The Hit And Run Restaurant "review" Thread

[TaaSaparot]

New find!

Kind of a small low priced Korean "dive" on Soi Buakhow.

Closed already.

[TaaSaparot]

Amporn Seafood, 3rd Road east side

Eaten at Amporn for a few years now, and the food is decent.

Some nights, the battle between the band and the 3rd road traffic can be a bit much though.

[Asiantravel]

I have to tell you that a lunchtime today I had the most fantastic taste sensation at SUPNAY (Chiang Mai style food) restaurant on 3rd road being fruit Som tam . I have already been back numerous times for the excellent Chiang Mai style cuisine but this is a new addition to their menu and is absolutely sensational. They ask you what level of spiciness you would like (I asked for medium) and it was an incredibly interesting and healthy taste experience. I highly recommend it

Edited May 23, 2014 by Asiantravel

[Jimmyd]

Third road is very long. Where exactly is SUPNAY? Do they have Kao Soi?

[SurfRider]

.

More info on Supnay . . .

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Supnay-Northern-Lanna-Cuisine/577087465710220?id=577087465710220&sk=photos_stream

[Jimmyd]

Thanks. Just sorted lunch for me.

[Jimmyd]

Too late to edit the above post. I had the Khao Soi Beef and Sum Tom Khai Kem at Supnay--both were excellent. The Khao Soi was actually better than some I've had in Chiang Mai.

The packaging (I brought it home to eat) showed someone who really cares about their food. I think the Khao Soi was in about 8 different bags for each of the elements: noodles, crispy noodles, sauce, shallots, chili, etc.

Thanks so much for the tip. I'll be back many times to try just about everything on their menu.

[KittenKong]

Like to recommend the new Iranian buffet at Pardis restaurant, on 2nd Road east side, across from Central / Hilton, next to Madras Darbar Indian restaurant.

I went there today but turned away on seeing that the price has gone from 200B to 249B overnight. I didn't bother to go in to see if the ingredients used had also increased in value by a similar amount. 200B was a fair price but for me there is a lot of competition around at 250B.

[ZigZagMan]

La Baguette

Opened a couple of days ago. No free Wifi so I smell a greedy owner.

Coffee starts at 100 Baht. Seriously?

Everything not less than 80 Baht.

Big and spacious.

Where will the customers come from? Little Russia? The courthouse?

I've been there 4 times at lunch hour and just about every seat taken.

This is a serious business serving high quality with a well trained, snappy staff.

Chef salad with turkey, duck and prosciutto ham = 340Bt. / Large croissant = 50Bt. / Crepe with spinach, mushrooms & cheese = 245Bt. / Sandwiches 245Bt. / Milkshake = 140Bt. / Water 50Bt.-100Bt.

[BugJackBaron]

La Baguette

Opened a couple of days ago. No free Wifi so I smell a greedy owner.

Coffee starts at 100 Baht. Seriously?

Everything not less than 80 Baht.

Big and spacious.

Where will the customers come from? Little Russia? The courthouse?

I've been there 4 times at lunch hour and just about every seat taken.

This is a serious business serving high quality with a well trained, snappy staff.

Chef salad with turkey, duck and prosciutto ham = 340Bt. / Large croissant = 50Bt. / Crepe with spinach, mushrooms & cheese = 245Bt. / Sandwiches 245Bt. / Milkshake = 140Bt. / Water 50Bt.-100Bt.

It's common for this to happen to a newly opened place as people are curious. Sunrise Tacos and La Pomme both started out strong.and the former

went out of business.The question is will you will get in a couple of months or so "regular customers" or at least a stream of naive tourists.

[ZigZagMan]

La Baguette

Opened a couple of days ago. No free Wifi so I smell a greedy owner.

Coffee starts at 100 Baht. Seriously?

Everything not less than 80 Baht.

Big and spacious.

Where will the customers come from? Little Russia? The courthouse?

I've been there 4 times at lunch hour and just about every seat taken.

This is a serious business serving high quality with a well trained, snappy staff.

Chef salad with turkey, duck and prosciutto ham = 340Bt. / Large croissant = 50Bt. / Crepe with spinach, mushrooms & cheese = 245Bt. / Sandwiches 245Bt. / Milkshake = 140Bt. / Water 50Bt.-100Bt.

It's common for this to happen to a newly opened place as people are curious. Sunrise Tacos and La Pomme both started out strong.and the former

went out of business.The question is will you will get in a couple of months or so "regular customers" or at least a stream of naive tourists.

The Naklua branch of LaBaquette (open 3 years) proves their business model is a booming success. Can't even be seated at lunchtime there.

You have to be a naive tourist to appreciate quality?

[susan d]

[KittenKong]

The Naklua branch of LaBaquette (open 3 years) proves their business model is a booming success. Can't even be seated at lunchtime there.

I rarely go north of Central Road but I did go to Naklua last Sunday morning and was impressed by the very large number of hiso Thais queuing to get into La Baguette. It seems very overpriced to me and I can think of many places here that I would rather spend that much money in, and be spared the hiso clientele.

Not sure that the new Jomtien branch is in the right place though. Maybe hiso Thais from Pratumnak will drive there to use it.

[doctormann]

RAM_Indian_Restaurant.tif

The Ram Indian Restaurant has recently opened on Soi Khaotalo.

Nicely done out - some tables outside and room for maybe 24 diners inside in A/C comfort. The menu is quite extensive - all the usual suspects are there - and the quality of the food is fine. I've so far tried their Lamb Tikka Masala and also their Lamb Rogan Josh, on two separate occasions. My dining companions on the first occasion tried the the Lamb Vindaloo and the Chicken Madras - everything was good. The poppadoms were a bit on the small side, as was the Aloo Tikky that I had as a starter - but very tasty.

We don't exactly have too many dining venues on Khaotalo so the Ram is a nice addition. I hope that it survives - my main concern is that it's not exactly cheap and it probably needs to be in that location.

It's located about 1km past the railway crossing, coming from Sukhumvit, and is on the left side, more or less opposite to Toni's fitness centre.

I'm going to try to attach a scanned copy of their menu - I hope that I'm allowed to do that.

DM

[ZigZagMan]

The Taco House on Soi Bukow (that used the same dreadful recipes as the failed Sunrise Tacos) went belly up I see.

Imagine that.

[Jingthing]

The Taco House on Soi Bukow (that used the same dreadful recipes as the failed Sunrise Tacos) went belly up I see.

Imagine that.

Wow! That was fast. I tried it once and noticed how similar the flavor profile was to Sunrise Tacos (I doubt a coincidence).

Although I wasn't a fan, I could see people liking it.

Which reminds me to remind others ... if you like a restaurant in Pattaya, eat there NOW, because tomorrow ... no guarantees.

BTW, given how SLOW Pattaya is these days, I predict we are going to see an unusually large volume of restaurant closures.

Edited July 1, 2014 by Jingthing

[KittenKong]

The Taco House on Soi Bukow (that used the same dreadful recipes as the failed Sunrise Tacos) went belly up I see.

As did Subs'n'Steaks or whatever it was called in the Jomtien Complex branch of the ex-Sunrise Tacos.

All with the same management as far as I know.

[TaaSaparot]

The Taco House on Soi Bukow (that used the same dreadful recipes as the failed Sunrise Tacos) went belly up I see.

Imagine that.

They said on their FB page a few weeks back, that they were moving to Central Festival.

[Jingthing]

Internal mall off 2nd Road (north of Big C) KOREAN RESTAURANT row

I've mentioned some of these places before, but here is a limited review and update, of sorts.

To locate this interesting place, view this map for the Pattaya location:

http://www.thebibimbab.com/?pages=contact

There is a BURGER KING (not Korean) at the north corner of this internal mall.

Walking INTO the mall, on the LEFT you will first find a

1. Korean BBQ restaurant.

They specialize in lower priced SETS for BBQ at your table experience.

Korean style, not Thai style.

I have tried before just a Korean soup/stew and it was OK, good price, but was NOT impressed with the banchan (too limited), so have not been back.

Further INTO the mall on the LEFT, you will find a restaurant called something like KOREAN SASHIMI.

Clearly, they sell Korean sashimi.

My feeling was that this place is catering to Koreans and might be difficult for non-Koreans to navigate it, but that's just a feeling I got. I haven't even looked at the menu, assuming there is an English one.

STARTING AGAIN ... entering the mall on the RIGHT HAND side (where the Burger King is).

First you will see the Thailand chain restaurant THE BIBIMBAB.

They also have a BBQ restaurant on the 2nd floor.

This is a major place, large location.

I ate there once and found the food to not be "Korean enough" for my more sophisticated "really like real Korean food" palate.

They are clearly trying to do Korean food for the Thai mass market. Not my scene.

This reviewer agrees about a Bangkok location:

http://tastythailand.com/the-bibimbab-in-bangkok-thailand-tasteless-and-disappointing/

Going much further into the mall, on the RIGHT HAND side, roughly across the way from the Korean Sashimi place, is the main reason I am posting this today.

The small operation is merely called KOREAN RESTAURANT (obviously something else in Korean, but who knows).

As they have BBQ tables clearly they must have a BBQ menu, but I didn't see it.

The menu posted outside is a small one and concentrates on soup/stews/one bibimbap choice.

Very reasonable prices ... pretty standard for Pattaya, happily.

Bottom line ... I do like this restaurant.

I ordered one of the two choices of Soft Tofu Spicy Soup Stew. 220 baht. Order very spicy.

The soup stew was hot pepper spicy but not enough Korean pepper paste in it for me, but still good. The raw egg was prepared before the table (not my preference). The tofu was great and the expected small amount of seafood in it was served not in shell.

So no that part was not stellar, though acceptable.

What was better than average for Pattaya was the BANCHAN.

Spicy, tasty, and good variety. Only one sweeter one (lotus) and none of that mayonnaise crap or hot dogs.

Also, quite remarkably was a VERY GENEROUS portion of grilled fish (saba I would guess) ... cooked perfectly ... so tasty ... so satisfying.

The side rice was the purple kind with a few beans ... my preference over white.

Now there are better Korean places on THIRD ROAD ... this location is very mass tourist and baht bus friendly and I will definitely be back!

Even though the actual main dish, the soup/stew wasn't quite up to my hopes, OVERALL when you factor in the great banchan and fish portion, this place really is a SUPER VALUE for a Korean food fix!

Also note FREE WATER is offered without even asking ... this is standard in most local Korean restaurants.

If you like spice, be warned, be FIRM about it or this seems to be a place that will give you bland based on not being Korean (if you're not Korean).

Edited July 2, 2014 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Hot New Restaurant at Pattaya Beach Mall, 6th Floor

Miyazaki

Japanese Teppanyaki Grill Restaurant

Quite reasonably priced, Limited choices easy access menu (basically choices of different meats and seafood sets), attractive decor, fun "Benihana on a Budget" chef cooking "show"

Basically you order your meat or seafood and the "show" chef cooks your set in front of you on a grill.

Included with the meat is a plate of grilled veg, some side spice sauce (garlic and chile to add if you like) rice and a thin non-miso soup.

Portions are on the small side for all items but the price is also on the small side for this kind of experience.

Some people might be surprised to see BUTTER used in grilling at a Japanese style resto ... just saying they do, not judging.

I ordered the beef SET NUMBER ONE, which is New Zealand sirloin in slices.

I was asked well done, medium, or rare and unwisely got fancy and ordered the way I REALLY wanted it ... medium rare.

Well they tried to understand but what I got was more rare than I would expect an actual rare order to be ... maybe actual rare is raw, I don't know ... but suggest to forget about specifying anything other than the three choices and you should be OK.

Anyway I was so unhappy with the meat as cooked that I sent it back for more cooking and they were nice enough to do a complete new plate of meat for me ... so that shows good intent of customer service for sure (not to EVER be taken for granted in Thailand).

I did taste some of the rarer meat and also later got a medium (I gave up on trying to get medium rare). The medium was indeed medium. Of course with good beef you can taste the meat better when rare, which I did, and I must say that although I believe the meat is imported and not Thai beef, it wasn't exactly any kind of gourmet beef eating experience either. Not really faulting them ... at the prices they're selling ... how could it be really.

Hot green tea is 35 baht.

My meat set was in the mid 200 area.

I forget about added fees on the check, sorry, I reckon there probably are.

Please note -- this is a VERY NEW restaurant. So the staff there are also VERY NEW working there. Free entertainment?

I predict this place will be a BIG WINNER. I wish I had invested my money in this. It just opened and already attracting a good crowd of Thais and foreigners, and I'm sure it will only grow from that.

That said, for me PERSONALLY, I do not enjoy a Japanese "cooking show" so much and my overall perception of the culinary level of the experience was MASS MARKET, corporate chain, middlebrow. So to me ... just not my scene ... but I am happy that I did try it the one time.

Anyway, if this kind of restaurant experience sounds appealing to you ... there it is ... they are NOW OPEN.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teppanyaki

Edited July 3, 2014 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

LA POMME restaurant in Jomtien (Thappraya Road near Continental) previously mentioned on this thread has made some changes:

1. Now open again in the EVENINGS (for awhile they were closing at night)

2. Major menu changes ... breakfast menu revamped and seemingly many more choices for dinner

3. The entire menu is posted on a large poster OUTSIDE the restaurant

I don't have much detail yet on the new menu. Not all of it is different of course. I did notice they now offer the "free" coffee and small OJ for breakfast up till 2:30 instead of noon. No savory French crepes offered as I wished they would do (I still think that could be a huge winner at that setting). Some interesting new choices for dinner such as a Moroccan Merguez sausages done Shakshuka style.

I wish them great success. Friendly people working there ... clearly working hard at finding the right mix to please the fickle customers.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Jingthing

[OMGImInPattaya]

LA POMME restaurant in Jomtien (Thappraya Road near Continental) previously mentioned on this thread has made some changes:

1. Now open again in the EVENINGS (for awhile they were closing at night)

2. Major menu changes ... breakfast menu revamped and seemingly many more choices for dinner

3. The entire menu is posted on a large poster OUTSIDE the restaurant

I don't have much detail yet on the new menu. Not all of it is different of course. I did notice they now offer the "free" coffee and small OJ for breakfast up till 2:30 instead of noon. No savory French crepes offered as I wished they would do (I still think that could be a huge winner at that setting). Some interesting new choices for dinner such as a Moroccan Merguez sausages done Shakshuka style.

I wish them great success. Friendly people working there ... clearly working hard at finding the right mix to please the fickle customers.

Oh please, what's a "pomme" anyway? I'd just settle for a place that could do a proper fried eggs with pancakes or French toast or a blueberry muffin for breakfast!

[Jingthing]

I'm sure they have some of that stuff or similar but also they are doing some more creative variations in their breakfast sets as well. I highly recommend that OPEN MINDED people give them a try.

They've got a French name because some of their dishes are inspired by Mediterranean cuisine and also their decor is rather Frenchified.

Also worth mentioning, their prices are reasonable for what they're offering. Not the cheapest place of course.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

TAIWAN RESTAURANT

2nd road, a short walk up from Pattaya Tai, east side of street

extremely new restaurant

This is an interesting one because it is so new so it's not entirely fair to pass any kind of final impression of the place.

But I will give the details that I know and some impressions that I think might be true, though I could be wrong.

First of all, the objective facts:

They have a very limited printed menu.

There are language issues if you don't speak Chinese, not sure about Thai.

They are already attracting Chinese customers who look happy.

The prices are quite low.

Here is the menu:

That's it.

4 items.

Plus a place where it says:
Side dishes (spelled wrong) Please ask waiter for more details.

Well I did ask and the only detail I got was they didn't have any but upon repeated questioning was told to check back next week. I wouldn't bet the house on that prediction but you heard it here first.

Now more about subjective impressions:

I actually have some experience with this style of Taiwanese food and yes the SIDE DISHES are a VERY BIG part of the experience.

So first off, I would strongly suggest to hold off on visiting this place until there a better chance they are actually offering them.

I'm sure looking at this menu, some will see a similarity to some Thai street food, like pork, rice, and egg and you wouldn't be wrong, but this does seem to really be a TAIWANESE restaurant ... at least in the early stages of happening.

I first ordered the Braised chicken leg w/ rice and it was tasty enough, though I was wanting those side dishes badly. The side vegetable was basically braised cabbage and it was more peppery than I would expect in a Taiwanese place, but I liked it. It came as pictured with a small chicken leg, some seasoned rice, cabbage, and soy sauce egg.

As the portion was small and I wanted to try something else, I ordered the:

Soysauce Marinated ground pork over rice

This was more of a surprise. It was only a small plate of the pork with some more of the egg. No rice and none of the bok choy type veg in the picture. I pointed this out and was told no rice because I already had rice with the other dish (which I had already eaten). That really makes a lot of sense . I said I understand their logic but isn't it up to me if I want the rice that is shown on the menu? I thought there was agreement and would get more rice. Didn't happen. I also asked about the vegetable which I wanted more than the rice. I was told ... they don't have it. I must admit that was not pleasing news.

The pork itself was well seasoned and definitely "Taiwanese" tasting. It had a heavy sweetish soy sauce thing going on. It was not ground pork actually. More like very tiny slices of pork meat and most of the meat was indeed fat ... not complaining, that's rather authentic.

As you can see on the menu there are other pork dishes and don't forget the mystery dish, the Rice Tube Pudding ... if anyone knows what that is, you win a prize!

I did hang out in this little place for awhile because I was curious about a large table that had come in. The thing is I really wasn't convinced their menu was as LIMITED as what was on the menu (more like it was too hard to communicate what they had to me but I would have appreciated an EFFORT) ... so I wanted to see what was happening on that table. I could hear they were talking about a lot of stuff and a lot of stuff sounded like FOOD talk. Well indeed there was furious cooking going on in the kitchen but all I saw come out in addition to the menu items was a nice looking plate of stir fried greens. Not the same kind of greens that were supposed to be served with my pork dish ... though I couldn't see closely enough to specifically identify them. I am not sure if they were cooked Thai or Chinese style but the thing is if I had been offered that dish, I would have ordered it. More variety may have come out later ... but it was time to leave.

So you see, maybe, I'm a little "special" but for me it really is frustrating to go into a restaurant and not be sure if you are even given the chance of ordering what they actually have, which might be something you really want ... after all isn't the point of a restaurant to sell you more food so you spend more money?

Oh well.

Haven't given up yet.

I will be back later.

Possibly when they are crowded and I can spy on other people's tables and POINT at dishes.

I am not sure how many people in the target audience who might be reading this are really going to want to work so hard to get satisfaction (and communication) at a restaurant. If you speak Chinese, that's a different story!

On that note, another impression I have is the target audience for this restaurant is CHINESE people. Which suits me fine as long as others can have ACCESS to it.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Note:

Don't think I haven't noticed that lately it is mostly me posting to this thread.

Please consider contributing to it yourself.

It would be really good to hear from many more diverse voices in keeping with the theme of the thread which is described in the OP:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/608166-the-hit-and-run-restaurant-review-thread/?p=5971305

[OMGImInPattaya]

TAIWAN RESTAURANT

2nd road, a short walk up from Pattaya Tai, east side of street

extremely new restaurant

This is an interesting one because it is so new so it's not entirely fair to pass any kind of final impression of the place.

But I will give the details that I know and some impressions that I think might be true, though I could be wrong.

First of all, the objective facts:

They have a very limited printed menu.

There are language issues if you don't speak Chinese, not sure about Thai.

They are already attracting Chinese customers who look happy.

The prices are quite low.

Here is the menu:

2wmkin8.jpg

24cupo6.jpg

That's it.

4 items.

Plus a place where it says:

Side dishes (spelled wrong) Please ask waiter for more details.

Well I did ask and the only detail I got was they didn't have any but upon repeated questioning was told to check back next week. I wouldn't bet the house on that prediction but you heard it here first.

Now more about subjective impressions:

I actually have some experience with this style of Taiwanese food and yes the SIDE DISHES are a VERY BIG part of the experience.

So first off, I would strongly suggest to hold off on visiting this place until there a better chance they are actually offering them.

I'm sure looking at this menu, some will see a similarity to some Thai street food, like pork, rice, and egg and you wouldn't be wrong, but this does seem to really be a TAIWANESE restaurant ... at least in the early stages of happening.

I first ordered the Braised chicken leg w/ rice and it was tasty enough, though I was wanting those side dishes badly. The side vegetable was basically braised cabbage and it was more peppery than I would expect in a Taiwanese place, but I liked it. It came as pictured with a small chicken leg, some seasoned rice, cabbage, and soy sauce egg.

As the portion was small and I wanted to try something else, I ordered the:

Soysauce Marinated ground pork over rice

This was more of a surprise. It was only a small plate of the pork with some more of the egg. No rice and none of the bok choy type veg in the picture. I pointed this out and was told no rice because I already had rice with the other dish (which I had already eaten). That really makes a lot of sense . I said I understand their logic but isn't it up to me if I want the rice that is shown on the menu? I thought there was agreement and would get more rice. Didn't happen. I also asked about the vegetable which I wanted more than the rice. I was told ... they don't have it. I must admit that was not pleasing news.

The pork itself was well seasoned and definitely "Taiwanese" tasting. It had a heavy sweetish soy sauce thing going on. It was not ground pork actually. More like very tiny slices of pork meat and most of the meat was indeed fat ... not complaining, that's rather authentic.

As you can see on the menu there are other pork dishes and don't forget the mystery dish, the Rice Tube Pudding ... if anyone knows what that is, you win a prize!

I did hang out in this little place for awhile because I was curious about a large table that had come in. The thing is I really wasn't convinced their menu was as LIMITED as what was on the menu (more like it was too hard to communicate what they had to me but I would have appreciated an EFFORT) ... so I wanted to see what was happening on that table. I could hear they were talking about a lot of stuff and a lot of stuff sounded like FOOD talk. Well indeed there was furious cooking going on in the kitchen but all I saw come out in addition to the menu items was a nice looking plate of stir fried greens. Not the same kind of greens that were supposed to be served with my pork dish ... though I couldn't see closely enough to specifically identify them. I am not sure if they were cooked Thai or Chinese style but the thing is if I had been offered that dish, I would have ordered it. More variety may have come out later ... but it was time to leave.

So you see, maybe, I'm a little "special" but for me it really is frustrating to go into a restaurant and not be sure if you are even given the chance of ordering what they actually have, which might be something you really want ... after all isn't the point of a restaurant to sell you more food so you spend more money?

Oh well.

Haven't given up yet.

I will be back later.

Possibly when they are crowded and I can spy on other people's tables and POINT at dishes.

I am not sure how many people in the target audience who might be reading this are really going to want to work so hard to get satisfaction (and communication) at a restaurant. If you speak Chinese, that's a different story!

On that note, another impression I have is the target audience for this restaurant is CHINESE people. Which suits me fine as long as others can have ACCESS to it.

Sautéed pork fat in sweet soy sauce over rice (without the rice)...sounds delicious. I think I'll just fry myself up some healthy oyster sauce pork tenderloin with broccoli. When reviewing these places, some additional pertinent objective information would be their opening hours and whether they have air-con.

[Rimmer]

One flame has been removed, please discuss nicely if you disagree with a previous post, thank you

[TaaSaparot]

Note:

Don't think I haven't noticed that lately it is mostly me posting to this thread.

Please consider contributing to it yourself.

JT

Some are maybe like myself, and only live in Pattaya during the High Season.

I appreciate your reviews/tips and keep a note of them to try when back in town.

Please keep them coming, and I will try my best to get out and about when back in Pattaya and post experiences here.

[Jingthing]

Hot Tip

JAMESONS Irish Pub week of 7 - 12 July ONLY

http://www.jamesons-pattaya.com/weekly-menu.php

offers a special on

BEEF WELLINGTON

350 baht including a starter.

They don't do this often. I had it before there and it was decent enough (though don't expect Michelin stars). I think many people know what a special dish this is and usually very expensive... so there it is.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Jingthing

[Essex Exile]

Hot Tip

JAMESONS Irish Pub week of 7 - 12 July ONLY

http://www.jamesons-pattaya.com/weekly-menu.php

offers a special on

BEEF WELLINGTON

350 baht including a starter.

They don't do this often. I had it before there and it was decent enough (though don't expect Michelin stars). I think many people know what a special dish this is and usually very expensive... so there it is.

Mmmm. Might give this a go.

Nice to see this boozer in the news for the right reasons