Goodness gracious me, India beckons

December 12, 2011

It’s been pointed out, by my reader, that I’ve been remiss by not reviewing any of the multitudes of Indian eating establishments in our fair city. So, I recently dined at the Nawab-Garden Hill Restaurant, at 359/119 Soi 5 Pratumnak Road in South Pattaya. Although not fancy, the open air establishment is attractively decorated in a beautiful garden setting. There’s a raised platform dining area, built around a tree; dining in the garden and a covered, raised area. In addition to Indian specialties, the restaurant offers a huge choice of Thai, Russian and European food. In fact, they have three chefs for their various cuisines.

Something to Tikka the tastebuds

I started off with a steaming, hot bowl of the tasty vegetable soup (60 baht), a puree of various green and red vegetables. Nawab-Garden Hill offers an extensive array of Tandori selections. I tried the Chicken Tikka (170 baht). It came with onions on a sizzling platter and contained a very generous portion of chicken pieces, nicely spiced and covered with paprika to give it its red colour; and accompanied by coriander chutney. The chicken was juicy, buttery, tender and delicious. Butter nan (40 baht), the flat, leavened, Indian style bread was a perfect accompaniment to the Chicken Tikka. There is a gargantuan amount of choices to satisfy any palate including lamb, chicken, fish and a large assortment of vegetarian dishes. There’s a good variety of wine on offer. A bottle will set you back in the neighbourhood of 1000 baht.

Those in your party not in the mood for Indian cuisine will find myriad selections of Russian, European and Isaan food.

Nawab-Garden Hill is open every day from 10 am until midnight. (Phone:038 364 392; web: www.indianfoodinpattaya.com ) They also deliver.

Note to readers: The Frugal Gourmand always pays for his own meals and rarely mentions that he is doing a review before the meal. If he doesn’t care for a restaurant, it doesn’t make it to this column; which is why the reviews are mostly positive.