It has been at least a couple of years since we
officially visited Pattaya Sea-Sand-Sun, so it was going to be of interest
to see what has happened in that time. The answer was quite a lot. To start
with, it has incorporated "Pattaya" into its name, but the most
immediately obvious was the new children’s wading pool and very much
smartened landscaped grounds. It is really a resort, with its own
semi-private beach, VIP bungalows and conference rooms and now a hotel block
as well.
The resort is easy to get to, approximately 13 km past
Tesco-Lotus on Sukhumvit Road. Travel towards Nong Nooch Gardens and take
the well sign-posted U-turn shortly after and take the left turn towards the
water.
You park in front of the reception area and continue on
through to the restaurant area. This is open on two sides allowing the sea
views and sea breezes to come through. The furniture is of the cane variety,
but large and padded, the tables covered with heavy linen and the napkins
likewise. The cutlery is also of a reasonable standard, with the overall
impression being much better than you get at most of the seaside restaurants
along the coast between Pattaya and Sattahip.
The menu is quite comprehensive, and is in Thai and
English, with the English translation being an explanation of the dish,
rather than just anglicising the Thai names. It is much better to have
"Minced pork and egg stuffed crab deep fried" than Poo Ja, which
is only understood by those au fait with Thai cuisine.
The menu begins with the European Kitchen which covers
Appetizers and Soups at B. 50, various salads (B. 40-80), sandwiches and
burgers (B. 60-80) and then a couple of pages of Mains with a filet mignon
of beef tenderloin the most expensive at B. 170, while baked prawn with
white wine was B. 160, or spaghetti B. 60 at the low end.
From there it is into Thai food, with the deep-fried corn
at B. 60 (my favourite dish last time) as well as stuffed salty egg (B. 80)
and omelettes (B. 60-70). Single plate dishes range between B. 50-80, and
then a full range of (yum) salads (B. 50-90) including banana flower.
Following these are some fried dishes, soups, crab choices (B. 80-250), fish
(by weight), shellfish (B. 70-80), prawns (B. 90-160) then finally desserts
and beverages, where there are ample spirits, cocktails and beers (large
Singha B. 80 or Heineken B. 90) to go with your choice of food.
To begin, I ordered the deep-fried corn with plum sauce,
remembering how much I was impressed with this last time. The (secret
recipe) rice batter makes this dish, which literally does melt in the mouth.
I also feel it would be great to go with a cleansing ale.
We also had a stuffed deep fried crab, which was very
pleasant, as were the prawns in curry paste (choo chee) Thai style. Our
final dish was a steamed fish, brought out on the steamer, with an
additional bowl of ‘soup’ used in the steaming. This was my dish of the
day. Totally superb. It had just enough of a ‘tang’ to it to make it
interesting and the fish sweet and succulent.
On our last visit to this restaurant we were very
impressed with the food and the facilities. We continued to be impressed
after this visit. The standards are even higher than before, and while the
food was excellent, and not overpriced, the service crew and general
surroundings were just that much improved. The overall package is certainly
much better than many of the better known restaurants along the coastline.
This is a venue that would be excellent for a Sunday
afternoon outing with the family (as we did, by the way), or a place to take
visitors to dine overlooking the pristine beach on the other side of the
coconut palms and show them that we really do live in ‘paradise’.
Pattaya Sea-Sand-Sun, 78/4 M.8, Sukhumvit Km 163 Na
Jomtien, telephone 038 435 163, fax 038 435 171, website
www.seasandsunpty.com. Secure parking within resort. Open seven days.
