Restaurant reviews in Pattaya and Bangkok

[KittenKong]

Just now, SirL said:

RH actually provided me with a glass with some ice in it, but no water ever appeared.  No big deal.

When I was there last the free water was self-service from a dispenser located close to the carvery section.

If they are still giving you the glass of ice then it sounds like they are still doing the free water, though the waitress generally says "this is for water if you want some".

I think they are to be commended for this. Far too many places in Pattaya have got on the bandwagon of charging 10 or 20 or even 30% of the cost of a meal for a small plastic bottle of water, when a glass of service water always used to be provided for free and still is in most Bangkok places.

Given the lack of information about the free water, and the issues with the size of the serving, I wonder if there may have been some staff problems on the day you went? In the past I've found the staff there (and the other Retox outlets) to be very efficient and I have never had any trouble with specific requests in plated meals (ie "extra mash but no carrots, please").

[Sticky Fingers]

If you're looking for a Mexican food (mentioned in OP) option in Bangkok, may I suggest La Monita (only one stop from Nana). In fact, I will be eating there later this week, also with a companion! (Mexican food is largely terrible and overpriced here in Australia, so I do like trying it when I travel.)

Regarding the Tesco Lotus delivery, thanks for this, for some reason it never occurred to me and I had already mentally prepared myself to carry bags of shopping from Central/Big C to my apartment. I can't find an English-language app though - did you order from their full website version?

[SirL]

5 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Far too many places in Pattaya have got on the bandwagon of charging 10 or 20 or even 30% of the cost of a meal for a small plastic bottle of water

Given the lack of information about the free water, and the issues with the size of the serving, I wonder if there may have been some staff problems on the day you went? In the past I've found the staff there (and the other Retox outlets) to be very efficient and I have never had any trouble with specific requests in plated meals (ie "extra mash but no carrots, please").

Charging for water etc - yes, that's why I tend to avoid buying drinks in rests with meals, as I wrote earlier.  Most rests will tend to offer cheap specials on food to attract you in, and then make their money on drinks etc.  I'll just have the food special please.  It would annoy me if a restaurant required you to buy a drink, as The Sportsman is reported to do for their Sunday Roast.

There seemed to be plenty of female serving staff around, and they weren't under much pressure, the dining area was only about half full.  I don't think staff problems are relevant.  Maybe they expected me to know about the get my own water, but I'm really not troubled about the water situation.  I was asked for specific requests about the food, to which I replied no carrots, and no carrots did appear.  I just didn't realise that I was going to be assaulted by peas.  There were no peas in the publicity pic.  I'd have liked broccoli as in that pic.

I suspect that no large four-cornered plates are ever used for large platefuls.  That's what makes that publicity pic so misleading.  Take that photo ready on your phone if you intend to order the B299 version.

I'm quite pleased that Robin Hood appears to be separate from Retox.  I haven't written that "I'll never go there again", because I am an admirer of the Retox pile-it-high-and-sell-it-cheap business MO.  Now I can write that I'll never go to Robin Hood again but I'll probably go to the Retoxes soon.  Some of the Retox specials, eg Wednesday lunch curry, Licenced to Grill ribs, look tempting.

I understand that Retox Darkside/Outback has recently moved into premises owned by others, where Retox just do the operational management of the food service.  I imagine that's the deal at Robin Hood now, with the rest owned by another whilst Retox just do the restaurant operations.

[SirL]

5 hours ago, Sticky Fingers said:

If you're looking for a Mexican food (mentioned in OP) option in Bangkok, may I suggest La Monita (only one stop from Nana). In fact, I will be eating there later this week, also with a companion! (Mexican food is largely terrible and overpriced here in Australia, so I do like trying it when I travel.)

Regarding the Tesco Lotus delivery, thanks for this, for some reason it never occurred to me and I had already mentally prepared myself to carry bags of shopping from Central/Big C to my apartment. I can't find an English-language app though - did you order from their full website version?

Thanks for the suggestion of La Monita.  In Bangkok I'm tempted by the Tuesday 6pm Mexican buffet at Bourbon St, I'll probably get there soon. https://bourbonstbkk.com/promotions/

I used the English language version of the TescoLotus website.  I don't know about apps for TL.  It all worked very smoothly and the delivery guy was great.  I'd recommend it.  I'll be ordering from TL again soon.

[Halfaboy]

1 hour ago, SirL said:

I used the English language version of the TescoLotus website.  I don't know about apps for TL.  It all worked very smoothly and the delivery guy was great.  I'd recommend it.  I'll be ordering from TL again soon.

Thanks for the TL tip. I checked the website and it looks oke for me. Is there a minimum per order ?

[Piece Corp]

I second the recommendations on La Monita and Bourbon Street, and I also recommend The Smokin' Pug for Kansas City-style BBQ Ribs.

Today I ate at The Mexican, not far from Nana Plaza.  Habenaro-infused Shrimp Tacos (375++), Tex-Mex style. They make their own sauces with imported ingredients.

[Sticky Fingers]

Thanks for the suggestion of La Monita.  In Bangkok I'm tempted by the Tuesday 6pm Mexican buffet at Bourbon St, I'll probably get there soon. https://bourbonstbkk.com/promotions/

No worries. Buffets aren't so much my thing these days (unless I can fit in a big gym session beforehand) but I'll look forward to the review of Bourbon St.

La Monita and Oskars are the only two places that I make a point of going to every time in Bangkok.

Are you going to try the Daniel Thaiger burger truck? Doesn't get a lot of mention on this forum - but very worthwhile checking out.

[RAYDEN]

On 1/8/2018 at 14:59, SirL said:

Alibaba, Pattaya Klang                         Food: B95

Comedy time as I try a special offer at a dodgy Indian restaurant

Alibaba? What's that? Why?

I was drawn to Alibaba by this voucher appearing on one of the FB groups. B500 off? Surely there must be a catch in the Terms and Conditions?

A couple of reviews appeared online, with pics of their bills showing the B500 fairly deducted, and I thought this was for real. Surely this offer wouldn't last long, as all the CCs in Pattaya hoovered up, so I had to get there quickly, which is why I made it the first restaurant I went to in Pattaya on this trip. I had ideas of waltzing in, ordering B450 of tasty curry, and maybe repeating the process every few days, perhaps wearing a variety of hats and false moustaches. Yes! There really is such a thing as a free lunch! Sadly, dear readers, no there isn't, and Santa Claus doesn't exist either.

So I turned up, and surprisingly when there was such a great offer on, the dining room was almost empty. Just a family with a couple of annoying children at the next table, who left after five minutes, and then I was on my own. Where were all the CCs? Why hadn't soi Buakhao transplanted en masse into this restaurant? Sadly those Buakhao guys know better than me, or more likely, they just don't read restaurant groups on FB.

The most difficult part of the challenge was to order just the right quantity of food to make best use of the B500 off. I worked my way through a fairly lengthy menu, all the time watched by three waiters in fancy Indian outfits and the owner, just me in an empty dining room.

Here are a couple of pages of the long menu

I knew from the reviews that 10% service and 7% tax were going to be added, so I suppose I was aiming for about B420 of food. At this point the scene resembled one of those Monty Python restaurant comedy sketches, and I was half expecting John Cleese to appear dressed as an Indian restaurant owner. Did I have the nerve to order just B400 of food? Sorry, dear readers, I just didn't have the balls, maybe the owner would have told me to sod off if I'd tried that, as it would have been all too obvious. So I tried to think of an order that sort of made sense as a meal and came to a little over B500. There was a lot of menu to work through, and I took ages, but eventually chose Butter Chicken and a Puri, which were recommended by one of the reviews I'd read, along with Aloo Gobi. They accepted the order, so I reckoned I'd pitched it about right.

The Butter Chicken was OK I suppose, though I've had better curry bought from a supermarket. In the Aloo Gobi, the potatoes were undercooked and the cauliflower was very overcooked, so much that it was almost black and barely recognisable. I'm not sure why anyone would recommend the Puri. I don't want to write too much about the food, I'm concerned about writing something which could be taken as libellous.

I bolted it down, asked for and paid the bill, and ran away.

Food taste: 3/10 It seemed to me that the cauliflower was first cooked at least a week ago. Fortunately I had no health issues in the hours following.

Value for money: 7/10 Even for just B95 it wasn't compelling value.

Would I return? No, and I don't recommend anyone reading this makes use of this offer.

Would I want to eat the same food again for B95? No, life isn't that long.

Would I eat it for free? Not really, there really isn't such a thing as a good free lunch, or Santa Claus.

Would I eat it at full price, ie paying B595? You must be joking.

 

 

Its an indian restaurant   You try all my favorite Item... In here in my country we like it very much.. thanks for the report

[soi16]

2 hours ago, Sticky Fingers said:

Daniel Thaiger burger truck?

That is intresting! Do not forget pics?

[KittenKong]

6 hours ago, SirL said:

It would annoy me if a restaurant required you to buy a drink, as The Sportsman is reported to do for their Sunday Roast.

It's been at least a year since I had Sunday lunch there, but I dont think that was a requirement at that time. Given the price of their carvery it certainly should not be a requirement.

 

6 hours ago, SirL said:

Some of the Retox specials, eg Wednesday lunch curry, Licenced to Grill ribs, look tempting.

I've had the curry special a few times, though not recently. If it is still the same as it was when I last had it then it is good value for 150B. Served at all the Retox outlets at the same price, as far as I know, and cooked for the whole group by their Indian outlet.

[SirL]

10 hours ago, Halfaboy said:

Thanks for the TL tip. I checked the website and it looks oke for me. Is there a minimum per order ?

No, no minimum order for free delivery.  The delivery guy told me that every day his circuit included an order for B100 or B200, and his lowest value [free] delivery was B19 or something.  He didn't mind at all, he was just doing his job, it's his bosses who set up the system and decide if there's to be a minimum order.

[SirL]

9 hours ago, Sticky Fingers said:

Are you going to try the Daniel Thaiger burger truck? Doesn't get a lot of mention on this forum - but very worthwhile checking out.

 

Daniel Thaiger does get good reviews, that's a good idea.  I'm not crazy about burgers, but I do eat 'em occasionally.  In Bangkok, I'm attracted to the pulled pork burger at Chu in Asok, which is half price between 6pm and 7pm on Eatigo.    https://eatigo.com/home/th/en/restaurant/name/chu-chocolate/

[SirL]

8 hours ago, RAYDEN said:

Its an indian restaurant   You try all my favorite Item... In here in my country we like it very much.. thanks for the report

The pleasure with Indian food is mine.  I like Indian food a lot, and I'll be visiting more Indian restaurants in the next month.

[SirL]

6 hours ago, KittenKong said:

I've had the curry special a few times, though not recently. If it is still the same as it was when I last had it then it is good value for 150B. Served at all the Retox outlets at the same price, as far as I know, and cooked for the whole group by their Indian outlet.

The Retox Indian special on Wednesday lunchtime sounds good, and I'll probably be having it soon.  Apparently only 30 portions of it are available at each outlet, so you want to get there early lunchtime, and I was thinking of going to one of the (perhaps?) quieter Retoxs like the Queens Arms for it.

[KittenKong]

On 14/01/2018 at 14:35, SirL said:

Robin Hood Sunday roast                                      Food: initially B269 with 10% Eatigo discount

Cold, stringy poor food, the wrong size portion, served with a dishonest attitude

Another review was posted about RH today in another place, by someone who presumably also went there on the same day as you:

" I am always on the lookout for a new good value restaurant and the other day tried the Robin Hood at the Avenue for Sunday lunch. I must say i was very pleased with their "regular" roast lunch at 199 baht (10% less with a VIP card). More than enough for me ......."

The two opinions are surprisingly contrasting and I have no reason to suppose that either is inaccurate or false. Maybe it got better later in the day?   I have some friends who go there regularly for a late afternoon Sunday roast and as far as I know they were there last Sunday also. I'll try and find out what they thought of it this week. Strange.

[KittenKong]

5 hours ago, SirL said:

Apparently only 30 portions of it are available at each outlet, so you want to get there early lunchtime, and I was thinking of going to one of the (perhaps?) quieter Retoxs like the Queens Arms for it.

Yes, it does tend to sell out quite fast.

[SirL]

58 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Another review was posted about RH today in another place, by someone who presumably also went there on the same day as you:

" I am always on the lookout for a new good value restaurant and the other day tried the Robin Hood at the Avenue for Sunday lunch. I must say i was very pleased with their "regular" roast lunch at 199 baht (10% less with a VIP card). More than enough for me ......."

The two opinions are surprisingly contrasting and I have no reason to suppose that either is inaccurate or false. Maybe it got better later in the day?   I have some friends who go there regularly for a late afternoon Sunday roast and as far as I know they were there last Sunday also. I'll try and find out what they thought of it this week. Strange.

I wonder if the differences were

1. I ordered and paid for the B299 version, and therefore I had higher expectations of what should have been on the (larger) plate.  If I'd just been after the B199 version, and got the small plate, I wouldn't have been so angry.  I suspect those large four-cornered plates are never actually used.

2.  Maybe the other reviewer got there at a different time when the meat was warm.  It can be just a matter of luck.

3. Perhaps the staff thought that an Eatigo customer like me 'wasn't paying full price so wouldn't get full value'.  Maybe you don't have to show a RH VIP card until paying time, which makes the use of it different.

4. Perhaps the other reviewer liked lots of peas to fill the [small] plate.

I hoped I'd made clear my anger was mainly not due to the size or temperature of what was on the plate, but due to the dishonest way the staff reacted to my rejecting the plate at first, saying it was small and I'd ordered large.  They just returned the same plate with a few more potatoes and peas.  I asked the senior staff person acting manager five or six times "is this a small or large plate?" and she wouldn't clearly answer that question.  She knew she was covering up and lying.  Perhaps that's the only plate they use.  KK, when you next go to the RH, see if you can see any of the large four-cornered plates anywhere around the serving area.

Being lied to makes me more angry than receiving a small plateful of cold food.

I don't really want too many AYCEs, and I think I'll try Nicky's next time I go for a Sunday roast.

[KittenKong]

33 minutes ago, SirL said:

I hoped I'd made clear my anger was mainly not due to the size or temperature of what was on the plate, but due to the dishonest way the staff reacted to my rejecting the plate at first, saying it was small and I'd ordered large.  They just returned the same plate with a few more potatoes and peas.  I asked the senior staff person acting manager five or six times "is this a small or large plate?" and she wouldn't clearly answer that question.  She knew she was covering up and lying.  Perhaps that's the only plate they use

As I mentioned, I put that down to the Thai way of avoiding confrontation and saving face. Both are important to them (though they make no sense to me). Getting most Thais to say "sorry i was wrong" is like getting a drink out of the ravenous bugblatter beast of Traal, and it's especially hard if you are talking to someone in front of his/her subordinates.

 

34 minutes ago, SirL said:

KK, when you next go to the RH, see if you can see any of the large four-cornered plates anywhere around the serving area.

Don't think I ever saw one of those. People doing the self-service just seem to use the same regular plates as those used for the small serving, as far as I can remember.

[SirL]

1 hour ago, KittenKong said:

Don't think I ever saw one of those. 

So there's really no such thing as a larger plateful for B299.  It doesn't exist.  If anyone asks for the B299 version in the Robin Hood, they just get the same plateful as those asking for the B199 version, but they pay B299.  That's pretty much what I guessed, and that dishonest con is the main reason for my anger.  That's a large part of why my Robin Hood experience was different from someone (like you) who only ever wanted the B199 version.

This decision to advertise a B299 version whilst giving customers who order it just the same as the B199 version, because there aren't even the plates to serve a larger portion, must be decided by the top manager/owner.  It's the top guy that's being dishonest, its not a matter of mid-level Thais saving face.  Do you support that?

[SirL]

Can I add to this discussion that the apparent new owner of the RH has received and read my invitation on FB and link to this discussion, so he's probably read most of this, and declines to join in to explain the RH's point of view.  I haven't seen a reply from him.  Make of that what you will.

[soi16]

What is the purpose of being Robin Hood?

Mr. SirL, go ahead, otherwise, the whole topic will die. Let this be done and forget it.

[SirL]

8 minutes ago, soi16 said:

What is the purpose of being Robin Hood?

Mr. SirL, go ahead, otherwise, the whole topic will die. Let this be done and forget it.

I don't quite understand.  Personally, I'd rather let the whole Robin Hood thing drop.  No good will come to me from continuing it, and I wouldn't be surprised if some readers were bored of it.  Let's move on.

[SirL]

So's Place                                       Food: B125

A friendly little street restaurant with all the standard Thai classics at reasonable prices

I'm not feeling my best right now. I've got something in my throat and nose from a dirty a/c somewhere, and I'm feeling a bit pumpui from too many AYCEs, so I'm playing it smaller and simple to eat.

So's Place is a small roadside restaurant around the back of The Avenue shopping centre. It's a likeable place, with friendly staff and good music (Eric Clapton, ZZ Top, mixed blues) playing. One of the waitresses, named May (not in pic below), looks good and has a cute ass. Although she's a little large for my taste, she'll have more than her fair share of admirers.

The green blob is in slightly the wrong position here.  So's Place is actually on the SE side of Soi 15, not right inside the Avenue Centre.

The menu is much the same as last time I was here, all the standard Thai classics at reasonable prices.

I just had chicken and cashew nuts, which was tasty and good.

Food taste: 6/10 Good tasty standard version of this classic.

Value for money: 6/10 Is B125 a little high for chicken and cashews in these sort of roadside places? I have the idea B80 or B100 is the par price, but I'm not sure of current prices.  If the exact same thing were sold in Pier21, it would be priced B39 and someone would say that was too cheap for a review.

Would I return? Yes certainly. So's Place is close to my condo and it's a nice place to visit. Who cares about the odd B25 or B45 the chicken & cashews may be high? It's a small friendly place, and a bit of a tip will get you recognition on future visits.

[KittenKong]

4 hours ago, SirL said:

So there's really no such thing as a larger plateful for B299.  It doesn't exist.  If anyone asks for the B299 version in the Robin Hood, they just get the same plateful as those asking for the B199 version, but they pay B299.  That's pretty much what I guessed, and that dishonest con is the main reason for my anger. 

I always assumed that the extra payment got you a fuller plate rather than a larger plate, though who knows? Either way I think the actual plate size is probably not as important as what is on the plate. I could be wrong though as I have no personal experience at all of the larger plated meal.

I did see that apparently the buffet option includes a nice apple pie, so personally if I wanted extra on my plate I would probably go straight for the buffet option in order to get both the pie and exactly the parts of the carvery that I really wanted on my plate.

Wont say any more about this though as the topic has moved on.

[KittenKong]

2 hours ago, SirL said:

Value for money: 6/10 Is B125 a little high for chicken and cashews in these sort of roadside places? I have the idea B80 or B100 is the par price, but I'm not sure of current prices.  If the exact same thing were sold in Pier21, it would be priced B39 and someone would say that was too cheap for a review.

Difficult to say from that picture. For 125B I would expect a very decent serving of the main dish and also a standard serving of rice.

Would the same size plate really be 39B in Pier 21? I've eaten there and it's fine, but I dont remember the servings being unusually huge. If it really is the same size serving then 125B would be too much here for me.