Steak & Co. in Soi Lengkee (formerly China Garden)

[okdirl]

If my head chef turned around to a customer in opening week and offered responses saying it's not my problem it's the owners or there is no salt in it, I would be sacking his ass. I don't agree that the customer is always right but those responses are the words of a chef too stuck up his own arse to take some constructive criticism. Ian nip that shit in the bud mate. It will destroy u before u even start.

 

 

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[socrates]

Socrates don't sell your self short, get down there and form your own opinion, there is no point sitting on the fence!

 I was also given feedback from another diner who ate there the same night as you - he paid 1000 baht for a T-Bone being American he loves his steaks - I asked him how it was and his answer was bland - he felt he would have got a better deal and steak at Beefeater

 

Like I said its a newly opened restaurants I am hoping by October its all sorted and I will try it then....

[okdirl]

Ok

I'm

 

 

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[Lambik]

Was there as-well yesterday evening.

 

Had The Steak au Poivre, Bodegas Cabernet ( carafe), Lemoncello Tartufo, Espresso.

 

The wine which is the house wine, is from very decent quality.

They brought bread and butter, nothing to write home about, a small dish with olives or other small "mise en bouche" would have been nice.

The steak au poivre with french fries was excellent, cooked as ordered ( medium rare ).

There was a small spoon with the lemoncello tartuffo, a hammer and chisel would have been more appropriate.

The espresso was correct.

 

Background music ( jazz-funk ) is satisfying, not loud.

 

The nuisance, despite soundless, are the televisions, this is something you expect in a beer-bar not a restaurant.

 

Staff was o.k., need a little practice.

 

I mentioned all this to Mr.yuri, who listened carefully.

 

The chef came to say hello and spoke a few words with me, I'm not a native English speaker, it wasn't easy at all to understand him ( apparently he is Scottish), I don't want to offend but he remembered me of the chef in the Muppet Show.

 

I will go back, and will seat next to the kitchen where I have the choice to look at a picture of an old car wreck, or cowboys and their cows, as long it's not the televisions. Outside is not an option as I want air-co and bright while I eat.

 

Amount of my bill : ThB 1.205

Edited August 23, 2014 by TinTin

[China Garden]

What was the problem with the dill cream? I see capers and that is a great plus in Pattaya, most places I had this dish looked at me like I was from Mars when asked about capers....

 

Yea for the money we charge we can afford to do it right, 240 Baht isn't cheap but it allows us to use lemon not lime, capers, balsamic reduction & pineapple salsa. Personally I really like the dill cream but its on the side so if folks dont enjoy it then there is plenty of other "tastes on the plate" to mix the salmon, I think it can be subjective rather then wrong .... honestly its really really nice smoked salmon too

Edited August 23, 2014 by China Garden

[China Garden]

Was there as-well yesterday evening.

 

Had The Steak au Poivre, Bodegas Cabernet ( carafe), Lemoncello Tartufo, Espresso.

 

The wine which is the house wine, is from very decent quality.

They brought bread and butter, nothing to write home about, a small dish with olives or other small "mise en bouche" would have been nice.

The steak au poivre with french fries was excellent, cooked as ordered ( medium rare ).

There was a small spoon with the lemoncello tartuffo, a hammer and chisel would have been more appropriate.

The espresso was correct.

 

Background music ( jazz-funk ) is satisfying, not loud.

 

The nuisance, despite soundless, are the televisions, this is something you expect in a beer-bar not a restaurant.

 

Staff was o.k., need a little practice.

 

I mentioned all this to Mr.yuri, who listened carefully.

 

The chef came to say hello and spoke a few words with me, I'm not a native English speaker, it wasn't easy at all to understand him ( apparently he is Scottish), I don't want to offend but he remembered me of the chef in the Muppet Show.

 

I will go back, and will seat next to the kitchen where I have the choice to look at a picture of an old car wreck, or cowboys and their cows, as long it's not the televisions. Outside is not an option as I want air-co and bright while I eat.

 

Amount of my bill : ThB 1.205

 

Thanks for the review, I am glad you had a nice evening & the steak lived up to expectations !

 

The TV's are "under review" whilst consider if it attracts weekend sports fans who want to eat, I do not when single guys come in they often sit directly in from of them but couples or more dont...

 

The Lemoncello dessert was mentioned to me last night after your comment to Yuri, being a frozen ice cream dessert which has a lemon sorbet exterior and ice cream centre (Sorbet sets harder then ice cream) its hard to get it softer... We cut them in half which aids in the eating and Yuri is going to try turning down the freezer today ....

 

All this feedback is fantastic .... you tell me and Yuri & Gerry will fix it, its that simple ! I appreciate the time & effort you guys are making, thank you.

Edited August 23, 2014 by China Garden

[China Garden]

If my head chef turned around to a customer in opening week and offered responses saying it's not my problem it's the owners or there is no salt in it, I would be sacking his ass. I don't agree that the customer is always right but those responses are the words of a chef too stuck up his own arse to take some constructive criticism. Ian nip that shit in the bud mate. It will destroy u before u even start.

 

 

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Gerry like pretty much every professional Chef is proud of what they put on the plate, he tells me often that he cook from the heart. I have seen lots of customers since opening tell him that his food is "fantastic & far superior to Beefeaters" and *the steak was the best I have had anywhere in the world". We have had 2 comments saying the Steaks were "bland or tasteless" which I accept as feedback, its difficult for me to explain why a Grass fed chilled Black Angus steak costing 1,100-1,300 per kilo could ever taste that way, looking at Nixon's pictures the steak appears well grilled & appetising.... I will make sure they are basting with butter & seasoned correctly.

 

Gerry is new to Thailand and he's finding his feet with the language & culture, he's probably a little more defensive as he knows its a great opportunity in Thailand, he already has a Thai girlfriend ... Don't worry I speak with him and give him the confidence to own mistakes & put right these relatively small problems

 

Cheers,

 

ian

Edited August 23, 2014 by China Garden

[GlennUK]

 

 

The chef came to say hello and spoke a few words with me, I'm not a native English speaker, it wasn't easy at all to understand him ( apparently he is Scottish), I don't want to offend but he remembered me of the chef in the Muppet Show.

 

 

 

 

If he was Scottish he is not a native English speaker as well 

[expatdude]

If my head chef turned around to a customer in opening week and offered responses saying it's not my problem it's the owners or there is no salt in it, I would be sacking his ass. I don't agree that the customer is always right but those responses are the words of a chef too stuck up his own arse to take some constructive criticism. Ian nip that shit in the bud mate. It will destroy u before u even start.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Gerry like pretty much every professional Chef is proud of what they put on the plate, he tells me often that he cook from the heart. I have seen lots of customers since opening tell him that his food is "fantastic & far superior to Beefeaters" and *the steak was the best I have had anywhere in the world". We have had 2 comments saying the Steaks were "bland or tasteless" which I accept as feedback, its difficult for me to explain why a Grass fed chilled Black Angus steak costing 1,100-1,300 per kilo could ever taste that way, looking at Nixon's pictures the steak appears well grilled & appetising.... I will make sure they are basting with butter & seasoned correctly.

 

Gerry is new to Thailand and he's finding his feet with the language & culture, he's probably a little more defensive as he knows its a great opportunity in Thailand, he already has a Thai girlfriend ... Don't worry I speak with him and give him the confidence to own mistakes & put right these relatively small problems

 

Cheers,

 

ian

 

I agree with alanhass, largely. A chef making the excuse 'the owner buys the butter' doesn't deserve the title chef. Every fucking thing on the plate is his responsibility! That's why you hired him. No fucking excuses. If it ain't right, don't send it out of the fucking kitchen.

 

Listening to the masses who would praise just about anything is really dangerous in my opinion. If your chef continues to go forward and make excuses why the food he is sending out is wrong, you have a big problem and you'll be back to a doldrum restaurant like China Garden was.

 

The best way to do a restaurant is to choose a chef first and build the restaurant around the vision for food that chef has. You haven't done that, so you must be extra diligent to make sure your chef knows what he's doing. I warned you before just from looking at the pictures you put up--that saltimbocca was a crime that no decent chef would ever commit in my opinion.

 

Since you seem not to be a foodie yourself, I would highly recommend that you find someone to check on what your chef is putting out of the kitchen. And you'd be better off listening to the few who really know food instead of the many who don't. They, in my opinion, praise and then don't come back very much because they sense deep down it's really not that great.

 

I may be wrong--I'm no super foodie myself, but I have seen definite warning signs and I respect nixonsbest's palate a lot, so I thought I'd throw my opinion into the mix.

Edited August 23, 2014 by expatdude

[Mucho Gusto]

All I can say is.... WOW!  There's not many things in this world that I love more than a great steak.  Don't know how I missed this thread in the past, but I just spent the past 2.5 hours reading this entire thread - ALL 29 PAGES!!!

 

Ian,  I wish you much luck with this new venture.  It's very clear that you have made a tremendous commitment to the success of this new restaurant.  I will be in town next month, and I'm looking forward to dining at Steak & Co.  We will have a party of 10 people, and with this many in our party, I'm sure we'll be able to post a very honest and descriptive review of the restaurant. 

 

Cheers!

[China Garden]

All I can say is.... WOW!  There's not many things in this world that I love more than a great steak.  Don't know how I missed this thread in the past, but I just spent the past 2.5 hours reading this entire thread - ALL 29 PAGES!!!

 

Ian,  I wish you much luck with this new venture.  It's very clear that you have made a tremendous commitment to the success of this new restaurant.  I will be in town next month, and I'm looking forward to dining at Steak & Co.  We will have a party of 10 people, and with this many in our party, I'm sure we'll be able to post a very honest and descriptive review of the restaurant. 

 

Cheers!

 

Thank you, we very much look forward to seeing you.

 

Ian

[China Garden]

I agree with alanhass, largely. A chef making the excuse 'the owner buys the butter' doesn't deserve the title chef. Every fucking thing on the plate is his responsibility! That's why you hired him. No fucking excuses. If it ain't right, don't send it out of the fucking kitchen.

 

Listening to the masses who would praise just about anything is really dangerous in my opinion. If your chef continues to go forward and make excuses why the food he is sending out is wrong, you have a big problem and you'll be back to a doldrum restaurant like China Garden was.

 

The best way to do a restaurant is to choose a chef first and build the restaurant around the vision for food that chef has. You haven't done that, so you must be extra diligent to make sure your chef knows what he's doing. I warned you before just from looking at the pictures you put up--that saltimbocca was a crime that no decent chef would ever commit in my opinion.

 

Since you seem not to be a foodie yourself, I would highly recommend that you find someone to check on what your chef is putting out of the kitchen. And you'd be better off listening to the few who really know food instead of the many who don't. They, in my opinion, praise and then don't come back very much because they sense deep down it's really not that great.

 

I may be wrong--I'm no super foodie myself, but I have seen definite warning signs and I respect nixonsbest's palate a lot, so I thought I'd throw my opinion into the mix.

 

I totally accept your comment regarding Gerry & the butter, I fully intend to address his "ownership" of any problems that arise due to the kitchen, anyone who knows me will know that I always fix the problems and will make sure things are better in the future.

 

I am a bit of a foodie actually, the only reason I give Chef Gerry free reign in the kitchen is his obvious expertise & 25 years experience in the kitchen, he was recently offered a position at Le Gavroche in London but turned down the job in favour of "quality of life in Thailand", I am totally confident that Gerry wont allow that quality of life part option reflect in his cooking other then totally positively, he wants to stay & we want to keep him  

 

Don't get me wrong, the complaints are valid and will be fixed BUT there is still "plenty of positive comments" being made about a business set-up from scratch that opened its door 7 nights ago ! It's all to easy to focus just on the negative elements of any review.

 

We will keep pushing forward & fixing things as they get brought to my attention .... Gerry is a world class Chef, he needs to have a little time to adjust to Thailand & the needs of our business, I will support him through the transition period

Edited August 23, 2014 by China Garden

[Pheat]

Gerry like pretty much every professional Chef is proud of what they put on the plate, he tells me often that he cook from the heart. I have seen lots of customers since opening tell him that his food is "fantastic & far superior to Beefeaters" and *the steak was the best I have had anywhere in the world". We have had 2 comments saying the Steaks were "bland or tasteless" which I accept as feedback, its difficult for me to explain why a Grass fed chilled Black Angus steak costing 1,100-1,300 per kilo could ever taste that way, looking at Nixon's pictures the steak appears well grilled & appetising.... I will make sure they are basting with butter & seasoned correctly.

 

Gerry is new to Thailand and he's finding his feet with the language & culture, he's probably a little more defensive as he knows its a great opportunity in Thailand, he already has a Thai girlfriend ... Don't worry I speak with him and give him the confidence to own mistakes & put right these relatively small problems

 Glad to hear Gerry has found himself a girlfriend already

It could not have been easy in Patts LOL

Cheers,

 

ian

[expatdude]

I totally accept your comment regarding Gerry & the butter, I fully intend to address his "ownership" of any problems that arise due to the kitchen, anyone who knows me will know that I always fix the problems and will make sure things are better in the future.

 

I am a bit of a foodie actually, the only reason I give Chef Gerry free reign in the kitchen is his obvious expertise & 25 years experience in the kitchen, he was recently offered a position at Le Gavroche in London but turned down the job in favour of "quality of life in Thailand", I am totally confident that Gerry wont allow that quality of life part option reflect in his cooking other then totally positively, he wants to stay & we want to keep him  

 

Don't get me wrong, the complaints are valid and will be fixed BUT there is still "plenty of positive comments" being made about a business set-up from scratch that opened its door 7 nights ago ! It's all to easy to focus just on the negative elements of any review.

 

We will keep pushing forward & fixing things as they get brought to my attention .... Gerry is a world class Chef, he needs to have a little time to adjust to Thailand & the needs of our business, I will support him through the transition period

 

I wish you luck as always, and only post on the off chance my post will be of help to you. I reiterate that positive comments are to be taken with a grain of salt and their source is very important. I would also comment world-class chefs are rarer than you seem to think, but I at least hope that Gerry will turn out to be a good one for this restaurant, and if not, that you find a good one eventually.

[Danjel]

It looks very good. Will definently come by when I return somewhere around Christmas and New Year. 

[China Garden]

It looks very good. Will definently come by when I return somewhere around Christmas and New Year. 

 

Thanks for the support

[GlennUK]

I will definitely be trying it when im feet on the ground next month.

 

I thought the food at the China Garden was excellent, my date compared it to the Mantra and couldn't understand why business was so slow.

 

All this worrying re sauces presentation just a waste of time

 

Salt Vinegar tomato ketchup mustard and horseradish sauce is all that is needed.

 

You do have these I assume??

[China Garden]

I will definitely be trying it when im feet on the ground next month.

 

I thought the food at the China Garden was excellent, my date compared it to the Mantra and couldn't understand why business was so slow.

 

All this worrying re sauces presentation just a waste of time

 

Salt Vinegar tomato ketchup mustard and horseradish sauce is all that is needed.

 

You do have these I assume??

 

YES ! Tick, Tick, Tick & Tick 

[Evil Penevil]

EP note: I wrote most of this before I saw nixonsbest's review, but I did modify my review a bit so as not to stress too many of the same points.

 

Together with nixonsbest and another friend,  I had dinner Thursday night at Steak & Co, a new steak house on Soi Lengkee, about halfway between Soi Bukhao and 3rd Road.  

 

 

To cut to the chase, the three of us would give the meal we had a  6 out of 10.  We all had steak and in each case we got quality Australian beef cooked as we had ordered it.  In terms of the "main event," the steak itself, the restaurant got it right, at least for me.  However, some misses regarding starters, side dishes and service  pulled down the overall score several notches.  

 

Steak & Co. operates on the same premises as the fomer China Garden and has the same owner.  According to what he has written elsewhere, the owner hopes to povide a "viable alternative" to Beefeater (Soi Diana), which he says is "widely accepted" as the "best steak house in Pattaya."Basically, he intends Steak & Co. to become the best steak house in town and that's the hypothetical standard against which it should be judged.

 

 

The positive news first:  I thought the steak I got was good in terms of of the quality of the meat and the grilling. The 250-gram Australian sirloin strip had  nice char stripes outside (which are important for flavor) and was a perfect medium rare inside.  

 

That indicates to me that The Grill surface was hot enough, the chef kept the steak on The Grill the right amount of time and the steak was rested before serving.  

 

 

A major failing at a lot of restaurants in Thailand that serve steak is that The Grill isn't set at a sufficiently high temperature to char the steak's surface quickly while leaving the inside pink and juicy.

 

 

However,  the big miss was that the sauce for steak au poivre had been poured over part of my steak;  I had ordered the sherry-blue cheese sauce which I understood would be served in a boat.  

 

 

 

So not only did I get sauce poured on my steak when I wanted it on the side, it was the wrong sauce!   This was brought to the chef's attention and he said my steak had left the kitchen as ordered, but one of the serving girls had added the sauce  by mistake.

 

 

In reality, this wasn't a huge problem for me.  A swipe or two of the my knife removed most of  the unwanted sauce from the surface of the steak. However,  for a restaurant that aspires to place among the best, it's a pretty serious miss. And there are certainly diners who are less easy-going than I am.

 

Some other points:

 

1) nixonsbest has already covered the "bread-and-butter" incident and China Garden has responded to it, so no need go into detail about it. But stale generic French bread and a weird butter spread sure aren't going make a good first impression o the customer.

 

 

2) my goat cheese and beetroot tart (240 baht) did not taste of goat cheese or beetroot.  

 

 

 

The pastry was nice, the egg custard had a good consistency, but the flavor just wasn't there.

 

 

Perhaps the answer is a simple as using more goat cheese?  

 

 

It's certainly an attractive starter, but it should taste as good as it looks.

 

 

3) the chef brought us six sauces to taste.  The sherry-blue cheese and steak au poivre sauces were good, the other four weren't.  To me, those four tasted almost the same and were way too salty.  When I commented to the chef that some of the sauces were too salty, he answered that no salt had been added!  If that's the case, then the only reason for the Dead-Sea taste would have to be the stock or demi-glace from which the sauce was made.

 

4) one of us ordered creamed spinach as his side and it was totally wrong.  The spinach should have be blanched quickly,  the excess water squeezed out and then chopped roughly before it's added to the cream sauce. The spinach in the side my friend was served hadn't been chopped, which made it almost impossible to eat.

 

 

On the positive side, the restaurant is done up very well inside and out.  The ventilation/cooling  system functioned well even though the night was hot and humid.  The furnishings/tableware were first-rate, which is always a nice touch.   A small dish of sherbet (sorbet) was served to cleanse the palate between the stater and main course, also a very nice and highly professional touch. Finally, the possibilities of finding parking space for either a car or motorcycle are good on or near Soi Lengkee.

 

Bottom line:  Steak & Co. has the potential to challenge Beefeater at the upper end of the market, but it has to sort out some problems regarding its starters, sauces and service before it can be considered a serious challenger.

 

Evil

 

Some other pics:

 

A friend's crab and avocado starter:

 

 

 

 

Nixonbest's starter:

 

 

 

Friend's 250-gram Australian rib eye with sherry-blue cheese sauce:

 

 

The grilled tomato and vegetables that came with our steaks:

 

Edited August 23, 2014 by Evil Penevil

[rodo555]

Funny to hear reports and advise from BMs that have not eaten at your restaurant , your going in the right direction and I'm sure will be a great success

 

Put your trust in your chef ( I'm sure you already have ) encourage and nurture him I'm sure your get the right result

 

For me if your restaurant was in a mainstream tourist area you would have a very successful business with a much bigger client market

[MSR]

 

EP: I wrote most of this before I saw nixonsbest's review, but I did modify my review a bit so as not to stress too many of the same points.

 

Together with nixonsbest and another friend,  I had dinner Thursday night at Steak & Co, a new steak house on Soi Lengkee, about halfway between Soi Bukhao and 3rd Road.  

 

IMG_6887.jpg

 

To cut to the chase, the three of us would give the meal we had a  6 out of 10.  We all had steak and in each case we got quality Australian beef cooked as we had ordered it.  In terms of the "main event," the steak itself, the restaurant got it right, at least for me.  However, some misses regarding starters, side dishes and service  pulled down the overall score several notches.  

 

Steak & Co. operates on the same premises as the fomer China Garden and has the same owner.  According to what he has written elsewhere, the owner hopes to povide a "viable alternative" to Beefeater (Soi Diana), which he says is "widely accepted" as the "best steak house in Pattaya."Basically, he intends Steak & Co. to become the best steak house in town and that's the hypothetical standard against which it should be judged.

 

IMG_6889.jpg

 

The positive news first:  I thought the steak I got was good in terms of of the quality of the meat and the grilling. The 250-gram Australian sirloin strip had  nice char stripes outside (which are important for flavor) and was a perfect medium rare inside.  

 

IMG_6875.jpg

That indicates to me that the grill surface was hot enough, the chef kept the steak on the grill the right amount of time and the steak was rested before serving.  

 

IMG_6879.jpg

 

A major failing at a lot of restaurants in Thailand that serve steak is that the grill isn't set at a sufficiently high temperature to char the steak's surface quickly while leaving the inside pink and juicy.

 

IMG_6878.jpg

 

However,  the big miss was that the sauce for steak au poivre had been poured over part of my steak;  I had ordered the sherry-blue cheese sauce which I understood would be served in a boat.  

 

IMG_6877.jpg

 

IMG_6873.jpg

 

So not only did I get sauce poured on my steak when I wanted it on the side, it was the wrong sauce!   This was brought to the chef's attention and he said my steak had left the kitchen as ordered, but one of the serving girls had added the sauce  by mistake.

 

IMG_6876.jpg

 

In reality, this wasn't a huge problem for me.  A swipe or two of the my knife removed most of  the unwanted sauce from the surface of the steak. However,  for a restaurant that aspires to place among the best, it's a pretty serious miss. And there are certainly diners who are less easy-going than I am.

 

Some other points:

 

1) nixonsbest has already covered the "bread-and-butter" incident and China Garden has responded to it, so no need go into detail about it. But stale generic French bread and a weird butter spread sure aren't going make a good first impression o the customer.

 

IMG_6849.jpg

 

2) my goat cheese and beetroot tart (240 baht) did not taste of goat cheese or beetroot.  

 

IMG_6858.jpg

 

IMG_6857.jpg

 

The pastry was nice, the egg custard had a good consistency, but the flavor just wasn't there.

 

IMG_6856.jpg

 

Perhaps the answer is a simple as using more goat cheese?  

 

IMG_6865.jpg

 

It's certainly an attractive starter, but it should taste as good as it looks.

 

IMG_6862.jpg

 

3) the chef brought us six sauces to taste.  The sherry-blue cheese and steak au poivre sauces were good, the other four weren't.  To me, those four tasted almost the same and were way too salty.  When I commented to the chef that some of the sauces were too salty, he answered that no salt had been added!  If that's the case, then the only reason for the Dead-Sea taste would have to be the stock or demi-glace from which the sauce was made.

 

4) one of us ordered creamed spinach as his side and it was totally wrong.  The spinach should have be blanched quickly,  the excess water squeezed out and then chopped roughly before it's added to the cream sauce. The spinach in the side my friend was served hadn't been chopped, which made it almost impossible to eat.

 

IMG_6867.jpg

 

On the positive side, the restaurant is done up very well inside and out.  The ventilation/cooling  system functioned well even though the night was hot and humid.  The furnishings/tableware were first-rate, which is always a nice touch.   A small dish of sherbet (sorbet) was served to cleanse the palate between the stater and main course, also a very nice and highly professional touch. Finally, the possibilities of finding parking space for either a car or motorcycle are good on or near Soi Lengkee.

 

Bottom line:  Steak & Co. has the potential to challenge Beefeater at the upper end of the market, but it has to sort out some problems regarding its starters, sauces and service before it can be considered a serious challenger.

 

Evil

 

Some other pics:

 

A friend's crab and avocado starter:

 

IMG_6853.jpg

 

IMG_6860.jpg

 

IMG_6864.jpg

 

Nixonbest's starter:

 

IMG_6855.jpg

 

IMG_6861.jpg

 

Friend's 250-gram Australian rib eye with sherry-blue cheese sauce:

 

IMG_6866.jpg

 

The grilled tomato and vegetables that came with our steaks:

 

IMG_6871.jpg

 

Very good review (as usual), Thanks Evil.

Magnificent description and very fair observations..

[Bagwan]

Interesting read...

 

[ertert]

There you go Ian. Honest views of the two best reviewers on here Nixonsbest and Evil. That's gold!

 

I would invite them back to get their opinion of other dishes.

 

Positively the most important thing is cooking the steak to perfection and your chef is certainly

 

doing that!

 

[okdirl]

Gerry like pretty much every professional Chef is proud of what they put on the plate, he tells me often that he cook from the heart. I have seen lots of customers since opening tell him that his food is "fantastic & far superior to Beefeaters" and *the steak was the best I have had anywhere in the world". We have had 2 comments saying the Steaks were "bland or tasteless" which I accept as feedback, its difficult for me to explain why a Grass fed chilled Black Angus steak costing 1,100-1,300 per kilo could ever taste that way, looking at Nixon's pictures the steak appears well grilled & appetising.... I will make sure they are basting with butter & seasoned correctly.

 

Gerry is new to Thailand and he's finding his feet with the language & culture, he's probably a little more defensive as he knows its a great opportunity in Thailand, he already has a Thai girlfriend ... Don't worry I speak with him and give him the confidence to own mistakes & put right these relatively small problems

 

Cheers,

 

ian

Out of a hundred customers,as a chef I would pay more attention to the two criticisms than the 98 praises.

The facts are that most people will never complain about a restaurant especially if they are friendly with the owner.

As already said by another poster here the ones that don't complain just don't come back and you will definitely need repeat business or business from people that are recommended by your happy customers.

Steak from such breeding should never ever be tasteless so to let even 1 leave the kitchen in poor shape shows laziness or lack of interest.

As for a frozen dessert being two hard to get a spoon in well again excuses are simply that, excuses.....

If chef is saying the freezer was too high then it should have been checked before dessert was sent out not after a complaint.

He can be defensive and proud all he likes but it will piss off people quicker than you can say fuck me where did my customers go.

 

Saying Jerry is "a world class chef and that he needs time to adjust" well I am sorry but I don't accept that.

What exactly does he have to adjust to?

He is catering to primarily non Thais and he is working in a custom made Falang restaurant.

I think your work ethic is great and I commend you for your hard work and vision and I do see quality in your plan but don't be blinded by previous work reviews or the fact that he was supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread ( or should I say stale bread) the fact is he is there now and his credibility needs to be verified by your current clients not his old ones.

 

I see two big reviews and both say the sauces were too salty and both had the same crappy response from chef.

I see that wrong sauces were given which chef blames on a waitress and another complaint and I see sauce being poured on steaks when requested on the side.

 

Those areas are neither rocket science nor do they require a Roux brother.

 

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Edited August 23, 2014 by alanhass

[Duvel]

Thursday 21/08/14

 

Booking/Reception;  I stopped in around one o'clock in the afternoon to book for 3 people for an evening meal, good communication, I explained that there might be more than 3 people in our group and would be in touch with amble notice to book more seats.  We exchange phone numbers.  Steak and Co business card with contact details needed!

I arrived bang on time at 7.30 pm and was greeted by name,  once I decided to sit outside and wait for the rest of the party , the outside fans where immediately turned on and asked to order a drink.

The staff at this point and for the remainder  of the evening where very polite and eager to please, to the point of being annoying!  And to be fair when you have 3 blokes taking photos of everything, they could have felt under pressure to help the success of a new business.

 

Complementary Bread/Butter;  Two serves for 3 people, bread was of low quality and  not fresh!  The paprika butter I will get to later!

 

 

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House Wine;  I had the cheapest glass of white wine @ 160B, I am not a big wine drinker and quality/price is lost on me in that regard!

 

 

Starters Norwegian Smoked Salmon @ 260B;  Fantastic, completely enjoyed it!  What let this dish down was the dill cream and the fact that the staff took my plate away while I was only a two thirds finished!

 

 

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Main 250G Black Angus Sirloin @ 595B;  Good size portion and cooked exactly how I asked, but I found it tasteless!  I asked for the peppercorn sauce to be served as a side and was served on the steak as well!  Big fail for me as a good steak, should be tasted first before any thing is added!  A member of the dinner party had his steak served with a different sauce than he had asked for and the sauce he asked for served as a side!  

Vegetables with the main where great all detente, except for the cubed potato which was raw!

 

 

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Sides;  One side is included in the price and an extra is @ 70B very well priced.  I had the Baked Potato which was average and dry and had to ask for some butter (see later).  A nice dob of sour cream would not have gone astray!  I had an extra side Salad which was perfect for me, a light dressing with plenty of onion, tomatoes and capsicum.

 

 

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Sauces;  Head chef gave us a sample of each sauce before the main,  all where of low quality and salty! Head chefs response was there is no salt added!  IMHO if they are not adding salt, the stock is too salty!

No Worcestershire Sauce, head chef hab go 7!

 

Sides;  I ordered a salad and was served vegetables, this was rectified!  Once again cubed potato was raw!

 

Butter/Cream;  Absolutely fucking horrible, Crazy Dave serves butter/cream with more quality!  Having that severed at the beginning of the meal spells out cheap ingredients and puts a damper on the whole meal!

Head Chefs response was;  That is up to the owner he supplies the butter!, Well fuck me, if the Head Chef can not order quality ingredients and the owner is hindering that, they might as well pack up shop and go home!

 

 

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IMHO Head Chef spent more time outside the premises on the street than he did in the kitchen doing any quality control and not receptive to any constructive criticism!  Three of us gave a rating of 6 out of 10 for the whole dining experience, I will be back as I want to see you succeed, but until things improves I would not recommend Steak & Co! 

What are “all detente” vegetables ?

Do you mean “al dente” ?