Pattaya Beer Garden - WTF?!

[Shivers]

I just returned home from having dinner at Pattaya Beer Garden, where I've eaten many times before with my wife, as well as have taken friends there to eat. Our bin is generally between 850 THB to 1200 THB. We've eaten for less at other places in the area, but I don't mind paying a little more for a nice location and good food/service. Well, never again...EVER!

 

The time before this when we ate there, the baked potato that came with my steak was uncooked (almost hard as a rock). I spoke to the waitress, who took it away and I was brought a new one (not the same one...a new one). Okay, no harm, no foul, and I didn't think much about it. If anything, I thought it was good they fixed the problem.

 

But, the place seems to have gone downhill in a hurry.

 

My wife ordered french fries and seafood soup, and I ordered a steak and baked potato (I've had other things there, but that's my favorite meal they serve). First, the french fries got delivered with nothing else...I don't mean without the rest of our food, I mean without any condiments (catsup, salt, etc)...just a little plate of fries. 5 minutes later we were able to track down OUR waitress (because apparently other waitresses aren't allowed to assist us) and get the tray of condiments brought to our table.

 

A little while later, my wife's seafood soup arrives. It's basically a rice soup with seafood in it. Well, she eats some of the soup broth and rice, and then eats a piece of the seafood (think it was shrimp) and about threw up. As do most Thais, my wife will eat literally anything, but not that. She quickly grabbed a napkin and spit it out saying it wasn't cooked (it was white as the driven snow). She tried another piece of seafood, and that too was uneatable as well. At this point my wife was feeling sick just LOOKING at the soup. I told her to have the waitress get her something else to eat and she said she would.

 

After about 10 minutes (because, once again, no other waitress was allowed to assist us...had to be OUR waitress) the waitress finally comes over (only after being told by another waitress we needed something). My wife explains the problem, and is told that the soup will be HEATED UP...I shit you not...HEATED UP! No different meal (unless we paid for another meal), and no new meal of the same thing...they'll just heat up the broth. The offending soup that was likely a bowl of food Poison was whisked away.

 

My food had yet to arrive, but it finally did and I was just as displeased. My "medium" steak was burnt to a crisp. Not only were there no juices left in the steak, but the outside of the steak was so burnt I had to cut it off (the sides, top, and bottom) and eat the middle, which still sucked. Apparently the chef had plenty of time to burn the fuck out of my steak, but not enough time to cook the seafood in my wife's soup.

 

Just as I was finishing my meal, the waitress brought back my wife's re-heated soup, which my wife didn't even touch and could barely look at. Heating up soup is NOT going to cook the food inside the soup. What kind of chef do they have there? What kind of customer service is that? Bad, bad, bad.

 

My wife and I paid and took off. Now, my wife is no spoiled rotten prima donna, but as we were walking out, she declared we'll never eat there again, and I agree wholeheartedly. NFWIH (no fucking way in hell) will I step foot in that establishment for the remainder of my time in Pattaya. When we arrived home, she made the statement again.

 

Why am I so pissed off, you might wonder? After all, it's just a meal. Well, I'm pissed I thought my wife and I had found a restaurant in a nice location that we could go to and enjoy a meal and a few drinks. We have a baby, so we don't get to go out to dinner very much, but her mother is in town so she was watching the baby tonight and I was really looking forward to a nice meal out at a restaurant with my wife, which was absolutely ruined by shit service and an even shitier meal.

[999Baht]

Sorry to hear your night was ruined and thanks for the warning.

It's a shame as its a great location.

 

Perhaps they have changed chefs and this one does not have a clue!

 

Still no excuse though....I will make sure I don't eat there next month when visiting again.

[robio]

Funny...I just gave it a glowing review in my trip report. We did not have the same problems. I ate there last night for dinner and today for lunch. After living in Asia for 8 years I have learned that bad experiences happen sometimes, but are often not the norm. If you find a perfect place to eat at that price level, please do share! I will continue to eat at the Beer Garden until I am unlucky like you were.

[leadpencil]

That is a shame. I ate there one lunchtime a couple of weeks ago and the food was as good as always however I did notice that the service was not as good as previous visits. No smile and food, cutlery etc were all slammed on the table in a hurry.

[Ohyesuare]

I never found the food that great but it was at least edible. I guess only worth going for a beer then since they can't fuck that up.

[Scottish_Sparkie]

I dont like the food there to start with, its ok, but nothing special.

 

Cafe Des Amis is quite nice, i took my mother when she was over. Thai wife loves it, so do i.

 

I often eat around the darkside, and some of the thai food there is excellent, and very cheap

[Derbytony]

Last October me and a mate of mine went to PBG to eat.

I ordered spaghetti bolognese and he ordered chicken maryland.

My meal came first which of course I ate, but my friend's still hadn't arrived by the time I had finished mine, so he cancelled his order.

 

From that night on, throughout the next three days I had the worst diarrhea I've ever had. I can't prove it was from PBG but I hadn't eaten

anywhere or anything else at that time, so the likelyhood was very high.

 

I strongly suspect that their hygiene standards are very low, and is a reason why I won't go back.

 

Incidentally Shivers, if you fancy a great steak, go to the Big Horn Steakhouse in the alleyway up from Kiss Food and towards Megabreak. Very nice and good service.

[Shivers]

Always gave glowing reviews to PBG to friends of mine (who can vouch for that), but the place has really taken a dive. Forgot to mention that the last time we were there (not tonight...time before that) a waitress came and took away the wooden thing that holds all the condiments before we were done eating and gave it to some people at another table who didn't even have their food yet. Should have began avoiding the place at the first sign of trouble, but wanted to stick with it. Plenty of places around town where I don't have to put up with that sort of service/food more than once though.

 

Thanks for the suggestion of Big Horn Steakhouse...I know right where that is and will check it out next time I'm in the mood for steak.

 

A restaurant my wife and I liked quite a bit was Moom Aroi in Naklua (I wrote a review for the place, so you may be able to find it). It's right on the water, had terrific food, great service (made reservations and the place was jam packed, yet still sat us right next to the water as we had asked), and wasn't priced too bad for a once-a-month treat with the Misses. I'll have to take her out there to make up for the disaster tonight. We're going out again tomorrow night for dinner and either a movie or a massage...am hoping it will go better than it did tonight.

 

I know most of you guys are living the single life, but when you're married with a baby, nights out alone with the wife are to be treasured, so it really sucks to have a dinner ruined and my wife having to buy some food at the Pattaya Tai food market just so she can get something palatable when we were initially supposed to be going someplace fun with decent grub. Were it just a run-of-the-mill night out of me alone or with a buddy who's in town, I wouldn't even bother writing a review about bad service and poor food, but that shit tonight really chapped my ass (as you can tell).

[gilligan]

i also never found the food or service to be great here. most times i will order a few beers and french fries or chicken fried rice.

 

usually i can get a few beers in before my food arrives and by that time i don't really care about the food, lol

 

but i do love the location to mellow out

[stealf1]

i thought the food there was pretty crap as well,

nice place to chill and have a beer and watch the sun go down thou..

[jp vic]

Thats no good at all - I always found the food their quite reasonable without being outstanding - The beer cold and the service - maybe just an off night . I hope so I quite like the PBG

[jeff2704]

I ate there once in october the food was ok but the smell of shit put me off abit ,has nobody noticed it, theres a sewer that runs into the sea on table 9 lol

[Balla055]

PBG is hit or miss sometimes. I would like to think most of the time they are very good service and food. However sometimes shit happens there. About a year ago I know they hired a new cook/chef, and when the place is really busy its really difficult for the kitched to catch up so sometimes they slap shit meals together and push it out. Of course that is unacceptable. However, there is supposed to be a manager on duty at all times and if you tell her she'll take the item off your check bin, order you a new meal, or correct it to your satisfaction any way you want. I'm not sure if PattayaPete is a member here but he's the owner and is on the Pattayatalk forum. If you can track him down I'm sure he'll get you some new dinners on the house. It would be a shame to never go back there out of one bad experience. Next time note down the name of the waitress and make sure to talk to the manager before you storm out. Give them a chance to make it right.

[socrates]

I had a chat with the Assistant Manager there a guy called Aud - he specifically said if any BM's have any problems to speak to him directly - he works more in the daytimes mind

 

Nice guy and sorted out a minor problem very well - the waitress tried her best to undo all his good work

[ProjectXXX]

My buddy and I normally hang out here before Walking Street to slug down some quick cheap drinks, but have never eaten here.

[Sexyfarangman]

I ate there a lot last summer and was very pleased with the food and service.

[sydney95b]

PBG is hit or miss sometimes. I would like to think most of the time they are very good service and food. However sometimes shit happens there. About a year ago I know they hired a new cook/chef, and when the place is really busy its really difficult for the kitched to catch up so sometimes they slap shit meals together and push it out. Of course that is unacceptable. However, there is supposed to be a manager on duty at all times and if you tell her she'll take the item off your check bin, order you a new meal, or correct it to your satisfaction any way you want. I'm not sure if PattayaPete is a member here but he's the owner and is on the Pattayatalk forum. If you can track him down I'm sure he'll get you some new dinners on the house. It would be a shame to never go back there out of one bad experience. Next time note down the name of the waitress and make sure to talk to the manager before you storm out. Give them a chance to make it right.

 

Hey Shivers...

 

I concur with Balla on his remarks.

 

I managed to meet Pete last year during a daytime visit. He stopped by our table to see how everything was and told us that if we ever have a food/service issue to let one of the two managers on site know immediately and they will resolve the issue on the spot. He's put a lot thought into the service of the place - beer eskies behind the bar are filled with ice because normal fridges/coolers don't keep the beer cold enough - and when paying your bill the waitresses write down the denomination of money handed over to ensure that there's no confusion of what's been paid.

 

I never had a problem with the food there on more than three dozen visits, but know from working in the industry in my youth that they can't get it right everytime. The kitchen was a bit slow in the past on very busy nights, but I haven't been back since they did the kitchen renovation in September, but will give it a shot when I return for Songkran.

 

They really had a bad night to get you all worked up as you've always been such an easy going guy. I can understand your frustration though. IF... and that's a big "IF"... you return - ask to sit in Ploy's section and she will take very good care of you. One of their best waitresses (Guitar) left just before Christmas to return home for her mothers heart surgery, but has now returned to Pattaya and is working at Tequila Reef on Soi 7 - so stop by there if you want some outstanding service and good Mexican food.

 

See you in April...

 

Cheers matey...

[tode1640]

I haven't been there for a few months, so I can't comment upon whether it is going downhill. However, I have always found the food to be good doing the day and very early evening (maybe 6 or 7pm), but much worse (not to mention painfully slow) later on. I really think that their kitchen isn't big enough and they have too few cooking staff for the number of people they often have in there. That said, they do have a reputation for taking customer service seriously - it is a pity that you didn't ask to see the duty manager, they would probably have sorted things out.

[Regor21]

I have eaten there many times and only had the shits once but since the high season the prices have gone up and they seem to have alot of different staff now but it is a great site so you think I dont mind paying abit more .

I was there the other night with friends and was feeling like having some bangers and mash which is on many menus around town so thats what I ordered, its about 190 baht which is getting up there for price and the place was very busy, we all waited for a while but the food was served ok but my warning is when you order BANGERS and mash you dont get BANGERS you get BANGER and mash .

I was looking forward to getting stuck into a couple of bangers but only got one , I told the duty manager about the menu wording but made no difference so only got to eat one which was pretty average at that but the presentation of the meal was very good apart from that, so watch out if you like bangers, thats my 2 bobs worth .

[Shivers]

Could I of asked to see a manager? Yes, but I was way beyond that point. My wife and I were just ready to get out of there. Who knows how long it would have taken them to fix our meals (likely another hour), and after the service we'd gotten up to that point, we weren't inclined to wait around for that to happen. I don't want to have to talk to a manager to sort anything out. We'd already sent back the soup, which was supposed to be fixed, but wasn't, so why should I send back the steak as well just so they can burn it even more? The meal (the whole experience really) was beyond fixing.

 

As for speaking to someone and getting free meals from them...I have no Desire for free anything. Besides, a free meal of crap food and poor service wouldn't be worth the trip back there anyway.

 

Bad experiences happen at all restaurants on occasion, I would think. But with a few clues the time before last that things weren't up to par, and then with this most recent experience there, we'll just eat somewhere else for now on and give that place a miss. If anything, maybe I'll give it another chance this Summer, but it will be without my wife because I know for a fact she'll never go back no matter what.

[FROST MEDIC999]

Always a Pain in the Ass when you get a Poor Night out in a Restaurant or Bar.

 

I can understand your concerns and frustration, and if I were you would just put it down to One of those Nights.

 

I have been to many places, and unless everything was Shit, have given them a Second chance. This is something I think you should allow the PBG.

 

If on your Second visit it is still Crap then fine, they have had their chance to step up for you, and then I think it fair you then say Fuck them and not visit again.

[skystar]

Last year over the course of my three trips I dined at PBG on many occasions, with groups of friends, my girlfriends and also alone. The service was always great and the food very good. Their green curry chicken was kick arse hot complete with peppercorn sprigs which I mistakenly ate. Ahhh. The thai appetizers were great. I also returned on a few occasions for their imported pepper steak (NZ or AUS) which was superb complimented by smooth creamy mash and fresh, crisp perfectly cooked mixed vegies. All at a great price. I reallly could not fault PBG. I will be back late Feb to check it out again. Will not be deterred by the negatives. I met Pete last time and will repay him with my patronage again.

Edited January 19, 2012 by skystar

[Shivers]

Last year...

 

Exactly...last year. As I stated earlier, I've often eaten at PBG with friends and with my wife, and have recommended it to many others. But in my opinion, it has certainly gone down hill over the past few months. Things here change...gogos, restaurants, beer bars, etc, can all loose their appeal.

 

As for Pete, while I've never met the guy, I've heard a lot of nice things about him. However, just because there's a nice guy associated with a place, that isn't enough to get me to continue to go somewhere with bad food and poor service.

 

But by all means, don't take my word for it though, go pay your baht for over/under cooked food and rude service.

Edited January 19, 2012 by Shivers

[jay dee]

shame the staff let the place down, its a good spot

[robio]

Ate there again for lunch. You had bad luck Shivers - the place is the same as it always has been. Go back for another try! TIT - sometimes things aren't perfect. PBG is not perfect, but no other place has similar atmosphere location and food at that price level.