Pattayanis Greek Taverna (off Soi Bukhao)

[xdrt33]

Does the Greek guy play the banjo for all his customers?

 

[semi-retired member]

Does the Greek guy play the banjo for all his customers?

 

 

Never on a Sunday, I've heard !

[axunjaxn]

It is called a Bouzouki. And it sounds better with Ouzo shots.

                                                                                                               Jack

[iggy56]

it depends who get the shots if the listener much better if the player it gets worse trust me my sister was married to a guy from the greek parts of cyprys,so i had to sit through a few bozouki parties.the food at the restaurant is great

[fpv]

Had a meal there yesterday highly recommend it.

Will go back again

[George810]

Thanks Evil and others, lots of good info here.  I have not been in LOS or Pattayannis since mid 2012-I think it was fairly new back then, and it was already top notch in my opinion.  Looks like many more items added.  Gianni (Yanni, aka John in English) was a great host and also had terrific thai food for my TG. 

Salad in Greece does not have any lettuce.  To cater to varied tastes, many Greek restaurants in places other than Greece offer 2 types of salad. Xopiatiki, often termed "village salad" (Xopio + village in Greek), which by default leaves the name for the same salad WITH lettuce being called Greek Salad.  Its that simple.

Being of Greek descent and a gourmet, I will offer additional reviews after my trip this march, which I am very much looking forward to. 

[Soi7]

They are closed for a short time but due to reopen soon

[LaaMok]

Looks really good, i will be visiting very soon. Didnt realise they had some of those items.

[nivla]

the food is fantastic and the owner is a great guy

[SirL]

Has anyone been to Pattayanis recently?  The owner Yanis appears to have just returned from Greece and things appear to be operating normally.  Perhaps a little more expensive than some restaurants?

 

Great reviews all around the web.

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293919-d4991881-Reviews-Pattayanis_Greek_Taverna-Pattaya_Chonburi_Province.html

 

http://pattayanis.com/index.html

[Madzar]

He doesn't take to kindly to criticism lol

[jimboh]

Most dishes we have had there are good, just don't get the ribs, they were crap.

[Kreggerz]

The food is pretty good but it's overpriced.

[baise moi]

The only reason I am keeping my mouth shut because I like EP, the person, as well as I respect and enjoy all his restaurant reviews - except for this one. I will never understand his infatuation with this place. And before you ask - yes, I ate there 3 times and yes, I know about Greek food having lived there a total of 4 years in various regions. 

[Capt Hook]

to me Greek food must have GOOD lamb...

all 3 pages and i dont see a lamb dish?

[Kreggerz]

to me Greek food must have GOOD lamb...

all 3 pages and i dont see a lamb dish?

 They have some lamb choices for sure. I've had their Lamb in the oven before a few times. 

[petermik]

Kleftiko........yassas efharisto

 

and thats from a Lancashire lad

[Evil Penevil]

This thread was started nearly  2.5 years ago.  A lot can happen in that amount of time.  I have been back to Pattiyanis a few times but not recently.  I'll have to pay another visit.

 

Evil

[George810]

Hello Friends,

I'd like to offer some input.  My most recent vacation was mid-October to mid-November of 2016.  When I arrived in mid October, I was soooo looking forward to having a great meal there as I had many times in the past, but Gianni was in Greece-family issues.  I decided to eat there anyways as he had texted me that it would remain open with a well-trained chef.  Not true.  I even tried one more time, and could not even finish the meal.  Simple, with no Greek Spirit present there, it is just horrible food.  (sidebar-there is another Greek place nearby that I was pleasantly surprised with.)  Mid-November, while departing, I bumped into Gianni in Bangkok at the airport-imagine the coincidence.  He asked me, I am not good at lying, so told him the status.  He was quite concerned and on his way to fix the situation. 

Having eaten there many times in the past few years when he was present, I can ensure you that the food is very good.  And of course there is lamb on the menu (kregerz is simply misinformed or has not even been there), at least 2 different dishes or more.  Slow roasted and outstanding!   The wine is average, I am not impressed with it or the price.  The cost in general is high, but keep in mind the time and ingredients used in preparation cost more and take longer.  Many places with an enclosed aircon dining room are about the same price, but this is neither enclosed nor aircon, so, Yes, I do think it is a bit high.  Also, if you despise parmesean cheese (like me...I think it is gross), be sure to make that clear as you order since it is very common and plentifully used here on most dishes. 

     My unique situation is that I live on a tiny outpost with a chowhall/cafeteria and little to no market opportunities to buy your own food, so when I go on vacation, if a meal is a couple dollars higher than I want to pay, it does not bother me.  I also do not mind paying a bit more if the meal is good and well prepared and I enjoy myself.  Similar to BFs, LTs, etc, etc, we all have a threshold that we gauge what we are and not willing to pay for.  On a normal vacation, I will eat here a few times a week, and if at the end of the month I am 200 dollars lighter than before, it is still better and cheaper than living and dining as such in my home country. 

     Oh, 1 more random point to add in (sorry-it just came to me):   I believe that the Feta cheese has changed since my last visit, and not for the better.  Along with the poor meal while he was gone, was Feta that tasted like plastic, if it was even feta.  Though I am a fan of this place, I am not afraid to be critical about this issue that needs to be addressed.  IMHO, don't even bother with the Feta, or get a meal to go, so you can have real wine, and get some Dodoni Feta from the Euro/Super Foodmart in Jomtien at the corner of Therapassit road and eat in the comfort of your own aircon dinning room.  Yes, I am opinionated and a bit of a food snob, so take this writup as my opinions only, of which everyone is entitled their own.  Any additional questions or comments welcome.  Lets be polite. 

[George810]

Oooops, addition/correction to my above write-up.

Not Kregerz; he corrected the misinformed Captain Hook about the lamb.  Sorry for the mixup, just got my glasses back. 

[Kreggerz]

OK.

 

The times I ate there and thought the food was pretty good they had the original owner and staff. Haven't tried recently. Things change.

[baise moi]

One of my issues with that place is that the owner cuts corners with using cheap ingredients while charging premium prices.  When I was there the second time - with the breakfast club group, I believe - the owner loudly argued about one customer complaining about him not using extra virgin olive oil, saying "what is the difference, anyway"? Well, there's a huge difference between the first cold pressing and the average olive oil - my guess Spanish - he was using. If I go to any small cheap place in Greece just to have a piece of feta with herbs and olive oil with a glass of wine, I'm in heaven. Let's take the Greek salad in Pattayanis, for example. We already established that the olive oil isn't extra virgin, The feta was below average as well and I do like some fresh basil and/or Mint on my salad next to the dried Greek herbs, that isn't just oregano. I also prefer having thin, purple onions instead of the thick Thai style but I agree that is a bit pushing it. The heart of the Greek salad is the tasty ripe tomatoes, well, you can forget about that but the sacrilege is that he was using cheap canned black olives in water for the salad, my guess is that was also Spanish. No self respecting Greek restaurant would let that happen and I was only briefly talking about the salad...

[George810]

Nice additional info and great points Alfazul. 

Let me piggy-back on the Olive oil comment and others, if I may.  You are 100% correct, there is a huge difference.  My rule when preparing Greek food (I am Greek, so have done many times and know what I'm doing) is that if it is for cooking and will be absorbed into the food and not tasted directly, 2nd pressing(non-virgin) is fine.  When it goes on things like salad, feta, bread, olives, etc...meaning things that it will be consumed with directly to the taste palate, it MUST be extra-virgin, first pressing only.  Another outstanding point on the red onion vs white, you are not wrong to expect this, and they should be cut much smaller/thinner.  I did not even try the salad this last trip because I decided not to go back until the owner is present, but if this is true about the black olives not being more brown in color (Kalamata) and having been in a brine, then that may be the last straw. 

Nice attention to detail.

[baise moi]

Nice additional info and great points Alfazul. 

Let me piggy-back on the Olive oil comment and others, if I may.  You are 100% correct, there is a huge difference.  My rule when preparing Greek food (I am Greek, so have done many times and know what I'm doing) is that if it is for cooking and will be absorbed into the food and not tasted directly, 2nd pressing(non-virgin) is fine.  When it goes on things like salad, feta, bread, olives, etc...meaning things that it will be consumed with directly to the taste palate, it MUST be extra-virgin, first pressing only.  Another outstanding point on the red onion vs white, you are not wrong to expect this, and they should be cut much smaller/thinner.  I did not even try the salad this last trip because I decided not to go back until the owner is present, but if this is true about the black olives not being more brown in color (Kalamata) and having been in a brine, then that may be the last straw. 

Nice attention to detail.

 

Thank you. I started feeling weird with my infatuation for olive oil and mediterranean spices.

I don't know how to cook Greek food but olives and olive oil are the gift of gods and always have some in my kitchen. 

Here are a few pics of my stuff and random snacks I made from what I had in the kitchen at that time

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I was in Kuwait, this was the best olive oil as quality and value, while always fresh. 

 

[baise moi]