DINING OUT - ENTERTAINMENT

Green Tree Restaurant and Pub - great value by the sea

The range of great bargains dining out in Pattaya is enormous. For many restaurants, an attractive price is used as a ‘hook’ to get diners into sometimes small and out of the way places. The Green Tree Restaurant and Pub is hardly any of those, being a large establishment on Beach Road, on the corner of Soi 1. From the front beer garden area, you look directly at Pattaya Bay, and on our evening we started there, enjoying the evening breezes.

I have to say, right from the outset, that we received one of the friendliest welcomes available in Pattaya, with the “beer promotion” girls totally charming in their effusive greetings. Miss Singha, Miss Heineken, Miss Asahi and Miss Breezer working very hard for their companies.

The restaurant/pub is actually in many sections. There is the beer garden, mentioned before, with rustic furniture and umbrellas, then coming back from Beach Road there is another beer garden under the big tree, closer to the evening’s live music, and whose tables have tablecloths, then further back again there is a pub section which is air-conditioned, with pool tables.

But there is more. At the front is a two storey octagonal building, with a sit-up cocktail bar on the ground floor, and a covered dining area one floor above. Dotted around the grounds are also large TV screens for sporting events. The Green Tree Restaurant and Pub is certainly trying to be all things for all people.

There are two menus. The “Brunch” from 8.30 a.m. until around 5 p.m. which offers American breakfast at B. 55, a bargain in itself. A steak sandwich is B. 59, while a filet mignon is only B. 120. Thai food is mainly under B. 60 and local beers B. 40-45 for a small bottle. There is also a Happy Hour period from 8.30 a.m. until 7 p.m.

The main dinner menu begins by advising the diners that there is a B. 20 bonus coupon for every B. 400 spent, so it’s off to a good start again. The groups begin with hors d’oeuvres, generally B. 90-120 with spring rolls, sausages and many snacks, then into the hydroponic cocktails and salads at B. 90-120, soups B. 65 and sandwiches B. 65-85.

Many main courses follow, with B. 225 seeming to be the top whack for the steaks and meats, and B. 250 for seafood items. Lots of Thai food items go for several pages, again very inexpensive, and then tucked away at the back is a third, khao tom menu for those who are peckish after 10 p.m. There’s certainly something for everyone, inexpensively.

We ordered the Special Steak set, which is on Tuesdays and Sundays, and this item promises soup, a steak and salad and bread roll and ice cream, all for B. 149. On paper, another bargain.

The soup on our evening was a seafood chowder and arrived piping hot and was thick and nourishing. So far, good marks.

The next course was the salad, which had the usual garden greens and tomato, over which was the ubiquitous 1000 Island sauce, perhaps applied with a trifle too heavy a hand, but it was pleasant enough.

Then came the steaks, with one a filet mignon and mushroom sauce for me, and the other a pepper steak for Madame. Both were cooked medium (we were not asked how we wanted it, but the end result was fine) and both were very tender. The steaks come from the Chockchai Ranch in Korat, I was informed. We finished with the ice cream, but it was gluttony more than anything else! We were both more than happy with our choices. And at B. 149 is a real bargain.

The overall impression of the Green Tree Restaurant and Pub is one of a fun eatery that has many cheap choices for the hungry. Day or night, and remember to leave a tip for the lovely beer promotion girls! Definitely recommended.

Green Tree Restaurant and Pub, North Pattaya Beach Road (corner of Soi 1), telephone 038 414 353, fax 038 414 355. On street parking. Open 8.30 a.m. until very late, seven days.