White Pines

[Syd Tybil]

The owner and her Mom are here tonight cooking. She is trying to address the problems mentioned in this thread.

The meal I had tonight was good!


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[socrates]

Wasnt the mum some former Miss Something? Or am I confusing it with something else?

[Evil Penevil]

4 minutes ago, socrates said:

Wasnt the mum some former Miss Something? Or am I confusing it with something else?

Miss Steak?

Evil

[BeerBelly]

12 hours ago, Syd Tybil said:

The owner and her Mom are here tonight cooking. She is trying to address the problems mentioned in this thread.

The meal I had tonight was good!


Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 

Let's hope they get the calamari back to the way it was. And I believe the mother and father are the actual owners and her mother tasked her daughter to run it.

[just hanging]

21 minutes ago, BeerBelly said:

Let's hope they get the calamari back to the way it was. And I believe the mother and father are the actual owners and her mother tasked her daughter to run it.

proper calamari is very sensitive to cook, you got a window of about 10 seconds to be raw or over cooked or right on.  give the cook a timer

[SoftPorn]

38 minutes ago, BeerBelly said:

 And I believe the mother and father are the actual owners and her mother tasked her daughter to run it.

Well her father owns a restaurant, travel agency, hotel around the corner. 

Best corner hotel, they do thai, western & Finnish food. They got some good dishes there also, nothing too fancy tho.

And their breakfast sucked last time I tried it 2-3 of years ago.

[soi16]

Could anyone explain how to prepare calamari.

Have bought these at Naklua Market and cut them in rings, on with Pang Gogi and then deepfried, but it is much water in these rings that they want to explode and then it's boiling oil everywhere.

Need advice, please.

[tropicaloz]

On 12/29/2017 at 23:25, Syd Tybil said:

The owner and her Mom are here tonight cooking. She is trying to address the problems mentioned in this thread.

The meal I had tonight was good!


Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 

I ate here on Friday night, ordered the much talked about calamari and an open face parmigiana sandwich, thought the pricing of the meals were good.

The calamari was of the breadcrumb type combined with chopped garlic, it was probably cooked well,  but to me i did not like the batter /crumbing and it was possibly not drained that well as it was oily. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't that good either.

The parmigiana sandwich was fine, and for the price I was happy, I would go again, just wouldn't get the calamari.

I assume it was the Mother who inquired about the calamari when I paid the bill, (didn't ask about the parmigiana) so obviously the message is getting through about this dish.

Sadly due to me not being overly invested in the place i said the calamari was ok, didn't elaborate on the oiliness of the dish, the thick bread crumbing may just be to my personal dislike.

On a good note though, I got the phone number of a Gorgeous Madagascan lady named Anita as i was walking out the door, light skinned , tall , sexy, slim and young, excellent.

[Kreggerz]

10 hours ago, tropicaloz said:

I ate here on Friday night, ordered the much talked about calamari and an open face parmigiana sandwich, thought the pricing of the meals were good.

The calamari was of the breadcrumb type combined with chopped garlic, it was probably cooked well,  but to me i did not like the batter /crumbing and it was possibly not drained that well as it was oily. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't that good either.

The parmigiana sandwich was fine, and for the price I was happy, I would go again, just wouldn't get the calamari.

I assume it was the Mother who inquired about the calamari when I paid the bill, (didn't ask about the parmigiana) so obviously the message is getting through about this dish.

Sadly due to me not being overly invested in the place i said the calamari was ok, didn't elaborate on the oiliness of the dish, the thick bread crumbing may just be to my personal dislike.

On a good note though, I got the phone number of a Gorgeous Madagascan lady named Anita as i was walking out the door, light skinned , tall , sexy, slim and young, excellent.

The only way they are going to know if the calamari is back to it's previous fantastic state is to find people that experienced that before. "OK" you can get 100 places. Too bad you weren't honest with them. They probably think they fixed it already. 

[tropicaloz]

13 hours ago, Kreggerz said:

The only way they are going to know if the calamari is back to it's previous fantastic state is to find people that experienced that before. "OK" you can get 100 places. Too bad you weren't honest with them. They probably think they fixed it already. 

I had never eaten there before that night, so have no reference as to what "fantastic" dish was previously available, as I said, I am not that invested in the enterprise, I like other items on the menu, so no problem for me.

You should visit and offer them your advice, I am sure they would appreciate it.

 

[Evil Penevil]

On 12/29/2017 at 23:25, Syd Tybil said:

The meal I had tonight was good!

Encouraged by Syd Tybill's post, I tried White Pines again Friday at about 11.15 p.m.

On 12/31/2017 at 09:19, tropicaloz said:

I ate here on Friday night, ordered the much talked about calamari and an open face parmigiana sandwich, thought the pricing of the meals were good.

Were you having your meal on the veranda about midnight?  The diner I passed as I left had ordered calamari. I also had the calamari, plus the bruschetta.

I largely agree with what tropicaloz wrote.  The calamari was OK, but not great an not at the same standard as a year or or three months ago.  I also felt it was a bit oily- you can see it on the parchment paper- but I liked the breading and prefer it to tempera-style batter.  The breading added a nice contrast in texture.

The bruschetta was also OK, but again, not at the same level as before.  There was nothing to make me think    about either the calamari or bruschetta.  Back when White Pines started up (November 2016) and through the early fall of 2017, I did think "Wow!" about both dishes, especially considering the price (calamari 129 baht, bruschetta 89 baht).   At its peak, White Pines was putting out better dishes than many Italian restaurants at a lower price.

Bottom line: White Pines still has a way to go to regain its former glory.

Here's the calamari I had Friday night:

And from  November after the slide had begun:

 

The difference is clear.  Friday night's portion was larger and finely diced garlic had been fried separately, then added to the calamari. The only thing missing Friday was the slice of lemon. I'm not sure if the white sauce was supposed be tartar sauce or a mayonnaise  dip, but I don't put anything on calamari except a squeeze of lemon or lime.

As JH wrote, cooking time is everything when it comes to calamari. A few seconds too long and it becomes a plate of rubber bands, but there  was no problem on that score Friday.  It was cooked very well and not chewy at all.

Diced garlic is even more sensitive to split-second timing.  Unfortunately, some of the bits had been burned, when gave them a harsh bitter taste.  It wasn't too bad this time, but could have made the inedible if more had been sizzled. My advice would be not to dice the garlic that finely.

Bruschetta is an appetizer, but these four pieces were substantial and very filling.  The chopped tomato, basil and balsamic vinegar had a tangy taste I liked and the mozzarella helped balance it. My one criticism would be that the bruschetta had spent too long under the broiler, which resulted in some burned bits of basil. 

Bottom line:  The owner appears to be doing what she can to bring White Pines back in line.  The food has improved since the fall slip, but it still has more ground to reclaim.

Evil

 

[Kreggerz]

Let's face the likely reality.

The positive response to this place was largely based on a talented chef.

The chef left and isn't coming back and presumably either is the level of the food previously put out there. Ever. 

Maybe that's harsh but it works for me. 

[Pheat]

57 minutes ago, Kreggerz said:

The chef left and isn't coming back and presumably either is the level of the food previously put out there. Ever. 

Maybe you could personally  retrain the new chef with your incredible knowledge of how cuisine from around the world should be prepped and cooked?

[tropicaloz]

3 hours ago, Evil Penevil said:

Were you having your meal on the veranda about midnight?  The diner I passed as I left had ordered calamari. I also had the calamari, plus the bruschetta.

No Evil,

I ate inside first or second table on the right hand side, just checked got the phone details from Anita at 11.19 pm so must have been walking out as you were entering.

The calamari must have a bit of a following though, seems a lot of people order it.

Cheers 

[striderman]

it is actually soi 14

[BeerBelly]

2 hours ago, striderman said:

it is actually soi 14

I mentioned this to Felicia when they first opened. She knew it was Soi 14 but her mom insisted it was Soi 15 and her mom is the owner.

[Kreggerz]

5 hours ago, Pheat said:

Maybe you could personally  retrain the new chef with your incredible knowledge of how cuisine from around the world should be prepped and cooked?

I have a better idea. Spend my money where I know I can get food that pleases me. I don't post as a chef but as a consumer and here in Pattaya we have a lot of choices. 

Wishing that this White Pines place is going to find a way to put the genie back in the bottle with the talented chef gone just doesn't make sense to me. 

 

[ChiFlyer]

I will be back in the area in less than 3 weeks. I loved this place last September, but am not at all encouraged by what I am reading to make the quick trip over from Jomtien. Still that was probably the best damn moderately priced fish sandwich I have ever had.

Has anyone tried the new version?

 

 

[taylor1975]

Calamari-gate 

 

 

[just hanging]

I suspect that it will be good again, maybe not as good but good, give it a week to fix

[Kreggerz]

9 hours ago, taylor1975 said:

Calamari-gate 

 

 

Squid Marked

[davidge]

2 hours ago, Kreggerz said:

Squid Marked

You need to use the toilet hose to avoid those.

[Pheat]

On 02/01/2018 at 09:13, just hanging said:

I suspect that it will be good again, maybe not as good but good, give it a week to fix

I visited last night and had the calamari it was ok nothing special at all I would say even slighty chewy .The mayo/ garlic dip is a nice touch.

Which items would you recommend off the menu.? 

[just hanging]

I loved the pizza before, then the new chef came on and it was awful, then he fixed it and it was good.  had one a few nights ago, supposedly fixed and just okay.   work in progress.

If this was my place, I would make the old chef a really good deal to spend a couple of all nighters teaching a few new chefs the job

[Kreggerz]

1 hour ago, just hanging said:

I loved the pizza before, then the new chef came on and it was awful, then he fixed it and it was good.  had one a few nights ago, supposedly fixed and just okay.   work in progress.

If this was my place, I would make the old chef a really good deal to spend a couple of all nighters teaching a few new chefs the job

Supposedly she did training before she left and the problem isn't the teacher but the student. Maybe people should just accept the probable reality. That place is never going to be the same because the talented chef left.