You can be excused for not knowing where this week’s restaurant can be found. It is in that huge sprawling resort called the Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya, and where in the resort? On the beachfront, naturally, but poised on the deck above the beach level so you don’t even get sand between the toes!
Unfortunately, Ocean’s Bar and Terrace is not well signposted, but coming down from the lobby, just keep heading towards the sea (or I should say ‘Ocean’), over the suspension bridge, and veer slightly left and then right and you are there! The friendly staff will point you in the right direction anyway, if lost!
If you have eaten there before, the menu has had a revamp from the new executive chef, Colin Grant, who embodies the fact that being a chef is a very portable skill. Colin has worked in France, Canada, Bermuda, Hong Kong, New Zealand, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Korea and Egypt. Prior to joining Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya, Chef Colin was with Centara Hotels & Resorts as executive chef at Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok for two years back in 2005, and most recently executive chef at Sheraton Soma Bay Resort in Egypt for five years.
This is a lunch/early dinner venue and is noticeably laid back, and a good place to chill out. It opens at 9 a.m. with first orders at 11 a.m. and last orders 6 p.m., though the bar section stays open till 9 p.m.
Chef Colin’s menu gets right away from the ubiquitous hamburgers (though you can still get these, but with a few extra Colin-style touches such as beer battered onion halves) and his dishes are lightly cooked, and not served with steamed carrots or coleslaw on the side.
We began with chilled avocado creamed soup with two plump skewered BBQ prawns (B. 210 ++) on top. The dish is served over ice and the avocado soup was creamy, smooth and delightful.
Our second course was one of Colin’s different salads, and this was a seared tuna loin, with (Australian) spinach leaves, strawberries, onions, crushed walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette (400 ++). The ingredients sound a little incongruous, but I can assure you that the sweet strawberry offsets the sharp onion and the vinaigrette sparkles up the spinach leaves. Thank you again Colin, for something just that little bit different!
And there was still more food to come, but Colin said he didn’t expect us to finish everything, but he did want the Dining Out Team to sample some of his new dishes.
And so a large plate of Piadina Open Sandwiches arrived containing smoked salmon, cream cheese, rocket leaves, sliced onions and capers (B. 310 ++). This is best eaten with the fingers like a slice of pizza.
Our final dish was Fresh Venus Clams in garlic, white wine and parsley, served with garlic bread (B. 300 ++). Colin said he was introduced to clams by his American wife, and we certainly had an enjoyable plateful. I was staggering by this stage, but Madame continued, with a smile like a Cheshire cat. I used my garlic bread to soak up the garlic wine and finished with a coffee.
We certainly did enjoy Colin’s offerings. Nothing stodgy, nothing cloying and most were “different” from the run of the mill. His years of experience all over the world really shows in his menu.
Oceans Beach Bar and Terrace will be a good place for a family with school age children for a fun Saturday or Sunday on the beach with a superb lunch as well. Up-market pricing, but this is a very up-market property. We were most impressed.
By the way, the beach is a public one, so you can swim there too, but you don’t get the resort’s towels, etc. All the restaurants and bars are open for non-guests as well as Oceans Beach Bar and Terrace.
Oceans Beach Bar and Terrace, Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort, 277 M5 (get there by going down Soi 16/2 or Soi 18 from the Pattaya-Naklua Road), telephone 038 301 234, plenty of secure parking in the resort grounds. Open seven days 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
