Anyone else noticed a drop in food quality at PBG lately?

[frostfire 1,279]

I was going to send Pete an email about this, but thought maybe it might just be me or perhaps its just been bad luck.

 

First off, most people on here know I can never say enough about the good food at PBG - its been the first place I recomend to new visitors for the 3 years I have lived here.

 

That said, for the last year or so I have only gone at night, because I did not like the way my favorite meal was prepared by the morning/afternoon cooks. To be fair, I tend to eat the same thing 90% of the time when I go there - tho I have had just about everything on the menu at some point or other. Anyway - the afternoon cook always did things differently, like adding onions and garlic to the vegetables - I hate that! Also, when I would order Chicken Cordon Blue in the afternoon it would almost always taste oily and was almost never tender like the night cook's masterpiece.

 

Anyway - about a month or so ago the night time meals started to taste the same. Happened 2 times in 2 days about a month ago, which is the first I noticed it. I figured the day cook was working because the veggies had onions in um... so I chalked it off. 2 weeks ago same/same... and last night again.

 

Even worse, my meal last night was not even cooked. It took almost a hour to arrive (no problem as I am never in a hurry), and I tend to eat the veggies/fries first - which had onions lol (I can live with that, just dont prefer it). I got about 1/3 thru my chicken tho when I noticed it was awfully soft... and not hot. as you know the lighting there is a bit bad so I pulled out my phone (which has a flashlight function), and found that the chicken (which was about 1/2 or 3/4 inch thick on both halves), was completely uncooked. It was white for about 1/16th an inch or so, then pink and bloody the rest of the way thru.

 

Raw chicken is VERY bad.... can make a person very very sick, so I waited 24 hours to make sure I wasnt going to get food poisoning, before posting this. All is well - Feel like I have a bit of a cold coming on, but not food poisoning (thank )

 

My point however is that around a month ago all seems to have changed. I would be willing to bet that the evening cook either quit or was fired, and the new cook is either the afternoon cook or was trained by him (lol). Anyone else notice the difference? Am looking to hear mostly from expats who eat there frequently...

 

Depending on how people respond, I may still shoot Pete an email - but if nobody else noticed, ill leave over lol. Maybe I'm getting old.

 

Either way there is no excuse for uncooked chicken in the kitchen, but mistakes do happen - and the manager made it right. Hell, I told her not to worry about it, that I didnt want anything else (was a bit freaked at eating that much raw chicken), and told her not to bother - but she removed the meal from the bin anyway (I would have paid without complaint), and I'm sure she told the cook off for it, so thats handled. :)

 

The issue of the food quality changing for the worse tho... if others have noticed it, then Pete needs to know so he can fix it, which I am sure he would be quick to do - he has always been quick to ensure customer satisfaction.

Edited February 21, 2011 by frostfire

[tombon 113]

av noticed it for the past 2 years, the food is cold and the wait is long. i oly go there to meet friends, eat before i go and drink there while my friends finish eating.

[frostfire 1,279]

av noticed it for the past 2 years, the food is cold and the wait is long. i oly go there to meet friends, eat before i go and drink there while my friends finish eating.

 

Like I said, I have only noticed it for the last month - before that the food was the best to be found in Pattaya for the most part.

[Bushcraft 2,579]

That's bad news Frostie, as I'm also a great advocate of PBG's food and service. Haven't been there for a few weeks, however, so can't comment further. A friend was telling me recently that the waiting time for a meal had soared up to the unacceptable level of over one hour again though. No doubt Pete will get onto this if made aware.

[frostfire 1,279]

Damn - you were one of the ones I hoped would tell me its just been bad luck lol.

 

Ya, the wait time was very long last night - but again, I dont really care about that. I enjoy sitting out on the ocean of an evening. For me, I would rather wait for a great meal then get a quick shitty meal

[skippy_nl 0]

Frosty

On Saturday night about 18:50 me the Mrs and a friend went to the PBG for a meal.

Had not eaten there for about 4 a 5 weeks.

Anyway me and the mate both ordered the fish and chips and the Mrs. ordered Thai food.

This was on two bins. Me and the Mrs and one for my mate.

 

After about have a hour the Thai food arrived. We waited for ours.

After another 30 minutes after the Mrs had finished her meal we asked out waitress to find out about our food.

She took both the bins and went to the kitchen.

She said that the kitchen did not have our orders. It was never printer. ( but the Thai-food on my bin was ?? )

So after another 20 minutes our Fish and chips finally arrived.

The chips were slightly warm and soggy and the fish was still cold.

 

Looked for Piet but did not see him

 

Will try again next weekend maybe.

 

Skippy

[blacknight 5]

I ate there with friends on Saturday and all meals were to the usual standard, although always have to wait slightly longer on the fish and chips.

 

I still recon great food for the money.

 

Maybe this should have been on a PM to Pete first and post afterwards if no conclusion IMHO.

[frostfire 1,279]

I ate there with friends on Saturday and all meals were to the usual standard, although always have to wait slightly longer on the fish and chips.

 

I still recon great food for the money.

 

Maybe this should have been on a PM to Pete first and post afterwards if no conclusion IMHO.

 

 

Thought about that, but wanted to see if it was just me before bringing it to Pete. If nobody else sees a problem, then no need to bother him or call out something thats not a problem (or may have just been really bad luck on my part)

[bigstuy 8]

mistakes do happen and while i have never eaten there would it not be fairer to deal directly with the manager than going on a public forum

[gaijin 146]

Yea its getting really hit or miss at the Beer Garden lately. Sometimes the food comes fairly quick and sometimes you wait an hour. They really need to shape that kitchen up.

[frostfire 1,279]

mistakes do happen and while i have never eaten there would it not be fairer to deal directly with the manager than going on a public forum

 

Re-read my post. You obviously did not bother. I DID deal with the manager last night, and listed my reasons for posting here instead of going to Pete for the other. If you have something relevant to add, please do so.

[bigstuy 8]

Re-read my post. You obviously did not bother. I DID deal with the manager last night, and listed my reasons for posting here instead of going to Pete for the other. If you have something relevant to add, please do so.

 

 

 

i reread your post twice and nowhere do you mention that you went to any manager, all im saying is that if you liked the place so much that it would be fairer to the business to sort out any problem you had inhouse rather than in the full glare of a public forum

[The_Fat_Controller 25]

3 meals in the last 3 weeks.

 

Mid-afternoon, with 4 Thai girls, clean plates all round, we were eating Thai food and they said very good but could be more spicy. My choice for the mix was Panang Gai which was perfect.

 

Second meal, just me, all OK but a bit of a wait.

 

Last Friday, 18th Feb, eating with a Thai friend, service slow, food cool and my favourite Panang Gai was swimming in oil and pretty disgusting. My friend's comment was "OK but not go back".

 

Like the location, just wish for some consistency.

[Bushcraft 2,579]

i reread your post twice and nowhere do you mention that you went to any manager, all im saying is that if you liked the place so much that it would be fairer to the business to sort out any problem you had inhouse rather than in the full glare of a public forum

 

Sorry bigstuy, but in his post Frostie said: "and the manager made it right. Hell, I told her not to worry about it, that I didnt want anything else (was a bit freaked at eating that much raw chicken), and told her not to bother - but she removed the meal from the bin anyway (I would have paid without complaint), and I'm sure she told the cook off for it, so thats handled. :)"

 

He clearly talked to the manager on duty, who attended to the problem. Pete the owner was not there, so he talked to the manager. Hopefully it also got to Pete later. And he has every right to pass on his impressions on this forum if he sees fit, it's not the kiss of death for a business to have negative comments posted - it keeps them on their toes.

[jamie392305 764]

I was going to send Pete an email about this, but thought maybe it might just be me or perhaps its just been bad luck.

 

First off, most people on here know I can never say enough about the good food at PBG - its been the first place I recomend to new visitors for the 3 years I have lived here.

 

That said, for the last year or so I have only gone at night, because I did not like the way my favorite meal was prepared by the morning/afternoon cooks. To be fair, I tend to eat the same thing 90% of the time when I go there - tho I have had just about everything on the menu at some point or other. Anyway - the afternoon cook always did things differently, like adding onions and garlic to the vegetables - I hate that! Also, when I would order Chicken Cordon Blue in the afternoon it would almost always taste oily and was almost never tender like the night cook's masterpiece.

 

Anyway - about a month or so ago the night time meals started to taste the same. Happened 2 times in 2 days about a month ago, which is the first I noticed it. I figured the day cook was working because the veggies had onions in um... so I chalked it off. 2 weeks ago same/same... and last night again.

 

Even worse, my meal last night was not even cooked. It took almost a hour to arrive (no problem as I am never in a hurry), and I tend to eat the veggies/fries first - which had onions lol (I can live with that, just dont prefer it). I got about 1/3 thru my chicken tho when I noticed it was awfully soft... and not hot. as you know the lighting there is a bit bad so I pulled out my phone (which has a flashlight function), and found that the chicken (which was about 1/2 or 3/4 inch thick on both halves), was completely uncooked. It was white for about 1/16th an inch or so, then pink and bloody the rest of the way thru.

 

Raw chicken is VERY bad.... can make a person very very sick, so I waited 24 hours to make sure I wasnt going to get food poisoning, before posting this. All is well - Feel like I have a bit of a cold coming on, but not food poisoning (thank )

 

My point however is that around a month ago all seems to have changed. I would be willing to bet that the evening cook either quit or was fired, and the new cook is either the afternoon cook or was trained by him (lol). Anyone else notice the difference? Am looking to hear mostly from expats who eat there frequently...

 

Depending on how people respond, I may still shoot Pete an email - but if nobody else noticed, ill leave over lol. Maybe I'm getting old.

 

Either way there is no excuse for uncooked chicken in the kitchen, but mistakes do happen - and the manager made it right. Hell, I told her not to worry about it, that I didnt want anything else (was a bit freaked at eating that much raw chicken), and told her not to bother - but she removed the meal from the bin anyway (I would have paid without complaint), and I'm sure she told the cook off for it, so thats handled. :)

 

The issue of the food quality changing for the worse tho... if others have noticed it, then Pete needs to know so he can fix it, which I am sure he would be quick to do - he has always been quick to ensure customer satisfaction.

 

 

Food poisoning or Salmonella comes to mind!!!!

Frosty,

I stopped using PBG half way through my Septermber trip as the dishes I ordered were not to my liking, food seemed to be, lets say, sub-standard. I see from your post things havnt improved, I hope they sort it and soon. I think you are right in wanting to tell PattayaPete, I would have done but don't know the chap.

Edited February 21, 2011 by jamie392305

[ttk 236]

Either way there is no excuse for uncooked chicken in the kitchen, but mistakes do happen - and the manager made it right. Hell, I told her not to worry about it, that I didnt want anything else (was a bit freaked at eating that much raw chicken), and told her not to bother - but she removed the meal from the bin anyway (I would have paid without complaint), and I'm sure she told the cook off for it, so thats handled. :)

 

 

i reread your post twice and nowhere do you mention that you went to any manager, all im saying is that if you liked the place so much that it would be fairer to the business to sort out any problem you had inhouse rather than in the full glare of a public forum

 

 

Seems he did mention he talked to the manager .

[teelack 9,631]

Please let Pete know Frosty. This place is always a must on my Pattaya trips. Its where I lay in the beer soaking material each night. Its also where I advise all newbies to go for the same reasons. I have no personal complaints but I am sure Pete will sort it out if he is advised.

[Funky 87]

I noticed on my last trip that the food quality had declined slightly and waiting time had increased.

 

I'm a massive fan of the place and would still suggest it to friends as the bar is in a great location , represents good value for money

and polite staff.

 

I'm sure Pete will work on putting this right.

[captcraig2 120]

I stopped in twice during my last visit and I will say that not only was the food horrible but so was the wait staff! I commented to the waitress that my sandwich was cold and my daughter never got the pizza she ordered.....Never saw her again after that! she sent the check bin over with a different server. I do like the location and like sitting on the water having a beer but when it comes to food.....I go else where.

[pcdodger 2]

Maybe this should have been on a PM to Pete first and post afterwards if no conclusion IMHO.

 

This subject came up on the board not so long ago, I agree with what you say blacknight, only problem

was I followed this route and an answer was never forthcoming, so I posted my experience last November on the board.

Whether too much is being left to staff , I dont know, but these reports are getting sadly repeated.

[parry 58]

The PBG is without a shadow of a doubt the best bar in Pattaya IMHO, a personal favourite of mine, I visit every night when I am in town and usually stay for at least an hour or two. The draught Tiger is very well kept and this coupled with great views and classic British rock and pop from the 70's and 80s make for a great relaxing night. But.................

 

If I am honest I have ALWAYS found the food to be poor and at best avearge. At first I thought it was me because of the enthusiastic recommendations from many people on this site who seem to rate the snap highly. Because of that I persevered with it somewhat and have had maybe 5 meals altogether; all of them unremarkable, some of them to a rather poor standard.

There are many people who really rate it and some of them (such as Andy Cap for example) are people who's opinion I respect, its just not for me foodwise.

[roorsoldja 325]

Had dinner there a couple - three weeks ago,

 

had a burger, was okay but not what i was used to from my last trip in, also i got my food 10 mins before everyone, then two more got there food but the fourth person in our party had to wait 30-35 after i had my food brought. just bad waiting.

 

Still like the place great location

[bigstuy 8]

apologies, looks like i need to learn to read a little better

[lespaul5000 15]

The PBG is without a shadow of a doubt the best bar in Pattaya IMHO,

 

i like the PBG.....but come on, are you serious?

[jacko 8,813]

High season jinxes?

 

I tried the PBG twice, on recommendations I read here... both times I was unhappy with the wait time and the food.

Many Thailand restaurants fall to pieces when they get busy.

The Coolhouse has served me a cold pepper steak twice in the last month or so, they won't again.

I am not much into up-market eating as I am frequently in a hurry to go on the town and just need a good base to put many beers on.

I join the cheap Charlies in The Seasider, consistent basic food if you don't mind the dogs around your ankles.

 

Pete shouldn't need to be told.