With so many good restaurants in Pattaya, it becomes easy to forget that we are also blessed with several top class resorts which have their own high quality outlets. One of these is the Dusit Thani Pattaya where we went to review their Cascade restaurant on the ground floor of the main building.
Being one of the top resort hotels, it is difficult to imagine that there might be people who don’t know where the Dusit Thani Pattaya is but in case, go to the Dolphin roundabout and take the well signed leg into the Dusit Thani grounds. Acres of parking with security looking over the car parks.
The Cascade restaurant is situated on the right side after leaving the marble foyer and sits above part of the tropical gardens which dominate the ground floor. The acres of marble continue throughout this floor, giving Cascade an up-market feel to it. Along one wall is the glass wine cellar, with most of the wines, from many countries, both old and new world, under B. 2,000. We chose the Stonefish 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is an excellent wine from Australia with a wonderful nose, and great value at B. 1700, and incidentally served at the correct temperature.
It was a bonus that Food and Beverage Manager Thanapol “Pom” was also around that night and on hand to advise if required, and to supply me with the full menu and to gently suggest a few extra items so that we could experience a wide range of dishes from chef Pathma’s kitchen.
It is a heavy menu and covers more than a few different cuisines. It begins with a whole page of vegetarian dishes, most between B. 160 and B. 330. There is a page with a kids menu (most around B. 150) with real kid’s favorites such as super hot dog in sesame bun with French Fries. (Sometimes I wish I were a kid again!)
The next few pages introduce the diners to regional Thai cuisines starting with southern dishes, followed by northern dishes, Isaan and Central Thailand. Most of these are around B. 200-300.
We certainly did sample much on the menu, beginning with a fairly bland mushroom soup followed by a Masaman which was excellent and a Khao Soy, the Burmese curry, which is one of my favorites. The presentation was superb, with a long plate with the fried noodles, shallots and limes to add to the base soup. The menu has “chili” indicators, and this dish has but one; however, it is still spicy.
Another Northern dish was a Chiang Mai Sausage (Sai Oua), served with cucumber, long beans, pickled ginger, chili and garlic. This dish scored three chilies on the spicy register. You have been warned.
The main item of the evening, and the principal one for our review was a one kg Tomahawk steak. This is enough to feed three or four diners and was very tender. Make that very, very tender. We asked chef Pathma to do the honors with the carving and he did not even have to use one of his chef’s knives, but the ordinary side knife on the table cut the steak perfectly. The tomahawk promotion only runs to the end of the month, so go now! At B. 2,500 and feeding three to four, the Tomahawk Rangers is actually a bargain.
Exhibiting sheer gluttony, we managed to scoff a strawberry and Oreo cheesecake, but I blame K. Pom for that one, as he insisted we should at least try. And try we did, with empty plates going back to the kitchen.
There is no doubt in my mind, but the Dusit Resort Pattaya is amongst the top dinner venues. Always a pleasure to relax amongst professional service staff. Highly recommended.
Dusit Thani Pattaya, 240/2 Pattaya Beach Road, Pattaya City, open seven days 06.00 a.m. to 10.30 p.m., telephone 038 425 611-7, email [email protected] , secure parking in the resort’s grounds.
