by Miss Terry Diner
Seems like the Montien Hotel on Second Road has been
there for ever. I first stayed at the Montien in 1975, when it was called
the Regent of Pattaya, and I have watched it grow into the excellent hotel
that it is today.
The Montien has also become very well known for its restaurants, with the
Marco Polo Chinese restaurant having a steady customer base of devotees to
its Dim Sum and Peking Duck, and the La Mer and the Verandah Coffee shop
hosting four theme buffets every week. These are the “Reef and Beef”
(Verandah) on Tuesdays, Mediterranean Buffet (La Mer) on Wednesdays, BBQ and
Seafood (Verandah) on Fridays and the International Buffet dinner (Verandah)
on Saturdays. The theme buffets range in price between 500-600 baht (++
because it is a hotel, remember) and at the invitation of the Montien’s
energetic PR lady, Pornpimon Geybui, we joined with her and Chamnan
Kucharoen, their Food and Beverage manager for the Friday BBQ and Seafood
Buffet dinner at the Verandah Coffee Shop.
I have mentioned this before, but I believe the Montien does itself a
disservice by continuing to use the term “coffee shop”. The venue which
stretches out into the garden surrounding one of the swimming pools has both
an open (covered) area and an air-conditioned section. It is a tropical
garden restaurant, not a “coffee shop” in my books.
The buffet is laid out around the area, and incorporates many live cooking
stations and a BBQ, with a central island as well, with even more items.
My usual suggestion of walking around the buffet stations before selecting
will stand you in good stead here, as there are many, many items; for
example, there are seven appetizers including a beautiful smoked fish, 12
items on the hot food stations with a very tempting Vietnamese spicy duck in
orange sauce or a creamed bell pepper soup with shrimps, and the seafood BBQ
itself offers rock lobster, river prawn, crab, squid, mackerel or snapper
fillet and mussels complete with accompaniments such as lemon butter, Thai
garlic sauce, chili sauce and herb sauce. The meat BBQ includes a peppered
fillet steak, cheesy pork, chicken bell pepper roll and beef tenderloin
steak, all served with Lao pepper sauce, Bourbon BBQ sauce and green
peppercorn sauce and more.
After our exploratory foray, Madame went for the “Fritto Misto” live cooking
station picking up some salmon, and shrimps, done in the Italian style.
Again there were more than adequate choices in sauces, with Aioli, Wasabi,
Tartare, Thai plum sauce and blue cheese dip.
After whetting the appetite (and sampling the house white wine) we
systematically went around selecting items which tasted as attractive as
they looked, Madame into the crab and rock lobster BBQ, while the pork and
chicken breast with an assortment of sauces took my fancy, along with the
potato salad in mustard dressing.
We did leave a little room for desserts, with the Khanom Thai for Madame,
while I sampled the cheese cake and a little fresh fruit tart. Lovely!
We have never been disappointed with the Montien’s buffet evenings, and the
Friday BBQ and Seafood buffet was no exception. There are enough choices to
cater for the tastes of everyone, children are welcome (and are charged out
at just a little over half price), the food is good (and fresh) and the
staff are friendly. Any of these theme buffets make for a good family
outing, and from now until August 31 this year, the Montien is offering a
bonus for regular customers. In the Marco Polo restaurant, every 1,000 baht
spent entitles you to a special discount stamp, and after you have 10
stamps, there will be a 1,000 baht discount on the bill. For the theme
buffets it is even simpler. You receive a stamp with each visit and after
five stamps, on the sixth visit, one person eats free. This certainly makes
what was already good value for money into a real bargain. Definitely
recommended.
The Montien Hotel, Pattaya Second Road, Pattaya City, telephone 053 428 155,
fax, 053 423 155, email pattaya@ montien.com. Theme Buffet evenings
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Secure parking within the hotel
car parks.
