A couple of weeks ago, in this column I posed the question “How do I get my restaurant reviewed?” The answer was simply “Invite us!” And one of the first to take us up on that offer was Som (Chatsarun Jattawa) with her new restaurant Scot Coffee Bakery and Cake on Soi Khao Talo. (The Scot connection comes from her Scottish husband Hugh who hails from Ayrshire.)
When I say “new” restaurant, I really mean it, with Som’s ambition of a restaurant being only four weeks old when we did the review.
The directions on how and where to find this new restaurant are actually very easy. Coming from Sukhumvit, where Khao Talo starts near the Thepprasit/Sukhumvit junction, carry on down Khao Talo for about one kilometer, having been across the railway lines and look for Scot Coffee Bakery and Cake on your left next door to Kosol Law Office, and opposite Nat Bar and the entrance to Rung Ruang estate on your right.
The restaurant is in a single shophouse with an open air dining section outside then going into the air-conditioned restaurant proper. The first impression is just how clean and airy her restaurant is, and secondly it reflects the cheerful, welcoming nature of Som herself.
In the middle of the restaurant there is a glass-fronted refrigerated cabinet which displays some of Som’s home-baked cakes (she is a qualified baker), and on the night we were there, her cherry cake looked so inviting I could have eaten it all!
The menu is a folded, laminated and colorful affair and begins with nine breakfast sets with most well under B. 100 and even the full English breakfast with everything including black pudding is only B. 199.
These were followed by a selection of sandwiches at B. 89. This restaurant is certainly not going to break your bank!
On another page is the a la carte section of Thai food with prices for Thai favorites being B. 45-75.
Other sections of the fold-out menu has burgers, all at B. 99, then soups at B. 69-89 and salads also B. 69-89. Appetizers, and there are 11 of them, are B. 69 with chicken nuggets, French fries and other popular items. Steaks are also on that page ranging in price from B. 99 to B. 199. And that includes salmon steaks, chicken, T-bone, pork chops and fish and chips.
Being a trained barista by BonCafe, Som’s Scot Coffee Bakery and Cake offers an amazing range of coffees with hot cappuccino and latte at B. 35, making it worthwhile just dropping in for a mid afternoon coffee!
Local beers are around B. 40-50 and soft drinks B. 25.
The review team was three people and Madame chose a hamburger (B. 99), which came with chips, about which she enthused for the rest of the evening. For myself I went for the Goulash soup (B. 89) followed by the Cordon Bleu (B. 129), whilst our third member selected the grilled salmon steak with lime butter sauce (B. 179).
We were all very pleased with our choices (Som is certainly a competent cook) and the portions were very generous, so much so that I enquired to make sure our food was being presented in standard portions. It was!
This restaurant deserves to do well. The food is good, the portions are generous, the restaurant is spotlessly clean and the prices very low. Quite honestly, I think the prices are actually too low. Fish and chips for B. 99 or pork chops for B. 199 or burgers which come with chips for B. 99 for example. Do go and try Scot Coffee Bakery and Cake, a welcome addition to the more budget end of Pattaya restaurants. Yes, they also cater for take-aways and local area deliveries.
Scot Coffee Bakery and Cake, 190/194 Soi Khao Talo, one kilometer from Sukhumvit Road and is located about midway down Soi Khao Talo on the left opposite Nat Bar and Rung Ruang Village and next door to Kosol Law Office. Telephone 086 771 6862. Hours 7.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 7.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays. On street parking.
