Lunch on South Pattaya Road - updated 29/9/07

[zaphodbeeblebrox 0]

I am attending classes near TukCom, and make lunch my main meal in that area. While most of my classmates eat at the food court on the ground floor of TukCom, I like to explore (and get away from my classmates for an hour).

 

Week 1

 

On the first day, I didn’t want to venture far from class, as I had spent some time shopping. Based on a review I saw in the Bangkok Post, I decided to go to S&P, which is located on the second floor (the entry floor) of TukCom.

 

 

 

 

S&P is relatively inexpensive. It has an excellent bakery. I have had the custard eclairs and an almond brownie from the bakery, and both were excellent. The restaurant menu and food is rather pedestrian. They serve all-day breakfast. It’s on the level with a Denny’s (in the U.S.). I have had two meals at S&P. I had a shrimp won ton soup (80 baht) on a day I was sick. It was very simple, but actually was good, and did the trick on making me feel better. I also have had the chicken and gravy over rice (105 baht). Very simple as well, but a little on the plain side.

 

 

 

On the second day, I went to Diamond Coffee House, on the south side of South Pattaya Road, getting close to Third Road. The restaurant is notable for a constant waterfall on the front windows.

 

 

The service at Diamond Coffee House is extremely slow. I was the only person in the restaurant and it took 30 minutes from ordering to food delivery. I went back to get a latte on another morning, and that took about 15 minutes. Despite the slow service, the food is very good. I had a chicken peanut curry (150 baht). It was well-spiced (not too hot) and was delicious.

 

 

 

On the third day, I went to Irene’s Coffee Shop, located on Soi Chayada, I believe (this is at the corner of the first soi north as you walk up Third Road from South Pattaya Road, and the first soi east of Third Road as you walk on South Pattaya Road). It is located next to the L.K. Pavillion serviced apartments.

 

This is a nice coffee shop. It is not air-conditioned, but they have some fans, and it is well-ventilated. It has free wi-fi.

 

 

They have a menu with lots of western food. The manager tried to sell me on some English pies, but I ordered some Thai food instead: pork vegetable soup and vegetable spring rolls. It was very satisfying. With an iced tea, it cost 225 baht.

 

 

 

 

And this week’s winner, which merited a second visit, is Cucumber, located on the north side of South Pattaya Road, west of TukCom, and across the street from the large beauty salon supply store. Cucumber is upscale, particularly in comparison with the surrounding restaurants on South Pattaya Road. It is a very attractive restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating and a fantastic view of South Pattaya Road.

 

 

On my first visit, I had beef tofu soup (220 baht), as I was still sick. It was great.

On my second visit, I had chicken satay and panang curry beef. With an iced tea, I think this cost about 420 baht.

 

 

 

I think you can tell this was good grub. Cucumber is a little expensive, but it is well worth the price. I will return when I deserve a treat.

Edited September 29, 2007 by zaphodbeeblebrox

[torrenova 644]

Thanks for that. My missus wants to go to Cucumber and we will but I agree with you (I have reviewed the menu) that it is expensive and dare i say it, just overpriced and especially so given the area.

 

One you may wish to try out though not open for lunch is the Japanese restaurant on the left up the street to the left of Tukcom (if you were standing facing it, on the side towards 3rd Road). Cannot remember the name but all bamboo outside. Very good menu and incredible quality for the price. I will eat sashimi there and I'm very fussy about where I will trust raw fish. Japanese owner who is usually there. Great value set menus.

[joekicker 53]

Thanks so much. Restaurant reviews are fabulous, but I do like the pics that actually show it.

[TURBO 1]

I suggest you try one of the 3 fish restaurants in that area . If you're outside the Cucumber walk back towards 2nd road , cross the small soi & you'll pass 3 restaurants beside each other with fish on display outside . The first one on the corner has the best selection but the others are ok .

 

They look a bit primitive but the food is great & very cheap - a plate of fried noodles with veg & pork is only 30 baht !. It's mostly Thai customers but the menus are in English as well . I was staying in that area on my last trip ate there most days & never had a bad meal . Only down side is that it doesn't open until around 2pm but it doesn't close until 6am !

[kunjon 1]

My TG and I love S&P...fantastic food at a fair price. You can also purchase their products in markets and they have excellent take away. Pastries are delicious. She too takes calss near TukCom and has shown me several spots off the beaten pasth that are far better priced than what you quoted and are delicous and clean.

 

I love S&P also the French Bakery Sandwich shop on Beach at Royal Garden ( I know not in the area but worth the mention)

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

Thanks so much. Restaurant reviews are fabulous, but I do like the pics that actually show it.

I have to agree with Joe. The presentation is important. (and for my western belly, the portions).

[Kev 178]

"On my second visit, I had chicken satay and panang curry beef. With an iced tea, I think this cost about 420 baht"

 

So you ate this all by yourself? Mmmm quite an appetite there zaph :)

[zaphodbeeblebrox 0]

Here’s week 2 reviews. In this set, I had lunch at some of the inexpensive restaurants located just south of Tuk Com. A lot of restaurants have relocated to this gourmet ghetto located on an unnamed soi, between Soi Day and Night 1 and Soi Day and Night 2, north of Soi 16, and surrounding the Flamingo Hotel.

 

Looking south on Soi Flamingo towards Soi 16. The first intersection with the unnamed soi features a great restaurant at each of the four corners. Good eats can be found here.

 

 

 

 

The Dolphin The Dolphin restaurant is located on the unnamed soi closer to Soi Day and Night 1. It is a Norwegian-owned restaurant attached to the TB Mansion (yeah, the hotel could use a new name). It amazes me how these hole-in-the-wall restaurants can offer such a huge menu. It was a Monday, and I usually order a smaller lunch after the weekend. Had the chicken penang curry. The curry sauce was fantastic, no doubt about it. I would prefer some green peas and potatoes thrown in, but, this was a tasty and light lunch. With a water, the total was 110 baht. Maybe a little expensive for the portion size, but very, very tasty. I would definitely return.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grottino Bakery This is a Swiss coffee house/bakery/deli located at the corner of the unnamed soi and Soi Flamingo. While its menu is geared mostly for breakfast and coffee, they offer a nice selection of deli meats and cheeses for insertion into their wonderful breads as sandwiches. I had a simple ham sandwich, and it was very good. Of course, the bread is what made the sandwich: a beautifully crunchy, warm, good-smelling sandwich roll. With a coke, the total cost was 115 baht.

 

I’m not a cake eater, but their cakes did look absolutely wonderful. Grottino Bakery opens at 7:30 a.m. and I may roll by in the morning for some coffee and a pastry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salt and Pepper Bistro This is a German and Thai cuisine restaurant, also located on the corner of the unnamed soi and Soi Flamingo. The Pakistani owner purchased the restaurant about 2 years ago, and moved it to this location. His Thai wife competently cooks the extensive menu. The restaurant serves as the gallery for Pattaya Mail cartoonist, M.J.B. I had the shrimp and asparagus in a garlic sauce. It was good, but I would have preferred a little more spice. The owner told me he farangized (did I just invent a new word?) the menu. Too bad, because Thai cooking is meant to be bold. I would probably stick to the German specialties if I were to return. This restaurant is very reasonably priced, and with a water, my bill came to 75 baht.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auguste Renoir This restaurant is connected to the Flamingo Hotel and is located on Soi Flamingo, next to Salt and Pepper Bistro. The breakfast/lunch menu contains standard farang fare, while the dinner menu is a combination of Belgian, continental and Thai. The first thing I noticed when I approached the entrance was the wonderful sound of B.B. King. Seems like the owner has a preference for the blues, which earns a lot of respect in my book. I found the daytime menu a little mundane, but settled on a steak sandwich. The steak and the french fries were excellent. The cook came out and made sure everything was to my satisfaction. My lunch, with a coke, came out to 165 baht. There is outdoor café seating as well as a beautiful dining room. I must return for a dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of penguin mannequins in this area. This one is across the street from Auguste Renoir. “What’s a penguin doing in the middle of a street?”, asks Mrs. Conclusion

 

 

 

Yes, the service is a little slow, hence, bells on each of the café tables.

 

 

 

 

 

These two restaurants are also located at the corner of Soi Flamingo and the unnamed soi. Because they are only open for dinner, I did not review them here, but hope to pay them a visit some evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wanted to check out this restaurant, but suspected I might be disappointed if the wait staff did not dress down to the name of the restaurant.

 

 

 

 

As a note, there have been some comments about the size of the portions that I consume. After two months living in LOS, I have lost 30 pounds. I have quite a bit more to go, but please consider that the meal you are seeing is my major meal for the day, and usually I only have time to drink coffee for breakfast, and my dinner portions are relatively small. I don’t snack and I get at least 1 hour of exercise each day. I am attending 6 hours of class, undergoing 1 hour of testing and teaching 2 hours of class each day. This doesn’t include homework and teaching preparation which I do at night and in the morning. At the end of a week, I am exhausted, and usually eat a larger lunch just to keep my energy up. Only three more weeks to go to graduation. And, I am feeling much better now that I no longer eat at fast food restaurants (imagine 3 years of Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me).

Edited September 16, 2007 by zaphodbeeblebrox

[FatherMojo 2]

zaphodbeeblebrox,

 

Thanks for the reviews, they are informative and interesting. They have given me more ideas on expanding my typical lunch selections.

 

 

Cheers,

FatherMojo

[mlay 5]

thank's !!

will try some place next january.

[MC_Ldop 40]

Does your camera have a macro mode? It would make your menu shots come out more clearly.

[alexist 12]

Great reports, thank you. Looking at the photographs have actually made me hungry.

 

Please just try and ignore any snidey remarks!

[dacah 0]

Zap

 

I am staying around this area this trip ,in a few days time....

 

so your reports are very interesting ...

 

Cucumber look like my style

 

Thank you

[glynbuk 29]

Loved your report and pics, thanks for sharing those, keep it up please

[lajimmy 0]

Well done! Thanks for taking the time to put up these pics and reviews of places off the standard beaten path that most of us seem stuck to.

 

Does your camera have a macro mode? It would make your menu shots come out more clearly.

 

Seeing all the pics made me feel like I was there... so I thought something he ate at that first restaurant on week two of this report had made his vision blurry...

[zaphodbeeblebrox 0]

This is the final installment of this restaurant review series. I have completed my classes in the TukCom area. I will be posting further restaurant reviews, but they will include all areas of Pattaya, and beyond, and also include dinner houses and breakfast joints. So, without further adieu,

 

 

Hot Pot, is a Japanese restaurant located on the first floor in the back of Tuk.Com. The primary focus is shabu shabu, but it has a deep Japanese menu, along with some dim sum favorites. I had roast duck noodle, steamed barbeque pork buns, and pork sui mai. The duck noodle was good, the steamed bun was adequate, and the sui mai was tasteless (actually, I haven’t found proper sui mai in Pattaya). I spent 200 baht with tip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[imghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a366/mlw4014/S73F0309-1.jpg[/img]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I personally prefer baked pork buns. These char sui manapua are the best I’ve had, and come from Royal Bakery in Honolulu’s Chinatown. And, no, you can’t barfine the baker.

 

 

 

 

Gossip Café is located in the lobby of the Day-Nite 2 Apartments on Soi Day-Night about two blocks south of Tuk.Com. I tried to stay away from open-air restaurants for lunch, because I usually was dressed in business attire for classes. This was an exception, and I was mildly surprised by just how good this café was. It’s very airy, with two sides of the café, being totally open (saw some cats running through the café, but am thankful they didn’t end up on the menu). My lunch was limited to fried rice and an iced tea. Both were among the best I have had in LOS. I spent 100 baht with tip. I will definitely return for some of the breakfast and schnitzel items on the menu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t think I’d be wanting to sit under this model ship during an earthquake.

 

 

 

 

 

The Frame Café is located on South Pattaya Road, just before you reach Friendship Market. I absolutely fell in love with the chaotic décor of this restaurant which was antique/classic farangiana (okay, I just invented another word). Bubble-gum machines, old radios, old toys, etc. are displayed all over the walls, ceilings, you name it. This is another open-air restaurant, and was slightly on the uncomfortable side for me, given my dress for the day.

 

I had chicken cordon bleu, which came with fries and a salad. With two iced teas and tip I spent 260 baht. This was my end-of-the-week splurge meal, and, although it was expensive, I thoroughly enjoyed the food and the meal. Frame Café is a great spot for coffee or tea and I will return next time I go to Friendship Market. The wait staff is attentive and very friendly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, they also do framing, but I don’t think I would hire them to construct steps.

 

Edited September 29, 2007 by zaphodbeeblebrox

[kutetee 0]

Enjoy your reveiw very much, thanks for your time and effort.

 

Hope to read your next review for other areas in the near future.

 

Alan

[stamboy 0]

Excellent posts - very enjoyable reading

[GREEN MALAKA 56]

great information

 

thankyou

[twomp 0]

Excellent report...I will truely have to give some of the places you mentioned a try. Thanks for posting.

Edited November 7, 2007 by twomp

[BigusDicus 9,871]

New reports anytime soon????

[kandj46 0]

Fantastic reviews ,thanks for your trouble .