The Dining Out team has known Louis Noll and his Mata
Hari restaurant for many, many years, going right back to the single
shophouse restaurant on Second Road between Sois 7 and 8, to now the well
known Mata Hari Restaurant and Wine Bar at the top of Thappraya Road.
The location is on the ground floor of Nirvana Place and
is in two sections, with the Wine Bar taking up one third, and the
restaurant proper, the other two thirds. The d้cor is classical European,
without being over the top, marble floors, carver chairs, heavy linen
tablecloths and excellent quality napery. The staff are in classical long
black aprons and white shirts/blouses and maroon waistcoats, and are
friendly, well trained and efficient. And overseeing it all, and seemingly
able to be in three places at once is Louis Noll himself.
We discussed the latest menu with Louis who admitted that
his greatest problem was taking items off the menu, because as soon as he
did there were complaints from the regular patrons looking for their
favorites! However, he has recently placed some new items such as fresh home
made seafood ravioli (B. 330) and shashimi tuna carpaccio with wasabi sauce
(B. 330), another being pan-fried crab crusted red snapper fillet (B. 390)
and another the Rock lobster tails in vermouth cream sauce with snow peas
(B. 490).
Some
of the ‘special’ dishes include a Jamon Iberico (Pata Negra) which is a
Spanish ham from black pigs fed on acorns (B. 550). This ham has regular
flecks of intramuscular fat, and because of the pig’s diet of acorns, much
of the jam๓n’s fat is oleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid that has been
shown to lower LDL cholesterol. Another is the veal ossobuco (B. 650) which
is proving to be a very popular item.
In the ‘regular’ category are items such as the steak
Diane with whisky and garlic sauce (B. 390) and Australian grilled steaks -
T-bone, rib eye and fillet (B. 790-890), and a wild grouper fillet,
pan-fried in butter with parsley and lemon (B. 350). And of course there are
two pages of Thai items.
The wine list has labels which reflect Louis’ dictum of
‘the balance of performance and price’. We selected the Peter Lehmann Shiraz
2004 and at B. 1250 this is good drinking. Do try it.
We chose a starter from the blackboard menu in the wine
bar, a Portobello mushroom, stuffed with spinach and bacon and topped with
lightly grilled mozzarella. This was a superb dish, moist and flavorsome.
For mains we chose the lamb fillet steak with a grainy
Dijon mustard sauce (B. 620) for Madame with a side of salad vegetables,
while I went for the new item of the Rock lobster tails in the vermouth
cream sauce with snow peas and steamed vegetables. The lamb was correctly
cooked and the sauce excellent. My rock lobster tails were sweet and
succulent and not overcooked, as otherwise they can become tough, and the
vermouth cream sauce did not overpower the lobster. An excellent new dish
for the Mata Hari menu.
Louis Noll’s Mata Hari has remained as one of the top
restaurants in Pattaya and there are many reasons for this. Continuity in
the kitchen, in the charge of Louis’ wife, is one factor keeping the
standards high. There is Louis himself who still goes to the markets in the
mornings to select the ingredients, and who floats around every table
ensuring everything is going fine and is on hand to bid the diners
goodnight. The prices are reasonable and the portion sizes are large. The
staff are trained and are unobtrusive. This is a restaurant where you can
enjoy the company of your dinner companions as well as the food and wine. In
some ways, this would have to be as close to perfection as a restaurant can
get. It obviously gets our highest recommendation.
Mata Hari Restaurant and Wine Bar, 482/57 Thappraya Road
(ground floor Nirvana Place), telephone 038 259 799, fax 038 259 798, email
[email protected], www.mataharirestaurant.com. Open six days
(closed Mondays), Wine Bar from 5 p.m. and restaurant from 6 p.m., secure
on-street parking. Book!
