Pattaya is a very dynamic and active city. New buildings
are popping up like mushrooms after the rain, and with them, new
restaurants. One such arrival on the scene is the Big Ben English
Restaurant, right on Beach Road, between the well established Zeppelin
Restaurant and the Pattaya Klang/Beach Road T junction. If you have not seen
it yet, don’t fret, it will only have been there for two weeks by the time
you are reading this review.
The
site is perfect for a restaurant, with the dining area set high on wooden
decking overlooking Beach Road and the beach umbrellas, with a wonderful
cooling breeze coming off the bright blue water of Pattaya Bay, in the
mornings. It is bright blue in the mornings, believe me!
The venue is partially covered in, and is set around a
very old and very large banyan tree, which has been left untouched, with the
roofing arranged around the trunk. The ‘save the trees’ campaigners will
be very happy at the way owner Rony Fineman has left the tree and built the
dining area and its roofing around it.
The tables are large, the wicker chairs are padded and
comfortable and the service personnel were happy, dressed in bright floral
outfits. Behind are the gardens of Nova Lodge, and one really is communing
with nature in this restaurant.
The 73 item menu is quite comprehensive, with the main
dishes being advertised on a sandwich board on the Beach Road side. One of
the best sellers is the all day English Breakfast (up till 6.30 p.m.) at B.
150, complete with toast, marmalade and coffee, and many of the diners I saw
on the morning of my visit were availing themselves of this choice.
Other typical English items included roast dinners with
all the trimmings at B. 195, cod and chips for the same price, home made
pies and pasties (B. 170) and the archetypal British bangers and mash at B.
195.
The menu also incorporates several Thai items, generally
around B. 120, as well as many choices of pasta and pizza (B. 140-180) plus
beef tacos (B. 95) and steaks (B. 195-400).
Big Ben English Restaurant also advertises a happy hour
from 10.30 a.m. through till 6 p.m. (a happy seven and a half hours) with
Singha and Heineken beers at B. 50.
Since it was still morning when I arrived, I decided to
try their English breakfast, and it was served on a most fetching
rectangular white plate. The bacon rashers were thick and juicy back bacon,
not the crispy shrivelled streaky variety so often served up as
“English” and the plate also carried two fried eggs, two grilled tomato
halves, two sausages, some home-fried potatoes and baked beans. The two
slices of toast arrived with a foil butter pat (and even though I personally
dislike butter pats, at least this was spreadable and was not frozen rock
hard as is the norm around town) and the serving of marmalade was generous.
Coffee came with milk (condensed) rather than the universal dairy creamer.
Sugar in the bowl too, which for me is much better than the rip-it-open
paper sachets that dispense sugar crystals all over me and the surrounding
countryside. (I admit to being not too dextrous in the mornings!)
The Big Ben English Restaurant is a welcome addition to
the relaxed dining venues in Pattaya. The venue is good and certainly
relaxed. The food was fine and not expensive for the standard and quantity
received. The range is such that there is still plenty to choose from, even
if English food is not your first choice. It is certainly a place to eat and
take in the seaside. Well worth a visit.
As a small but significant additional plus, there is a
Siam Commercial Bank exchange booth in a corner of the restaurant area, so
finding enough money should never be a problem!
Big Ben English Restaurant, Beach Road 50 metres before Pattaya Klang
T-junction (in front of Nova Lodge and next to the Zeppelin Restaurant),
Central Pattaya. Open seven days, 10.30 a.m. until midnight, but will
shortly be opening earlier. On street parking.
