by Miss Terry Diner
One of the newest restaurants along Jomtien Beach Road
is the Jomtien Boathouse, serviced suites with a restaurant on street
level. It is the latest venture from Ib and Kannikar Ottesen, proprietors
of the Residence Suites, the Residence Garden and the Captain’s Corner
Restaurant, so it has the right credentials.
The restaurant decor is decidedly nautical, with
decking, bollards and rope along the front, portholes here and there and
even the binnacle from the M/S Vestkysten, an old Danish rescue ship. You
can dine outside - covered or under the stars beside the palm trees, or
you can dine inside where a three piece Filipino band entertains with soft
music from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. six night a week.
There are two distinct kitchen areas. One is at the
rear of the building, an air-conditioned ‘cold’ preparation kitchen,
whilst the second is a BBQ kitchen at the front of the restaurant section.
Both are under the direction of a young Thai chef, K. Naruk, who spent
most of his life in Denmark and trained in Europe.
Rounding out the restaurant is a temperature controlled
wine cellar, again done in the nautical theme with a good variety of wines
including French, Australian, Italian, South African and even a
Californian Zinfandel.
Having just opened, the menu is still being revised,
but commences with Appetizers (50-90 baht) including a deep fried calamari
and onion rings, and then moves into Starters (B. 90-130) with a smoked
salmon roulade and a shrimps in garlic butter with cheese catching my eye.
Following that there are Soups and Salads (B. 65-130) including an oxtail
soup.
The next section is very interesting, called Brochette
(B. 199-330) and is available between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Exponents of the
French language will recognise this as ‘skewer’ and the Jomtien
Boathouse is offering the longest and largest ‘skewer’ food you will
ever see. Believe me when I say the skewer is closer to a sword than
anything else! The BBQ tray is brought to your table by K. Naruk and
includes items as three lamb chops (yes, three!) or beef tenderloin and
beef sirloin on the one skewer or river prawns, or combinations of
everything. These are served with baked potato or french-fries, salad and
freshly baked bread (done on the premises).
After the Brochette there are European and Scandinavian
dinners (B. 195-275) with the usual pepper steaks, but flamed in brandy!
Then there is a small selection for children and then a dozen Thai items
(B. 90-150), followed by desserts. There is also a small daytime
‘snack’ menu with sandwiches and burgers (generally around B. 95).
We dined with Ib, and we began with a very tasty
terrine with a vinaigrette dressing and fresh bread, all washed down with
the house white wine (excellent). For mains, Madame chose the river prawns
in panang curry, while I went for the beef stroganoff and Ib selected the
lamb chop skewer.
Madame’s prawns were outstanding, split lengthways
(like rock lobsters), soft and succulent. (Madame was still talking about
this dish the next day!) My stroganoff was also notable in that instead of
the usual scrappy little pieces of meat, it was made up of large tender
slices in an excellent stroganoff sauce. I also had some of the lamb
skewer which was cooked correctly and again very tasty. We finished with a
crepe Suzette for Madame and an Irish coffee for me - completely full!
The Dining Out Team found that the Jomtien Boathouse
was a very logical extension of the Captain’s Corner BBQ concept. The
same friendliness and quality was there, the food was excellent and the
ambience superb. Undoubtedly the Jomtien Boathouse will become a favourite
with the Pattaya food folk - it has all the right ingredients, and a very
talented young chef. In the team’s opinion, this is the best new
restaurant in Jomtien. It can cater to all tastes and children as well. I
gave the Jomtien Boathouse the highest recommendation possible. Brilliant
concept and brilliantly executed. Congratulations, Ib and Kannikar!
The Jomtien Boathouse, Jomtien Beach Road (0.5 km along from Dongtan
Police Box), telephone 038 756 143.
