DINING OUT - ENTERTAINMENT

Mr. Boat Seafood

Don’t miss the boat!

by Miss Terry Diner

While driving out along Sukhumvit Road Na Jomtien towards Sattahip, Miss Terry pulled up at the MP petrol station on the left outbound, about 500 metres before Ambassador City Jomtien (on the right). We found we were right next to a collection of large rice barges which had been reconstructed as a restaurant complex, set in lush gardens! This serendipitous event was so striking that we decided to come back later that evening and try dining out at Mr. Boat Seafood.

At night, it is easier to spot, with the roof sections of the rice barges strung with lights, and spotlights on the hulls and prows of the boats. Parking is in the MP garage, so is safe, and actually within line of sight from the restaurant. You have the choice of dining on the (covered) top deck of rice barge 1, or in the air-conditioned hull of this boat, or in another air-conditioned rice barge off to the right. Being a very pleasant evening, we decided to dine on the top deck, where you are high enough up to avoid traffic fumes, but receive a cooling breeze instead.

The tables and chairs on the top deck are varnished wood, and since it turned out that the Mr. Boat Seafood Restaurant had only been open for one month, everything is still very clean and (dare I say it) shipshape! The crockery is fired and glazed earthenware and the cutlery an inexpensive style.

The menu is a typical seafood menu with numerous items. It commences with appetizers, generally in the range of 60-100 baht and includes chicken wings, beef jerky and Northern Thai sausage. Salads are up next (B. 60-80) and then a large range of spicy salads at B. 80. Stir-fried items follow, (B. 70-80) and include all the usual Thai items with beef, chicken, pork and prawns. The next section, soups and curries are again extensive (B. 70-150) and cover meats and seafood.

Being a seafood restaurant, the seafood section is very large and the items are offered done in many different ways. Crab can be ordered steamed, cooked over charcoal or as a yellow curry, for example. Also in this section are prawns (shrimps), mussels, squid and whole fish, with these being the top item at B. 200.

Towards the end of the menu (an oversight perhaps?) are entrees (B. 40-150) including omelettes and fried rice. Drinks are right at the end with “Kroster” beer and “Carlsberge” at B. 80 for a long neck, and other beverages also budget priced. By the way, there are a couple of photo items on each page, so you can see what some of the dishes look like.

The service staff were young and enthusiastic, rather than ‘silver service’, but then again, this was not an expensive restaurant, even though the restaurant building is most novel. They were also kept very busy running up and down the stairs to the top deck.

We ordered a varied selection including a prawns in spicy sauce (and it was, be warned), a prawns with mushrooms and snow peas in oyster sauce (very mild) and a “hor mok” which is a combination of various seafood items (crab, prawn, squid) done in a coconut cream. The main “event” was a plakapong whole fish done in lemon and garlic. This was remarkable in the fact that the chef had managed to retain the “lemony” flavour as well as the addition of the garlic “bite”. The fish fell apart very easily and was the pick of the evening for Miss Terry and our two companions for the evening, while Madame was enraptured with the prawns and spicy sauce.

We found Mr. Boat Seafood Restaurant to be a fun place to eat, and very inexpensive. The total bill for the four of us came to B. 690, and that included a couple of bottles of beer and some soft drinks as well as the dishes. It is not haute cuisine, but a very welcome addition to the seafood restaurant scene. You will not be disappointed.

Mr. Boat Seafood, (next to MP petrol station) Sukhumvit Road, Na Jomtien, 038 255 884.