Steak in Pattaya

[PBear66]

Remember going to the diner in Nashville for breakfast. It was steak, eggs and hash browns all round. After we leave the EU and do a 'great, wonderful, fabulous' deal with are US brothers and sisters, you can look forward to the great taste of american beef pumped full of all the shit of the day.

[baddog666]

4 hours ago, plahgat said:

 

I tried a promo steak at Santa Fe at about 150 baht, meat was just ok, but minimal sides and no french fries!

Plahgat

 

 

The sides are pretty sparse there.... I guess the best solution is don't look for bargains when it comes to steak , especially in Thailand.   There was a small chain of places in Florida that sold a Prime Rib at a reasonable price , this was due to volume.... a large and busy place favored by the many geriatrics that lived nearby ( location was key ) .

I went once with a visiting friend  , the meat was very good along with a nice salad.... a bowl of salad not a leaf of lettuce , and a large baked potato , however it was like dining in a retirement home. 

I don't live in Thailand and can easily go a month or so without eating a steak.  Like i wrote...my Thai girl took me to Sante Fe , not my choice .... would I return...no way.... 

[TheGrill]

On 02/09/2018 at 19:04, Soi7 said:

These are Thai/french bone in Ribeyes 1 kilo each from Bic C extra 645 a steak. The farang manager assured me they were nice and we would not be disapointed and he was correct great flavor and while not at tender as say US beef they were not bad and not chewy at all very nice .

Big C Extra in Pattaya Klang also has 'USDA Prime Fillet' at 1,900 Baht per kilo which I found surprising as the cheapest 'whole-sale' I can buy a whole piece of fillet (from Jagato one of the largest importers or TKM) is 2200-2600 Baht per kilo plus the additional cost of trim and usually USA meat is 'chain on' (this can add 20% or more to the cost) or 'lip on' with Rib-eyes....so we bought some and tried it, I would be very very dubious if that was USDA Prime which has a distinct softness and taste, if anything it had a 'bad smell' and slightly mushy which happens with defrosted beef .... I was wondering if you have even tried the St Helens USDA Prime fillet Soi7 from Big C? And your feedback, perhaps we bought a 'bad piece'. The cowboy steak pictured looks fantastic by the way, great colour. 

[Luv2Phuket]

On 9/6/2018 at 07:19, PBear66 said:

Didn't go unnoticed by me either. Very knowledgeable, will try their beef wellington next time i am in town. 

Had the Beef Wellington at Steak & Company on one of my recent trips (can't remember which one).  I have wanted to try Beef Welly for a long time, but it's not on many menus here.  I was very happy with it!

[Soi7]

On 9/7/2018 at 22:07, steak&co said:

Big C Extra in Pattaya Klang also has 'USDA Prime Fillet' at 1,900 Baht per kilo which I found surprising as the cheapest 'whole-sale' I can buy a whole piece of fillet (from Jagato one of the largest importers or TKM) is 2200-2600 Baht per kilo plus the additional cost of trim and usually USA meat is 'chain on' (this can add 20% or more to the cost) or 'lip on' with Rib-eyes....so we bought some and tried it, I would be very very dubious if that was USDA Prime which has a distinct softness and taste, if anything it had a 'bad smell' and slightly mushy which happens with defrosted beef .... I was wondering if you have even tried the St Helens USDA Prime fillet Soi7 from Big C? And your feedback, perhaps we bought a 'bad piece'. The cowboy steak pictured looks fantastic by the way, great colour. 

nope never tried ANY prime here in Thailand as I would question if was infact prime. PLEASE NOTE I do not doubt for a minute that your restaurant as well as the other steakhouses here in Pattaya are not buying meat said to be prime and selling it as such. In the wholesale meat business for over 22 years in the states I have seen corruption at its finest. I have been with USDA inspectors during grading of carcasses and its very casual if need be. If for instance a customer needed a large amount of Prime Shortloins and the  product was choice at best not unusual for it to be graded Prime for consideration of course. AGAIN no question the Pattaya steak houses are selling what you are buying as prime this is just how it COULD be.

I can almost never tell the difference in a prime rib eye and a choice one BUT a fair price difference for sure

 

While at Babydolls had a customer that drinks Jack and coke tell me the drink he got was not Jack. I showed him the bottle with the Thai tax label and told him this is what we buy and from a Major distributor here in Pattaya. He informed me there are lots of fake liquor out there, as a business there is nothing we can do but continue to buy product that is sold to us as genuine and sell it along as such.

[baddog666]

5 hours ago, Soi7 said:

nope never tried ANY prime here in Thailand as I would question if was infact prime. PLEASE NOTE I do not doubt for a minute that your restaurant as well as the other steakhouses here in Pattaya are not buying meat said to be prime and selling it as such. In the wholesale meat business for over 22 years in the states I have seen corruption at its finest. I have been with USDA inspectors during grading of carcasses and its very casual if need be. If for instance a customer needed a large amount of Prime Shortloins and the  product was choice at best not unusual for it to be graded Prime for consideration of course. AGAIN no question the Pattaya steak houses are selling what you are buying as prime this is just how it COULD be.

I can almost never tell the difference in a prime rib eye and a choice one BUT a fair price difference for sure

 

While at Babydolls had a customer that drinks Jack and coke tell me the drink he got was not Jack. I showed him the bottle with the Thai tax label and told him this is what we buy and from a Major distributor here in Pattaya. He informed me there are lots of fake liquor out there, as a business there is nothing we can do but continue to buy product that is sold to us as genuine and sell it along as such.

Interesting read.... I used to purchase meats wholesale for hotels and restaurants as part of my job.... been a while... but as much as grading is important , so is the handling and aging of primal cuts.  The difference between a Prime striploin 1x1 or 0x1 and a Select was huge.... the amount of marbling or lack of.....

In a tenderloin , I always thought  a Choice and Prime were difficult to differentiate  and our price point  did not warrant the cost of Prime.

I had some very good luck buying " no roll " striploins from one vendor. They were simply not graded. The size of the eye was inconsistent, but the meat , overall was of very good quality.  I butchered the steaks myself , never had a complaint. Reserved the end pieces AKA the vein cuts for well done orders .

I also bought some cow tenders for special applications.... never used for steaks , but good in beef dishes like a Stroganoff or a stir fry.  I assume they came from old dairy cows....55555

 

[Soi7]

I had a well-known steakhouses a customer back in the early 2000s at that time the cost of 21-day dry-aged New York strips went crazy. When I quoted him the weekly price he almost shit himself said that there would be no money in it for him if he had to pay that for the product. So what did he do? he bought Choice fresh New York strips didn't change his menu didn't change the prices. Had dinner there one night and in speaking with him told me that he had had zero complaints nobody had even noticed and the cost difference to him was huge. Needless to say he never went back to dry age strips.

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[hioctane]

It just goes to show.. When it comes to turning a buck, you can never trust anything as genuine... even from the most reputable sources. Don't believe for a second that just because it is expensive that it is genuine! They might not be duping you, but their distributor might be duping them!

Go by what your taste buds say. I have gone to some of the best and most expensive steakhouses in New York and nothing comes close in Pattaya! I will keep looking though but won't base quality on price... just like my women!!

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[southsidebruce]

if you are looking for high quality steaks in Thailand - best to go to Bangkok and eat at the JW Marriott steak house, or the steak house in the Marriott on Thonglor... high priced but you are probably getting US Prime beef if that is what it says on the menu... but with Thailand becoming more and more Chinese oriented, the expectation that Western tastes will be catered to, will be less and less - at least it seems that is the case, and I base that on the dinner buffet at what used to be the Marriott in Pattaya... I had been to it years ago, and their buffets were awesome... but about 2 years ago I gave it another try, and this time it was totally geared toward the Asian pallet... I hardly ate anything off a buffet that before would have given me many choices for my farang pallet (and I also eat Thai, Japanese, Korean, etc food - not just farang food - but I was going to a Marriott, so I figured it would be geared to farang taste as it had been before)... it was a HUGE disappointment for me, but I understood that they were gearing it to their target customers who were Koreans, Chinese, Japanese - and hardly any farangs... but there is always Sizzler - only kidding... 

[baddog666]

2 hours ago, southsidebruce said:

but there is always Sizzler

Sizzler cooks up a great salad 

[southsidebruce]

6 minutes ago, baddog666 said:

Sizzler cooks up a great salad 

Thai girls seem to love it... As good to them as taking them to really nice, expensive restaurant... I think it's because they have a really hard time pronouncing "Sizzler"...

[baddog666]

2 minutes ago, southsidebruce said:

Thai girls seem to love it... As good to them as taking them to really nice, expensive restaurant... I think it's because they have a really hard time pronouncing "Sizzler"...

Yeah .... I have had requests to go to Sizzler as well as KFC.... cheap dates.... Perhaps it is the " status" of going to an American restaurant.  I can usually talk them out of it by offering to take them to MK .... works every time....55555

[Evil Penevil]

10 hours ago, Soi7 said:

nope never tried ANY prime here in Thailand as I would question if was infact prime.

Thanks for the background, Larry.  To add a bit more: only 2% to 4% of all beef produced in the U.S. carries a USDA  Prime rating.  There's huge demand for USDA Prime and almost all of it goes to up-market restaurants, very little is available through other channels.  Small amounts are sold frozen via the Internet or are exported. Specialty butchers may have it, but you cannot normally buy USDA Prime in supermarkets in the U.S.  I doubt very much Big C in Pattaya can get it when the top supermarkets in NYC can't.

USDA Prime, Choice, Select are protected designations.  If any restaurant or store claims its steaks are USDA Prime when they aren't, those businesses are committing consumer fraud. However, the word "prime" is NOT protected and can be used freely for any grade of beef.  Stores will sometimes say they are selling US Prime when it is actually USDA Choice or even USDA Select that has been blade tenderized.  That's a deceptive practice, but it isn't illegal.

It gets much more complicated than USDA grading.  As baddog wrote, aging and handling play crucial roles. Many gourmets maintain the difference between dry- and wet-aging is the factor  that separates a good steak from a great one. Others say they can notice a difference between steak that has been frozen and steak that hasn't.

Peter Luger Steakhouse in NYC is considered one of the best steakhouses in the world.  Below is some background on what happens before you eat a steak at Peter Luger.  We have to be realistic.  There is no restaurant in Thailand that can go to the lengths Peter Luger does.

 

The details about how the beef is dry-aged in-house, cooked and served:

The Porterhouse at Peter Luger Steakhouse in New York City

Let's just say there's a huge difference, literally and figuratively, between steak in Pattaya and steak at Peter Luger.

Evil

[baddog666]

Not the best photo...but this was from my last visit to Ruth's Chris.... great restaurants and have eaten in several in different cities...very consistent.  Bone in Ribeye ( about US$60 )  au gratin potato , creamed spinach ... looks like my friend had filet and shrimp and the honor of paying the bill....555555

[ertert]

Fuck that fancy overpriced steak what a wank...Take me to Sizzler and I will suck your cock.

[baddog666]

36 minutes ago, ertert said:

Fuck that fancy overpriced steak what a wank...Take me to Sizzler and I will suck your cock.

So for some Vegamite and a can of beans you would allow anal ?   555555

[Soi7]

13 hours ago, baddog666 said:

So for some Vegamite and a can of beans you would allow anal ?   555555

 How big of a can of beans are we talkin?

[Marcus85]

This steak looks legit.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/brobible.com/culture/article/butter-aged-steak-denmark/amp/

[Evil Penevil]

4 hours ago, Soi7 said:

 How big of a can of beans are we talkin?

I'm guessing this big:

[ChiFlyer]

On 9/9/2018 at 12:58, baddog666 said:

Not the best photo...but this was from my last visit to Ruth's Chris.... great restaurants and have eaten in several in different cities...very consistent.  Bone in Ribeye ( about US$60 )  au gratin potato , creamed spinach ... looks like my friend had filet and shrimp and the honor of paying the bill....555555

....

 

I am a fan of Ruth Chris. It is probably the best steak chain place in the US. Quality seems to vary a little from place to place. I used to travel a lot for work. Some of my favorite Ruth Chris restaurant locations were:

• Anapolis MD
• Barrington IL
• Washington DC (the downtown one, not the embassy district one)
• Salt Lake City UT
• Maui
• Austin TX

The only one I ever went to that I did not feel was up to snuff was in Tysons Corner VA.

 

[dan2016]

I find Santa Fe to be the worst place in Pattaya for steaks,  I had the 300bht New Zealand sirloin the other day and couldn't even go past one bite. The steak smelled and tasted old, tough as nails, cant be imported steak, no seasoning, pure gristle and fat. Had better food at my high school cafeteria. Never again as I don't know why people like Santa Fe, Yes its cheap but the quality is worse then food courts.

[Kreggerz]

29 minutes ago, dan2016 said:

I find Santa Fe to be the worst place in Pattaya for steaks,  I had the 300bht New Zealand sirloin the other day and couldn't even go past one bite. The steak smelled and tasted old, tough as nails, cant be imported steak, no seasoning, pure gristle and fat. Had better food at my high school cafeteria. Never again as I don't know why people like Santa Fe, Yes its cheap but the quality is worse then food courts.

Yeah, I made the mistake of trying it. Once. 

[baddog666]

1 hour ago, dan2016 said:

I find Santa Fe to be the worst place in Pattaya for steaks,  I had the 300bht New Zealand sirloin the other day and couldn't even go past one bite. The steak smelled and tasted old, tough as nails, cant be imported steak, no seasoning, pure gristle and fat. Had better food at my high school cafeteria. Never again as I don't know why people like Santa Fe, Yes its cheap but the quality is worse then food courts.

I would think they purchase pre-cut , frozen steaks and have very little talent in the kitchen.  

It seems obvious that a lot of people simply don't know or care about quality food...only an inexpensive price point to satisfy their appetite.

One restaurant I worked at used to buy these top butt steaks, pre cut fresh ..... we marinated them and people seemed to like them , but some were very odd shapes and not so easy to cook properly.... we used to joke about the steaks that resembled the wedge you use to keep a door open.

I ate at Sante Fe once ... will not return.

[Kreggerz]

I found it almost shockingly bad. My impression is that it's really for Thais to enjoy the "status" of a western steak dinner at a budget price. I reckon most of them don't even know how bad it is. 

[taylor1975]

7 minutes ago, Kreggerz said:

I found it almost shockingly bad. My impression is that it's really for Thais to enjoy the "status" of a western steak dinner at a budget price. I reckon most of them don't even know how bad it is. 

They're probably saying the same about the thai food we eat. 

I bet the japanese are laughing at their representations in pattaya.

If you like it, eat it.