All the fun, without the firing squad!
by Miss Terry Diner
What a way to start the New Year! Dinner with Louis
Noll, the new president of the local chapter of the world-famous
gastronomic group, the Chaine des Rotisseurs. The Dining Out Team
accomplished that by visiting Louis at his restaurant, the Mata Hari.
It had been over a year since we paid an “official”
visit to Mata Hari, and in that time, Louis, who admits that, “I like
playing with my restaurant”, had made some changes. The first and most
obvious was the menu - not only have items been added, changed, deleted or
otherwise manipulated, but it has a new format. As before, it is in
English, Dutch and Thai (there are also German, Italian and French
translations), but the story of Mata the martyr has gone - but Louis is
willing to relate her firing squad fate if you are not aware of what
really happened to one of Europe’s most famous ‘mia nois’.
The menu begins with five soups, generally around 100
baht, headed by an interesting Mediterranean fish soup and then runs into
four salads (B. 150-250) with an avocado and prawn at the top end and then
four pastas (B. 220-260) including a spinach and ricotta ravioli with
smoked salmon in lobster sauce. Louis can be adventurous!
Ten starters are next (B. 150-250) and includes smoked
salmon, a beef or salmon carpaccio, grilled oysters and scallops on
creamed spinach and grilled cheese sauce. The choices of main courses are
enormous (19, plus blackboard specials) and range between B. 240-395.
These cover all meats and fish and what is not generally known is that
Louis imports all his own northern hemisphere fish direct, so if it is on
the menu, it has been correctly transported. All the mains come with salad
or vegetables and a choice of four potato styles.
There is also a dedicated Thai menu (B. 100-220)
including all the popular items in soups, salads, curries, stir-fries and
rice and noodle dishes. The blackboard items change regularly and on our
evening included monkfish, turbot, crocodile satays and beluga caviar!
Miss Terry was sorely tempted!
A brief word on the restaurant itself. It is not large,
but rather could be called ‘intimate’ with well drilled service staff,
and of course, the larger than life, ebullient Louis! The tablecloths are
linen, as are the napkins, and the cutlery and glassware are of high
standard. The background music is not intrusive - it is a restaurant
atmosphere that encourages unhurried indulgence.
We began with the grilled oysters for me and a spicy
mixed seafood salad (Thai menu) for Madame. Both were excellent, and the
prawns in the salad were delicious (and spicy). To wash it all down, we
stuck with the house white - an Australian wine, which is drunk from some
new exquisite long stem crystal glasses. The starters were also followed
by Louis’ own sorbet, on our evening it was mango.
For mains, I had ordered a US sirloin green peppercorn
steak, while Madame had selected the sea-wolf fish item. The steak was
superb, and cooked exactly to my order, and Madame’s fish, a white meat
similar to cod, was also excellent. To go with my main, Louis presented me
with a veritable goldfish bowl sized glass of house red wine (Australian
Hardy’s). The salads came as a side plate and included fresh garden
vegetables.
Desserts? Miss Terry never eats desserts, unless she is
at Mata Hari, where the Cr่me Brulee Amoretto is to die for (Mata
did)! Louis tried to tempt me with his made in-house Tiramisu, but the
attraction of the Cr่me Brulee was too strong.
Mata Hari impressed the nobility of Europe with her
dancing. The Mata Hari Restaurant impressed the Dining Out Team with the
inventive cuisine and excellent food at very reasonable prices. In the
‘value for money’ stakes, it would be hard to find better in Pattaya.
It is always a delightful experience to eat there, and Louis’ presence
as a raconteur just adds to it all. Again, very highly recommended.
Mata Hari Brasserie, 216/3 M9, Pattaya 2 Road, between Soi 8 and Soi 7,
telephone 038 420 939 or email [email protected]
