by Miss Terry Diner
The Green Bottle Pub has been around for 14 years, and
has banners festooned around the pub to proclaim that fact. It is a record
that they are justifiably proud of. As I have said many times, for a
restaurant to survive in Pattaya for a year can be amazing. 14 years?
Truly amazing!
One of the reasons for the Green Bottle’s longevity
is the easy going concept of the establishment. When you walk in you are
greeted in a most friendly manner and the dark wood walls give you the
ambience of an amiable old English pub immediately. There are no
pressures, and the staff radiate good humour. The decor is best described
as eclectic, with everything from sporting trophies, a giant bottle of
Blue Nun to boomerangs on the ceiling! And it is a pub, as well as a
restaurant. Along one wall is the bar, while the rest of the area is taken
up by tables with cheerful “tartan” throw-overs and green linen
napkins, other than the two ends of the restaurant which have a dais for a
band and a pool table at the other. There is also an outside section,
between the pub and the Diana Inn, which they call their Sports Corner,
complete with large screen TV for the international sporting events.
I
ordered a Singha Gold, which came in a chilled glass, while Madame for the
evening was on tonic water. How unadventurous! We began to study the menu.
It is a large bilingual (English and Thai) number which
begins with breakfasts of all types ranging between 50 baht and 85 baht.
After that there are a number of sandwiches and burgers (B. 50-90) and
then we get into the menu proper.
Appetizers include the expected cocktails (shrimp,
seafood, lobster, crab, B. 75-85) and then several salads (B. 60-120) and
six soups at 50 baht each, including tomato, asparagus, and mushroom
creams and a French Onion.
There are 20 choices of Mains (generally around 210
baht) with steaks done in several ways, mixed grills, chops, and even
spare ribs in honey. They are followed by 14 duck and chicken choices
(again generally around 210 baht) with all the standard ways of
presentation (Kiev, Maryland, and a la king).
Next up are almost 30 choices of seafood (B. 95-435,
but the majority around B. 200) done in every conceivable manner, with
shrimps, river prawns, lobster, fillet of sole, rock lobsters, crab and
squid.
The Thai menu follows, with around 40 items - this is
really the menu for everyone - it is not just a handful of Thai favourites
to appease the Thai girlfriend. These are generally under 100 baht.
Desserts and fruits are next, followed by a dedicated vegetarian section
with 11 choices at a stunning B.45-65.
We began with a seafood salad for Madame, which was
loaded with shrimps, calamari, mussels and crab and was accompanied by
1000 Island dressing and a particularly good vinaigrette.
For mains, Madame ordered the Green Bottle Steak, which
combined fillet steak and pork fillet, served on a sizzling plate with a
sauce made from peppercorns and shrimps complete with a jacket potato. The
comment from the other side of the table was, “This is a very rich and
delicious sauce.” There was none left at the end for me to even sample!
I chose the special fillet of sole with a congase
sauce. This came with croquette potatoes and an assorted hydroponic
lettuce salad. The sauce over the fish was almost like a salsa with
chopped onion, tomato and mushroom and the fish was moist and totally
boneless. Top marks for this one.
The Dining Out Team enjoyed our evening at the Green
Bottle Pub. It certainly has a warm and comforting atmosphere, no
pressures, easy listening entertainment and good food in large portions.
The Thai menu and vegetarian menu makes it a place you can take anyone. It
is also very inexpensive considering what you get. Well worth a visit and
do try the Irish coffee (it’s strong).
The Green Bottle Pub, next to Diana Inn, Pattaya Second
Road, Central Pattaya, telephone 038 429 675.
