DINING OUT - ENTERTAINMENT

Pattaya, is it the culinary capital of Thailand?

by Miss Terry Diner

Thailand is famous for its indigenous cuisine, but many tourists are unaware of the fact that “Thai food” has several regional differences, with each having its own enthusiastic following throughout the world.

Benihana (Royal Garden Plaza) - not only good food, but a fun night out as well.

In the North of Thailand, there was the Burmese/Indian influence, with Khao Soi, the spicy Burmese chicken curry being one of the best known noodle dishes, with many noodle stalls using carefully guarded recipes handed down from generation to generation. One of the famous Khao Soi outlets in Chiang Mai is simply called “Just Khao Soi” and visitors to the Rose of the North should put this place on their ‘must visit’ list. Another is Khao Soi Fah Ham, an authentic ‘side of the road’ establishment which is run by the granddaughter of the founder.
By contrast, the South of Thailand cuisine has a Malay influence, with many curries using the rich creamy coconut milk in their cooking. Gaeng Panang is one of those and is not too spicy hot for diners not used to Thai chillis! Another southern dish is Gaeng Masaman, a curry made with cubed steak, potato, peanuts and tamarind. This one is not spicy at all, and should be eaten with the famous Thai Jasmine rice.
North-eastern cuisine is the hottest, coming from the Khmer influences, and is liberally peppered with ‘prik khee noo’ a very small, but very fiery chilli. This cuisine is for the seasoned chilli eater.
Central cuisine, generally based around Bangkok, has many influences, mainly produced by the migration of ethnic groups through the central plains of Thailand, all super-imposed on the basic Chinese cuisine that was brought by the ‘Tai’ speakers from Yunnan in southern China. Sweet green curry, known as Gaeng Keo Waan, is the starting off point here, usually with chicken, though pork may be used.
Of course, there is one national dish that is thought of immediately when people discuss Thai cuisine, and that is Tom Yum Goong (even used as the name of a recent movie), the spicy prawn soup that can bring tears to the eyes, though most restaurants will make it less spicy if you ask. A good contrast is another soup called Tom Kha Gai, a creamy chicken in coconut milk, with lemongrass herb.

High class service and delicious food at Marco Polo in the Montien.

There are literally hundreds of Thai dishes, all mouth-watering, and what is even better, you will find that all the regional cuisines can be found in the resort city of Pattaya.
However, Pattaya cuisine does not end there. There is almost every known style of the world’s kitchen available in the resort city. Eating is cheap in Pattaya. Even the local residents tend to eat out rather than prepare meals at home. Dinner for two can be had for under 100 baht at a roadside eatery, and even in our top international restaurants the cost will be a lot less than the diner would spend overseas.
The range of cuisines available is staggering, from local Thai ‘Hawker’ food, regional Thai like Isaan, Southern and Royal Thai, Indian, Sea Food, Italian, Punjabi, Greek, American, Tex-Mex, Cajun and Creole, Irish, German, Japanese, Belgian, Turkish and French. At last count there were over 300 restaurants in our city.
You can eat perched on a stool beside a noodle cart or have your every need catered for by uniformed waiters in the hushed environment of world class fine dining restaurants. And they certainly are world class. The recent Skål International World Congress delegates were very enthusiastic about their ‘dine-around’ in which they dined at restaurants from this list: Jomtien Boathouse, Residence Garden, Mata Hari, Casa Pascal, Bruno’s, King Seafood, Hard Rock Café, Starz Diner Hard Rock Hotel, Marco Polo in the Montien, Benihana and the Marriott’s Veranda Coffee shop, Morakut at the Asia Hotel, and the Royal Cliff Beach Resort’s Chrysanthemum Palace, Rossini, Caprice and the Grill Room.
That list shows the variety available in Pattaya, from Thai to BBQ, to Chinese, European, American, Seafood, Japanese and Italian. So next time you are contemplating eating out, you should try the ones the Skål International people tried, and enthused over. The choice is yours.