With prices for ever escalating in up-market hotel
eating, it came as a pleasant surprise to find that the Montien Hotel’s
BBQ buffets had remained at their previous levels. The Dining Out Team
decided it was time to re-evaluate and we returned to the Montien for dinner
at the Verandah.
There are buffets on Tuesdays (a culinary selection of
different Asian cuisines including Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese and others
through to Pacific Rim at B. 350 ++), Fridays (BBQ and Seafood at B. 450 ++)
and the Saturday evening is an International buffet at B. 380 ++. By the
way, these buffets are ‘children friendly’ and kids eat at half price.
The venue is next to the pool, called the Verandah
restaurant. There is an outside, but under cover section, which also has all
the food stations, plus another glassed in and air-conditioned section along
one wall. Both areas overlook the pool and if you come early enough you can
enjoy the sunset. The chairs are comfy, the tables are large and you can
spread out and have an unhurried evening.
The choices are staggering, so do walk around first and
take an inventory of what is on offer. Starters include prawns, oysters,
crab-sticks, salmon and cold cuts, plus salads and various sauces. There is
a freshly cooked Spanish paella, plus Italian Frito Misto items. We also had
a cream of clam soup on our Friday evening. The cuisine is international,
with food warmers keeping pork tenderloin on a tropical fruit salsa, a New
Orleans crab cake in a spicy tomato sauce, a French style lamb Navarin and a
very attractively presented Pacific Rim steamed salmon in rice paper with
coriander pesto.
One of the cooking stations was a Hawaiian Luau, complete
with roasted suckling pig with a choice of sauces, including sweet raisin,
apple chutney, pineapple and mustard.
Another two cooking stations cover meat and seafood
BBQ’s. The meats include beef tenderloin, and pepper steak and chicken
breasts stuffed with bell peppers, while the seafood items included fresh
crab, squid, river prawns, rock lobster and salmon.
And it’s not over yet! There were so many other
choices, including five Thai curries, a Vietnamese duck in spicy orange
sauce and fried fish.
Desserts? There were seven Thai traditional desserts,
plus European pastry items and a Swiss chocolate fruit fondue and deep fried
ice cream. There was even more, but I ran out of ink, writing it all down!
We took the opportunity to try several items, beginning
with oysters, which have accompaniments of lime slices, fried red onion and
“yod krathin” greens. I could not resist taking some of the crab-sticks,
though felt a little guilty at spoiling the symmetry of the beautifully
presented crab-stick tower.
Madame tried the Tom Yum Goong, as well as a starter, and
gave it her approval. For me, the Seafood BBQ items were just too tempting,
and chose some rock lobsters, river prawns and imported Norwegian salmon.
One nice touch is that you do not have to hang around waiting for your
choices to cook, but the ever-smiling staff will bring your cooked items
back to your table - complete with small containers of appropriate sauces.
Madame also managed to fit in some deep-fried ice cream dessert, but I had
no room left after my several trips to the various food stations! Culinary
overindulgence!
The Montien’s BBQ and Seafood Buffet remains one of the
best value offerings in Pattaya hotel dining. The venue is superb and the
food likewise. The presentation of the food is excellent, and Executive Chef
Horst Reichl assured me that if any food item was on offer, it was fresh.
Guaranteed. The items also change every week, so there is no ‘sameness’
in dining there. We continue to be impressed by the efforts being made by
the Montien, and the Dining Out Team considers that these theme buffet
evenings represent excellent value for food of this calibre. If you had
forgotten about the Montien, it is time to renew your acquaintance. Very
highly recommended.
The Montien Hotel, Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City,
telephone 053 428 155, fax, 053 423 155, email [email protected].
