What has red umbrellas, six rooms, overlooks Jomtien Beach, plays 60-70’s music on Wednesdays and sells great food? The answer is simple – BeachSpot on Jomtien Beach Road. That was the decision of the Dining Out team after dining at the BeachSpot restaurant, whilst wondering why we hadn’t visited before now.
OK, where exactly is it? Jomtien Beach is a fairly long road! Come down Chaiyapruek Road and where it intersects Jomtien Beach, turn left and BeachSpot is around 100 meters along on your left hand side. Look for the red umbrellas.
The restaurant ambience is a cross between avant garde and arty/trendy with gauze loop ceiling, a DJ station, the odd acoustic guitar, Buddhist statues, rattan furniture, terra cotta tiles and artistic table-tops. Along one side is a glass corridor leading to the stairs for the six upstairs rooms (which incidentally make for very cheap accommodation). And floating through all this is Saipin, the owner, who efficiently manages to hold it all together, with her Dutch husband in the background.
The seating is rattan style and you can choose between the streetside section or indoors for air-conditioning/fan. We went indoors, where you can still see the Bay of Siam disappear into the watery horizon.
We had a glass of house wine (B. 110) and began to peruse the double-fold menu. This is a very arty item and mainly photographic with thumbnails to guide those who do not speak English, Thai or Russian.
The first section is for Breakfasts with all the usuals (B. 160-220) with salmon at the top end. This then becomes Appetizers/Dutch Snacks (B. 85-160) including Krokett (ask Saipin’s husband)!
The next page begins with Soup and Salad, with four soups at B. 110 and three salads (B. 150-180). The BeachSpot Salad comes with ham, egg, cheese and two dressings and very artistically presented.
Being in the heart of the tourist end of Jomtien, Sandwiches and Burgers feature well (B. 95-160) with all the expected varieties.
A small section on Pastas (B. 175-210) with a spaghetti seafood the top of the list.
This runs you to Main Courses, all of which include vegetables and different styles of potatoes. Fish (B. 395-420) with Dory, Salmon and Snapper on offer.
Five Pork based items (B. 350) are followed by four Chicken choices (B. 290-310) and three beef Tenderloin (B. 395-420).
That’s the Euro side of it, and there are two pages of Thai Food with most items (B. 110-150), but there is one item that stands out – Khao Soi which is particularly difficult to get outside Chiang Mai at B. 75. A bargain.
We were a reviewing team of three. One chose the BeachSpot salad, which arrived very gracefully presented, obviously by a chef proud of his accomplishments, and incidentally turning a “salad” into something of an art form.
Our second member chose the salmon fillet with pesto sauce. This was an excellent value for money item with a hefty salmon fillet ending up with a plate licked clean.
For Miss Terry there was no hesitation – it was the Khao Soi which arrived with the crispy egg noodles and a chicken thigh in the soup and the traditional side dishes of pickled mustard greens, a wedge of lime, and cut up shallots. It was superb, the correct degree of spiciness and I loved it. I will go back just to have another Khao Soi! I just hope they haven’t moved the price up from the bargain basement B. 75.
Be warned, there is just no way you can eat Khao Soi without it splashing on the front of your shirt. One restaurateur in Chiang Mai used to provide an apron with every order of this famous curry.
BeachSpot is best described as a “fun” restaurant. Good food and middle of the road pricing. Wednesday 60-70’s adds to the “fun” concept. The food is of a high standard. Well worth dropping in if you are down Jomtien way.
BeachSpot, Jomtien Beach Road, open 9 a.m. through till midnight, seven days. On-street parking both sides of the road, telephone: 081 290 4143 (Thai) or 081 863 3725(English), email [email protected].
