Eatigo Discounts in Pattaya (Updated Oct. 16)

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

Eatigo is a restaurant reservation app that gives users discounts up to 50%,depending on the time of dining. Eatigo doesn't require pre-payment or credit card information; all you need to sign up is a valid email address and a smart phone.

 

It's easy to use once installed. Just select the restaurant, time you want to eat (30-minute slots) and the number of people who will be dining. Click the tab and you get an immediate confirmation code that you show to the restaurant staff when you arrive. That's all there is to it.

 

There's no real downside or disadvantage for the user with Eatigo. Its shortcoming is the lack of relevance at present for many potential users. Pattaya has well over 1,000 restaurants but only 48 are listed on Eatigo. That's less than 5% of the total and not all the Eatigo restaurants are in central Pattaya. Some are a considerable distance, as far as 35 kilometers. Moreover, nearly two thirds of them (30 restaurants) are attached to three- to five-star hotels.

 

If we exclude the hotel and far-away restaurants, we're left with the following options:

 

Five Indian restaurants in central Pattaya (Karma, Crown of India, Shalimar; Alibaba; and Nisha) and Suruchi in Jomtien, as well as the Robin Hood Tavern; The Kitchen (two restaurants); Retox Game On; Domino's Pizza on Pattaya Tai; Dicey Reilly's; La Strada; Kasalong; Easy Health; and Pizza Plaza in central Pattaya; Livv on the Darkside and the 8 Horseshoes Tavern in Jomtien. Some of the independent restaurants are specialized and wouldn't be of much interest in terms of everyday dining.

 

Then there's the timing of the discounts. Only off-peak times yield a 50% discount, while the most popular times will give you 10% or 20% off, depending on the restaurant's location. Certainly 10% off is better than a kick in the nuts, but it won't make the big hotel buffets affordable to many punters.

 

Also, the Eatigo discount applies ONLY to food, NOT beverages. That won't matter at restaurants like Retox Game On, Robin Hood and The Kitchen, but the hotel restaurants can charge 140 baht for a bottle of water- and that's their cheapest option. Any specials or promotions on food are excluded from the Eatigo discount. It only applies to regular menu prices. Finally, it is ++ pricing in many Eatigo-listed restaurants. Service and VAT are added, which usually increases the cost by about 17%.

 

Bottom line: Eatigo is still a good deal, but of limited use to most visitors and foreign residents in Pattaya. In its current form, it won't revolutionize Sin City dining.

 

Eatigo lists about 650 restaurants in Bangkok, but you have to install a separate app. Nineteen restaurants in Chiang Mai are included on the Pattaya app. Eatigo also lists restaurants in Singapore, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines and Malaysia, but separate apps are needed.

 

Evil

Edited October 16, 2018 by Evil Penevil

[Evil Penevil 7,628]

About two weeks ago, I had dinner with a farang friend and his TG at the SEA Restaurant in the Baraquda Hotel. The SEA wouldn't have been the first choice for any of us, but they were staying at the Baraquda and didn't want to go out because a heavy rainstorm had been forecast for the evening. I live close to the Baraqudaand figured I could stay dry with an umbrella on the short walk. On the Eatigo app, I made a reservation for three at SEA for 8.00 p.m.

We saved 920 baht by taking advantage of the Eatigo 50% discount. Our meals (starter, main and beverage) cost 1599 baht in total, but without the discount, would have cost 2,519 baht. The 60-baht "bonus" between the two prices came from the 7% VAT calculation with and without the Eatigo discount (860 baht).

All the prices that follow are with the Eatigo discount, but without 10% service and 7% VAT.

My friend had the Greek salad (120 baht) ...

and baked "white snapper" (170 baht):

His girlfriend had spring rolls (120 baht):

and som tam with crab (90 baht):

I had the pumpkin-and-ginger soup (really good!) for 120 baht:

. and the grilled duck breast (240 baht):

All of us were happy with the food we had ordered. One thing the pics don't show is the basket of warm fresh bread and butter than preceded the starters. That's always a nice touch. We felt our meals with the discount were fairly priced for what we got. We were less happy with the beverage prices: 140 baht for a bottle of SML and the same (!) for the GF's orange juice. Beverages, whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic, don't fall under the Eatigo discount.

If I break out my meal, I saved about 425 baht by using Eatigo. My friend saved 495 baht on the two meals for which he paid (they had less expensive mains than I did). Since there is no cost or hassle involved with Eatigo, I think it was a decent advantage to have used Eatigo under the circumstances.

Evil