I do enjoy dining on “ethnic” cuisine for a change. The “Euro” food tends to be very limited unless dining five star, and likewise Thai food gets boring after a while. Indian? The spicy curries are not for everyone, but let us not forget German.
Yes, German cuisine is as independent as the nation itself these days. And after an eye-opening evening at the German restaurant “Iss Was” the Dining Out team can also say that the German cuisine encompasses many, many, many different dishes.
To get there (and it is worth it) is to travel down Wat Boon Kanchana from Sukhumvit Road and turn right into Soi 2. Carry on down Soi 2 for a little under 1 km and “Iss Was” is on your right with three umbrellas out the front.
Inside there is rustic seating with one long table in the center and then individual tables for four.
After sitting down, ask for a beer or wine and sit back (by the glass B. 80 or even Jägermeister B. 94). Perhaps order two glasses! It is a very large menu. A very, very large menu in German, English and Russian. It also has thumbnail photographs of the dishes, something that I wish all restaurants should do. Not everyone speaks German, or English!
There are daily specials advertised on billboards outside and these are B. 109 and include such items as schnitzels with your choice of potatoes, and roasted chicken breast, but the menu makes for good reading as well.
Sundays also have their own special menu after 11 a.m. with pork knuckle (B. 265) plus other choices (B. 149-295).
The weekday menu is very large and encompasses German sausages, German hamburgers or even a “Doppel” cheeseburger (you can work that one out for yourself).
Snacks and sandwiches are B. 65-80, and breakfasts are B. 125-135 and look very healthy in the menu thumbnail.
Soups, and there are two pages of them range between B. 130-150, pastas are B. 95 through to 145, and Cordon Bleu items are B. 145.
Steaks are also inexpensive with 200 gm pork B. 160 and 200 gm beef B. 240. On the next page are the items to go with the steak, and again there is one page of them.
There are a couple of pages of Thai favorites B. 99-150 for the accompanying ladies.
Another German item which took Madame’s eye was the Leberkaese topped with a fried egg and served with Bratkartoffel (roast potatoes) at B. 175. Voted as being excellent.
If you would like to finish with something sweet, then do take a look at Klaus’ home baked cakes.
Then of course, in this surfeit of German came the Eierlegendewollmichsau (*see footnote) a very special animal only found in Bavaria. You have to ask to see if it is available when you go there.
Klaus, the owner, was very helpful in explaining his different dishes, and if you are unsure, he will advise. For me, it was the Rinder (beef) roulade with rotkraut (red cabbage) and Spatzle (pasta). Inside the roulade were Klaus’ secret spices, ham, cucumber and onions. This had a huge portion size, but I was assured that was the standard size. The beef just fell apart and the sauce was more-ish.
We had a wonderful experience at “Iss Was” and would recommend this place for not only lovers of German food, but also for anyone looking for interesting food, served in large portions and at bargain prices. Highly recommended.
*I lied about the Eierlegendewollmichsau – that is a German joke meaning an egg-laying woolly milking pig, which of course cannot happen. So if one of your German friends accuses you of asking something impossible, he will say it is an Eierlegendewollmichsau!
Iss Was restaurant, 178/2, Moo 11, Soi 2 Wat Boon Kanchana, Jomtien, open 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. (kitchen), telephone 087 538 0893 (Thai), 084 414 4193 (German/English), web www.isswas-pattaya.com, email [email protected], on-site parking behind the restaurant.
