Jomtien is known these days for its up-market dining, but one end of the market that has not been all that well served is the ‘pub grub’ end. With that in mind, we happily accepted the invitation from Martin Smith of the Old Speckled Hen and his main food suppliers, Big Joe’s English Food Company, to come and try their pub grub.

The Old Speckled Hen is just around the corner in Soi 9 on Jomtien Beach Road, and is about 1.2 kilometers from the Dong Tan police box, (probably best known for the well established Maesriruen Restaurant at the far end). It is a pub, in the English manner (as is Martin himself) and is established with the expat sporting (and drinking) crowd.

The pub is a double shophouse, very airy, and despite some high temperatures outside was cool enough inside with the multiple ceiling fans. Some large ferns are dotted around to give the place a ‘green’ image. The tiled dining area is on the right, with cane chairs, and the sit-up bar is on the left. At the back is a pool table and behind that are the loo’s. And very spotless ones at that too!

Being a pub, I will mention beer prices first. The most popular is currently Chang draft, and at B. 35 you can see why (ignoring the fact that it is one of the highest alcohol content beers around). Singha bottles are B. 50 and Heineken B. 70.

The menu is simple, handwritten, and begins with breakfast for B. 85. If all you want is beans on toast, that will set you back B. 45. I was warming to the place already! The main meals range from a beef burger at B. 85, or throw another B. 10 on the table and get the burger complete with chips and salad, right through to the top whack gammon steak, chips, peas and mushroom gravy at B. 195. In between you can have such items as a jumbo beef burger with egg, beans, mushrooms and black pudding. (That’s about as British as Martin Smith!) Other items include a BLT triple decker at B. 90 or a sausage, mash, peas and gravy for B. 155.

The meals came with serviceable cutlery (how I hate the Uri Geller variety of bending teaspoons) and a basket with sauces and other condiments, including HP sauce for the Brits around town and Tabasco for those who like the fire.

Madame had chosen a chicken pie with chips and peas, while I had ordered a gammon, egg and chips, complete with some apple sauce. The first item we both noted was that the vegetables were fresh, including the peas. Good marks right away, Madame also commenting on the excellent pastry of the chicken pie. My gammon steak was also very large (must be huge animals, these ‘gammons’) and there were enough chips to go with it.

A word here about chips. These are a ubiquitous accompaniment, but there are so many places that do not know how to cook them. Martin’s cook certainly does! I enjoyed my food, and Madame literally left a cleaned plate.

I reviewed the food from the Old Speckled Hen from the point of view of being true pub grub. As Martin Smith himself said, “This is a pub that serves grub, as opposed to a restaurant that sells beer.” From that point of view, the Old Speckled Hen does very well. The food was good, it was served in large quantities, it was not expensive and the beer was cold. There is not really much more that you can ask of pub grub, other than that it should be consumed in a clean establishment, and the Old Speckled Hen is spotlessly clean. If you are down Jomtien way and are feeling peckish, the Dining Out Team can highly recommend this pub - and its grub!

The Old Speckled Hen, Soi 9, Jomtien Beach Road, telephone 038 233 710, email [email protected] Parking in vacant lot opposite. Food from 11 a.m. till the cook goes home (supposedly about 9 p.m. but she’ll hang on if it is an emergency!).