Don’t miss the boat!
by Miss Terry Diner
While driving out along Sukhumvit Road Na Jomtien
towards Sattahip, Miss Terry pulled up at the MP petrol station on the
left outbound, about 500 metres before Ambassador City Jomtien (on the
right). We found we were right next to a collection of large rice barges
which had been reconstructed as a restaurant complex, set in lush gardens!
This serendipitous event was so striking that we decided to come back
later that evening and try dining out at Mr. Boat Seafood.
At night, it is easier to spot, with the roof sections
of the rice barges strung with lights, and spotlights on the hulls and
prows of the boats. Parking is in the MP garage, so is safe, and actually
within line of sight from the restaurant. You have the choice of dining on
the (covered) top deck of rice barge 1, or in the air-conditioned hull of
this boat, or in another air-conditioned rice barge off to the right.
Being a very pleasant evening, we decided to dine on the top deck, where
you are high enough up to avoid traffic fumes, but receive a cooling
breeze instead.
The tables and chairs on the top deck are varnished
wood, and since it turned out that the Mr. Boat Seafood Restaurant had
only been open for one month, everything is still very clean and (dare I
say it) shipshape! The crockery is fired and glazed earthenware and the
cutlery an inexpensive style.
The menu is a typical seafood menu with numerous items.
It commences with appetizers, generally in the range of 60-100 baht and
includes chicken wings, beef jerky and Northern Thai sausage. Salads are
up next (B. 60-80) and then a large range of spicy salads at B. 80.
Stir-fried items follow, (B. 70-80) and include all the usual Thai items
with beef, chicken, pork and prawns. The next section, soups and curries
are again extensive (B. 70-150) and cover meats and seafood.
Being a seafood restaurant, the seafood section is very
large and the items are offered done in many different ways. Crab can be
ordered steamed, cooked over charcoal or as a yellow curry, for example.
Also in this section are prawns (shrimps), mussels, squid and whole fish,
with these being the top item at B. 200.
Towards the end of the menu (an oversight perhaps?) are
entrees (B. 40-150) including omelettes and fried rice. Drinks are right
at the end with “Kroster” beer and “Carlsberge” at B. 80 for a
long neck, and other beverages also budget priced. By the way, there are a
couple of photo items on each page, so you can see what some of the dishes
look like.
The service staff were young and enthusiastic, rather
than ‘silver service’, but then again, this was not an expensive
restaurant, even though the restaurant building is most novel. They were
also kept very busy running up and down the stairs to the top deck.
We ordered a varied selection including a prawns in
spicy sauce (and it was, be warned), a prawns with mushrooms and snow peas
in oyster sauce (very mild) and a “hor mok” which is a combination of
various seafood items (crab, prawn, squid) done in a coconut cream. The
main “event” was a plakapong whole fish done in lemon and garlic. This
was remarkable in the fact that the chef had managed to retain the
“lemony” flavour as well as the addition of the garlic “bite”. The
fish fell apart very easily and was the pick of the evening for Miss Terry
and our two companions for the evening, while Madame was enraptured with
the prawns and spicy sauce.
We found Mr. Boat Seafood Restaurant to be a fun place
to eat, and very inexpensive. The total bill for the four of us came to B.
690, and that included a couple of bottles of beer and some soft drinks as
well as the dishes. It is not haute cuisine, but a very welcome addition
to the seafood restaurant scene. You will not be disappointed.
Mr. Boat Seafood, (next to MP petrol station) Sukhumvit Road, Na
Jomtien, 038 255 884.
