We
dined with Pascal and Kim, with Pascal wishing to inform us of the new menu
concepts they had introduced recently. The first of these is called the Wine
and Dine menu. This incorporates an appetizer or soup, followed by four
choices of main dishes (fish, chicken, pork, beef) and finally fruit salad
or crepe Suzette. Your wines to go with this are the house white and red,
and the total price is only B. 580, including all the wine you would like to
drink with your meal.
Pascal has also produced a Bistro menu, a separate entity
from the larger ‘Gourmet’ menu. ‘Bistro’ it may call itself, but the
dishes come from the same kitchen, on the same plates and brought to the
table by the same attentive service personnel.
There is no doubting the imagination of chef Pascal,
whose Bistro appetizers (B. 140-165) includes such items as white asparagus
salad with raspberry vinegar and walnut oil dressing. Continuing with the
Bistro side, soups are B. 95-140, pastas are all under B. 220, while the
mains are between B. 230-290 including a red wine braised duck.
They have not let the ‘Gourmet’ menu sit idle either,
opening with a six course gourmet set accompanied by some very special
Australian and Italian wines. You can have this as the food menu separate
from wines for B. 950, or with unlimited wine for B. 1,900.
The other items in the gourmet menu include the most
favourite numbers, as well as new Pascal derived items such as beef
carpaccio and beef tartar with white asparagus salad. This menu is also
filled with tempting items such as imported Dover sole in a white champagne
and clams sauce or flamed prawns on a Pommery mustard and horseradish cream
sauce.
Both menus have some Thai dishes for those who want to
stay with the local cuisine. By the way, all prices are ++ as is usual in
five star establishments.
Space stops me describing all our dishes that evening,
just as space stopped me eating more. Suffice to say that we enjoyed
everything, the herb sauce with the rock lobster salad was sensational, as
were the Pommery prawns. Try them yourselves!
There was no doubting the standard of food we received at
Casa Pascal. It was five star, whether it came from the Bistro menu or the
main a la carte ‘gourmet’ menu. There are more than enough choices, both
in dishes and in price, to make Casa Pascal a restaurant to suit all palates
and all pockets.
Mention must be made of the ‘house’ white that we
tried that evening. An Australian Angoves Chalk Hill Blue 2002, Colombard
Chardonnay. Very drinkable and moderately priced. The house ‘sparkler’,
an Italian Pinot Chardonnay, was also a wonderfully pleasing palate
freshener (a bit too pleasing, my head told me the next day).
You need to experience this restaurant if you have not
done so already. It is fine dining, it is fun and it can be as inexpensive
as you want. The B. 580 Wine and Dine choices, including as much white and
red wine as you would like, is sensational value, and quite frankly I
believe it is well underpriced. Very highly recommended, as always!
Casa Pascal, Pattaya Second Road (opposite Shenanigans
and next to Ruen Thai), telephone 038 723 660. Secure parking beside Ruen
Thai.
Some
words on the restaurant itself - it is elegant. It does have that special
something called ‘class’. The tables are large and have magnificent
table settings, the chairs are substantial and the decor is understated.
There are alcove tables for groups, but even in the main restaurant area,
the tables are not set close together. This is a restaurant where you can
converse with your dinner partners without including the entire room in your
conversation. Finally, the toilets have to be the most palatial in Pattaya.
They are worth the trip on their own!