The Pullman Pattaya Hotel G is not one of the ‘look at me!’ ‘Look at me’ hotels in Pattaya/Naklua, but it has quietly earned its place amongst the better hotel restaurants with its Beach Club venue. It is also easy to find. Coming down the steps from the lobby, it is signposted, and if you get lost, the staff are very willing to assist and guide.
The restaurant location is excellent, swimming pool right adjacent to the beach, with a deck out over it as well, for those who look for relaxed lounging without the frenzied activities of Pattaya Beach. Seating is either around the pool, or inside, or out over the beach, where itinerant Spanish musician Santos plies his guitar.
We had not reviewed the Beach Club restaurant for some years, so I was interested to see how that side of the hotel was going. I had heard that their French executive chef Thierry Danzas had left, but after bumping into him at the markets, he assured me that he had been on a transfer and had now returned to his old position in charge of several cooks.
We were invited by their vivacious Marcom Director, Khun Bee, to review their International Seafood BBQ Buffet dinner on the Saturday evening. This was advertised as B. 1,350 ++ but included a free flow of wines, beer and soft drinks.
After settling into one of the director’s chairs around the pool, Thierry asked for our preferences. I asked what the house wine was and he looked very sad. “I am French and it hurts me to admit that the very good house wine is Italian.” And I agree with Thierry, it is a very good Italian house wine (both red and white).
My standard advice when about to tackle a buffet is to walk around and see what is on offer before plunging into eating. This is even more advisable when you see the range of items on offer.
For example, how many BBQ’s offer gazpacho? A live cooking station for sushi and sashimi? Beef Wellington? Genuine French Fine de Clair oysters shucked in front of you (the poor lady must have cramps in the hand by the end of the evening). A whole fish slowly cooked in salt? A whole leg of honey ham? The BBQ station was busy with squid, prawn and blue crab too. Live cooking stations with pasta, pizza and more, and that is around half of the offerings, let alone wander round the corner past the cheese and all the way to the chocolate fountain with marshmallows.
I did enjoy the wine and took a taxi home (in fact if I know I will have alcohol I use Grab Taxi, rather than be on the look-out for police road blocks).
As a group we sampled (almost) everything, with myself hovering around the blue cheese, and daughter a fixture at the chocolate fountain. I should make mention of the Beef Wellington. Beautifully cooked and tender meat. And sorry about the Battle of Waterloo, Thierry.
Was B. 1,350 expensive? Not at all when you looked at the quality and variety of the dishes available. This had been the best seafood BBQ we had experienced for quite some time. Thierry and his team are to be congratulated on an excellent promotion, and this is one BBQ you can very safely recommend and would be an ideal venue to take overseas visitors. I have seen little that even comes close to the Pullman seafood BBQ. What a great start to the New Year. Do try.
International Seafood BBQ Buffet dinner, Pullman Pattaya Hotel G, 445/3 Moo 5 Wong Amat Beach, Pattaya – Naklua Road Soi 16, 20150 Tel: (+66)38/411940-8 Fax: (+66) 38/411949, secure parking in hotel grounds.
(By the way, there are other promotions on the different week nights which will be worth exploring from B. 390-780.)
