Sailor Restaurant, Soi 8 - Yuck!

[Taa_Saparot]

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.

 

 

Wrong, its 100 baht, not 120 baht.

 

And damn good value it is as well.

[Evil Penevil]

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

Why? In what way was my comparison faulty?

 

 

Wrong, its 100 baht, not 120 baht.

 

And damn good value it is as well.

I'm pretty sure when I ate there back in July of last year I paid 120 baht, but I could be mistaken. Perhaps they sometimes offer it as a "special?"

 

But how can any restaurant dish be good value if it is inedible?

 

Evil

[Beerburgerbonk]

Ive only walked into the Sailor Bar and walked out again - the place really seemed to be populated by old "trampy" looking farangs.

 

The food seems to be very cheap as does the booze and it does have its target market,

 

So if this is you or similar and the doorway that youve just awoken in is about to be disinfected and you fancy a bite to eat (not from a bin) and a couple of pick me up drinks (not meths) and have a few coins to spend - go for it !

 

[Cfarrell]

Ive only walked into the Sailor Bar and walked out again - the place really seemed to be populated by old "trampy" looking farangs.

 

The food seems to be very cheap as does the booze and it does have its target market,

 

So if this is you or similar and the doorway that youve just awoken in is about to be disinfected and you fancy a bite to eat (not from a bin) and a couple of pick me up drinks (not meths) and have a few coins to spend - go for it !

 

 

You walked in and out for one reason. It was packed and you couldn't find a seat. Most Popular Beer Bar in Pattaya for a reason !

"Trampy" Farangs lol

[bar stool]

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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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:

 

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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

Why did you go there a second time?

BTW in Germany potato salads are cold.

Strange that the ice-cream was served in a sauce boat.

[THAJEC]

I agree with Taa-Saparot compare Sailor and PBG is stupid. It is completely different category. Type, prices, place, kitchen facilites etc. Look at the prices Sailor and PBG. Imcomparable. Quality can be somewhere else, but the price certainly plays a big role.

[taylor1975]

I went to sailor bar for the chicken schnitzel in November, as recommended by a friend. It was a hangover cure and it was good for 100 baht. No complaints.

I went again in january and the same meal was rather poor. the chicken was so thin it was practically just breadcrumbs and about virtually no fries. Still hungry, I ordered one of the cheap thai meals - at 30bht or so, it was ok as I didn't expect much. 

 

Such a difference between the two meals. (Also, I shared my table with a chap who proceeded to use the supplied toothpicks to the full extent - kind of rude if you're opposite a stranger who's still eating - safer to sit at the bar and order!)

 

Maybe stick to those cheeky cocktails in future.   

[Taa_Saparot]

(Also, I shared my table with a chap who proceeded to use the supplied toothpicks to the full extent - kind of rude if you're opposite a stranger who's still eating - safer to sit at the bar and order!)

 

 

Its probably the one thing that puts us off eating more in the Sailor Bar.

 

The forced sharing of tables.

[Evil Penevil]

Why did you go there a second time?

I explained in the OP why I went back:

 

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.

Also, if I'm going to write negatively about a restaurant, I visit it twice. A bad meal can be a one-off in almost any restaurant. Two bad meals in a row is indicative of a poor restaurant. The third time I went was for a specific purpose: to compare the fried squid with fat noodles at the Sailor and Pattaya Beer Garden.

 

BTW in Germany potato salads are cold.

There are two styles of Kartoffelsalat:  southern (Bavarian) style, with an oil, vinegar and bacon dressing and served warm; and northern, which has a light mayonnaise dressing and is served cold. In the U.S., we call the southern style  "German potato salad," as the northern style is quite similar to American potato salad.  However, in the U.S. and Canada, mustard is usually mixed with the mayonnaise dressing, hence the bright yellow color.  That's the type of potato salad I got at the Sailor, although it was too rancid to eat.

 

Strange that the ice-cream was served in a sauce boat.

It's even stranger the Sailor has any customers with food that bad. However, the three times I've been there, it didn't have many customers. And it's a rather small restaurant, maybe 40 seats total.

 

 

 

Evil

[Taa_Saparot]

To my eye, your photos have been taken at late at night, and daytime.

 

Go back again early evening and witness the carry on for tables, and then comment.

[Evil Penevil]

One of the photos was taken at about 5.00 p.m. in the afternoon, the other at about 8.00 p.m. In any case, the popularity of a restaurant doesn't necessarily say anything about the quality of its food. But if you do use popularity as a standard, then the much larger Kiss Food and Pattaya Beer Garden would top Sailor each and every day.

 

Three strikes puts a restaurant out in my game so unless I have another non-culinary and very compelling reason, I won't be going back for a fourth visit. But if anyone has pics of good meals they've eaten at the Sailor, you're welcome to post them in this thread as a "rebuttal" or perhaps in a new thread about what a great restaurant the Sailor is.

 

I can only report on what I experienced. It's certainly possible others have had a different experience and I'm really curious to know what a good meal at the Sailor looks like.

 

Evil

[Pheat]

I have had a couple of meals in the sailor bar never again prefer to spend more money and get a decent meal

The sailor bar is ok if you like cheap shite food and normally plenty of it

You get what you pay for

You can not polish a turd

[bar stool]

I explained in the OP why I went back:

 

 

Also, if I'm going to write negatively about a restaurant, I visit it twice. A bad meal can be a one-off in almost any restaurant. Two bad meals in a row is indicative of a poor restaurant. The third time I went was for a specific purpose: to compare the fried squid with fat noodles at the Sailor and Pattaya Beer Garden.

 

 

There are two styles of Kartoffelsalat:  southern (Bavarian) style, with an oil, vinegar and bacon dressing and served warm; and northern, which has a light mayonnaise dressing and is served cold. In the U.S., we call the southern style  "German potato salad," as the northern style is quite similar to American potato salad.  However, in the U.S. and Canada, mustard is usually mixed with the mayonnaise dressing, hence the bright yellow color.  That's the type of potato salad I got at the Sailor, although it was too rancid to eat.

 

 

It's even stranger the Sailor has any customers with food that bad. However, the three times I've been there, it didn't have many customers. And it's a rather small restaurant, maybe 40 seats total.

 

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Evil

I’ve been to Sailor Bar (the bar only, not the smallish restaurant in the back) a couple of days ago and paid 55 baht for a bottled Heineken.

That is the same as you pay during happy hour at the nearby Lucky Star where you get live music and some nice company if you want.

The long drinks are cheap at Sailor Bar, but seemed rather small.

That being said I am no expert at long drinks.

I saw some people eating in the bar area and the portions looked very minimal (khao pad and the like).

As to potato salad (Kartoffelsalat), when I was younger I’ve travelled at least 30 times in Western Germany, from Hannover to Munich, and I’ve never got hot potato salad.

I needn’t visit a restaurant twice to be sure it is bad, because I always order at least a soup and a main dish; if both are bad, the restaurant is bad.

[bar stool]

I have had a couple of meals in the sailor bar never again prefer to spend more money and get a decent meal

The sailor bar is ok if you like cheap shite food and normally plenty of it

You get what you pay for

You can not polish a turd

Indeed, some decent restaurants behind the corner, on and off Soi 7: Bier Stüble, Chalet Suisse and Pig & Whistle.

[mikeyboy]

Ate at Sailor bar several times over the last six weeks and found the food to be okay .  

 

Ordered Thai green curry with steamed rice a couple of times  ( can't mess that one up you would hope )  and another time the pork chop which was also fine . 

 

Have to admit the service was surly on a couple of the visits , and another time , one of the female staff had a shouting match with a thai woman customer , who was there with her western partner and a young girl .    The employee's language was foul and continued unchecked by anyone connected with the bar as the couple and the crying kid left the place .   A disgrace .

 

Mikeyboy

[Fagota]

At 14:50 staff say nomore breakfast....so order noodle 40 baht but small portion.Anyway the staff is very rude

[nixonsbest]

My 2 cents, beer warm and staff surly!..

 

Their pork cordon bleu, potato salad and vinaigrette garden salad is one of the best I have had in Pattaya and at 120B is a absolute bargain!

 

Potato salad as good as Antons and Casa Pascals!

 

Garden salad as good as Steak & Co!

 

Pork cordon bleu good quality and quantity! 

[VFV]

My first dish there I like, it felt like a normal thai dish, but the 2 last dishes has not been very good.

 

 It says noddles and pork on the menu, not what I expected out of that. There are better cheap places, but what this has is a good location. I do not like to sit on a empty street or indoors with nothing to see or hear, then I prefer to eat in my hotell room. So location is importent and that this place has.

 

 

 

[mooiweer2010]

I went there once,ordered the schnitzel,tried it but it was tasteless and hard to chew...left it and paid.

I won't be coming back,but I know many people who go there very often and love it.

It is cheap and you get what you pay for.

[bpchook]

The Cordon Bleu was excellent from Sailor Bar

[nixonsbest]

The Cordon Bleu was excellent from Sailor BarSailor Bar.jpg

Far better photo than I have!..120B you can't go wrong!..

[One hung low]

Far better photo than I have!..120B you can't go wrong!..

the cordon blue IS quite good value and taste. Can't go wrong for $3.50 US

The schnitzel was also good

[Taa_Saparot]

At 14:50 staff say nomore breakfast.

 

Strange, breakfast was always advertised 24 hours a day.

[Evil Penevil]

 

Their pork cordon bleu, potato salad and vinaigrette garden salad is one of the best I have had in Pattaya and at 120B is a absolute bargain!

 

Potato salad as good as Antons and Casa Pascals!

 

 

I'm glad it's improved.  Of the three meals I had there, one was inedible (schnitzel with potato salad) and the other two very bad.

 

Evil

[Harvey707]

Best value for money food in Pattaya by a country mile. In addition without doubt the most successful long time Beer Bar in Pattaya 25 years coming up soon