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

[kaiser71]

A streamlined menu can help a kitchen stay out of the weeds and improve consistency. Of course, only you know what your customers' requirements are.

[js007]

I had some Thai food there the other day in the afternoon. It was OK. Not great, just OK.

[pcdodger]

I never had any hassles at Pattaya Pete's joint and I have had quite a few meals there. There is no need to complain about his place on this forum. Pattaya Pete started this message board, before he handed it over to MM. If you have a complaint, don't start a thread before sending him a PM first. Pattaya Beer garden is the best and most affordable eating place on Walking Street

 

Gonzo, maybe I have got an itch here but what you say to do is exactly what I for one did, and did not get the

courtesy of a reply or response, that was last year, and still waiting

Whether Pete started this board or not is irrelevant, that cannot nor should not deter customers from making

genuine complaints.

[Hub]

I never had any hassles at Pattaya Pete's joint and I have had quite a few meals there. There is no need to complain about his place on this forum. Pattaya Pete started this message board, before he handed it over to MM. If you have a complaint, don't start a thread before sending him a PM first. Pattaya Beer garden is the best and most affordable eating place on Walking Street

 

I don't think we need censorship here, as an open exchange of experiences is what the forum is about, IMO. You may have missed that Pete, who I am familiar with also, thanks the posters for the feedback.

[Gonzo]

I don't think we need censorship here, as an open exchange of experiences is what the forum is about, IMO. You may have missed that Pete, who I am familiar with also, thanks the posters for the feedback.

Fair enough. I guess the PBG had to cope with a lot more customers this Christmas and New Year period, after the previous couple of lean years. I will be back at the PBG soon, after most the holiday visitors have gone back home. One of my cousins runs a hotel with a popular restaurant and I understand what difficulties can be associated with a an influx of many additional customers.

[spike]

right about now...I'm guessing Pattaya Pete...wishes frostie would have finished his chicken dinner.

[Bazle]

I think it is great that Pete takes the time to post a detailed reply. However, it is not entirely convincing for me.

 

The aspect that is missing is staff training. It is not just at peak times that service is less than satisfactory. Often I get annoyed because I can't get served yet see several staff sat behind the bar doing nothing, and they see me! Why can't they lift their butts and lend a hand to the staff outside the bar?

 

And why is it that on occasions being sat in one area results in almost being ignored? Are the staff allocated tables to look after? If they are and someone is on leave, is there a proper re-allocation of the tables?

 

And why is food left to get cold whilst waiting to be picked up from the kitchen? Is there no way that the relevant pick up waiter/waitress could be notified?

 

And could the food not be kept warm UNTIL it is picked up? Indeed, I think it is left at a spot which is particularly breezy, so just putting up a shelter from the breeze would help.

 

Maybe the head count is down also because people like me (who used to eat at least one meal a day there) have chosen to eat elsewhere most of the time.

[jballstate]

Just before I left Pattaya in mid January I ate there with 2 friends. Part of my meal was stone cold. I finally got the attention of the server and she said she would bring me replacements for the cold items. She never came back until she brought us the check bin. I asked her what happened to the replacement for the cold items. She just looked at me and said nothing. We paid and left. I will have to hear reports that things have changed before I return. Prior to this visit I have enjoyed good food and service but it seems to have slipped.

[captcraig2]

The part that I do not understand is that this is not a NEW problem, We're hearing the same complaints that were voiced two years ago! I think some serious training issues are at hand.

[Jantrevor]

If you buy a martini or similar drink and the barman gives the excess to the staff you are being cheated out of part of your drink.

If the staff makes a smoothy or milk shake and gives you only half a glass full, then you are being shorted and should ask for a refund.

The staff probably makes extra so they can have some, and this is cheating the bar owner.

Food is usually about 30% of the price of the meal, alcohol is more profitable and milk shakes are also more profitable. So giving some extra to the buyer is unlikely to make the meal unprofitable.

[papillon]

I never had any hassles at Pattaya Pete's joint and I have had quite a few meals there. There is no need to complain about his place on this forum. Pattaya Pete started this message board, before he handed it over to MM. If you have a complaint, don't start a thread before sending him a PM first. Pattaya Beer garden is the best and most affordable eating place on Walking Street

Might be if it was actually on Walking Street

 

What is all this crap about the Smoothies/Shakes? As long as you get a full glass of what you ordered who gives a fuck about any excess! Most Employees would consider the excess as a 'perk of the job.' As long as they're not deliberately making too much which would be considered theft. Obviously they have to make a slight excess for fear of underfilling the glass.

 

Besides, only poofters drink shakes. Real men drink Bacardi Breezers

[gaijin]

To be fair, shitty service staff is not just at Pattaya Beer Garden. It's all over Thailand. Some of the stupid things they do really amaze me. I'm not talking about shakes anymore. We seem to be divided on that.

I ate at Gooses with a TG and ordered a chicken cream soup with my meal. Instead of bringing me chicken cream soup, they bring me french onion soup. And they tell me they wrote it down wrong and would I just like the french onion soup instead. I suppose they didn't think that maybe I wouldn't like french onion soup and would actually say no? That is exactly what I tell them. I don't like being lied to like I'm some kind of fucking idiot. I don't know whether they felt it was just easier to make the french onion soup or what or if they had accidentally started on it and decided to go with it all out and then see what happens? But it's not a good feeling being lied to by service staff.

 

Went to Camel Toe in Ban Chang with a few BM's. Me and Frosty order the same thing off their Menu Special #2, and they bring us something completely different. It looked nasty. Told us that what we had ordered wasn't on the daily special that day, and instead of them coming back to us to tell us so before they made something different for us they just decide for us what we should eat and that was the #2 special for that day that was written on a blackboard across the room that they failed to let us know about. I don't know why they don't just correct the mistake before its too late, they always feel like they have to see the mistake as far as it can go and hope for the best. This must be ingrained into Thai culture I believe. That thing about saving face maybe, and you are expected to help them out. When we told them we didn't want the food they went back and scribbled on the menu we had ordered off of originally and wrote a different date on it and brought back to show it to us as if we were the idiots to have not noticed the menu was for a different day. I don't know if the cost of their mistake is taken off their salary, but maybe taking the job a bit more seriously would help.

[CheshireTom]

To be fair, shitty service staff is not just at Pattaya Beer Garden. It's all over Thailand.

 

And just about any other country you care to mention. There are also plenty of places in Thailand where the service levels are out of this world.

 

As for the PBG, it is notoriously difficult to run an operation that is equally both a pub and a restaurant, especially on the scale of somewhere like the PBG - lots of places try, but few places manage to do it successfully.

[Gonzo]

Might be if it was actually on Walking Street

 

What is all this crap about the Smoothies/Shakes? As long as you get a full glass of what you ordered who gives a fuck about any excess! Most Employees would consider the excess as a 'perk of the job.' As long as they're not deliberately making too much which would be considered theft. Obviously they have to make a slight excess for fear of underfilling the glass.

 

Besides, only poofters drink shakes. Real men drink Bacardi Breezers

Thanks for picking me up on a technicality. Any new recipes for tinned red salmon.?

[derycolin]

No restuarant is perfect, but PBG has always been a favorite of mine, the staff / managers have always been helpful.

Sometimes there is the odd problem, and you may have to wait quite some time for your food, so I try to go before 7pm !!

 

On another note my nephew trained at the Savoy in London, now a self employed in Sydney.

When drinks were served with a slice of Lemon at the Savoy, and the glass was returned to the Bar the slice of Lemon disappeared into the next customers glass .......... Yes !

Only exception is when the Lemon was used in a glass of Coke, as the Lemon changes colour !!

[pcdodger]

No restuarant is perfect, but PBG has always been a favorite of mine, the staff / managers have always been helpful.

Sometimes there is the odd problem, and you may have to wait quite some time for your food, so I try to go before 7pm !!

 

On another note my nephew trained at the Savoy in London, now a self employed in Sydney.

When drinks were served with a slice of Lemon at the Savoy, and the glass was returned to the Bar the slice of Lemon disappeared into the next customers glass .......... Yes !

Only exception is when the Lemon was used in a glass of Coke, as the Lemon changes colour !!

 

Anyone who has worked in pubs or restaurants will have horror stories to tell, myself included, if the public had seen what went on in

the beer trade in the 60`s and 70`s a lot of establishments would have gone bust.

This thread however is about a bar/eatery that has been bigged up on the board for some time, because of the owners history

on this forum, that is now attracting complaints.

If you will excuse the sarcasm, you say "the lemon changes colour" but, does the leopard change spots? we all have, and are entitled to, our

own opinion.

[moby69]

By way of reply to the question, No.

 

To some of the people who have complained about PBG, I would ask 'DID YOU ASK TO SPEAK TO THE MANAGER' in order to complain about the level of service/food

 

I have found the best and sometimes the only time to complain is at the time when it can be sorted out!! It can be very hard to solve a problem days/weeks after it happend as by then you can't find the member of staff who then served you.

 

Pete has already mentioned in this thread and others that there is ALWAYS a Manager on duty and if you have a problem it will be sorted, by way of a refund!!

 

I would normally have a drink most nights and have something to eat 1-2 times a week in the PBG, is it always perfect NO, have I had a Problem Yes, has it been solved YES as I would bring it to the attention of the Duty manager (or Pete if in)

 

If I was buying shoes and they did not fit would I complain in the shop or on a mongers board ?

 

Like any bar/food outlet TIT if you are not happy vote with your feet I'm sure there are 100's of other bars/food outlets that would be happy with your Baht

 

 

Be Nice

 

Moby69

Edited March 1, 2011 by moby69

[jacko]

If I was buying shoes and they did not fit would I complain in the shop or on a mongers board ?

I think you would be a bit of a mug if you bought shoes that did not fit.....

 

But in a swipe you have eliminated the whole concept of public free speech and witty letters to the editor.

[pcdodger]

By way of reply to the question, No.

 

To some of the people who have complained about PBG, I would ask 'DID YOU ASK TO SPEAK TO THE MANAGER' in order to complain about the level of service/food

Be Nice

Moby69

 

To answer your question, with one subtle difference, in my case, the answer is yes, I asked if the BOSS was avaliable by name, and was told not until later, to save you asking why not ask for the manager, at the time I didn`t even know that there was a manager, the PBG was promoted via the board and as far as I was aware the guy in charge was Pete, he was the name on the posts about the bar and what he was doing and why.

BTW, that is why the problems that some BM`s have experienced are discussed on the board, never heard of a forum about crappy shoes

[JohnnyK]

I'm not a regular at PBG but I had a great PBG Burger last month. Hot, on time, plenty big and lots of chips. I was happy @150baht. I liked the server lady too, 30-something, good English and lively. I'll look for her next time for an after work take-out snack.

Edited March 3, 2011 by JohnnyK

[alias]

I was a regular there evenings in early Oct 2010. It really is a top notch establishment, but I did have issues with poor service. I attributed it to being in Thailand.

 

I'll be a regular next Oct, too.

[VicVegas]

As long as you get a full glass of what you ordered who gives a fuck about any excess! Most Employees would consider the excess as a 'perk of the job.' As long as they're not deliberately making too much which would be considered theft. Obviously they have to make a slight excess for fear of underfilling the glass.

 

Thank you! 100% correct.

 

Crazy Western thinking:

 

Some guy orders a shake, gets his shake, then sees some of the staff also drinking a shake, and comes to the conclusion, "They're stealing my shake!!!"

 

Maybe they just made some extra for themselves. As long as you're getting what you paid for, what they're drinking is none of your business.

 

 

Instead of bringing me chicken cream soup, they bring me french onion soup.

 

Me and Frosty order the same thing off their Menu Special #2, they bring us something completely different. It looked nasty. Told us that what we had ordered wasn't on the daily special that day,

 

I don't know why they don't just correct the mistake before its too late, they always feel like they have to see the mistake as far as it can go and hope for the best. This must be ingrained into Thai culture I believe. That thing about saving face maybe, and you are expected to help them out.

 

Crazy Thai thinking:

They didn't correct the mistake because that would mean they'd have to admit they made a mistake, which Thais seem to have trouble doing. You are indeed expected to help them out and brush off the mistake as a minor issue so they can smile and go on with life. It's all part of helping them maintain face.

 

My boss at a language school woke me up one morning. "I have two students I want you to teach." "Sure, what time and what day?" "Now." She had forgotten to tell me in advance and now the students were standing there in front of her expecting a class. Of course she couldn't admit to them that she had fucked up. She expected me to rush in, unprepared, and help cover up her mistake.

 

This is a very basic difference between Thai and Western thinking, and I think you'll find it's true of other Asian cultures as well.

[alancee]

last two weeks spent in pattaya,used pbg at least 4 times,not my decision,found bad service in as much as forgot dishes on the order,rude remarks by staff in thai,we knew what she said as we had a thai with us,dishes served at wrong times ie one member waiting whilst others in the party had finished,just not on really,bad service,position sat was middle top section on the wall,not the extension left bit,also trying to see is terrible the lighting is poor ,liked it at first when it opened but not much now,it has gone down hill,toilets clean though,my views,suggestion to lighting,in the overhead put in small hallogen lights ,12 volt ,MR11 20w Halogen Lamp 12v GU4 Light Bulbs,angled at the table ,untouchable and cheaper in the end ,

[dontcha]

i feel compelled to reply to this thread.

When I first read all the bad reports I could not believe that the service or the food at Pattaya Beer Garden(PGB) could possibly be as bad as reported.

I have visited PGB on 6 occasions thus far on this trip ..... I CAN CONFIRM THAT THE FOOD SERVED TO ME WAS PERFECT AND THE SERVICE WAS EXCELLENT ON EACH OCCASION SO FAR ON THIS TRIP.

PattayaPete does not know me and I have no reason to promote his place, I find the staff pleasant and good fun and I never get hassled to order another drink until I am ready.

PGB is not somewhere that I go to find a girl because you have to walk all the way across the floor to meet them with all eyes on you and if it does not work out then people lose face in public.

Pete really should have put in a couple of pool tables so that it would be easy to break the ice with the girls.

One complaint that I do have is that the WiFi signal is now very poor and this may cause some customers to give PGB a miss.

It is the best place to chill in the afternoon, have a few drinks and a bite to eat .... prices are fantastic for the location.

I am not sure why people did not contact Pete via pm rather than smearing the reputation of his very good bar.

Keep up the good work Pete ...... but fix the WiFi.

[pcdodger]

I am not sure why people did not contact Pete via pm rather than smearing the reputation of his very good bar.

 

Dontcha

I have just seen your post and likewise I have to respond.

If you read the various posts you will see that twice I say that I did just that, PM`d the owner and to date have been ignored.

To be fair, if you have had good food and good service, well, good luck to you, but please do not decry

those who were not so fortunate. It should be apparent that the quality of this establishment is rather hit and miss.