The Marco Polo Chinese restaurant is another of Pattaya’s icons. Opened in 1987, it is renowned for its high standards, and that is in turn indicative of the high standards of Khajorn Rangpitakun, the Chinese chef who has been cooking at Marco Polo for 21 years.
The Dining Out team has been to Marco Polo several times over the years, and the welcome you get is always like that of an old friend. The restaurant, if you are unsure, is in the Montien Hotel on Second Road, which is around 100 meters from the Pattaya Central and Pattaya Second Roads intersection. Enter the lobby and look to your right and you will see the Marco Polo, adjacent to one of the Montien’s well known restaurants, La Mer. The restaurant itself is quiet with carpeted floors, some alcoves and three private dining areas for 10 to 30 diners. Table settings are of high quality and the large starched napkins are needed for folks like us who are not all that adept with chopsticks. However, requests for spoons and forks are quickly and happily met.
We went to the Marco Polo to sample the new dim sum offerings, which come with their own lunchtime menu of 24 items. This menu is also a pictorial one, with small photos of each item, for those not necessarily au fait with dim sum choices. Prices range from B. 65 through to B. 95 for each container, which generally holds two or three of each item.
The dim sum choices cover deep-fried items such as the mashed taro (B. 65), pan-fried choices as the garlic chives cake (B. 75) and many steamed items including steamed buns with many different fillings (all B. 65) and even baked items such as baked pork spare ribs with black bean sauce (B. 70).
There is a wine list, which is not too expensive for a hotel outlet, but being lunchtime we decided to just have tea, as is the Chinese fashion. There are three teas available, jasmine, sunflower or green tea, and we chose the hot jasmine tea, which our serving girl in the maroon cheong sam kept refilled.
We were joined for lunch by the Montien’s energetic and bubbly PR lady, Pornpimon, and the Marco Polo chef, Khajorn. It is always good to see a chef heartily enjoying his own food creations (and he did)!
We began with some deep-fried items, with fried delicate bean curd my first item. A great way to start, followed by the deep-fried taro. The crispy covering just melts in the mouth, and I have yet to find anyone who does not enjoy this dish. There was also a container of deep-fried crab ‘arms’ (which we would call crab ‘legs’) and was slightly spicy, showing the fact that Chinese food is not always bland. Chef Khajorn is adept at classic Cantonese, and Szechuan and Shanghainese cuisine.
From there it was wonderful culinary experience with the steamed stuffed lettuce with crab sticks probably my standout, but they were all excellent.
We finished our dim sum lunch with a spinach soup for Madame, over which she was still talking about later, whilst I had the Szechuan soup which is a favorite of mine, with delicate flavors and the little ‘catch’ in the back of the palate.
With the alcoves and private dining areas, Marco Polo’s dim sum lunch is an excellent venue for business lunches, as well as personal indulgence. I can honestly say that we have never had a bad experience at the Marco Polo (lunch or dinner) and can consequently give this restaurant a Highly Recommended rating.
By the way, if you haven’t decided on your venue for a Valentine’s Day dinner, the Montien has a five course candlelit set dinner in La Mer, complete with chocolates and a rose and a complimentary glass of Kir Royale for B. 2,708 per couple. Romance which won’t bust the budget!
Marco Polo Chinese Restaurant, Montien Hotel, Pattaya Second Road, Central Pattaya, telephone 038 428 155, email [email protected], website www. montien.com, lunch 11 a.m. till 2 p.m. (dinner 6 p.m. till 10 p.m.) and secure parking within the hotel’s car parks.

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Peking Duck

Once a year, chefs can let their hair down, and I am always happy to oblige them with some space in this column. This year it is Peking Duck, so with your chopper at the ready, and the duck awaiting. Let’s begin…

A couple go for a meal at a Chinese restaurant and order the Chicken Surprise. After a little while, the waiter brings the meal, served in a lidded cast iron pot. Just as the wife is about to serve herself, the lid of the pot rises slightly and she briefly sees two beady little eyes looking around before the lid slams back down. “Good grief, did you see that?” she asks her husband. He had not, so she asked him to look in the pot. He reaches for it and again the lid rises, and he also sees two beady little eyes looking around before it slams down. Rather perturbed, he calls the waiter over, explains what is happening, and demands an explanation. “Prease sir,” said the waiter, “what you order?” The husband replied, “Chicken Surprise.” “Ah! So solly,” said the waiter, “I bling you Peeking Duck!”