Firepork Thailand at The Avenue on 2nd Road

[Evil Penevil]

Firepork Thailand is a new Korean barbecue restaurant under the Robin Hood Tavern at The Avenue Shopping Plaza on 2nd Road. The premises had previously been  occupied by a branch of Au Bon Pain.    Firepork had only been open a few days when I ate there last week.

 

It's specialized in grilled pork, namely samgyupsal gui  (grilled pork belly), a very popular dish in Korea.   If you don't like or can't eat pork belly, there's no point in going to Firepork as there isn't much else on the menu. 

 

As soon as I stepped in, before I even sat down, the attractive hostess showed me the menu and explained it  was limited because  Firepork was still in its early days.  I could choose between grilled pork belly or grilled pork neck as main dishes along with some appetizers and sides, maybe ten dishes in all.  That was it.  She said they would be adding more dishes in time.

 

I like grilled pork belly and hadn't eaten any for a very long time, so Firepork's limited menu was no problem for me. I chose the full version, which included vegetables, dipping sauces, etc., for 395 baht.  My can of Coke Zero was 40 baht.

The restaurant itself has been done up very nicely. It's spacious and well-lit, two important factors in my eyes.  It looked to me as if quality furnishings and fittings had been used, not stuff from IKEA or Home Depot.  The reason new restaurants. hotels, rental condos, bars, etc., in Pattaya start looking so shabby so fast is that hospitality-grade furnishings and equipment which can stand up to harsh treatment, haven't been used

The staff was very friendly and welcoming.  I was their ONLY customer the entire time I was there between 10  and 11 pm.  I have a feeling that unless Firepork can attract South Korean tourists in Pattaya,  it is really going to struggle for customers.  It's too specialized to attract a broad customer base.  Not many farang want to eat a full meal consisting of pork belly.  More mainstream Korean dishes like bulgogi or bibimbap need to be added to the menu.

You certainly won't lack for choice from their bar.  But  how do they reach the top-shelf booze?

 

 

Here's how it works at Firepork.  Each table has an electric stone grill.

As accompaniments to the grilled pork belly, diners get vegetables (mushrooms, onion. asparagus); dipping sauces and condiments; a bowl of kimchi; Asian-style "salad;" and a plate of lettuce leaves to use as wrappers for the dressed-up pork belly.

 

 

The second part of the review is on the way.

 

 

 

[Evil Penevil]

The piece of pork belly had been grilled in the kitchen and arrived at the table ready to be finished along with the raw vegetables.  It was a substantial chunk, more calories than should be consumed at one sitting.

 

 

 

The waitress used kitchen sheers to cut the pork into bite-sized pieces, which were then grilled together with the vegetables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Korea, grilled pork belly is traditionally eaten as part of a bite-sized wrap.  The meat is dipped in the sauce or condiment, then place at the center of a lettuce leaf.  Some slices of garlic or chili pepper can be added.  The lettuce leaf is then folded into a small package and popped into the mouth.  I didn't much bother with the lettuce, just ate the pork after dipping.

 

 

Bottom line:  Good grilled pork belly, but too much fatty content and too many calories for one person. That dish should be split among two or more diners. I won't order it again as a solo diner.  And if Firepork doesn't add more variety to its menu, there won't be any point in going back.

 My meal cost  395 baht for the grilled pork and accompaniments, plus 40 baht for the Coke Zero.  To that 435 baht had been added 7% VAT (31 baht) but no service charge.   I left  20 baht of the change from my 500-baht note on the tray and gave the girl who did the "grilling" 40 baht in her hand.

Evil

[Saddic]

thanks Evil...

Korean BBQ is my fav next to Thai BBQ... Will be trying them when I get back after the Chinese hordes leave after Chinese NY...

Hope they expand their selection of meats/fish by the time I get back... (eg: the ex-Korean BBQ place in front of Royal Garden)... 

Doubt the Korean tour buses will go there... The several places they go to now around north end of 3rd rd already cater to them... (and are pretty good too)...

[KittenKong]

19 minutes ago, Evil Penevil said:

I was their ONLY customer the entire time I was there between 10  and 11 pm.  I have a feeling that unless Firepork can attract South Korean tourists in Pattaya,  it is really going to struggle for customers.

Sounds like the kiss of death mall strikes again. The Avenue is a graveyard of failed businesses. They probably would have more luck in Central where there are other similar cook-it-yourself outlets nearby and so a fairly constant stream of potential customers.

I do wonder to what extent this place is really different from the many 200B Thai moo gata places one finds everywhere? Apart from being air-conditioned and glossy that is. Most of those places do a roaring trade.

[Ohyesuare]

7 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Sounds like the kiss of death mall strikes again. The Avenue is a graveyard of failed businesses. They probably would have more luck in Central where there are other similar cook-it-yourself outlets nearby and so a fairly constant stream of potential customers.

I do wonder to what extent this place is really different from the many 200B Thai moo gata places one finds everywhere? Apart from being air-conditioned and glossy that is. Most of those places do a roaring trade.

Doesn't seem like it's cook it yourself since the waitress does the cooking. I don't think other moo kata or cook on your table places offer pork belly but i could be wrong.

[KittenKong]

2 minutes ago, Ohyesuare said:

Doesn't seem like it's cook it yourself since the waitress does the cooking. I don't think other moo kata or cook on your table places offer pork belly but i could be wrong.

You may be right. I think I've seen pork belly at some of them, though when I go I generally pay extra and have the superior seafood selection (rock lobster and scallops), which usually brings the price up to around the 400B paid here.

I got the impression that the cooking service by the waitress here was optional, as is the grilling service at the moo gata places. They might need a lot of waitresses here if they were busy and everyone wanted it done for them.

[Saddic]

3 hours ago, Ohyesuare said:

Doesn't seem like it's cook it yourself since the waitress does the cooking. I don't think other moo kata or cook on your table places offer pork belly but i could be wrong.

If you go to a Korean BBQ place where the Korean tour busses go... the service staff cools the food by default... you can shew them away and cook it yourself if you want... I have observed that Korean tourists seem to expect someone to do everything for them...

[Saddic]

Recently tried Firepork at T21...

Overall I was not impressed...

Ordered the 2 person set meal... which included several cuts of pork and assorted mushrooms, pineapple slices, and 1 slice of onion

Their scheme is to also pay for the banchang (Korean side dishes + soup, rice, lettuce, spices, etc)... 

The server stands and cooks it at your table... 

One cut of pork was good, the other was gristle and almost unchewable...

It was advertised as feeding 2... but I guess that's 2 small Thai's... cause it was nowhere near enough for 2 farang...

Overall... I'd say skip it and go to a REAL Korean bbq place... I recommend the one across from drinking street in the burger King plaza... AYCE too for less than what it cost me at Firepork...

[jellybean]

I'm afraid if it was just a pork fix I was looking for, I would opt for one of the many pig roast around.

Mostly for the price of a beer

[mmaaarrrkkk]

On ‎08‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 20:29, jellybean said:

I'm afraid if it was just a pork fix I was looking for, I would opt for one of the many pig roast around.

Mostly for the price of a beer

[Tarl]

I am not seeing any pics in the OP's post. Is anyone else having that problem. Pics in the other posts I see.

[davidge]

2 minutes ago, Tarl said:

I am not seeing any pics in the OP's post. Is anyone else having that problem. Pics in the other posts I see.

Same here. I don’t understand the technical stuff but this does sometimes happen with the OPs posts. I ‘think’ it’s because he posts the same ones in different forums and something involved in that causes this to happen.

[eXplosief]

16 minutes ago, davidge said:

Same here. I don’t understand the technical stuff but this does sometimes happen with the OPs posts. I ‘think’ it’s because he posts the same ones in different forums and something involved in that causes this to happen.

Or because the pictures are not uploaded to PA, but are on pattayatalk. 

[davidge]

2 minutes ago, eXplosief said:

Or because the pictures are not uploaded to PA, but are on pattayatalk. 

That’s the sort of thing I meant - but I was less specific 

 

[Tarl]

@davidge, @eXplosief awesome thanks. Guess I need to join it and be logged in.

[Evil Penevil]

18 hours ago, eXplosief said:

Or because the pictures are not uploaded to PA, but are on pattayatalk. 

I'm aware of that problem and now upload directly to P-A.  However, there is a fix for the missing pics.  I will send one of the mods a PM about it.

Evil