Naklua Fish Market

[donaldente]

I am considering on taking a LT to Naklua Fish Market to eat.  I have several questions on this:

• How late is the market open (and the vendors that will cook the fish?)
• If the market is open till early evening, is it a bad idea to buy (and eat) fish that has been out all day?
• From searching the forum, it appears that if you have a vendor cook your fish, you have to sit on the ground to eat.  Is this true?  This does not appeal to me.  Are there some vendors that have tables.  Or is there a bar nearby that you can take the fish to and eat it there with the purchase of a beer or two.
• If it turns out that there is no place to sit while eating, would the cooked fish travel well and still taste good if it was brought back to hotel on Soi 6? (This last maybe a stupid question, but I worry that the hot cooked fish will still cook while traveling back to the hotel and be over cooked)

I appreciate any help with these questions.

[Taa_Saparot]

How late is the market open (and the vendors that will cook the fish?)

 

I have never seen Vendors cooking much past dusk.

 

If the market is open till early evening, is it a bad idea to buy (and eat) fish that has been out all day?

 

I have bought seafood many times early evening without a problem. The seafood itself will still be alive, and the fish will have been on ice all day.

 

From searching the forum, it appears that if you have a vendor cook your fish, you have to sit on the ground to eat.  Is this true?  This does not appeal to me.  Are there some vendors that have tables.

 

Yes, its true, you can hire a mat and sit in the park. I have seen many a Farang be pulled up for using a chair in the Park, by the Park Attendant. You could take your feast over to the seaside side of the park, which is concrete and could be used as seating.

 

Or is there a bar nearby that you can take the fish to and eat it there with the purchase of a beer or two.

 

Nope, no bars nearby, I always buy a few beers in the nearby 7-11.

 

If it turns out that there is no place to sit while eating, would the cooked fish travel well and still taste good if it was brought back to hotel on Soi 6? (This last maybe a stupid question, but I worry that the hot cooked fish will still cook while traveling back to the hotel and be over cooked)

 

No idea, never tried it.

[singalong]

There are some plastic chairs and tables that you can use just by the park entrance - you cannot take them into the park proper. The food tastes perfectly fine if you take it back.

 

A better deal was when a LLLT and I went there and the vendors were so busy that it would've taken hours to cook and she took all the live stuff and we went to a bar/restaurant that she was known at (behind Big C Pattaya Klang somewhere) and they cooked it for us and was great sitting around having a few with the fresh seafood... 

[donaldente]

 

you can hire a mat and sit in the park

 

 I always buy a few beers in the nearby 7-11.

 

 

There are some plastic chairs and tables that you can use just by the park entrance

 

The food tastes perfectly fine if you take it back.

 

Thanks Taa_Saparot and singalong for you replies.

 

I think we, my wing woman and myself, will talk with our LT when we get to the market and see which of the above suggestions will work best for us.

[Taa_Saparot]

I only see those plastic chairs being used by people who are waiting for their seafood to be cooked (can take around 30 minutes some days) and would not call it an area to have a picnic.

[donaldente]

Angel (engel), my wife and wing-woman, and I did take a BarFine (Halifax Bar-Soi 6) out for a fish picnic.  It went very well and it was an enjoyable experience (and the fish was good).  Our BF did not speak English very well, but it was obvious that she has been to the Pattaya Fish Market before and was a great guide.  The market was easy to get to, just take a baht bus north from the Pattaya Circle.  I was following our progress on my navi apt, but our BF new where to get of the bus, so we just followed her.

 

We follow her through the market toward the back (closest to the sea).  We stopped at a vendor about 20 meters from the end of the market where we purchased our fish:

 

 

Our BF chose one for us and gave it to the cook to be grilled:

 

 

We proceeded to the next vendor to buy 2 kilos of scrimps.  These were given to the man cooking our fish:

 

 

Angel likes squid (Calamari), but I don't, or at least didn't think a did. We moved a couple of vendors further and purchased a half kilo of squid for Angel.  For some reason I did not take a picture of this.  Our BF took the squid back to the fish vendor to be cooked.

 

I wish I had kept a running total of what everything cost, but I didn't.  It seams like everything together (except squid) was around 580 baht, but not sure now.

 

Just in front of the fish/cook vendor was a short path through a fence to the park.  At the fence, there were mats stacked up.  Our BF took two.  I don't know if they were free or if the cost of them was added to what I paid the fish/cook vendor.

 

We walked about 40 meters into the park:

 

 

This is our BF from the Halifax Bar

 

 

Our BF "accidentally" bumped into her friend from Chili Bar.  So we invited her to join our picnic.  In the background you can see a refreshment stand where you can buy beer, soft drinks, ice cream, and other sweets.  The best I can remember the beer was 40 baht and soft drinks were 20 baht, but I am not sure now.

 

 

Our BF went back to retrieve our food.  Earlier I said that I did not like squid.  But I found that the way it was prepared, it was enjoyable

 

 

In the background you can see a better picture of the refreshment stand.

 

 

Left to right:  BF's friend from Chili Bar, BF, and Angel.

 

 

Angel took this picture just to show that I was there.  I am the one holding the beer.

 

 

Angel enjoyed our BF opening up the shrimp and giving it to her. 

 

 

And pussies just keep coming.

 

 

All the scrimp and squid was eating, but only half the fish.  Our BF took the rest of the fish back with her. 

 

 

We really had a great time.  We know how do this now and in the future we would be able to do this again without the guide.  But we would not do this without the guide, because having a guide is a lot more fun.

 

[Gaztop08]

Ive only just seen this thread and didn't see your original questions. Ive been there twice and as you probably found out its all part of the experience to buy the seafood there...have it cooked for you then sit on the mat to eat in the park. Makes for a good day .I have always gone after 4pm so sun not so hot and good chilling atmosphere as night approaches.

[SirL]

From the OP, I can see you didn't really fancy sitting on the ground, and yet you ended up doing that.  Does that mean the plastic chairs just outside the park weren't a good idea?  Any other chair + table possibilities?

 

How much did the cooking cost please?

[storytime]

Nice fish thread.

[cytolliver]

How much did it cost for them to cook the fish?

[Taa_Saparot]

From memory, the cooking costs 30 baht a kilo.

 

donaldente

You will have done well to get that for 580 baht.

 

A white snapper (which barbeques very well) costs a little over 100 baht, Squid goes for roughly 180 baht a kilo, and the Shrimps vary widely price and size, but going by pics I will guess 300 baht a kilo.

 

And don't forget your dipping sauce, which is (rightly) so important to Thais.

 

Mats are normally free if you hire from the vendor that does your cooking, but that kiosk also rents out for a 50 baht deposit.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post those pics. as I am glad to see its still open, as there was some word they were going to turn it into parking.

 

And that Cat is well known to me also  

[Taa_Saparot]

We really had a great time.  We know how do this now and in the future we would be able to do this again without the guide.  

 

Absolutely, it gets a lot easier the more times you do it.

 

We have our own mat now, and I also take along our own plates and glasses.

 

After buying our seafood, I go across to 7-11 and buy beer, a bag of ice, and some of those cold towels, which are very handy.

 

It's also worth noting that, depending on the day, time of day, it can take a while to have your seafood cooked, sometimes as much as 45 minutes on holidays.

[jimboh]

Looks great, guess it would have to be a cool day

[donaldente]

From the OP, I can see you didn't really fancy sitting on the ground, and yet you ended up doing that.  Does that mean the plastic chairs just outside the park weren't a good idea?  Any other chair + table possibilities?

 

How much did the cooking cost please?

 

Yes, I am an old man and even though I was looking forward to eating the fish, setting on the ground did not appeal to me.  But as it turned out, sitting on the ground was fun and enjoyable (maybe the beer helped).  But Angel is young and was looking forward to sitting on the ground and having a picnic.

 

Our "guide" did not hesitate on getting a couple of mats and did not indicate that there were tables available to set at.  Angel thinks that when I explained to our BF through the mamason what we wanted to do, I said we wanted to get the mats and set on the ground.

 

If you look at the picture that I posted that showed the snack bar, you will see a concrete picnic table.  You could probably make a arrangement to set there.

 

At the bottom of this post, I will post some pictures of the tables on the outside.

 

Taa_Saparot answered the questions on cooking price.

 

Nice fish thread.

 

Thank you.

 

From memory, the cooking costs 30 baht a kilo.

 

donaldente

You will have done well to get that for 580 baht.

 

A white snapper (which barbeques very well) costs a little over 100 baht, Squid goes for roughly 180 baht a kilo, and the Shrimps vary widely price and size, but going by pics I will guess 300 baht a kilo.

 

And don't forget your dipping sauce, which is (rightly) so important to Thais.

 

Mats are normally free if you hire from the vendor that does your cooking, but that kiosk also rents out for a 50 baht deposit.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post those pics. as I am glad to see its still open, as there was some word they were going to turn it into parking.

 

And that Cat is well known to me also  

 

I really do not remember what I paid, the 580 baht seemed correct but not sure.  Also, that did not include the squid.

 

Did not think about the dipping sauce.  But lucky our "guide" did, she brought some back with the cooked fish.

 

More Pictures (of tables)

 

There was so much to see and experiance, I did not notice the tables.  But going back to pictures I took that afternoon, I now see that there were tables at the entrance of the market.  In seeing the below picture, it was not obvious that the tables were for eating.  But anyway there does not seam to be any free tables.

 

 

In zooming in on the picture, you can see that people are indeed eating there

 

 

Although it felt to me at the time that where we ended up eating was a good distance from the entrance of the market, you can see in this picture that the tables were not that far away.

 

[Taa_Saparot]

 

There was so much to see and experiance, I did not notice the tables.  But going back to pictures I took that afternoon, I now see that there were tables at the entrance of the market.  In seeing the below picture, it was not obvious that the tables were for eating.  But anyway there does not seam to be any free tables

 

That area is new to me, it just used to be more grass seating.

[SirL]

Note for those thinking of going as just a farang group: I think I read somewhere that the fish grill people call out your order number when it's cooked in Thai.  I don't know how letting you know the fish is cooked in eg English works.

 

My back is a bit dodgy, and so I don't fancy sitting for a while as pictured on the mats.  Since the other seating is a little doubtful, I'm actually thinking of this more as just a market to get really fresh fish to take back to a condo to cook there.  The fish looks very fresh, which is obviously good, but the prices [whole fish B220/kg, squid B180/kg, prawns B300/kg] actually are only a little lower than supermarket prices here in France.

 

I'm intrigued that you explained all this to a mamasan.  Surely this was just an informal thing next day after an overnight LT?

[donaldente]

 

 

I'm intrigued that you explained all this to a mamasan.  Surely this was just an informal thing next day after an overnight LT?

 

 

You are right, she was a LT from the night before. It is interesting how it worked out.  The previous morning we were discussing that we leave to go home in 6 days and we have not had a BF that we would like to go with us on the fish picnic.  So we decided that we would not be able check off the bucket list the fish picnic.  But that evening, when we walked down Soi 6 looking for a BF, she gave us a nice smile.  After a LD and some talk with the help of one of her sisters, we BarFined her.  We went to a bar with a live band and she was a lot of fun.  She was also fun later that night in bed (see note below).  Angel thinks that the beds are big enough for 3 to have sex, but not big enough for 3 to sleep comfortably.  So when we were done we sent her home.  The next morning Angel and I talked about how much fun our BF was and that she would be the right girl to go on the picnic with.  So that afternoon we stopped by her bar and explained through the mamasan what we wanted to do.  We had other plans for that night, so we only took her for the afternoon.

 

Note:  After we were finished, I asked her if that was the first time in bed with a woman.  She shook her head yes.  I then asked her if she liked it and she gave a big smile and again shook her head yes. 

[Derbynjoan]

If it helps any of the less flexible, there is a small shelter like concrete structure at the edge of the sea with a bit of

Bench type seating and it is pleasant spot to rest.

[Taa_Saparot]

Note for those thinking of going as just a farang group: I think I read somewhere that the fish grill people call out your order number when it's cooked in Thai.  I don't know how letting you

 

I have seen many Nationalities using the "grill people" without a problem.

 

The one I always use, gives you a plasticised number, which you have to hand over when picking up.

 

This is really not a problem.

[andy666]

Note for those thinking of going as just a farang group: I think I read somewhere that the fish grill people call out your order number when it's cooked in Thai. I don't know how letting you know the fish is cooked in eg English works.

 

My back is a bit dodgy, and so I don't fancy sitting for a while as pictured on the mats. Since the other seating is a little doubtful, I'm actually thinking of this more as just a market to get really fresh fish to take back to a condo to cook there. The fish looks very fresh, which is obviously good, but the prices [whole fish B220/kg, squid B180/kg, prawns B300/kg] actually are only a little lower than supermarket prices here in France.

 

I'm intrigued that you explained all this to a mamasan. Surely this was just an informal thing next day after an overnight LT?

They have plastic chairs now and the whole thing is about the experience, shopping for your fish that's sometimes still alive at an authentic Asian market, getting it barbecued and having a picnic in a park next to the sea. Of course restaurants make it tastier but that's not what it's all about.

 

It isn't for all people of course and considering all your concerns I suspect you to be one of them. Worrying about the fact that the numbers are called out in Thai? That's funny man, losen up :-)

[SirL]

The one I always use, gives you a plasticised number, which you have to hand over when picking up.

 

Worrying about the fact that the numbers are called out in Thai? That's funny man, losen up :-)

 

Thanks for replies.  If the "grill people" do call out numbers in Thai when you're some distance away on the grass, what are the arrangements for non-Thai speakers to become aware of that to go and present their plastic number?

[andy666]

Thanks for replies. If the "grill people" do call out numbers in Thai when you're some distance away on the grass, what are the arrangements for non-Thai speakers to become aware of that to go and present their plastic number?

If it takes long and you think it should near be ready just go ask and anyway, they might bring it to you or at least bring it to your attention if it's ready and it doesn't get collected. It is really not an issue to worry about.

 

In fact I'm on my way to the market now.

[Taa_Saparot]

Thanks for replies.  If the "grill people" do call out numbers in Thai when you're some distance away on the grass, what are the arrangements for non-Thai speakers to become aware of that to go and present their plastic number?

 

Ask how long when handing over, then we just go and sit in the park, relax with a beer, and go pick up at the time they have given.

 

Been doing this for many years, without ever a problem.

[Gaztop08]

Thanks for replies.  If the "grill people" do call out numbers in Thai when you're some distance away on the grass, what are the arrangements for non-Thai speakers to become aware of that to go and present their plastic number?

 

 

 

See those seats in the photo most people sit on those seats and wait for the order to be cooked and order number to be called out.Looking through that seating area is where the food is chosen and when you buy it the seller points you to where it is cooked.

[Taa_Saparot]

Looking through that seating area is where the food is chosen and when you buy it the seller points you to where it is cooked.

 

Through that area is a car park.