Pan Pan, at the lower end of Thappraya Road is one of the longest established restaurants in Pattaya, at 27 years in the same location. Considering that many restaurants in Pattaya close before their Grand Opening, this is indeed a major milestone.
The ambience is Italian, with the words San Domenico under the name Pan Pan, making one remember the Basilica of San Domenico, one of the major churches in Bologna, Italy.
Miss Terry was most impressed with the sautéed mushrooms and bruschetta dish.
Walking in to the restaurant, you are immediately struck by the European ambience. The colored walls and the salmon pink tablecloths, the terracotta tiled floor, the draped windows – it all fits, and is a tribute in many ways to the late Nic Demet who carried out the refurbishment some years ago. The tables are set so that you can have an intimate dinner for two, or a board meeting with 20 quite easily. Seating is with rustic bamboo chairs, but they are quite comfortable. Dotted throughout the restaurant are plant pots. There are also other dining areas, including an al fresco section at the rear of the building and some outside tables at the front. The coffee corner has its own area complete with refrigerated cabinet with pastries and ice cream with classic cappuccino and caffe’ espresso, the caffe mocha, the macchiato, milk, Irish coffee and more. The choice is yours, and there are plenty of them. It is more of a family trattoria style than upmarket restaurant.
Ham on cheese.
Italians enjoy their food, and enjoy a variety of dishes, but if the very large menu looks too daunting, Pan Pan also gives the diner a small menu on the table with items from B. 320 through to B. 580 (Ossobuco).
The main (very large) menu commences with 15 very Italian starters like a salmon carpaccio (B. 400) at the top end and down to a mixed salad for B. 100. At this stage it is a good idea to order a bottle of wine, with choices from Australia and South Africa, though the Italian wines are the greatest number. We chose the South Afrucan Eikendal white, but be careful – 13.5 percent alcohol.
The next page gives the diner 12 choices of ham, salads and sandwiches with most B. 300-360.
These are followed by two pages of pasta and soups (B. 240-380) and then some grills, including a 250 gm aged rib-eye (B. 750) and my favorite Scaloppine al limone (B. 320).
Naturally there are many choices in the pizza from the Margherita (B. 220) up to the 4 cheese pizza (B. 420) with mozzarella, gorgonzola, camembert and fontina.
We began with the archetypal Parma ham and melon which was a very pleasant palate cleansing exercise.
We followed that up with a sautéed mushrooms and bruschetta (we were a group of four) and I was most impressed with this dish. Bruschetta I don’t try these days, as everything always lands in my lap.
After a breather we tried the ham on melted cheese, the tasting group were split 50/50 on this one. Difficult to get the cheese up as it was sticking to the plate, but that is a minor criticism.
Now it was time for mains and I cannot go past the Scalloppine al limone and I chose mashed potato to go with the three large medallions in the lemon sauce. An excellent dish and at B. 320 not at all expensive for what you get. The others had chosen pasta, and asked for the macaroni to be spicy. They enjoyed themselves.
Desserts? Italian ice cream of course.
It had been quite some time since we had done a formal review of this Pan Pan (there are three locations these days), though we had been in a couple of times by ourselves. The service was excellent and the food very Italian and very good and the prices not over the top. We really did enjoy the evening.
Pan Pan, Thappraya Road (just up from the Thepprasit T junction), telephone 038 251 874. With the popularity of this restaurant it is probably best to book in the evenings. Secure parking outside and at the rear of the building. Open every day 8 a.m. until late.
