Well over 300 THB and exceptionally good

[ChiFlyer]

We finally made it to the reopened Bruno's the other night with another couple.

https://brunosrestaurantwinebar.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral

IMO Bruno's today does not qualify for the "Exceptional" portion of the title of this thread. I am not saying that it is bad, but it is so-so at this point in time. This was a little disappointing to me as I used to be a fan. Again they have just recently reopened, so maybe they will work things out.

Several points:

• The menu, though broad, is not as broad as back in the day. Additionally they were  out of several items.
• I ordered a cocktail to start (a Rob Roy) and the bartender clearly had no idea how to make one, despite my offering directions. Probably a language problem.
• The biggest problem was that all of the food was just so-so and at a place like this one is expecting better.
• The house wine (sounds great at 1000 a bottle) is just bad.
• Service is good, but not enough to make up for the other problems.

I hope to read that they are turning things around, as this used to be a favorite place of mine for an occasional take the Thai Wife out for a nice dinner. 

A few pics.

The Thai Wife ordered scallops. She very much likes the ones across the parking lot at Gian's. She said these did not begin to compare.

I ordered Beef Stroganoff as they were out of both of my first two choices. It was mediocre at best.

The other couple guy ordered Pene and Salmon. Not much Salmon in the pic and he said ok but not great.

The other couple lady ordered a Caesar Salad. Looked great, but the chicken was dry and tasteless.

 

All in all dinner for 4 with one bottle of house wine, a couple of beers, and two cocktails came to a little over 5000. Will I be back? - not very soon.

Edited January 12, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[happyfalang]

Sorry to hear Brunos isn't up to past standards.  Hope they figure it out.

 

 

[ChiFlyer]

I have posted a review of Bacco Beach in another thread. I am providing a reference here as the post could just as easily gone in this thread.

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[ChiFlyer]

On 10/8/2022 at 12:39 AM, Stillearly said:

I visited Mai Thai Cuisine last night , for the first time since covid , it's still a great restaurant 

excellent reviews on tripadvisor and the menu is on there as well , Thai , Western and Fusion ... a huge selection of beers as well

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293919-d7147190-Reviews-Mai_Thai_Cuisine-Pattaya_Chonburi_Province.html

this was my meal , also posted on the food thread 

complimentary appetiser , chicken wings in honey , seabass fillet in with red curry ( might have been Choo-Chee ) , Mango Sticky Rice 

and the bill .. about £40 and worth it

Even though Pattaya is fairly quiet , it was full last night and they actually added an extra table for me .. ( it was raining so the outside tables weren't available)  .. so probably worth booking to make sure 

@Stillearly - I was going through this thread tonight looking for what I had missed or more likely forgotten about. I noticed your post. With the restaurant being in Naklua it is close to a non-starter for me due to travel time, but those food picks look great.

I am sure you know the difference with regard to this question, but does the Thai food have Isan options or is it more Bangkok Farang?

tia,

CF

Edited May 20, 2023 by ChiFlyer

[Stillearly]

24 minutes ago, ChiFlyer said:

@Stillearly - I was going through this thread tonight looking for what I had missed or more likely forgotten about. I noticed your post. With the restaurant being in Naklua it is close to a non-starter for me due to travel time, but those food picks look great.

I am sure you know the difference with regard to this question, but does the Thai food have Isan options or is it more Bangkok Farang?

tia,

CF

I think they can make the dishes as spicy as required, seen lots of Issan girls eating there 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Stillearly

[ChiFlyer]

Been a while since anyone posted in this forum. The following is a bit of a rework for my post concerning "Alter Ego" that I did over on PA. This should probably be thought of as a cautionary tale. 🙂

In a thread on PA I noticed a comment that "Alter Ego" has better oysters than "Cafe des Amis". Caught my attention as I think Cafe des Amis has excellent oysters. The earlier mentioned poster also said that the food at AE was much better than CDA. The two venues have very different styles and I think that type of comparison has no value.

I made an AE reservation for 4 for another couple, the Mrs, and myself. I made that reservation for a Friday night as the other poster said that was a good oyster night. Friday night Pattaya traffic was predictably bad and the construction delays on Suk out our way were almost as bad. It took 70 minutes travel time for a 25 km route.

Probably I should have spent more time reading the earlier PA AE thread to realize better what I was getting into. When my friends and myself read the menu we were unhappy by the limited ordering choices. None of us are big eaters and an 8 course option was something none of us wanted to do. The current menu only lists that option. We spoke with the server at length about what other options might exist and she became rather vexed with us.

Additionally the vaunted oysters could not be ordered alone. There was an oyster option in the entree section, but it involved a sauce I was not interested in.

Anyway, we bailed and walked over to Beefeater, which I personally do not care for, but most everyone else seemed happy with. 

My takeaways:

• AE is a little too hoity toity for my crowd.
• I doubt I will ever brave Pattaya Friday Night dinner time traffic again.
• AE is a gourmet supper club IMO, but the menu options are too restrictive. 
• I would guess that the AE food is as good as others have stated, but it is not a place for me.

I hope that I did not offend any other well meaning posters concerning this venue.

[ChiFlyer]

Royal Cliff Grill Room update.

A friend of mine who enjoys a good steak is coming to town in a few weeks. I made a reservation for December 7th at the Royal Cliff Grill Room over the phone. As the connection had some background noise and the person on the other end spoke less than perfect English, I also sent an email asking for confirmation.

I got a reply a few hours later from the manager apologizing and explaining that they were closing the Grill Room effective that date. He tried to steer me over to their Caprice restaurant. I asked for some clarifications and got the following feedback.

I had some additional correspondence with the manager of The Grill Room. A few excerpts.

- Is The Grill Room closing for good or is this a temporary closing for remodeling or something like that?

Please note that our Royal Grill Room will be temporarily closed for this season and is scheduled to reopen next year, however the dates are not defined.

- With regard to the Caprice, is this a new opening? Is it in the same location as The Grill Room?
Kindly be informed that Caprice is our fine dining restaurant which offers a stylish Western and Mediterranean inspired creative menu prepared only with the finest ingredients available. The Restaurant is situated at the Royal Wing Suites & Spa while the Royal Grill Room & Wine Cellar is located at the Royal Cliff Beach hotel. Please find more information regarding the Caprice Restaurant at the following link: https://www.royalwingsuites.com/dining/caprice/. Also, kindly find attached the menu for your review.

Caprice Menu 2023-2024.pdf

 

Caprice - Dry-Aged Beef - December 2023.pdf

 

 

 

[ChiFlyer]

On 10/10/2022 at 11:48 PM, ChiFlyer said:

Thanks for posting this. As fate would have it we are eating out a little more often this week, as we are going out of town next week. We decided to give the Rain Forest Cafe a first try. Been a while since we tried a new restaurant.

https://www.facebook.com/RainForestCafePattaya

The overall ambience of the place is quite impressive as shown in the @CampariO pics. We were there on a rainy night, so my pics do not look nearly as impressive.

I like the place. The atmosphere is fun. The overall menu is extremely broad with both Thai and Western food. My take on it is the Thai food is probably the better way to go. The food is affordable. We spent about 1000 on two higher end dinners, two beers, and a sugar free coke. They do not sell wine by the glass, but have bottles available. I did not want to go this route, so I did not ask more. I did notice that the wine bottle shelf had one brand of wine. I would guess that it is rather pedestrian and also over priced.

I thought the food was decent. I was not wow'd. Still they have a huge menu, so we are likely to go again and try a few other things.

A few pics

The outside area

The al fresca inside area (I can not make up my mind, if I like or hate the lighting)

The fully inside area (we chose this one as it was a muggy night)

The GF ordered a spicy pork dish

I went with Sweet and Sour Grouper (it was decent, but no pineapple <- 😞)

 

The Mrs and I had not been to Rain Forest since my last post on 10/22/2022. We went the other night. I feel that they have gone downhill some and that their business looks to be a little off. 

Just saying.

[ChiFlyer]

I got an unsolicited email ad from an Italian Restaurant called "Sicily".

https://www.sicily.restaurant/?_gl=1*pegndu*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjwh4-wBhB3EiwAeJsppIMSRB0uaEmNTVdShEY-D5xc0QcYQaeT6MI8dG9k8rqXOgnTNHicHRoCe14QAvD_BwE

It is out on Maphrachan Lake. They have a huge menu and many of the pics look very inviting, Looks to be a little expensive for an Italian restaurant, probably close to Gian's for price comparison purposes.

Anyone been out here? I am thinking about giving it a try.