The Hit And Run Restaurant "review" Thread

[bkk6060]

I have tried Pho here at a couple of places.  Tastes bad and smells like urine.  I am happy with a simple bowl of Thai noodle meat soup thanks.

[DrTuner]

12 hours ago, jwdub said:

Pho Mr. Nam the Vietnamese Pho shop on Thappraya has just announced on Facebook that he is closing shop mid August.

It's starting to get busy, need to go to the restaurants in this thread before they close up. This was on my list.

[DrTuner]

6 hours ago, Jingthing said:

But then if things are improved then they need to get people to try it again. Not sure how.

My main gripe is the location. I like to sit outside but the traffic noise and dust is just too much. They should move.

[Jingthing]

5 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

I have tried Pho here at a couple of places.  Tastes bad and smells like urine.  I am happy with a simple bowl of Thai noodle meat soup thanks.

Do you mean in Thailand because it's quite hard to get excellent Pho in Thailand.

It would be like trying Mexican food only in Pattaya and saying you don't like Mexican food. Without the experience of the excellent stuff, there is no way to know.

Edited July 19, 2019 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, DrTuner said:

My main gripe is the location. I like to sit outside but the traffic noise and dust is just too much. They should move.

Well, the location works great for their breakfast trade. 

[myjawe]

On 7/15/2019 at 10:42 PM, petemoss said:

Heard many people recommending Richman Poorman but never tried it as I find American food greasy and overcooked, also their standard dishes just seem like fast food to me. Clicked on the link you provided.

 

OMG my worst fears confirmed! Go to the menu page ad look at the photos. Can't believe the owner would post them as examples of his food. Would be cheap transport cafe food, in the UK.

 

 

Eggs Benedict? I don't tink so, it would have gone straight back to the kitchen, if I'd been served it. What's it swimming in? Oil?

 

OM double G. Cremated sausage meat, equally cremated egg and, wait for it....a Kraft cheese slice. Quality.

 

 

I agree and was always shocked, this is what foreigners call good food ! Also some people in this thread ! So funny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[myjawe]

On 7/16/2019 at 1:25 PM, Jingthing said:

Chinese restaurant replacing Brunos

Tappraya Road, Jomtien

As most locals know by now long time Jomtien institution Brunos has closed. 

The sign for the replacement, a Chinese restaurant has now been erected though I'm not sure yet if they have officially opened.

Though I passionately love authentic Chinese food, to my disappointment this is specifically a HOT POT place. I know that because HOT POT is in the name of the place.

When I see that they're actually open, I'll pop in to at least have a look at their menu which of course might not be in English. 

Sometimes hot pot places have menus of other dishes too.

I also want to determine if it's a legit SICHUAN hot pot place or another kind.

 

 

Do you know why Bruno closes ? If even bruno closes who can expect to remain open ?

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, myjawe said:

 

Do you know why Bruno closes ? If even bruno closes who can expect to remain open ?

 

 

 

I'm not really sure but I recall reading somewhere that the customer volume was too low. But long standing places often close for the usual reasons -- health problems, retirement, business partner conflicts moving home. etc. 

 

Of course I'm not denying an obvious trend here that people have noticed. Western food places struggling, and non-western places increasing. Why wouldn't that be with changing demographics? Remember some years ago when even many non-Russian restaurants had Russian food menus? Not much anymore. 

 

The Indian restaurant boom does remain a mystery to me. There seems to be a massive oversupply and yet more keep opening. Look into most of them most of the time and very few or no customers. General mediocrity of the food, etc. Oh well!

[mogandave]

 
 
I agree and was always shocked, this is what foreigners call good food ! Also some people in this thread ! So funny.
 
 
 
 
 
 

What do you call good food, and where do you get it?

[Jingthing]

5 minutes ago, mogandave said:

 

What do you call good food, and where do you get it?

 

You didn't ask me but to me it's whatever people like to eat. That's why this thread is open to comments on all levels of restaurants from fancy hiso places to fast food joints. Yes I might think that what some people think is good food is crap, but so what, nobody is forcing us to eat it.

[mogandave]

You didn't ask me but to me it's whatever people like to eat. That's why this thread is open to comments on all levels of restaurants from fancy hiso places to fast food joints. Yes I might think that what some people think is good food is crap, but so what, nobody is forcing us to eat it.

I value your opinion (politics notwithstanding) and you seem to try a lot of new places and review them nicely.

I was asking the guy(s) that seem to find fault with every place (or dish) that gets reviewed even though they haven’t actually tried it.

I would really like to know what they eat and where they get it.

[Jingthing]

Ming Ji

499 all you can eat Chinese hot pot and dim sum

T21 mall, San Francisco floor, 2nd road view side

This replaces the Taiwanese restaurant there.

Possibly same owners.

Have not tried the new version yet and probably won't but now you know.

 

Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

 

[bkk6060]

Big C Central Marina food court.

Stewed meat and veggies soup 50 b.

[Rimmer]

Multiple off topic posts talking about various scams have all been removed, please stay on topic, thank you.

 

The Hit And Run Restaurant "review" Thread

 

 

[Jingthing]

Kotta Restaurant

Continental / Norwegian / Italian / Thai

Tappraya Road Jomtien

(roughly in the Jomtien Complex area)

Appears to be CLOSED PERMANENTLY

For sale sign up and tables removed

[gamesgplayemail]

4 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Kotta Restaurant

Continental / Norwegian / Italian / Thai

Tappraya Road Jomtien

(roughly in the Jomtien Complex area)

Appears to be CLOSED PERMANENTLY

For sale sign up and tables removed

It already closed once, then reopened a new location. So weird.

And how ridiculous is this: Continental / Norwegian / Italian / Thai

 

Who can pretend to make good food when having such a large menu.

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2019 by gamesgplayemail

[pegman]

18 minutes ago, gamesgplayemail said:

It already closed once, then reopened a new location. So weird.

And how ridiculous is this: Continental / Norwegian / Italian / Thai

 

Who can pretend to make good food when having such a large menu.

 

 

 

I always like their lasagne. A nice touch was gratis after dinner fruit plate and shot of lemoncello. Earlier it was a shot of sambuca.

[mogandave]

It already closed once, then reopened a new location. So weird.
And how ridiculous is this: Continental / Norwegian / Italian / Thai
 
Who can pretend to make good food when having such a large menu.
 
 
 

Any why would anyone expect fresh ingredients if they have to maintain inventory for 500 menu items?

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, gamesgplayemail said:

It already closed once, then reopened a new location. So weird.

Presumably yet another victim of a Thai landlord increasing the rent for no valid reason.

[Jingthing]

Yes they have been around for many years at different locations. The diverse menu wasn't a problem. I think most people ordered Norwegian or Italian. I know they had a following. I thought it was pretty good but only ate there rarely. Given their brands longevity their closing is noteworthy. No idea of the reason but I'm sure some may see it as part of the larger trend of Chinese and Indians in / Euros out.

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[Jingthing]

Any why would anyone expect fresh ingredients if they have to maintain inventory for 500 menu items?

The menu really wasn't that big but now I feel silly defending a closed restaurant that I wasn't a big fan of.

In general though I agree with you. I do admire places with more limited focused menus assuming they do what they do well of course.

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[Jingthing]

JINGCHUMIN

 

"Upscale" Chinese Food

NEW RESTAURANT!

Tappraya road (last block before Jomtien Beach road) Jomtien

Open for lunch and dinner (closed between)

 

I've been waiting a very long time for this place to open! Based on the exterior they are marketing themselves as a high class dining experience presumably to Chinese tourists with money to burn. So I had very high expectations for this place and you know what they say happens when you have high expectations.

 

So anyway entered the place and I clearly got the vibe that it was a very new restaurant which of course it is. They don't have a lot of tables but two were occupied with medium sized groups of Chinese people.

 

Presented with the menu upon entering which I consider a good thing was my first surprise. It's quite a SMALL menu. One plastic card printed on both sides.

 

On the menu were typical dishes you can see at a number of places around town catering to a similar demographic. Meats, seafood, vegetables all done in a very authentic Chinese style. Some spicy. This place is definitely not specifically a Sichuan restaurant though they have a few Sichuan origin dishes.

 

I was kind of put off by the choices which didn't seem unique or abundant enough to me considering the Pattaya competition and also the prices. From my POV this place and other places like it are overpriced but on the other hand it's not very easy to get very good Chinese food here for less.

 

So I had to try the place of course.

 

About the décor -- based on the exterior marketing presentation I was expecting a kind of over the top high class setting inside. It was not that! It was fairly plain. Nothing very special about the tables and chairs either. I really don't get why they would do that but I don't really care about such stuff either way.

 

Went for twice cooked pork (320) and sautéed spinach with garlic (120). 320 is about the lowest price on their menu for any meat oriented dish. Turns out either the picture was wrong or they never really had spinach so I was asked if morning glory was OK which it was.

 

The smallest rice was shown as 50 baht but when the bill came I was only charged 20 baht.

 

10 baht was added to the bill which the waiter tried to call service but a round number like that is hard to believe as a service charge, but no point in quibbling. 

They have some kind of metal pot dish which I asked about and was told it was organ meat which I don't like so I was glad of the warning. Don't be scared though, most of their dishes would be perfectly OK for non-adventurous western palates.

 

One dish they did have that isn't common in town was a CRISPY DUCK priced at 480. Not a bad price if it's really good. Note it didn't say Peking duck. Just crispy. The picture had only duck, no sides. If anyone reading this tries that, please report back.

 

About the food. Twice cooked pork is a Sichuan origin dish that's popular in the west. In the west the pork is usually pork filet pieces. I've found at authentic Chinese restaurants they tend to use pork belly. 

 

Both dishes were very well cooked. Good ingredients. Good flavor. Elegantly presented on the plate with predictably rather SMALL portions. I'll even mention the rice. Yes it's just rice but it was PERFECT.

 

However given the small portions that adds to my perception that this is an overpriced restaurant for Pattaya. For New York or Shanghai not, but for here, yes.

 

So I guess decide for yourself if very good authentic Chinese food elegantly presented is worth it to you. If so, this place is one of a number places in town offering similar experiences.

 

A personal note. Years ago I had a very rich relative in Chicago who took me out to the one of the most expensive, most elegant, most highly regarded Chinese restaurants in town. In this case the interior actually was super fancy more like a fancy French restaurant than Chinese. For some reason the food at this place reminded me of that experience. Ironically, my relative announced to me after eating there that he was no longer going to eat any Chinese food for the rest of his life. He could eat whatever he wanted but it was a funny response to one meal. He said he now realizes Chinese food just doesn't satisfy him. Well, whatever, it satisfies me. Hope they go on eatigo!

 

Edited August 3, 2019 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

CLOSED!

The Hood, Pratumnak Hill

Not a very old restaurant

(different than Robin Hood)

https://www.facebook.com/Pratamnaksoi1

 

CLOSED!

Punch and Judy Pub

Tepprasit, Soi 8

Quite an old restaurant.

If someone knows hold old, maybe post.

I never ate there.

 

Anyway, here goes, are these closings more evidence that the farang restaurant meltdown is really happening?

 

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

Odessa

Ukrainian and Russian food

Jomtien

I have posted about this restaurant before. Favorably. 

Recently I've been sampling some new menu items from there via the Grab Food app.

Specifically the Ukrainian style of schnitzel called Steak Otbivnaya on the menu. 

Choose from pork or chicken, same price at 180.

OK, I like schnitzel whether German/Austrian or Israeli but I'd never had Ukrainian/Russian style schnitzel.

I find the Odessa version delightful. Much lighter than other schnitzels I've had. Something I could eat often without feeling it was unhealthy. 

I prefer the chicken version. The meat portion is very large but that's all you get. If you want sides that's extra. I do recommend their Ukrainian borscht with pampushkas and garlic oil dip. 

 

[DrTuner]

Pepper and Salt

Khao Talo, Darkside

 

Was hungry the other day and decided to pop by as I'd seen the restaurant a few times when driving by. Went in, quite nice and clean, although it is right next to the road which is not really my preference. First thing I spotted was they have a wine selection, visible from the tables. I was there for lunch so decided just to get a beer (Heineken). The weekly special was stroganoff and I went for that one. Service was alright, the usual. The western chef was mingling around. Stroganoff was excellent as were the mashed potatoes too, perfectly done. They also had a promotion for an Oz beef tomahawk steak, I think the place is more popular as a dining spot.

 

Prices might be a bit higher than usually expected on darkside, but the food quality was worth it. I will definitely be back for a dinner.

 

https://goo.gl/maps/VGpqrTx5QCMAhHyd9

 

[topt]

5 hours ago, DrTuner said:

Prices might be a bit higher than usually expected on darkside

What sort of prices were the specials?

[DrTuner]

35 minutes ago, topt said:

What sort of prices were the specials?

It was either 280 or 320, if I remember correctly. In general the prices were thereabouts. The portion size was big enough for me.

 

You can see some of the specials they've had before in the google link photos, f.ex. https://goo.gl/maps/fvDUJATDARiSNpiL7

[White Christmas13]

8 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Odessa

Ukrainian and Russian food

Jomtien

I have posted about this restaurant before. Favorably. 

Recently I've been sampling some new menu items from there via the Grab Food app.

Specifically the Ukrainian style of schnitzel called Steak Otbivnaya on the menu. 

Choose from pork or chicken, same price at 180.

OK, I like schnitzel whether German/Austrian or Israeli but I'd never had Ukrainian/Russian style schnitzel.

I find the Odessa version delightful. Much lighter than other schnitzels I've had. Something I could eat often without feeling it was unhealthy. 

I prefer the chicken version. The meat portion is very large but that's all you get. If you want sides that's extra. I do recommend their Ukrainian borscht with pampushkas and garlic oil dip. 

 

you got a address for this restaurant I will be staying in Jomtien

again for 2 weeks in December

[jacko45k]

13 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Anyway, here goes, are these closings more evidence that the farang restaurant meltdown is really happening?

I think Punch and Judy must be about 10-12 years. It does appear the British pub type places are dwindling, to go along with the dwindling visitors from there. 

[luckyluke]

For about 20 years now, previously "Le Relax", since years "Le Freelax" (Chez Michel), is giving common brasserie food at a very decent price (the menu is something around 300 Thb) 

I recommend : Rognons à la crème.    

Located in the Soi between The Castle & Buffalo Bar, ( in front of the fire brigade) 3rd. Road.