Sailor Restaurant, Soi 8 - Yuck!

[Evil Penevil]

The Sailor Bar and Restaurant is well-known for its cheap drinks and food. Since cheap booze in and of itself isn't a big attraction for me, I've never had a drink there and can't comment on the bar side of the business. But I have eaten twice in the restaurant and I strongly doubt there will be a third time. The food was bad to the point of being inedible and it was service with a scowl. I've never experienced unfriendlier waitresses anywhere in Pattaya.

 

 

 

 

On the upside, it's clean, well-lighted and above all, very cheap. Some of the Thai dishes you can get for 20 or 30 baht and most farang food runs between 80 and 150 baht. The breakfast has to be one of the least expensive in Pattaya.

 

 

 

 

The downside is the food is horrible. The first dish I tried was beef goulash. Here's what I got. I believe the price was 150 baht, but can't really remember.

 

 

And it didn't taste any better than it looks. The meat was tough beef cut stir-fry style. The only taste to the sauce was American-style ketchup. But tasting that sauce did give me one magical moment: I was transported back for a second to lower Manhattan. Some years ago I had volunteered two nights a month at a Bowery shelter for the homeless and the Sailor's goulash tasted exactly the same as the goulash served on Friday nights at the shelter!

 

The shelter's clients loved that goulash and the dining area was packed every Friday night. A formerly homeless guy who'd had some background in food preparation came in most Fridays to prepare it. One Friday, he couldn't make it and a NYC semi-celebrity chef supplied the goulash, made from top ingredients in his restaurant and delivered to the shelter for re-heating. I wasn't there that night, but I was told the clients didn't like the celebrity goulash at all. They much preferred the ketchup goulash. I thought I also recognized one of the guys from the shelter in the Sailor Restaurant, but my imagination must have been playing tricks on me, perhaps because my sensory nerves were over-stimulated by the ketchup taste.

 

My companion that evening, a lovely Thai lady, had declined the offer of food, Thai or otherwise, at the Sailor. She'd just wrinkled her nose and said, "No good." But so she'd have something in front of her, she had a butterscotch sundae.

 

 

I thought it was bizarre a sundae would come with Ritz crackers, but they turned out to be some sort of almond cookie. The sundae itself consisted of a few drizzles of caramel sauce on three tiny scoops of ice cream - one that was supposed to be chocolate, another vanilla and the third she couldn't tell because it had no flavor. The sundae was mostly commercial whipped topping.

 

After a couple of bites, we chek binned and abandoned the Sailor. She got som tam from a street stall and I had barbecued skewers of meat. A much better choice.

 

But I had seen a customer eating a schnitzel that looked pretty good. The menu said potato salad was an option as a side and I decided to come back alone another day to try it. Since the Sailor's menu is very German inspired, I been hoping it would be a warm potato salad with a vinegar-based dressing. This is what I got:

 

 

 

No magical moment for me that time because I had never before tasted American-style picnic potato salad that bad. Pieces of under cooked potato swimming in mayonnaise that had a rancid taste. Very, very old stuff. The schnitzel had been pounded so thin and fried so long it was rock hard. Except for an oily taste to the breading, it had no flavor at all. The shredded carrot and cabbage was the only part of meal that was edible. It cost 120 baht, so it wasn't much of a loss, more a waste of time.

 

If you want to economize on food, are very hungry and have a strong stomach, you might do OK at the Sailor. Otherwise, give it a miss and head to the nearest street vendor where you'll get far better food.

 

Evil

[tony113]

I ate there on my trip last month, I ordered a prawn dish and fried rice, the waitress brought the rice and the dishes that my bf ordered. she forget the prawns, we tried to get her attention, by the time I had finished the rice, my bf asked her about the prawns, the waitress was arguing with her, I said forget it asked for the bill but the prawns were charged for I said no way the older lady the owner I think, said I had to pay for the prawns. I told her to fuck off paid the bill minus the prawns. The food was shit the service was rude, the first and last time I will ever eat there. cheap or not it was a very negative experience for me, never again.

[THAJEC]

Sailor restaurant really deteriorated lately their quality of food. Personally, I had a stew of meat and leave the past were relatively few and the sauce was full of carrots. The same applies for goulash soup, which is full of carrots and ketchup as well. Goulash is worth 100 or 120 BHT if I remember well. Thai food is consumable. My favorite is the yellow curry which is delicious, but truthfully I have to say that it appears more and more onions at the expense of meat.
Sailor restaurant is still a place where you can eat a decent value quite well, but the quality of food is really a little worse, because the price advantage of the popularity of the BMS.
It's always everyone's choice and restaurants across hundreds Patts.

 

 

[nixonsbest]

I looked at reviewing their breakfast and after looking at the menu and premises I kept walking as for some reason it reminded me of the Welkom Inn on Soi 3 which is a shit hole.

 

http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/130612-nixonsbest-and-worst-breakfasts/

[tropicaloz]

I concur,

I haven't eaten in this establishment since 2010, On its best day the food was ordinary, but I don't think the wait staff ever smiled and always seemed pissed off that a Falang would dare annoy them by ordering food in this shithole.

 

It seems nothing has changed, yet they still say in business................?????

[seancoast2]

have to agree the staff were so fucking miserable it was depressing but some of the food was ok

[Bobdabilda]

There have been lots of previous reviews of this place http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/8187-sailor-bar-soi-8-24-hour-happy-bar/?hl=%2Bsailor+%2Bbar#entry564976 Make sure you read all the comments as the most recent are the funniest.

[docmullet]

I can also attest the waitresses in there are horrendous , they really seem to hate falangs . me and my mate tried to eat in there once but the waitress was so damn rude we got up and left

[gmoule]

Used to be quite a decent meal in there, however gone very downhill in the last few years, probably at the same rate soi 8 has which is probably one of the reasons

[Soi Six Snatch Sniffer]

Totally disagree. Never had a bad meal there. Been

Going for 5 years.

[swamp donkey]

Don't worry about the food

get a feed of the 60 baht cocktails.

some of them could clean paint brushes 

[999Baht]

Great review of the place!

You are not the first person I know that as said that the service there is shit. 

I've been told this by 2 people on completely separate occasions whilst walking past there (unsolicited comments mind you). 

 

I've not eaten there personally but I thank you for the warning and will not look to eat there any time soon. 

 

Loved the story about the homeless shelter..at least something positive came from the encounter. 

[SRA]

Great place for cheap drinks, but stay away from the food.

[Gobby]

I enjoy your writing style evil . Truly do...

[Sounder]

_{Pork chop (not great but not bad either) with mashed potatoes and gravy and veggies...about 120 baht. Add a 60 baht pina colada and it's not a bad $6 meal IMO!}

[joeyjay]

Very accurate reviews. What's up with those waitresses? Who owns that place and are they aware of the attitudes towards farangs? I was fricken screamed at by the female manager because I ask for some salt and pepper. I thought she was joking but was not. Other falangs saw this and kinda laughed and told me not to sweat it, they got yelled at the day before.

 

Oh well, what I've learned is that 55 baht breakfast is eatable (how can you f**k up a couple eggs, toast, bacon and coffee.

 

And for late evening snack to soak up some sudds, the 80 baht speggetti isn't all that bad. I'll still go for that but won't expect a kiss or smile from a waitress. I get in and get out!

[Buddy Edgewood]

Nearly every day I'm in town I'll eat breakfast at Sailor.  I'll submit my special order of 4xeggs, 4xbacon, 2xtoast, OJ and coffee - it's really difficult to screw this order up.  The best part is they actually serve real bacon.  My meal is usually delivered quickly, and it's one of the cheapest breakfasts I've found in Pattaya. 

 

Evil, you're 100% right about one thing, their staff could use an attitude adjustment, but I just write it off as TiT.  I always order with a smile and once in a while, one of the younger waitresses will give me a smirk in return.

[Larry001]

You pay for what you get. Rude staff, but they are probably underpaid and overworked by the miserable owner

[Bupattaya]

I used to be a daily customer there, but you are right about the service for 1. They could not be much nastier. Very rude and basically could give a shit if you satisfied with anything or not. The food used to be good, but has really gone bad in the last couple of years. Their drink prices have gone up and now they give very skimpy shots to boot. So I now stay far from Sailor bar. So many other good places to go for everything from food to inexpensive drinks. SAILOR BAR

[philobert]

Yes, in general the service sucks (and for me it does affect the tip)  but I do find the brekkie decent for size and price. (although it seems the price has gone up from baht 55 since feb '13).   I've also had a few sang som's in the bar area before going out for a walk about.   can't hardly beat the prices for a standard cocktail.

 

cheers

 

bert

[Tuna58]

Thanks for the review. Not sure were the Sailor Bar is but when I do run across is I

will be sure to give it a miss.

[joseph1]

My Gf and I eat there a lot for breakfast, sometimes later in the day a thai dish, like everyone mentions, the food is cheap. We enjoy the thai dishes, as long as you get something simple, such as fried rice with shrimp, chicken, etc. Breakfast is normally the norm. Since my Gf doesn't drink, we don't go there for the drinks. Now for the fun part, we have been going for years and the same 3-4 girls are still working there. We joke around about to see if we can get a comment from them. I cant ever remember them EVER making a comment, if you order anything extra, forget it, they are like robots, but we both agree, if you want to flirt, have conversation, get a look in the eye, sailor bar is not for you. It is eat, pay and leave, simple as that.

[rpbc]

Sailor Bar, food really bad, but they give you a lot of it.

Drink at Sailor Bar, no bar girl hassle.

Go 1 street over to Soi 7 and eat at Tequila Reef.

That's my prescription.

[Evil Penevil]

In another thread not related to food or restaurants, there was posted what I consider an unfair attack on the Pattaya Beer Garden. Rather than thread f*uck the original topic, I am responding here.

 

 

Went to that place at christmas and has to be the biggest load of crap have ever seen !  Food prices were 3 times everywhere else and some sort of rock videos from the 70's blaring out

Whether Cfarrell or anybody else likes the PBG is subjective. There are many who love PBG and some who hate it. There's no right or wrong about, it's a matter of personal preference.

 

But to say PBG's "food price 3 time everywhere else" is simply wrong. PBG's prices are in line or lower than other Pattaya casual dining restaurants that serve farang food.

 

When challenged on this, Cfarrell gave the following example (I've skipped some comments that weren't related to food:

 

Tell you Buddy

 

...

 

Secondly Fried Noodle With Squid was 150 Baht.........Its 30 Baht in Sailor Bar.........Not only is that not 3 times as much, but 5 times

That's an unfair comparison. The Sailor Restaurant is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, restaurants in Pattaya catering mainly to farang. He also named a Thai dish that would appeal mainly, but not exclusively, to the girls accompanying farang males. Most importantly, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison.

 

Here's what you get for 30 baht at the Sailor:

 

 

And here's the 150-baht offering at PBG:

 

 

 

The PBG's portion of squid with "fat" noodles is three, maybe four times larger than at the Sailor. Plus, it tastes infinity better at PBG. The squid at the Sailor was like chewing on a rubber band. The vegetables were wilted and soggy, as though they had been soaking in hot Liquid for a long time then re-warmed in a wok. It was very oily and had an extremely salty taste. Clearly, it had been doused with nam pla (fish sauce) once too often.

 

And then there's location, location, location. The PBG is on the water at the beginning of Walking Street. Nice sea breezes and some good views. Here's what you see when you eat on the terrace:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the Sailor (and that's the most scenic view):

 

 

This old fellow was dozing off in a corner of the Sailor Restaurant; not an attractive sight, be thankful for the pixelated oval. It's kind of interesting, though, that he's wearing a Singha wife-beater.

 

 

If you compare the prices at PBG with other restaurants in its class (Secrets, Rosie O'Grady's, Pig and Whistle, Butcher Arms, O La La, Tequilla Reef, etc.), its prices certainly aren't three times higher.

 

Some representative prices from the PBG menu:

 

..

 

 

 

 

Evil

[Taa_Saparot]

I think your comparison of PBG and the Sailor Bar is just as bad as the one you were complaining about.