It is not often that the Dining Out team is presented
with a kind of new dining experience, but the RC Power Boat Restaurant
managed! It is hard to categorize a restaurant that seems to be a radio
controlled ‘fun park’ with a restaurant attached, or is it a restaurant
with the fun parks attached? History may hold the answer, as we were told
that the RC boats and cars had been there for over two years, while the
restaurant had only been there for 14 months.
It is also a little way out of the centre of town and not
on a main thoroughfare, so it is not the kind of place you might have passed
by several times, so you are forgiven, if you are like us and had never seen
it. Even when you get there, you can miss the restaurant section, as it is
down the bottom of the hill from the entrance and next to the reservoir.
At the top of the hill, adjacent to the entrance, is a
radio controlled buggy track, while at the bottom, the RC boats zoom around
the reservoir (B. 150 for 20 laps, if you would like to try!).
The restaurant is in an open sided sala, built from
natural tree trunks, with a palm frond roof, and a ‘moat’ at the front
containing some large koi. Tables are large and the wicker chairs well
padded and comfortable.
The menu is in Thai and English and has 147 items. Take
your time. It also has some photographs to guide the inexperienced Thai
diner. Chef’s specials are at the front but include Euro dishes as well as
Thai, with most around the B. 120 mark.
Twenty appetizers are next, with the majority B. 100,
including the ‘century’ eggs (a very Thai ‘delicacy’). European
foods covers soups (the usual ‘cream of ...’), salads and sandwiches,
with everything under B. 100. Steaks range in price from B. 120 to B 350 for
a quarter pounder.
Grills, Thai spicy dishes, Chinese foods and stir-fries
complete the menu items, so there is something for all palates and all
tastes.
The wine list is small, but inexpensive (B. 550-790) with
examples from France, Italy and Spain. Beers are around B. 110 for a large
bottle, while a litre of Johnny Walker Black will set you back B. 1,200.
RC Power Boat Restaurant management wanted us to try the
Thai items from their chef’s recommendations section and we had the fried
fish dumplings RC style, the spicy fried pork salad and the chilli paste
fish served with vegetables.
The fried fish dumplings were more like a tod mun pla in
a choo chee sauce, and this I did like very much. It was not too spicy, nor
did the choo chee overpower the taste. Nice!
The pork salad was really a larb moo, rolled into balls
and deep-fried. This really brought out the ‘nuttiness’ and again was
most enjoyable. However, the chilli paste fish revolved around the very
acquired “kapi” taste, and did not suit the average ‘farang’ palate.
This place really is an experience. The combination of
model power boats and a restaurant does seem rather peculiar, but it seems
to work. The RC enthusiasts get somewhere to eat, while the restaurant goers
can go there after sundown and not be bothered by the noise. The food is
good and not overly priced, and it is somewhere different. Probably heaven
for a family with RC enthusiast children (or fathers). A couple of hours of
twiddling buttons, then a couple of hours of relaxed eating, watching the
sunset.
RC Power Boat Restaurant, 58/2 Moo 9, Nongprue, but best
attacked by driving out along Sukhumvit Road, turning left at the first
traffic light after Tesco-Lotus (Chaiyapruek 2), cross the railway line and
look for the well sign-posted turning on the left (after Baan Suan Neramit
on the right), follow that road and turn right at the next well indicated
intersection, drive slowly as the road is very pot-holed and you will see
the entrance.
Open seven days, Monday - Saturday 3 p.m. until midnight and Sundays noon
till midnight.
