn't like Thai food but agreed to try it. Stewed pork with rice, 40 baht.

 

The restaurant was heaving, all Thais (always a good sign). All trestle tables and we joined 4 RTP guys, having their lunch. We all cleared our plates and my friend had a second plate. When paying the bill he asked me what kind of pork it was. I pointed out to him that they only served meat from pigs heads. He baulked at that but had to admit that it was the best food he'd eaten in Thailand.

Another 'if its cheap, it must be good' post.

 

Name of the Restaurant ? .... no idea it was in Thai.

Name of the Dish ? .... no idea its Thai Food.

 

Add a detail that might shock.

 

????

Edited January 10, 2019 by TaaSaparot

[Spidey]

17 minutes ago, TaaSaparot said:

Another 'if its cheap, it must be good' post.

 

Name of the Restaurant ? .... no idea it was in Thai.

Name of the Dish ? .... no idea its Thai Food.

 

Add a detail that might shock.

 

????

Nope. It's another "if you want to eat good food in Thailand, ask a Thai where to eat" post.

 

As I explained, we spotted a restaurant at the side of the road, stopped and grabbed a bite to eat. Why would I remember the name of the town or restaurant? Don't know the name of the dish as it was the only thing that they served, no need to ask. These restaurants are everywhere, commonly referred to as tin cup restaurants.

 

The point of my post was that these restaurants serve the best food and they don't have a menu (which was the reason I replied to the post.) Sorry I didn't shock you.

 

If you want great Chinese food, go and live in China.

Edited January 10, 2019 by Spidey

[TaaSaparot]

25 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Nope. It's another "if you want to eat good food in Thailand, ask a Thai where to eat" post.

 

As I explained, we spotted a restaurant at the side of the road, stopped and grabbed a bite to eat. Why would I remember the name of the town or restaurant? Don't know the name of the dish as it was the only thing that they served, no need to ask. These restaurants are everywhere, commonly referred to as tin cup restaurants.

 

The point of my post was that these restaurants serve the best food and they don't have a menu (which was the reason I replied to the post.) Sorry I didn't shock you.

 

If you want great Chinese food, go and live in China.

Damn, you are correct .... I missed out the inevitable RTP mention LOL

[Spidey]

5 minutes ago, TaaSaparot said:

Damn, you are correct .... I missed out the inevitable RTP mention LOL

I regularly hang with these guys at my local sauna, also had a great night in a restaurant with 4 of them and their wives, down from Nong Khai on a "special mission". Try it sometime, you may find that these guys don't have 2 horns and a tail as most TV posters paint them.

[AlexCanada]

12 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Robin Hood Tavern which I went to seeking their Wednesday night Thai buffet which I saw advertised on Facebook today greeted me with no have Thai buffet. 

 

From a flyer I received 2 weeks ago, Robin Hood Tavern has a daily carvery buffet for 279 baht from 4-9 pm, 7 days per week.  

 

They also have a breakfast buffet for 199 baht from 7 am to 2 pm (12 noon on Sunday), 7 days per week.

 

Been meaning to try it out even with the negative feedback that this place has gone downhill since Retox sold it.  

[Jingthing]

Jingcheng Chinese Restaurant - I couldn’t sit down and study the menu because they didn’t have one. I turned down the offer of a flashy food list on an iPad. So we left. Nice looking place though.

Well they're long closed so too late. Yes when they existed their menu was electronic and no printed menu. It was kind of clumsy but you could switch it to English mode.

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[Jingthing]

From a flyer I received 2 weeks ago, Robin Hood Tavern has a daily carvery buffet for 279 baht from 4-9 pm, 7 days per week.  
 
They also have a breakfast buffet for 199 baht from 7 am to 2 pm (12 noon on Sunday), 7 days per week.
 
Been meaning to try it out even with the negative feedback that this place has gone downhill since Retox sold it.  

Suggest you call before you visit to check if those offers actually still exist on the day you want to visit.

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[DrTuner]

4 hours ago, Spidey said:

 It's another "if you want to eat good food in Thailand, ask a Thai where to eat" post.

I vehemently disagree with this notion. Every time I've asked Thai it's been a show-off restaurant with mediocre food or with 1000 chilies or just some place they've gone since the last 50 years. Very few Thais seem to be real foodies. Dunno what created the legend, probably n00bs in tripadvisor.

Edited January 10, 2019 by DrTuner

[Jingthing]

10 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

I vehemently disagree with this notion. Every time I've asked Thai it's been a show-off restaurant with mediocre food or with 1000 chilies or just some place they've gone since the last 50 years. Very few Thais seem to be real foodies. Dunno what created the legend, probably n00bs in tripadvisor.

I totally agree with you that it's unusual to find Thai "foodies" in the western sense of the term except if they've been living outside of Thailand. 

[Spidey]

Just now, DrTuner said:

I vehemently disagree with this notion. Every time I've asked Thai it's been a show-off restaurant with mediocre food or with 1000 chilies or just some place they've gone since the last 50 years. Very few Thais seem to be real foodies. Dunno what created the legend, probably n00bs in tripadvisor.

TripAdvisor is absolutely the worst place to look for restaurant reviews. Vendors routinely create fake reviews, there are now several companies who, for a price, will create fake reviews.

 

Also, vendors usually petition TripAdvisor, to remove bad reviews. Something that TripAdvisor do willingly.

 

As for Thais giving bad advice, YMMV. I've been taken to some great restaurants by Thais. However, my usual MO is just to look for a restaurant that's filled with Thais.

 

As for Thais being foodies or not, their tastes are different to Western tastes. Offer a Thai Fillet Mignon or a bowl of Som Tam and they will invariably, choose the Som Tam. My advice was for people who like authentic Thai food, if you prefer Westernised Thai food, try So Buakhao, in Pattaya, or a Thai restaurant in your own country.

[Spidey]

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I totally agree with you that it's unusual to find Thai "foodies" in the western sense of the term except if they've been living outside of Thailand. 

See post above. If you prefer Western food, go and eat it in it's country of origin, it will always be far superior to what you will get in Thailand, and cheaper!

[mogandave]

See post above. If you prefer Western food, go and eat it in it's country of origin, it will always be far superior to what you will get in Thailand, and cheaper!

So you only eat Thai food in Thailand?

[marcusarelus]

3 hours ago, DrTuner said:

I vehemently disagree with this notion. Every time I've asked Thai it's been a show-off restaurant with mediocre food or with 1000 chilies or just some place they've gone since the last 50 years. Very few Thais seem to be real foodies. Dunno what created the legend, probably n00bs in tripadvisor.

It is rare to meet a poster who dislikes Thai people more than you - is it a surprise they wouldn't tell you anything of value? 

[Spidey]

2 hours ago, mogandave said:

 

So you only eat Thai food in Thailand?
 

 

Not at all. Probably 50-50 Thai and farang. However, I stand by my comment that 95% of farang restaurants produce food that would be considered crap in their countries of origin. I just have that need and crap farang food is better than none. Part of the problem is obtaining the right ingredients. I make a lot of bacon and egg sandwiches, as I did in the UK. Not the same. Bread not the same, bacon not the same, eggs better than the UK though.

[marcusarelus]

1 minute ago, Spidey said:

Not at all. Probably 50-50 Thai and farang. However, I stand by my comment that 95% of farang restaurants produce food that would be considered crap in their countries of origin. I just have that need and crap farang food is better than none. Part of the problem is obtaining the right ingredients. I make a lot of bacon and egg sandwiches, as I did in the UK. Not the same. Bread not the same, bacon not the same, eggs better than the UK though.

Japanese too?

[DrTuner]

21 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

It is rare to meet a poster who dislikes Thai people more than you - is it a surprise they wouldn't tell you anything of value? 

Yes I'm sure they also deliberately post in wongnai and other forums just to guide me to the nearest mediocre food court. I'd say about 90% will stuff whatever happens to be within reach in their mouths without giving the quality a second thought. Just telling like it is.

 

EDIT: Here's a prime example: https://www.wongnai.com/restaurants/theglasshouse . Food in glass house is very average.

Edited January 10, 2019 by DrTuner
Added a link

[Spidey]

1 minute ago, marcusarelus said:

Japanese too?

Especially Japanese. Never had sushi (which I love) that can hold a candle to proper Japanese sushi. I've tried making it with locally bought tuna, yuk!

[marcusarelus]

5 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Yes I'm sure they also deliberately post in wongnai and other forums just to guide me to the nearest mediocre food court. I'd say about 90% will stuff whatever happens to be within reach in their mouths without giving the quality a second thought. Just telling like it is.

I guess more Thais read Thai Visa than we thought.????

[mogandave]

Not at all. Probably 50-50 Thai and farang. However, I stand by my comment that 95% of farang restaurants produce food that would be considered crap in their countries of origin. I just have that need and crap farang food is better than none. Part of the problem is obtaining the right ingredients. I make a lot of bacon and egg sandwiches, as I did in the UK. Not the same. Bread not the same, bacon not the same, eggs better than the UK though.

 

Where did you make that comment? I only saw where you said anyone wanting anything but Thai food should go to another country to get it, yet you don’t.

 

The eggs here are better than in the US as well. I think the chicken & fresh pork is about as good as in the US.

 

[Jingthing]

Please try to focus more on the topic here -- SPECIFIC PATTAYA AREA RESTAURANTS.

If people want a discussion about something else, you can start a new thread.

Cheers.

[mogandave]

Well I would like to come to the defense of Robin Hood, as I had a great meal there a few weeks ago.