by Miss Terry Diner
One of the old adages in the food business goes, “Never
trust a skinny chef.” That said, you can certainly trust Jose, the chef and
owner of Au Bon Coin in Soi 5 in Pattaya. The caricature of Jose he penned
himself, so he does admit to roundness.
Au Bon Coin has been at its Soi 5 address for the past eight years, with the
restaurant nestling close to the new Northshore apartments, but it does not
seem that long ago that we shared a bottle of wine in the half renovated
premises, with Jose as chief carpenter, as well as chief cook and
bottle-washer. Time flies in Pattaya.
The restaurant has a very “settled” ambience about it. Everything looks as
if it is meant to be there. However, it is not French, but rather a
stylistic Lanna approach with the dark wood predominating. But with the
omnipresent Jose attending the tables, there is more than enough French
influence as well! At one end is a small art gallery, and at the other a
bar, with the tables in between. Upstairs there is an area for small
functions, again fitted out in the Lanna style.
The
menu is in two sections, with one for Jose’s rotating specials and the other
the standard offerings. On our evening, the special starters included the
mandatory frog leg fricassee, plus scallops, duck foie gras and a goat
cheese spring roll. The majority of these items were under B. 200. The
special mains had leg of lamb, or duck leg in red wine for B. 290, or a five
hours lamb flageolets for B. 350.
The standard menu has very similar pricing, with French starters B. 100-290,
seafood B. 120-230, salads B. 90-170 and soups B. 100-130. The charcoal BBQ,
B. 190-350, has brochettes, rib eye and tenderloin and another section
called Special France including a lamb stew (B. 350) and a boeuf bourguignon
(B. 290). There is another fish group at B. 270-350, or various meats and
poultry with different sauces at B. 190-370. There are also some Thai
favorites at B. 150. The wine list offers red and white (French naturally)
by the glass, small 330 ml carafe or 500 ml carafe. These are all
inexpensive, with the 500 ml carafes generally under B. 500.
We began with a French onion soup for me. This arrived in a large bowl,
piping hot to the table, with a generous serving of cheese on top. “It is ze
weather for the onion soup today,” said Jose as we looked at the driving
rain outside. It was superb, with lots of cheesy strings with every
spoonful.
At Jose’s insistence, we tried the goat cheese spring roll. This was another
superb item, with the thick, rich goat cheese filling the spring rolls. You
should try this one!
Again at Jose’s suggestion, we tried the five hours lamb flageolets. A sharp
knife was brought to the table, along with the large pot with the lamb,
beans and carrot. “This I do with slow cooking for five hours,” said Jose.
The sharp knife was superfluous as the lamb and the carrot just parted with
the touch of the fork. Again I enjoyed this dish, as Madame ate her way
through a very large brochette comprised of very tender beef.
“Desserts?” Jose enquired. But there was certainly no room for anything
else, other than a small space for the remainder of our red wine carafe.
It was a wonderful return to Au Bob Coin for the Dining Out team. Some
restaurants seem to fade away over the years, but this is not the case at Au
Bon Coin. Jose is certainly not fading away to a shadow, and the restaurant
is not either, it just gets better and better. No fanfare of trumpets, just
great food at very reasonable prices. Go there, even if just for the goat
cheese! However, having seen the way the restaurant filled up on the weekday
evening when we were there, I do recommend you book.
Au Bon Coin, 291/1 M 9, Soi 5 (Beach Road end), Central Pattaya, telephone
038 361 401. Secure off-street parking. Closed Wednesdays, open from 6.30
p.m. until late.
