Hawker Chan on Beach Road at Royal Garden Plaza

[Saddic]

He's getting lots of press...

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/24/michelin-star-singapore-chicken-rice-chef-chan-hon-meng-on-expansion.html

 

[dan2016]

Just a matter of time before we see the for rent sign yet again as the place is deserted every day with hardly any customers. They can have all the Michelin stars in the world and get the best press money can buy but without people going in and spending money you will become just another statistic who thought Pattaya was the right city for expansion.

[Captain Courageous]

On 15 October 2017 at 21:32, striderman said:

it was a restaurant/buffet place may have been korean deffo SE Asian . don't think i have a photo of it

now...............

 

We're staying in Baywalk Res only a stones throw away,  the HC  feed lot is worth your time and baht. 

[Saddic]

Finally gave it a try...

Place was mostly empty except for a Russian family camped at the register obstructing anyone else from ordering... (cause they had no clue how the place operated)... after an inordinate amount of time (10-15 min) some one FINALLY came to the 2nd register... I should have left...

Girl did not know their own menu... so I just pointed to the item number... which was also imprinted on the register...

I guess the Russians noticed... because they sort of did the same thing... They then proceeded to hover over the service area waiting (like at McD for their order... The poor girl kept saying sit down and wait for number... but the screen over the pickup area showed their number as being ready, without their food being ready...

Overall, their order system is a clusterfuck... as different nationalities had no clue what to do... and the order/pickup areas only being marked in English gave no guidance...

Finally my order came up.. AT THE EXACT TIME AS THE RUSSIANS>..@)#(*@#@*(&#... the girl had a hard time trying to prevent the russians from taking it along with their own...  Idiots...

Next the "self serve" for ice/cups, sauces, straws... No ice in the container... they finally took the little ice chest away... sigh...

By now, I'm not a happy camper...

The food was meh...(at best)

I ordered chicken noodle... The chicken had been cleaved at an odd angle and it shattered the chicken bone leaving shards of sharp bone throughout my chicken... I bit into it with unpleasant effects..  The chicken had an odd taste...

The noodles were just a lump of reboiled packaged noodles which had congealed together with their sauce poured over it... It took some doing (mixing, lifting, mixing, etc) to get the noodles to separate.. 

Lastly, the water was specially packaged by some no name Thai company... The celophane seal on my bottle was not shrink wrapped (aka lose)... but the plastic seal was unbroken... 

I won't be returning...

If I want Singapore meh hawker food... I'll go to Singapore... and skip it....  Instead  searching and probably finding much much better hawker stalls...

I should have just gone downstairs to Foodland and gotten the same...  Total damage 130b (includes 7% VAT)...

The only place more empty was the Sweetish place where they were literally standing outside trying to drag customers in...

[wadman]

10 hours ago, Saddic said:

I won't be returning...

If I want Singapore meh hawker food... I'll go to Singapore... and skip it....  Instead  searching and probably finding much much better hawker stalls...

 

I actually went back a second time.  First time, all my food (bbq pork, roast pork, noodles) were served cold.  Second time, bbq pork was warm, roast pork cold, rice warm.  At least a bit of an improvement.

Overall, I have to agree though, the whole experience at HC is very underwhelming.  The hawker-style food that earned the stall in Singapore its Michelin star just doesn't translate well into the HC restaurant.  Like I said, the noodles that I ordered were served cold.  At a true hawker stall, it's made to order, stirfried on a high degree wok and served piping hot.

 

 

[Saddic]

7 minutes ago, wadman said:

 At a true hawker stall, it's made to order, stirfried on a high degree wok and served piping hot.

I go to my fav hawker stall at Peoples Park Hawker center/chinatown where they hand pull my noodles... gods... they are to die for...  4.50 S$

[KittenKong]

On 15/10/2017 at 16:08, Evil Penevil said:

The dishes are inexpensive and you can have two dishes and a beverage for under 300 baht.  Of course, similar food is available from food stalls, street carts and hole-in-the-wall restaurants all over Pattaya at half or one-third the price, but you won't be eating it in air-conditioned comfort at a prime Beach Road location.

I wonder how much similar dishes would cost in the Food Wave air-con food court just a couple of floors directly above Hawker Chan?  Or even in the Foodland restaurant directly below Hawker Chan?

[QuotaMan]

Another exceptional review by Evil.

I like that they have veggie options.

But it's amazing what one review or award can do for someone. A Michelin star and it instantly propels one from regular chef street food stall to million dollar deals and expansions. Must be a very prestigious honor and something many restaurants aspire to.

[QuotaMan]

 

 

[matabroad]

Paid a visit this afternoon. Had crispy pork and char siu. So so average. Food lukewarm. And the ordering system is bizarre. Place is pretty D.O.A.

[Saddic]

Closed...

Sign says they are moving to T21

[striderman]

3 hours ago, Saddic said:

Closed...

Sign says they are moving to T21

sign on the shutters around the old premises at royal garden plaza says ................wine connection opening soon

[striderman]

41 minutes ago, striderman said:

sign on the shutters around the old premises at royal garden plaza says ................wine connection opening soon

here u go....................

hawker was to the left of burger king

[PBear66]

Tried this in terminal 21 in Bangkok, had char sui and noodles. Was ok but portion size mean't you would need 2 or 3 portions to fill you up if you where hungry.

The press look for the next big story on everything. Food heroes have to be found and advertised to keep overrated journalists in a job.

It's an industry just like any other. That's why i largely avoid high end restaurants that are the latest thing, at home or abroad.

In my experience, they are a complete and utter let down.

No doubt, most of this food could be replicated as well as, if not better by is mother and all his aunts.   

[briguy]

Didn't try this one on my trip, but I did try Bonchon Chicken at Terminal 21. A lot of chicken and rice for the price. Very good. There's one in Central Festival in Pattaya.

[yugot]

I felt bad for the place. You could tell they were geared up for big numbers with their whole automated queue system. I'd go fairly late in the evening and my queue number was only in the teens. At Terminal 21 there's the whole roped off winding entry line but never with any customers lined up. But, I tried it twice and couldn't really get excited about the food.

[Kreggerz]

I like their food. I think many people are turned off by their over the top promotion about the Michelin Star in Singapore and the fact that they need to charge more than Thai street food. I hope they do well enough at the new mall to at least stay open.

[plahgat]

Will never work in Thailand as they sell the same dishes for much less in every streetcorner!

Plahgat

[Saddic]

Truth to tell...

I've now been to the original Hawker Chan's stall in Singapore Chinatown...

It was to die for!!!  no way to say it other than that place deserved the Star!... Line was 30 min long early in the morning... was more like 90 min when I left...

$2 Singapore per plate... I had 2...  I would go back no problem...

So save yourself for the Singapore experience...  It was worth it...

It remains to be seen if they fix the operation in T21 Pattaya... 

[SirL]

So they are shifting from the beach front at RGP to the new T21, presumably because they think they'll get more customers there.  It'll be interesting to see if that's true - I'd have thought the just-closed premises on BR is pretty good and they might struggle to beat it.  Will there be more foot traffic indoors in T21 than on that section of BR?  Some might say yes of course people prefer to be indoors in the a/c, but then does the sort of visitor being targeted here really come to Pattaya to spend the afternoon indoors?

The problem here appears to be food quality, not natural footfall past the front door.

[Evil Penevil]

On 9/8/2018 at 08:01, SirL said:

So they are shifting from the beach front at RGP to the new T21, presumably because they think they'll get more customers there. 

From what I've heard and read, the Hawker Chan branch in Terminal 21 in Bangkok is quite busy.  Maybe the owners are hoping they'll have the same luck if they shift to Terminal 21 in Pattaya.  It could also be that they are getting a better deal on the rent.  Another factor could be that they hope to attract more attention from Chinese and other Asian tourist groups by relocating to Terminal 21.

As others have pointed out, the food on offer at Hawker Chan in Pattaya isn't that great and similar dishes are available in Pattaya at half or one-third the price.  Hawker Chan can probably get more mileage out of the Michelin star awarded to the Singapore mother ship from Chinese groups than farang tourists or residents.

Evil

[jay5335]

Thank you Evil for all your food posts! It's so great that you do multiple visits with different dishes as some maybe hit or miss.  As a fellow food and TG mongerer,  I have enjoyed your posts which are detailed and informative.  Keep up the good work!!, The Pattaya food scene needs people like you to showcase great food options because the gastronimic scene isn't nearly what it is in Bangkok. I come to Thailand for food and girls period. Although Pattaya has all the women you ever want, the food scene here is hit or miss. Your work reviewing restaurants has saved me so much time and effort finding quality food options. Keep it up Evil!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Danimal]

On ‎9‎/‎7‎/‎2018 at 21:52, briguy said:

Didn't try this one on my trip, but I did try Bonchon Chicken at Terminal 21. A lot of chicken and rice for the price. Very good. There's one in Central Festival in Pattaya.

This Bonchon was actually right next to where Hawker Chan/Wine Connection are next to BK before it moved to CF.  I used to love staying at the Marriott/Avani and grabbing it....they now have it at both BKK and DMK as well as like 6 other places in BKK.

If you ever get to PI they have a different menu (In the US too) ...evem cheaper!