Christmas at the Pattaya Beer Garden

[PattayaPete 530]

On December 24 and December 25 we will be doing a special Christmas dinner at the Beer Garden. For those two nights we will have a special Set Menu with Thai Treats appertiser, a choice of Traditional Roast Turkey with stuffing, mixed vegetables and Cranberry Sauce OR Roast Lamb, Yorkshire pudding, fresh vegetables, Sauté Potatoes and Mint Sauce OR (for the Thais), King Prawns With Butter Mayonnaise, Fried Rice and Butter Vegetables. Followed of course by Christmas Pudding with Custard or Brandy Sauce and Ice Cream.

 

The price will be 595 baht. I was actually hoping to do it for less than 500 baht but the special Christmas ingredients are not cheap and 595 was as low as I could get it. It does seem most places around town are charging well over 1,000 baht for similar fare so I think we can maintain our reputation for quality food at cheap prices. Even the Thais should be happy as the only farang food they will be forced to have is the pudding.

 

Having a Set Menu is a first for us, inspired by the fiasco on Loi Katong when we were overwhelmed by customers and the food service got really slow. By having only the set menu options we should be able to churn them out at a good pace. The only question for me is will anyone want to eat Christmas Dinner in the Beer Garden. I really hope so as we have had to order in all the Turkeys and Lamb in advance so if it’s not a hit I guess it will be Turkey sandwiches at home for a looooong time 

 

December started off a little more quietly than November, no doubt because of the Airport fiasco. It was a blessing for us on the food side as it gave us a little breathing space to break in the additional staff employed in the kitchen. Customer numbers are now back up to November levels and we seem to be coping better. Three extra cooks and additional kitchen hands are obviously helping. Food service can still be a little slow at peak times but the staff will always warn if it is going to take more than twenty minutes. Overall I am very happy now with what the kitchen is turning out.

 

I’ve been rabbiting on in this blog about the food service because the demand has been somewhat greater than anticipated and that’s where we experienced the most problems. It is certainly good to have it under control at last. However, the bar is still the mainstay of the Beer Garden and accounts for 60% of our revenue. I haven’t talked about it much because it seems to run very smoothly and I’m really pleased with the response.

 

Freelancer numbers are not as good as I would like but we are getting more and more every month and most importantly, the ones I talk to really enjoy doing their hunting at the Beer Garden. That is important because if they like the place they tell their friends and so the numbers continue to grow.

 

Last week I attended a party in baby Dolls A Go Go which was lots of fun but the bar was crowded and noisy (as a go go bar should be) and after a couple of hours I headed back to the Beer Garden. Fighting my way through the Christmas crowds on Walking Street it was a relief to finally hit the beer garden. It all seemed so calm, peaceful and relaxing after the madness of Walking Street. Lot’s of people have said this to me before but for some reason it really hit home that night and I just appreciated what a great location it is. An Oasis in the madness is has how many enthusiastic punter has described it and I must say I think they are right.

 

I remember sitting in the empty bar in April as we were building the beast and wondering what the year would bring. I was confident the bar would work but with the amount of money invested and the unknown freelancer situation I was still nervous. I tried to picture what the place would look like if it was full of customers and girls, drinkers and dinners, flirts and loners, grumpy singles and happy groups. It was hard to imagine.

 

The reality has far exceeded my wildest dreams and I’d like to say a big thanks to everyone who has tried the place. We have had more than our share of teething problems and it’s not 100% right yet but it’s been an adventure. The positive comments in person and through email and on the boards have been fantastic. I really enjoy operating the Pattaya Beer Garden and love the fact that so many other people enjoy something a bit different in Pattaya. So a big Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our customers past and future and a huge thank you to you all for making the venue a success.

 

Now it’s onwards and upwards for 2009. I still have lots of plans to improve the venue and to hopefully make it a must call in place for all of you. I hope all your dreams come true in the New Year.

 

Pete

 

PS We will also be doing a set menu on New Years Eve and New Years Day. It is not finalized yet but I’ll post details once we have worked it out.

[mykl 72]

Now it’s onwards and upwards for 2009. I still have lots of plans to improve the venue and to hopefully make it a must call in place for all of you. I hope all your dreams come true in the New Year.

 

Pete

 

Merry Christmas to you also. With any luck I'll get to see what all the fuss is about in March.

Edited December 21, 2008 by mykl

[Greg_B 306]

Trying to plan an R&R in Feb 2009, will always make PBG my place for dinner, might even look around to see what else is available..

[Bushcraft 2,591]

I turned up at the Beer Garden this evening at around 7.30, looking forward to a good meal and the very friendly, polite staff. Knowing you'd had problems with the kitchens, I sat down to order and took the precaution of asking the waitress how long the average wait for food was - 45 minutes she said. I was hungry and that was unacceptable (as it is anywhere), so I left. What a bloody shame, really disappointing. Went across Beach Road to the Old Heidelberg restaurant instead - my urgent advice incidentally is to avoid this overpriced and uncomfortable place - what is shown on the menu as 'fish and chips' is just a joke, and costs 285 Baht (!).

The Beer Garden was not especially full - I've been there many times and like it a lot, wish it the very best -but your biggest problem Pete is still the time taken between ordering and eating. If I'm not alone but have a favourite TG with me, or worse still a bunch of friends, I can only get embarrassed at my choice of venue if the service time doesn't improve. Hope you can get a grip on it, as the Beer Garden is otherwise top-notch.

[PattayaPete 530]

Bushcraft

The bar can be a little deceiving as to how busy we are. I came in last night at 8 pm and every table was full. Because of the size of the place it may not look overly busy but every table full means over 150 people eating.

 

We get the food out in less than 20 minutes 90% of the time but if we get a lot of people all arrive around the same time as happened last night it does slow down. In such circumstances all we can do is tell customers what the delay is going to be. You asked but if you hadn't they would have told you anyway.

[Greg_B 306]

What is shown on the menu as 'fish and chips' is just a joke, and costs 285 Baht (!) (at the Old Heidelberg).

 

WTF...? My favorite meal, I enjoy it, nice dish...

 

Order it many a times, also the steak is very good

 

--edited by MM to clarify context of quote ---

[Pigalle 0]

Unless one has been in the hospitality business you really have no idea what can go on behind the scenes; I'm sure Pete does his best but we all think only of ourselves when it comes to waiting for food. In Patts, what's the big deal about a wait? Does everyone think their missing out on some juicy puss? Chill guys and just enjoy it all. Christ compared to where i am that sounds like Fcking heaven! Love to have the chance to wait for an hour for food in the Beer Garden. Pleeeeeeeease

[Bushcraft 2,591]

I'll defer to your judgement on the steak, as I've never tried it there, and if you enjoy the 'fish and chips' that's fine too, but I'm a Brit and know what it should be like to merit the description - it's quite simply misleading to a Brit.

[jacko 8,822]

Unless one has been in the hospitality business you really have no idea what can go on behind the scenes; I'm sure Pete does his best but we all think only of ourselves when it comes to waiting for food. In Patts, what's the big deal about a wait? Does everyone think their missing out on some juicy puss? Chill guys and just enjoy it all. Christ compared to where i am that sounds like Fcking heaven! Love to have the chance to wait for an hour for food in the Beer Garden. Pleeeeeeeease

One wonders how many successful restaurants you have behind you with that relaxed attitude? It may be acceptable to be kept waiting in say continental Europe, France or Switzerland for example, but the USA guys are used to quick service, and horny mongers are in a hurry! In Pattaya, putting down a lining for the beer to sit on, shouldn't waste half the evening! The PBGs primary function, is a freelancer bar, providing seats and ambience for couples to lovingly gaze into each other's eyes as they wait for their food is a nice sideline. Problems in the kitchen shouldn't be the customer's concern. Edited December 24, 2008 by jacko

[bigmick 840]

me and some friends went in the other nite and asked for sandwiches and were still told 45 minutes!!!!! how long is it gonna take for a xmas dinner

[bigmick 840]

Some 14 people including myself went in last nite for the set menu xmas dinner only to be told "no hab" so the menu had been changed after just one day to a order seperate starter , main and desert menu.This wasnt so bad but to be told 40 minutes plus is just unacceptable, however, we decieded to stay and wait and be patient.

After almost 1 hour some of our food arrives STONE COLD, when asking for the gravy it was like talking to the moon!!! another five minutes go by and the gravy arrives STONE COLD and to be honest the food on the plate was very very poor and certainly not enough of it

we noticed other customers arriveing who are friends of the owners sit down not far from us and they order food and get their food before the rest of our table get theirs!!!!!

To the left of us 8 people sit down to dinner only ordering burgers etc and have to wait nearly 1 and half hours. The priceless picture would have been the two ladys haveing a 30 minute sleep at the table whilst waiting for their food.

I think the most dissappointing thing was that when told about it, pete the owner, just didnt seem to give a shit, and tried to palm us off with a bottle of cheap wine.The best thing was the fireworks across the bay.

 

Now to be constructive;Wake up and smell the coffee

You clearly are under staffed, your staff are under trained and your manager is totally useless, you need a big BIG laxative in this place, your kitchen is undersized and under manned, clearly not enough food preparation is done before hand.But most importantly, if you are the owner, walk around your restaurant more often and see how many pissed off customers are asleep or waving their hands about in despair and do something about it instead of just sitting with your friends, it really looked and seemed like you just didnt care

 

Perhaps it would be a good idea to employ a farang manager who has experience in this field,and take the thai food off your menu for 3 months or so,this is also just as poor, so that the staff can learn about what service and customer relations are all about,

so many of us like you and your bar and seriously want to see you succeed, but you have got to make serious changes and stop thinking its all ok

[Skygod 40]

I was there also last night and I have to admit it was a disappointmernt. The food took an age to arrive (over 1 hour), and was cold (and got even colder waiting for the gravy to arrive).

 

The table talked about in the previous post did provide some relief as the service they received was like something lifted striaght from Fawly Towers.

 

A table of 8 and after more than one hour 2 burgers arrived. 20 minutes later an order of fish and chips appeared and then later the remaining meals arrived (By this stage the first people had already finished their meals).

Edited December 26, 2008 by Skygod

[kev0184 12]

to change the menu and not annouance it was defo not on, we went there purely on the back of the OP, which stated there was only to be the xmas menu, having sat in there before waiting for a meal that was the thing which made me go, i thought with only 2 choices that service would be much improved, proved not to be the case.

 

the growing pains etc posts Pete are getting old now, after 6mths in operation you really should have it sorted, it is not on, afraid after spending 6k+ on all of us last night, left very dissapointed and wont be back until it is sorted out.

[PattayaPete 530]

I am never happy when someone has a bad experience at the Beer Garden and I apologize to those who were unhappy with their experience last night. Having said that I'd like to point out a couple of things that are not clear from the above posts.

 

I decided to abandon the set menu on Wednesday night when many of our customers complained that they did not want to spend 595 baht on an appertiser, main and dessert. I replaced it with individual specials (the exact same food) but ordered individually. I also reduced the cost by 50 baht. In other words ordering the same meal as the set menu but as individual items cost 50 baht less than the set menu. Last night most people chose to order the Turkey (340 baht) and Christmas pudding (120 baht) but no appertiser for a total spend of 460 baht.

 

I received two complaints last night both from quite big groups. It is apparent to me that we do not handle big groups well. I'll be doing some work on that.

 

Big Mick, I appreciate that you were not happy. However your comment that I did not give a shit is hardly fair. When you complained to me I went off to check why the food had come out in your words "stone cold". I returned and apologised for the problem and asked what you were drinking. As it was a sherry that you had brought in yourself and we do not sell sherry, I offered you a complimentary bottler of red wine. Which you accepted. As I walked away from the table someone mumbled at me that as it was a big group two bottles would be better.

 

I returned with a bottle of Italian Montepuciano D’Abruzzo which we sell for 1,120 baht and a bottle of Californian Zinfandel Painter Bridge which we sell for 1,190. You might describe them as cheap and their price is reasonable in the Beer Garden. In other restaurants these wines are sold for over 2,000 baht each. Personally I enjoy both of these wines and your group appeared to enjoy them as well. I offered the wine, not to "palm you off" but as compensation for a poor experience.

 

This was our first attempt at doing a special meal for a special occasion. I learned a lot from the experience and will write more about this soon in my blog. Last night was our biggest night ever. We served well over 500 meals and most were good. Personally I loved the lamb and the Chritmas pud. The day and evening ran smoothly except for the critical time which always seems to trip us up and that's 7 - 8:30pm. Over 150 meals were ordered in that period and we did stuff up a few of them and the service was slow. The set menu would have solved that problem but out customers were not happy with that solution so for now it's back to the drawing board on how we can deal with such big rushes.

 

I do believe our service staff are second to none and they do try hard to provide good service. They are Thai and when farangs get upset they often have problems understanding what the issue is or how they can help. Last night the second big group that had problems complained to their waitress. They were English people with strong accents and she could not understand what was wrong. My wife then got involved and as she has been trained to do, asked what she could do to make them happy. In response she got a torrent of abuse from a particularly formidable English woman. She asked again how she could make it right for her and received further abuse. Ann then came and got me and I sorted things out with relative ease.

 

The point of this story is not to blame the customer however my wife does speak good English and has a very good understanding of Farang ways. However this group was too much even for her. It would be impossible to find service staff as good as Ann so I have to accept that some problems will always occur especially when people are upset. I am not complacent and will continue to work on staff training but I do accept some limitations imposed by the language barrier and cultural differences.

[frostfire 1,279]

I am at odds as to how to comment here....

 

I had a very similar experience on Loy krathong, over a hour for our food and it was not hot... but I wouldn't classify it as "stone cold" either tho. (Well, except the mashed potatoes - they were stone cold, and almost hard as a rock... the worst mashed potatoes I have ever had.... Pete, if you read this, check out the mashed taters at Hard Rock cafe sometime - they are absolutely top rate.... If you could match them, I would be back quite a bit more often than I am now).

 

I like the beer garden, and on most nights I think the food is top rate, but it does seem clear that, at least until Pete gets things sorted, it is a place to avoid on "big" days.

 

That said... I think I will head out there now for dinner lol. It shouldnt be too busy today, and they have the absolute best chicken cordon blu I have ever had :)

 

Frosty

Edited December 26, 2008 by frostfire

[yankee99 1]

As a general rule any decent restaurant is going to have backups on busy days. 30-90 minute waits can be normal. It is hard to keep twice the staff on payroll for the few days business is double. I am in the food business myself and chrismas day and new years eve are very difficult as they are much busier then your average saturday. I dont think they have much excuse for cold food as the busier you are the fresher and hotter the food should be. the restaurant business is not easy.

[dotcom_OD 0]

Pete been in the hospitality business for 32 years now. Is your kitchen set up to handle 500 meals a day? That you have to check. Prep work is crucial for specials and favorites.

 

Is your menu too extensive?...I am sure with your documentor system, you know what menu items are ordered the most and can prep that on a daily basis by monitoring this daily. Training of wait staff is crucial in order to run a smooth operation.

 

I personally have eaten twice at PBG. Once in the evening at approximately 1930 hours, the place was not full rather slow actually(midweek), the order came in late, but the bad part was the bar waitress(sat on the bar with a girl), was nowhere to be found to tell her to check on the food.

 

Another time, I was waiting on a taxi to pick me up in 2 hours, and took my girl for a late lunch at 1400. I again sat at the bar and told the bar waitress (liew liew,sp), and she did just that. I tipped her well for doing so. The chicken with cashews was great, the pad ka pow and fried rice was good too.

 

Pete, I for one, can understand the time and patience you are putting into this business. I can only wish you well and know you will weather the storm and come out doing very well. I hope to share a glass of that good red wine you mentioned the next time I am in PBG. Best of luck for 2009 Pete.

Edited December 26, 2008 by dotcom_OD

[chuckrivera 1]

As a general rule any decent restaurant is going to have backups on busy days. 30-90 minute waits can be normal. It is hard to keep twice the staff on payroll for the few days business is double. I am in the food business myself and chrismas day and new years eve are very difficult as they are much busier then your average saturday. I dont think they have much excuse for cold food as the busier you are the fresher and hotter the food should be. the restaurant business is not easy.

 

On what planet is a 90 minute wait for food normal, or even acceptable, regardless of the day or occasion? We're not talking from the time you walk in, we're talking after you have ordred.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

Pete,

 

We served well over 500 meals and most were good.

 

Was that 500 dishes or 500 meals i.e. 500 covers?

[ThaiLearner 18]

Lets get Gordon Ramsey in to sort it LMAO

[chuckrivera 1]

Lets get Gordon Ramsey in to sort it LMAO

 

Haha, how do you say, "you donkey" in Thai?

[yankee99 1]

We're not talking from the time you walk in, we're talking after you have ordred.

 

Agreed not after you have ordered.

[Zeus 56]

I was there in November, and ate at the PBG many times. Service times ranged from 15 min to slightly over 30 min.

 

-All the food was good. I had breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Thai and Western.

-Only once was it cold(or not hot), and that was fries with a burger. I think it must have been held waiting for my TGs meal so they could be served at the same time. When I got it the fries were not warm. Suggestion - add the fries only immediately before you take the food to the table. Don't let them sit and get cold.

- Comment on the Burger - The bun could be lighter ( it is a bit chewy for the burger you serve). A more airy, and slightly smaller bun would be better - IMHO.

 

In one instance we were actually told that the wait time was 45 min. While OK for a busy time, it was not desired. I had heard of the service time problems and thought that I was about to be a victim. A pleasant surprise - we got our food in a bit over 20 min. I am glad I did not let the "announced" wait time scare me off.

 

I am back in the USA now but will definitely return to the PBG when I am in town next.

 

Zeus

Edited December 30, 2008 by Zeus

[gunzel3808 113]

I am still gobsmacked when so many foreigners go to Thailand and demand non-Thai food and then complain when it doesn't come out the exact way they are used to back home in Farang-land.

 

Get over it guys you are in Thailand eat Thai food or stay at home in Farang-land and eat your lousy stooge food, get fat and have a heart attack and die!

 

Get real!!!!!!!!

 

[yankee99 1]

I am still gobsmacked when so many foreigners go to Thailand and demand non-Thai food and then complain when it doesn't come out the exact way they are used to back home in Farang-land.

 

Get over it guys you are in Thailand eat Thai food or stay at home in Farang-land and eat your lousy stooge food, get fat and have a heart attack and die!

 

Get real!!!!!!!!

 

 

I think most on this board are there for thai women not thai food!!!!!!!!