For the lovers of history, Miss Terry Diner
stayed at the Montien Hotel on Pattaya’s Second Road in 1975, when it was
known as the Regent of Pattaya, so it is always like coming ‘home’ when
I walk into the hotel foyer. The architecture and decor gives it a certain
cohesion to its ambience and the staff are always so welcoming.
For the Dining Out Team it was also an opportunity to
catch up with the Montien’s energetic PR lady, Pornpimon Geybui, and the
executive chef, Horst Reichl.
We
went on a Friday night for the Seafood BBQ theme buffet. These theme buffets
have been a feature of the Montien for a while, and we were interested to
see what changes there had been since our last visit over 12 months ago. The
theme buffets cover Tuesdays (Asian Buffet B. 420 ++), Wednesdays
(Mediterranean Buffet B. 450++), Fridays (Seafood BBQ buffet B. 500++) and
Saturdays (International Buffet B. 450++). Since the Montien is very much a
‘family’ hotel, children are also catered for with prices for children
only slightly more than 50 percent of the adult price.
The Seafood Buffet is in the Verandah Coffee Shop; why
they continue to call it a ‘coffee shop’ is a mystery, as it is a fully
fledged restaurant with a choice of air-conditioned dining, or covered
section or out around the pool. Being a balmy evening, we chose the pool
courtyard and it was a delightful area for dinner.
As always, the staff in their tropical floral outfits
were friendly and attentive, and the tablecloths and cutlery of high
standard. This is not a ‘coffee shop’ venue with laminate table tops!
The
secret of buffets is to take the small plates, rather than the large ones,
so you can try as much variety as possible. I decided to begin with cold
items, choosing a large portion of salmon as the feature, surrounded by some
mussels, shrimps, crab sticks and rock lobsters, with some of the many
condiments to accompany them.
Madame on the other hand went for the “Fritto Misto”
live cooking station picking up some salmon, sweetlip fish and shrimps, done
in the Italian style. Again there were more than adequate choices in sauces,
with aioli, wasabi, tartare, Thai plum sauce and blue cheese dip.
After our ‘appetizers’ we headed for some more of the
live cooking stations, and being a carnivore, I was unable to go past the
BBQ peppered fillet steak, though I did manage to throw a couple of rock
lobsters on as well, to go along with the mustard-potato salad and a spicy
pineapple salad. The pineapple salad is particularly good, the spice
offsetting the sweetness of the local pineapples. Do try it!
Madame stuck to the seafood theme, returning with some
huge prawns and BBQ’d fish, plus some baked herb-crusted Norwegian salmon
and appropriate sauces.
Madame was unable to find room for desserts, but for some
strange reason I suddenly felt like ice cream, and the Montien even does the
legendary ‘deep-fried’ ice cream, as well as many other desserts.
There were too many choices for the team to try
everything on offer, and there will be too many for you too! Even trying to
stick to small plates, executive chef Horst has more than all bases covered,
and it would be impossible to sample everything in one evening. As it was a
seafood evening, we paid particular attention to that side of the buffet,
and there were again more than just a few choices, with many items presented
in different ways, to suit all palates. However, there were enough
‘other’ choices to keep everyone happy.
We enjoyed ourselves immensely, and the price is very
reasonable when you compare it with others offered around town. We were glad
we re-acquainted ourselves with the Montien’s Theme Nights, and can
heartily suggest you do the same! By the way, they run from around 6 p.m.
until 10 p.m. Highly recommended.
The Montien Hotel, Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, telephone 053 428
155, fax, 053 423 155, email pattaya @montien.com. Theme Buffet evenings
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Secure parking within the hotel
car parks.
