Jomtien pizza

[SeniorNice]

Hello

I've just been for lunch at la bocca. They have a promotion for 250 baht for all you can eat pizza with a drink included. I've eaten inside & had several take aways over the years.

Today I thought I'd give it a try as the water madness has started already.

I'll start with the positives.

The restaurant decor is very nice. It's authentic Italian food that's presented well.

The pizza is a lot nicer when eating in, takeaways like most aren't as nice, but that's a given.

I ordered the special & my wife ordered a bolognaise.

The Italian owner took my order. I've never eaten with the promotion & was unaware of the finer details of the deal.

I asked for a margarita, the only pizza I eat. I was told "no, it's 1 slice of several pizzas" Fair enough.

The food arrived & looked good. As mentioned there were different toppings on each pizza. I ate the slices that I thought would be nice & tried some slices I wouldn't usually order. I knew that I wouldn't enjoy the slices with mushroom & anchovies & I would leave them uneaten.

My wife eats anchovies in the UK & I asked if she'd like to try the anchovy slice.

My other half had a bite & didn't enjoy it.

Within seconds the owner was hovering at the table & biting his tongue to say something. Nothing was said but I felt he was concerned that I would order a deal for 1 person & share it & would then order another pizza ( it's an all you can eat promotion) The owner then stopped himself & said never mind.

He them spoke with his staff & you could feel them looking. I had no intention of ordering another. I left 2 slices, my wife's bite of the anchovy was the 3rd slice that would have also been left uneaten.

We asked for the bill & it looked a bit more than it should have. It was the Italian owner that rang up the bill. I paid & when my change was returned I checked my bill. They'd charged me full price for the pizza & 75 baht for my drink. My wife was about to say something but I told her not to bother & left. I didn't leave a tip.

I expect bill padding in beer bars but don't expect it in a restaurant that I've visited several times.

If the owner hadn't hovered over us & behaved as he did I would have put it down to an honest mistake. This was calculated & petty.

I won't eat there again. It was obvious that the anchovy slice would have been left uneaten with the other 2 slices.

I've eaten at naklua's pizza big since they opened & was good friends with the original owners & would socialise with them regularly. The new owner Roberto has done well & has carried the torch for Danillo. It's too far to travel to from jomtien during songkran but I'll continue to frequent once the water madness dies down

Best wishes & check your bill

[Seizetheday]

I wonder how they make any money, I've never seen it busy. My bill was padded at the restaurant nearly opposite, from going twice a week, they have lost my custom totally.

[SeniorNice]

Small minded businessmen. It'd their choice but I won't support them or supplement their income

[Jingthing]

I don't understand the promotion.

So you can't order a pizza with one topping, and you can't order slices either?

So you order an entire pizza with a mix of toppings, and then if you want more, you need to order an ENTIRE second pizza?

Even if you only still want ONE slice out of the second pizza?

That's a bit weird.

I understand they don't want two to share the promotion but given it was only one pizza ordered, pretty much the minimum anyone would order if I understand correctly, and your partner ordered a dish of her own, yes it seems SUPER PETTY to push the rules for food that (hopefully) will be tossed out.

I think that place is plus plus right plus yes their drink prices are over the top.

Good food but I don't like to be gouged.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Jingthing

[SeniorNice]

I know, it seems daft to me but I thought I'd give it a try. You're correct, it's a single pizza that they decorate with different toppings. Each pizza is made fresh so what you leave is essentially waste. Perhaps they feel they are promoting their range of pizzas. The pettyness of it all was shocking. There were several tables at lunch & trade seemed ok. They lost a customer today. Perhaps their business is doing well but a meal shouldn't be just about the food. There are many factors imo & how you are treated by the staff is a big factor. I don't need them blowing smoke up my backside, but also don't wish to leave feeling like I've had someone in my pocket helping themselves.

[KittenKong]

I don't understand the promotion.

So you can't order a pizza with one topping, and you can't order slices either?

So you order an entire pizza with a mix of toppings, and then if you want more, you need to order an ENTIRE second pizza?

Even if you only still want ONE slice out of the second pizza?

I dont understand the promotion or the OP's complaint.

How much did he actually pay? How much more was it than the 250B it should have been? Were the other diners eating the same promo or something else?

Is it not possible to tell them that you dont want particular toppings if you dont like them? I personally dont like pineapple on pizza, or any regular meat apart from ham, and would never eat them if given them. I do like anchovies and capers and olives etc though.

Edited April 14, 2016 by KittenKong

[Roger Lee]

Rich Man Poor Man in Jomtien has their pizza for 235 baht, extra meat toppings at 40 baht.

Frasers has their all you can eat pizza for 250 baht on Thursdays, not bad and you get to choose which of their 3 pizzas you want to eat.

Pastrami on Rye has a pretty decent pizza also, cheap if you get a previous reservation through an Eatigo promotion,

http://eatigo.com/home/th/en/pattaya/restaurant/name/pastrami-on-rye

And then there's many others that I haven't tried yet, pretty happy with the above three. I did try the La Bocca place and like the OP, I was a little shocked at the final bill, the pizza was pretty good though. I'm thinking they weren't too concerned as my GF ordered a couple of drinks and they are a little expensive.

[SeniorNice]

The promotion reads all you can eat pizza + 1 drink, either soft or small draft beer. I wanted a simple margarita & ordered a coke. The owner told me you couldn't choose your pizza. They serve a single pizza with each slice covered in different toppings. I would presume that once you've eaten that you can order more. All you can eat to me means as much or as little as you like. I ate a good few slices & was full. I offered my wife a taste of the anchovy pizza. I would have left that slice & the mushroom slice & veggie slice. 3 slices would have been left by me. They would have been discarded as each pizza is made fresh. The owner obviously didn't like that my wife took a bite of the anchovy slice. I could understand if he felt I was feeding 2 with a 1 person promotion & was about to reorder. That wasn't the case. The owner then charged me full price for the variety pizza 270-300 baht plus charged me 75 baht for my coke. The total should have been 250 baht

[SeniorNice]

Other diners were eating a mix of food, 1 table had 1 pizza between 4 & another table looked like they'd just chosen from the menu

[SeniorNice]

Roger, that first pizza looks really good. I'll give the other places a try

[KittenKong]

The promotion reads all you can eat pizza + 1 drink, either soft or small draft beer. I wanted a simple margarita & ordered a coke......The owner then charged me full price for the variety pizza 270-300 baht plus charged me 75 baht for my coke. The total should have been 250 baht

OK. So why didnt you query the bill? Or just put down 250B and walk away?

If it had been me they would never have heard the end of it, and I certainly would not have paid 1B more than the advertised price.

[SeniorNice]

I didn't get into it with the owner as he obviously thought he was being clever but was just sly & petty. I avoided a scene as I was annoyed & it would have just escalated, likely with him acting like he was doing me a favour.

[SeniorNice]

To have the owner act in this manner, it was cheap at the price. He's lost my custom & I can't recommend him. A similar thing happened in a bar near our condo a few nights back. We'd spent good money & bought the staff a beer. We'd enquired when they were open with a view to returning. My wife checked the bin & could see they'd padded the bill by 150b. We paid up & left & they lost our custom. If I'm short changed in a family mart or 7 with the scam I'll pull them up on it with a smile

[HLover]

Rich Man Poor Man in Jomtien has their pizza for 235 baht, extra meat toppings at 40 baht.

Thank you for the information.

[balo]

Seniornice , you are too nice .

If it was me I would make a lot of noise, I always check the bill and complain if its not correct . You don't have to be rude , just tell them they're wrong and that they actually tries to overcharge you.

I would also add , "you lost me as a customer", but that's just me.

Edited April 14, 2016 by balo

[mogandave]

I would not make scene, but I would be clear on the bill before I left.

I don't mind being cheated, but I do want to be clear that I know I have been cheated.

[Jingthing]

So many places especially in more touristy zones like that assume you're a ONE OFF anyway unless they know you. I think the joint is FOR SALE anyway, isn't it?

[SeniorNice]

It wouldn't surprise me if it were up for sale. Driving past tonight they had 1 table with 2 customers.

They knew they'd overcharged, my wife mentioned it to the waiter. I just didn't feel like sticking around for the owner's spiel

[Jingthing]

I don't have any inside info. Just recall seeing a SIGN. I could be mistaken. Lots of places are always FOR SALE here. It keeps things FRESH anyway.

[KittenKong]

I didn't get into it with the owner as he obviously thought he was being clever but was just sly & petty. I avoided a scene as I was annoyed & it would have just escalated, likely with him acting like he was doing me a favour.

Fair enough.

Personally I enjoy a good scene, and there's little I enjoy more than showing up scammers for what they are. Plenty of opportunity for that here!

[KittenKong]

I don't have any inside info. Just recall seeing a SIGN. I could be mistaken.

I walk past that place often but I haven't noticed a for sale sign.

They did have a sign up at one point that all their mozzarella was from buffalo milk, and another about them being open (or was it closed?) on Tuesdays in high season.

[HLover]

The sign now says: (pizza) FOR SALE

[donsonny]

Maybe off topic. But the best pizza I ever got in Jomtien/Pattaya is at Syllabylla Jomtien Beach road Soi 3. Aroi mak.

[Rimmer]

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