2 new Chinese restaurants!

[susanschwaiger]

Hi, I found these 2 recently:

One is "Shanghai Restaurant". If you turn from North Pattaya Rd to 3rd Road, after about 100 M, you will see it on your right side (on the left sids is Soi 2). It has some red lanterns under the roof, and a small white plastic board, which writes "Shanghai Restaurants" in Chinese, EN, Russian and Korean. And you can see cook making noodle and dumpling outside. The decoration inside is nice and cozy , very Chinese, the menu is beautiful. Xiao Long Bao tastes good (made upon order), also the rib etc. To me, I like this shop better than Pao. Very delicate style. Price is not cheap, but not expensive either.

The other one is north west style . If you turn from Sukumvit Rd to Soi 53, after about 100 M, you will see it on your right side. Under the roof is a big red board which writes "中国餐馆", and some dumplings ready to sell. It serves those common Chinese dishes (Roast duck not found). Price is cheap. Style is rough, including the toilet. But the landlady is friendly and the food taste nice !

Both restaurants are new. Tomorrow eve, I will go again to Soi 53 with friends, to try more dishes ))

Edited August 30, 2013 by susanschwaiger

[Pattaya Pat]

Does somebody else want to tell him?

[Jingthing]

Shanghai is not exactly new, but newish. It started as Ting-Tai-<deleted> as sister restaurant of a famous Bangkok place, thus the title of the thread here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/609362-new-chinese-restaurant-in-pattaya-ting-tai-<deleted>-off-3rd-road-north/?hl=+ting

I think the hand pulled noodles at Shanghai are really not very great. I have been a number of times and will go more, but I found some consistency issues there, and menu items being not as described, and not really authentic in some cases, but goes with the territory. I agree it is a worthy restaurant, considering we're in Pattaya and the pickings are slim.

The other rough place, well, that's sure new to me. Trying to figure out where it is at this point.

Cheers.

Edited August 30, 2013 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

OK, I see now where Soi 53 is. Not far from where Central Pattaya Rd. hits Suk. opposite side.

Please report back with MORE DETAILS on that place including any hints for non-Chinese / non-Thai people on what to order, assuming that not everything is on any kind of English menu at such a place. Also please mention if there is a full translated menu to English.

Thanks!

Edited August 30, 2013 by Jingthing

[stoli]

Nice report. I will try them soon. Thanks

[AbeSurd]

If the photo of the food in the OP is from the Soi 53 place then it looks hopeful indeed.

More details would be very welcome.

Locals will know Soi 53 as Soi Nern Plabwaan (east side of Sukhumvit, near to Soi Siam Country Club).

[Jingthing]

If the photo of the food in the OP is from the Soi 53 place then it looks hopeful indeed.

More details would be very welcome.

Locals will know Soi 53 as Soi Nern Plabwaan (east side of Sukhumvit, near to Soi Siam Country Club).

I am pretty certain the photo is from SHANGHAI.

Definitely try SHANGHAI.

It's not perfect, but what is?

For more specific details on SHANGHAI (even though it keeps changing) see the thread in the link I supplied above.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Jingthing

[susanschwaiger]

Hey, the photo is of the Shanghai Restaurant....

Am just back from the Soi 53 restaurant. No wonder I felt the boss looks familiar and the menu familiar too. You know what ? The old one in Jomtiem Soi Welcome was closed. So they opened this new one here. Before, the brothers ran the restaurant. Now, only the elder brother and his wife.

My personal impression is: this one is better than the old one. Menu is in EN, CN and Russian, with photos. The quantity is very big. So we adviced the landlady to provide different portion with different price, in case some customers want to try more dishes at one time.

I found Peking roast duck on menu. Landlady told me I need to order 6 hours in advance. She distributes biz cards. And some of my friends now often order Jiao Zi from her.

As I am not a westerner, it's not easy for me to recommend dishes to "Farangs". Tonight, we ordered spicy tofu, pepper with potato (this one is not spicy), jiaozi and boiled meat. We liked them all! If you like spicy, I suggest you try the "boiled meat" (Number 20). And the homemade chilli sauce on table is very nice. Strong and fragrant !!!

Yes, Soi 53 is so easy to find. After the Siam Country Club soi, you go further and will see Soi 51 soon, then next one is Soi 53. At the Soi entrance, you will see a big green sign which writes Chinese (name of a school ). This restaurant is next to K-bank and Tops on the right side of the Soi.

Anyway, it won't hurt to try. Good Luck!

[Jingthing]

Thanks Ms. SS!

So that place from Soi Welcome is back!

I am happy to hear it and happy to hear that they might be better this time.

There were some pretty serious limitations in the original location, such as:

Huge menu, only actually having a small subset of the items

Key ingredients missing from dishes even when spelled out on the menu

Serious language issues for English speakers but no problem from Chinese or Russian speakers (I somehow am guessing that has not changed)

I think you misunderstood me. I wasn't suggesting you suggest dishes for f-rang tastes. Such people who care about that can go to those so called "Western style" "Chinese" places we have in town -- be my guest.

I did mean I was concerned there might be no English language menu so we'd need some hints on what they might have on their menu.

Of course as I've been to the Soi Welcome place a number of times, I've got a good idea of what the new place's menu is going to be like.

Anyway, it's good news that they're back as the choices in town for anything remotely "authentic" are so very limited.

Cheers.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Jingthing

[manarak]

tried shanghai and was not thrilled - I'd mostly recommend the noodles there, but some of the dishes taste odd.

I'll give the place on sukh 53 when I have time

[Jingthing]

tried shanghai and was not thrilled - I'd mostly recommend the noodles there, but some of the dishes taste odd.

I'll give the place on sukh 53 when I have time

I think it takes multiple visits to Shanghai ordering a wide range of their dishes to get a full picture of what it is, and what it isn't. If the Soi 53 place is ANYTHING like the old Soi Welcome place, you're in for some surprises and adventures that go well beyond ODD.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Jingthing

[manarak]

tried shanghai and was not thrilled - I'd mostly recommend the noodles there, but some of the dishes taste odd.

I'll give the place on sukh 53 when I have time

I think it takes multiple visits to Shanghai ordering a wide range of their dishes to get a full picture of what it is, and what it isn't. If the Soi 53 place is ANYTHING like the old Soi Welcome place, you're in for some surprises and adventures that go well beyond ODD.

Ordered 4 main dishes in different directions there... none could satisfy my palate.

Won't go back!

But I'm always open for something new, so I will try any new Chinese place.

[Jingthing]

tried shanghai and was not thrilled - I'd mostly recommend the noodles there, but some of the dishes taste odd.

I'll give the place on sukh 53 when I have time

I think it takes multiple visits to Shanghai ordering a wide range of their dishes to get a full picture of what it is, and what it isn't. If the Soi 53 place is ANYTHING like the old Soi Welcome place, you're in for some surprises and adventures that go well beyond ODD.

Ordered 4 main dishes in different directions there... none could satisfy my palate.

Won't go back!

But I'm always open for something new, so I will try any new Chinese place.

I hear you brother!

I am also curious to know whether there is really any difference between the old Soi Welcome place and this new place. The old place was SERIOUSLY not for everyone, f-rang or Chinese. That place was really for adventurous diners with a very high TOLERANCE for big surprises and not always good ones. I happen to be in that category but I don't think it's really normal! Also before the language issues were really quite pronounced if you didn't speak Chinese or Russia (Thai didn't help either).

Edited August 31, 2013 by Jingthing

[manarak]

tried shanghai and was not thrilled - I'd mostly recommend the noodles there, but some of the dishes taste odd.

I'll give the place on sukh 53 when I have time

I think it takes multiple visits to Shanghai ordering a wide range of their dishes to get a full picture of what it is, and what it isn't. If the Soi 53 place is ANYTHING like the old Soi Welcome place, you're in for some surprises and adventures that go well beyond ODD.

Ordered 4 main dishes in different directions there... none could satisfy my palate.

Won't go back!

But I'm always open for something new, so I will try any new Chinese place.

I hear you brother!

I am also curious to know whether there is really any difference between the old Soi Welcome place and this new place. The old place was SERIOUSLY not for everyone, f-rang or Chinese. That place was really for adventurous diners with a very high TOLERANCE for big surprises and not always good ones. I happen to be in that category but I don't think it's really normal! Also before the language issues were really quite pronounced if you didn't speak Chinese or Russia (Thai didn't help either).

LOL

Ja snayu russki yasik tschuet tschuet...

Maybe enough to go by in that place, 555

Seriously, the chinese restaurant thing that ticks the boxes is such a huge market opportunity in Pattaya, I wonder what's so difficult with crispy duck and cantonese rice, thick sour chicken soup, and beef szechuan ???

[susanschwaiger]

I had been to the Soi Welcome one several times in the past. But found it getting more and more lousy so I stopped going there.

And for this Soi 53 one, at least, from my first 2 visits, I am quite happy. Maybe the new landlady does an important role here )) She likes to communicate with pen and paper if there is language problem. Service is good. I can feel they put heart into this new one.

Yes, the taste is quite "Chinese". Besides the "Boiled meat", you can also try the "Spicy Chicken" (my hub liked this the most when working in China. anything dry and hard he likes!), which is pieces of chicken meat stir fried with chilli in a dry way. And you can also request the dish to be spicy or not spicy. Yesterday, we requested the "pepper potato " not spicy as we had kid with us. But it would had been even better if it is spicy. This restaurant uses dried chilli for cooking and that's why many Chinese like it here. On the wall, there write many comments from the customers: Chinese, Korean and japanese .

....you can even go to Google Translate and copy the Chinese character for "spicy " and "not spicy" then show to the landlady. I'm sure it will work ))))

[susanschwaiger]

Oh, one thing I forgot to say: for some dishes, they must be spicy. If not spicy, then they taste totally different

And we did not tried "Boiled Fish" yet. In China, this is a must order when you go to spicy restaurant... I don't think they can find the same fish here for cooking this dish.

Edited September 1, 2013 by susanschwaiger

[Jingthing]

Oh, one thing I forgot to say: for some dishes, they must be spicy. If not spicy, then they taste totally different

And we did not tried "Boiled Fish" yet. In China, this is a must order when you go to spicy restaurant... I don't think they can find the same fish here for cooking this dish.

I think that dish might be something like this. Sechuan spicy boiled fish pot. It should really have LOTS of "numbing" Sechuan peppers in it and I recall the last place did some Sechuan dishes (including some rather primitive boiled pots) that really needed them, I asked for them (in Chinese) and they just weren't there for my palate (no sizzle). Yes the regular hot peppers were there, but such dishes REALLY need both. I remember the place isn't particularly cheap either, so for someone who is looking for authentic flavor from such a dish, that really isn't good. I am happy to hear this new place may have improved but I'm still skeptical though hope springs eternal.

I agree ordering a dish like Sechuan style Boiled fish not spicy would be a very silly thing to do.

I do remember if you were lucky you could get some tasty food there (before) and it's not like there is really ANY local competition for their style of food. On second thought, there is a place on 3rd road (NOT Shanghai) that does some similar dishes, but also nothing to write home to Chengdu about.

In the old place I remember feeling that a westerner would really need to be quite knowledgeable about regional Chinese food to even have a good hint what a dish might be from looking at their menu and even then, not foolproof. In other words, the old place really wasn't very ACCESSIBLE to typical westerners but again perhaps they have taken steps to try to improve that experience.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Jingthing

[susanschwaiger]

Yes. the "Boiled Meat" looks similar to that photo.

No, there are no "numbing pepper seeds" in this dish . But it still tastes good to us (thanks to those dried chilli ) And in China, some people don't like numbing pepper seeds. Not only numb, but also a bit itching, hehe .

I think it is difficult to get those pepper seeds in Thailand.....

[Jingthing]

Yes. the "Boiled Meat" looks similar to that photo.

No, there are no "numbing pepper seeds" in this dish . But it still tastes good to us (thanks to those dried chilli ) And in China, some people don't like numbing pepper seeds. Not only numb, but also a bit itching, hehe .

I think it is difficult to get those pepper seeds in Thailand.....

On the Sechuan peppers (which technically are not even peppers) I would say TINGLY instead of itching. You know you've had some when you drink some regular water and it sizzles like soda water! I love that. Perhaps not all Chinese people like them, but they are extremely important to many Sechuan dishes.

In Pattaya you can sometimes find these "peppers" but the package says grown in Thailand and so far I have only managed to buy STALE ones and even the fresher ones are really not good at all compared to good Sechuan peppers from China. The Thai packages suggest the Thai purpose for them is only for crab boils, of all things.

I wonder if there is a source in Bangkok.

Another point, assuming the dishes, portions and pricing structure are similar at the Soi 53 place to the old Soi Welcome Plaza place, the more people the better as yes the portions are large and prices not cheap. So going solo is definitely not ideal there. Shanghai on the other hand has small portions and prices to match, can taste more dishes without breaking the bank! It's good that you suggested to the Soi 53 place to offer smaller size/price options but I would quite surprised if they do.

Hilariously, Sechuan peppers used to be ILLEGAL in the USA but not anymore (agricultural pest concerns).

Descriptions of Szechuan peppercorns could apply to a drug as easily as a spice.

The peppercorn smell is wild and perfumed, and the taste is electric. Devotees swear it's both addictive and medicinal. It literally numbs the mouth, but also imparts a woodsy hint of pine and cedar, and an intoxicating touch of acid sweetness, like a lemon soda

http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/food/article/The-Szechuan-peppercorn-is-back-after-a-long-term-1265515.php

Edited September 2, 2013 by Jingthing

[prk888]

interesting that you both seem to like each others posts so much and so often (so SELF congratulatory inDEED) ......... BUT to the 45,000 post MAN why are CAPITALS used SO freQUENTLY and WHAT is the PURPOSE and your CRITERIA for so DOING? THANKS in adVANCE

[Jingthing]

Oh, no! We're BUSTED.

Edited September 2, 2013 by Jingthing

[Rimmer]

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