Seafood & BBQ Buffet at the Siam Siam Hotel on 2nd Road

[Evil Penevil]

Posted Today, 02:24 PM

 

The Big Fish restaurant on the 6th floor of the Siam Siam hotel on 2nd Road close to Soi 3 offers a daily seafood and BBQ buffet.  The cost is 650 baht p p, including a 10% service charge and 7% VAT. It opens at 6.30 p.m. and runs until 10.30 p.m.

 

I tried it last night with a farang friend and his TG.  The buffet was good, but not outstanding.  There are better Western-style seafood buffets in Pattaya for the same price, while the Thai-style places cost about half as much. However, Siam Siam is one of the few farang-oriented restaurants to feature a buffet on a daily and not just once a week or on weekends.

 

As you can see in the above pic, Siam Siam is a visually striking hotel.  I couldn't be bothered to take exterior pics and lifted them from the Net.

 

The interior of the hotel is also color aggressive, but in a good sort of way.  Some decorative details from the Big Fish.

 

 

When we arrived at 6.30 p.m., the Big Fish was quite crowded with Chinese and other Asian guests.

 

 

 

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Odd thing was, not all of them were eating. I can only assume they were group tour members who had had an earlier exclusive run at the buffet, or more likely, had been fed a set meal.  At 6.30 p.m., we didn't face much competition at the buffet tables.

 

 

 

The buffet itself consisted of a main table with the appetizers, seafood, meats, warm dishes and vegetables and a separate table for desserts and fruits.

 

 

Sushi was the main appetizer.

 

 

Seafood (crab, shrimp, salmon,  squid, oysters) was the focal point of the buffet.

 

 

The seafood in the basket is raw.  You make your choices, then take the plate to a "grill station" to be cooked.  When ready, a waitress caries the customer's grill choices to his table.  You can also choose beef, pork, lamb and chicken to be grilled.

 

 

 

There's also roast chicken on offer.  Unfortunately, Big Fish doesn't assign a staff member to slice it neatly and left to customers' carving, the roast chickens soon look like props from The Walking Dead.

 

 

There are about 10 different hot dishes and vegetables as well as soups and fried rice.  The ones I tried were OK, but very much standard fare.

 

 

 

This review is picture-heavy, so I'll divide it into two parts.  Stay tuned.

 

[Evil Penevil]

There were bowls and trays of grilled shrimp and crab for those who don't want to wait for a custom-grilled portion.

 

 

The dessert table offered the usual assortment of cakes, tarts, pudding, fruit, etc.  The  tiny cups of egg custard were the best.

 

 

 

 

Some  plates from out table:

 

 

 

 

 

Because of food allergies, I alas cannot eat much seafood other than shrimp.  I had a couple of lamb chops and a piece of grilled beef to fill me up.

 

 

The lamb chop was grilled nicely, but had a lot of untrimmed fat.  It was a big chop; however, only a small part of it was edible. You'd need to take five or six to get a full portion of lamb.  The beef was local, fatty and not really grill quality.

 

Bottomline:  the buffet at Big Fish could stand as a monument to "OK but not great."  It offers average food in surroundings that are both cool in terms of decor and air conditioning.  The staff is friendly and service is attentive.  However, if you judge solely on culinary grounds, Big Fish doesn't come within a mile of the Friday noon seafood buffet at the Hilton on 2nd Road.  It's like comparing the Toledo Mud Hens with the New York Yankees.  The prices are similar, but the Hilton charges much more for beverages.  Unfortunately, the Big Fish has a singer who belts out Western songs in Spanish and Italian as well as English.  The only thing he added to the evening was extra noise.

 

On the ground floor, Siam Siam has a very cool Car Bar.  Some of the booths are done up as the interiors of cars.

 

 

 

 

This is a great  place for drinks with a TG, but the cocktails are expensive, in the 300-baht range.  There's a 2-for-1 offer between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m.

 

 

 

 

The seafood and BBQ buffet at the Big Fish is certainly an option, but not the best one.

 

Evil

[John John]

Thanks for the info Evil Penivel.

I read some where they also offer "free flow of wine" but can't find it anymore. Do you know they offer indeed and at what cost?

[matrix123]

Thanks for the pictures. For 650 THB, looks like a good deal. I have stayed in Siam@Siam when it just opened a few years ago but didn't like the room. I may try the buffet next time. Thanks!

[MST]

Thanks for the report, very good info to know.

[ingo67]

Thanks for the info Evil Penivel.

I read some where they also offer "free flow of wine" but can't find it anymore. Do you know they offer indeed and at what cost?

 

Friends have done the buffet with free flow wine, I believe its another 350 bht.

[KittenKong]

 

Posted Today, 02:24 PM

 

I tried it last night with a farang friend and his TG.  The buffet was good, but not outstanding.  There are better Western-style seafood buffets in Pattaya for the same price, while the Thai-style places cost about half as much. However, Siam Siam is one of the few farang-oriented restaurants to feature a buffet on a daily and not just once a week or on weekends.

.......................

However, if you judge solely on culinary grounds, Big Fish doesn't come within a mile of the Friday noon seafood buffet at the Hilton on 2nd Road.  It's like comparing the Toledo Mud Hens with the New York Yankees.  The prices are similar, but the Hilton charges much more for beverages.

 

This is an unfair comparison.

 

Siam@Siam is an evening buffet. Coffee is included, and a very cheap free-flow wine option is available. I know of nothing that offers the same quality in Pattaya in the evening at that price and if you do I would like to hear about it. The Hilton on Friday evening is 1000B, so I would expect it to be a lot better than a place that charges just 650B.

 

Also whilst some items at the Hilton are cooked better, and the choice there is larger, the ingredients they use at lunchtime tend to be quite cheap. Siam@siam uses some more expensive ingredients and does some things that are really very good (the crepes Suzette for example). They have reduced the quality of items significantly since they started (they used to include big crab legs and scallops, and much better hot dishes), but so has the Hilton many, many times.

 

And on a personal note, lamb is supposed to be fatty: the fat is the best part. If you dont like it you can always cut it off but I would be very annoyed if someone had cut mine off before it got to me. For me the lamb and the oysters are highlights, fat 'n all.

[Uncle-V]

55. Toledo Mudhens. Nice refernece. Corporal Klinger would be proud.

 

Great review. i will probably give the place a pass. If I want to scratch my seafood jones there are better upscale  (Hitlon) and downsacel (Naklua market) options.

But that bar at the bottoem of the post looks very cool and may be worth a visit.