7 week restaurant review

[Rone]

Just got back from our latest visit (eating out on 47 nights) and these were our favourites and otherwise:

Best in category restaurants: considering food quality, service, and value (ambience to a lesser extent.

In town Thai : without doubt BAM BAMS. Good food and value with good service and a nice family atmosphere.

Out of town Thai SABAI on Soi 116.. Great food, value and friendly service. We hoped Naab Thong may have given it some opposition but it was closed - without notice.

Best Thai serving European food: PUNG PLUI no other Thai restaurant came close.

Best non Thai in town: ALL IN HUA HIN scores highly in every category, plus quantity. The biggest problem with this restaurant is getting a table. Bonus is the great deli at the back.

Best non Thai out of town: TERRACE 90 still a great favourite with the added advantage of a lovely setting. Apart from other visits had our Christmas day lunch here which was first class.

Best WOW factor: The Dusit Christmas Eve dinner. Fantastic

Still worth of a mention KIMS KITCHEN
Only bad meal CHEN SEAFOOD next door but one to Bam Bams - no taste, small portions, cold and tried to charge extras on the bill (checked because heard other tables complaining) funny incident when my wife asked for an ash tray she was told no smoking inside (no problem) but the same member of staff then lit a fag and stood behind us!!
Biggest disappointment - IRICE by Tira Tirra apartments. Went a couple of times and meal always seemed a bit more expensive. Realised that they were charging town center prices for drinks - example 100bt for chang when the likes of All In, Pung Plui, Kims Kitchen all within walking distance were charging 65/70Why do restaurants do this, it must cost them business in the long term.

[Bristolian]

Thanks for the excellent and objective feedback. Everyone has their favourites and their less than favourite restaurants and we all call them as we see them.

Looks like the overall impression was good with very few exceptions

I like the categories especially the Wow factor

[Rone]

Hi Bristolian. The overall impression was actually very good. Considering the many breakfasts and lunches we also enjoyed. to only report on one bad meal is exceptional. Is it my imagination or is the general hygene getting better? Even some of the street traders were sporting disposable gloves and selling from covered cabinets.

[Bristolian]

Is it my imagination or is the general hygene getting better? Even some of the street traders were sporting disposable gloves and selling from covered cabinets.

It's also my impression that hygiene is generally improving, even with the street stalls. I'm not sure how much this has to do with regulation but I suspect it has more to do with increasing customer expectations.

Definitely a change in the right direction

[blue05]

hi Rone

All In Hua Hin? is that a real vote? never had anything over average there. I want it to be good but it has been so bad it is just off the radar

[Amarita]

Last time I went to All in Hua Hin I got a roll
full of ants. Real, living ants. I discovered them
after I had eaten half roll. Of shit - I still dream
of these ants crawling in my stomach.

[Homer]

Between this and the Pung Plui thread I'll have to give it another try. Went once shortly after it opened. Had a Thai omelette that was way overcooked even by Thai standards. Also had another dish, think it was pork and basil on rice, that had so little pork it was somewhere between a rip off and vegetarian. On top of that the wait staff had the speed of sloths and attitudes with all the charm of a depressed teenager. Maybe I visited on a bad day for them.

[richard]

Pung Plui is recommended as best Thai selling western food not Thai. Service very dependant on how busy they are

Have to agree with all on the list except Terrace 90. Been there three times now and at best mediocre

Bam Bams, All in Hua Hin were exceptional

[Dannie Boy]

I believe that one of the problems with the majority of restaurants is consistency - even the good ones sometimes get it wrong and if that's the day you visit, you've got a bad (first) impression. One of my favourite Thai restaurants in town is Moonshine and Plateau and one of my favourite dishes there is Tiger Prawn and Pinnapple curry - really hot and spicy with a fragrant coconut sauce. But even there I had it one time and it was not up to its normal standard, so if that had been my first visit, I wouldn't have been over impressed.

Last night I was watching a series of "Masterchef the Professionals" - professional chefs competing to be voted the best and one of the tests was serving 120 covers in 2.1/2 hours, so some pressure, but one of the dishes (a form of stir fried prawn) cooked by one of the chefs was sent back because the prawns were part raw, so even professional chefs can get it wrong. And then of course we all have different taste buds and expectations, so what one person thinks "wow" another says "its ok".

[dtaai-maai]

Having been dragged there kicking and screaming by good friends who for some reason insist on going there whenever they visit HH, I can't believe All In HH could ever be considered exceptional for anything other than its mediocrity on just about every level other than quantity.
In at least half a dozen visits to Terrace 90 I've always been extremely happy with every aspect of the meal.
We're going to try BamBams tomorrow and Sabai soon.

All of which demonstrates that while these threads are excellent as a guide for new places to try, it always comes down to personal choice in the end, and we are lucky to have so many choices available.


EDIT: Dannie, our posts crossed, but same basic message.

[Dannie Boy]

Having been dragged there kicking and screaming by good friends who for some reason insist on going there whenever they visit HH, I can't believe All In HH could ever be considered exceptional for anything other than its mediocrity on just about every level other than quantity.
In at least half a dozen visits to Terrace 90 I've always been extremely happy with every aspect of the meal.
We're going to try BamBams tomorrow and Sabai soon.

All of which demonstrates that while these threads are excellent as a guide for new places to try, it always comes down to personal choice in the end, and we are lucky to have so many choices available.


EDIT: Dannie, our posts crossed, but same basic message.

DM, I have always been happy with the food at the Sabai restaurant, so hope your visit comes up to expectations

[Homer]

Pung Plui is recommended as best Thai selling western food not Thai. Service very dependant on how busy they are

Some of my restaurant rules of thumb:
1) A place that cooks simple dishes badly doesn't warrant another visit.
2) A place with wait staff that does the basics of customer service poorly by local standards when there are few customers doesn't get another visit unless it's the only unpleasant aspect of a visit.

Pung Plui failed on both counts. But I have more rules of thumb, including:

3) Give a place another try if a year has passed and others recommend it.

[blue05]

been to Pung Plui twice in the last week or so and both times food was good and service was good, so no complaints from me there

[Takiap]

I can't believe All In HH could ever be considered exceptional for anything

I agree with you 100%. I've been there countless times in the past, and I certainly wouldn't say there is anything exceptional about the place or the food. Admittedly, there's nothing wrong with the food, but I have always seen it as just being a normal/regular small restaurant, getting customers mostly due to the convenience of its location.

For Isaan food, I quite like the little place that's opened up in soi 6, just a bit past the Borfai temple, called Esaan Hut. Had a few meals there with Mrs Takiap and it's been good each time. It's only a small place so not many tables, but it also means you get good treatment.....lol. Oh, and Big Boy......they have proper chairs.

I also like the Anantisila on Takiap beach for a nice evening meal although I haven't eaten there in ages because it's a bit out of the way now. That place that looks like a boat in Takiap was also a favorite of mine when we stayed in Takiap, and in all the times we ate there, we never once had a bad meal.

Bam Bams I haven't tried yet, but will report back when I do. To be honest, I've had many a good meal (Thai) in little restaurants that don't even appear to have a name, so of course they usually remain the preserve of local Thais and a few local expats.


I don't mind trying any place, as long as it means I get to avoid MK and/or Fuji. I'll never understand the attraction of a tub of boiling water; a bit of Knorr chicken/pork seasoning, and a few handfuls of vegetables. How utterly boring, but of course it doesn't stop their either, because they then go and expect you to wash it down with some warm water which is rumored to be tea.

[Big Boy]

I will say that I've never had a bad meal in Bam Bams, but to be honest, I wouldn't go anywhere near the place at the moment (and that goes for the other restaurants on that temple wall stretch). They are victims of their own success - too busy. People are packed in there with shoe horns.

IMHO, they are very worth trying, but wait until the High Season gets a little lower.