There is a tendency to think that the Hard Rock Cafe is just a food outlet for the Hard Rock Hotel in Pattaya. That is totally incorrect, as the Hard Rock Cafe has a history dating back to 1971 and there are around 150 of them in the world.
The first Hard Rock Cafe actually opened in London, and was founded by Americans Peter Morton and Isaac Tigrett. The Hard Rock Cafe now has one of the largest collections of rock and roll memorabilia on the planet.
Being of an American origin, there are also corporate standards that have to be met, which does help elevate the chain as well.
The Hard Rock Cafe Pattaya overlooks Beach Road and the décor is American diner glitz and chrome. Glassed in frontage with the motto “No drugs or nuclear weapons allowed inside” above the door (so reassuring ;-)). Inside there is the stage along one wall, the kitchen along the back wall and the cocktail bar along the other side wall. The walls are adorned with rock memorabilia, including Elton John’s platform boots.
The service staff all have that Hard Rock personality-plus attitude, and it is difficult not to catch the enthusiasm that they portray. In many ways, this all adds to the fun of dining in a Hard Rock Cafe, and as I have stated many times, food should be ‘fun’ as well as sustenance. In the Hard Rock Cafe, the staff will all make sure you are having ‘fun’.
It had been a couple of years since our last official review, so there had been some menu changes in that time. These changes (amongst others) included a Mediterranean shrimp or chicken linguine (B. 280), a grilled Hawaiian chicken (B. 400), honey bourbon hickory smoked pork chops (B. 400) and a couple of new burgers called the Classic patty melt and the Local legendary Thai hot basil chili burger (B. 600) using the Thai spices with the beef patty.
The wines are reasonably priced, with bottles of Jacob’s Creek reds and whites from B. 1,400, which make for very good drinking.
The menu is quite comprehensive, and many of the items are shown photographically, something that I believe is excellent marketing. No nasty surprises! Take your time to read it all.
Knowing just how large the servings are, we went as a foursome, with different burgers and the pulled pork sandwich being the choices of the guests, while I went for the Mediterranean chicken. As expected the burgers were huge, and came with some very sharp steak knives. The meat patty was almost like a rib eye steak, and was also cooked to the order. The chips were crispy and not at all oily. The local legendary Thai burger was spicy enough to satisfy the Thai palate, and it was good to see the Hard Rock Cafe merging the Thai cuisine with the American one. My Mediterranean chicken pasta dish was also very filling and flavorsome.
Did we enjoy our revisit to the Hard Rock Cafe Pattaya? Yes we did. The new items were of the same high standards as we have come to expect of the Hard Rock Cafe, and the size of the portions is still enormous. The dish of the day for me was the hickory smoked pulled pork sandwich (B. 380). Great taste and value and plenty of it.
By the way, if you are going as a family, a child between four and twelve dines free with each adult meal order.
If you are looking to take in the musical entertainment, for which the Hard Rock Cafe is very well known, there is a new band coming called Head Rush which will play from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. starting June 15. Up till then the Cross Colors band will be performing every night except Mondays.
Yes, we can highly recommend the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch or dinner, but make sure you have space for their giant portions!
Hard Rock Cafe, Hard Rock Hotel, Pattaya 2nd Road, telephone 038 426 635, fax 038 421 673, all major cards accepted. Open seven days from 11 a.m. until 2 a.m. Secure parking in the hotel parking areas.
