Food and catering in Pattaya - where and what to eat

Where and what to eat in Pattaya

Read also the information about Thai cuisine

Most of the Thai hotels, and Pattaya hotels is no exception, it offers only breakfast in its package of services (BB) which are organized in the form of a buffet or in the form of several breakfast dishes to choose from. On average, the buffet menu of budget hotels offers about 10 different dishes (rice, noodles, vegetables, eggs, sausages, ham, soup, bread, butter, jams, coffee, tea, fresh juices, etc.), which can be eaten well. Local fruits are also served for breakfast: pineapple, bananas, watermelon, etc. Naturally, the quantity and quality of dishes depends on the level and cost of the hotel, but even settling in a run-down hotel for $ 15 per room, you can have a very hearty breakfast. The only minus of breakfast is their monotony, which is annoying after a few days. Most hotels also offer good lunches and dinners in their restaurants, a wide selection of drinks in bars, but you already have to pay for it.

With meals outside the hotel in Pattaya you will not have any difficulties: you can eat here very cheaply and very tasty. You can choose your meals according to your taste and budget: from drinking yoghurts in countless "Seven eleven" and ending with luxurious restaurants where you will be served Russian-style caviar sandwiches.

Food in stores

The cheapest way to fill your stomach even for breakfast, even for lunch, even for dinner is to buy food at the store. In Pattaya, almost at every turn (see the logos in the picture) there are small shops of the widespread chains "Seven Eleven (7/11)", "Friendship Supermarket", "Family Mart", where you can always buy something edible. These shops, despite their miniature size, are packed to capacity with all kinds of products, ranging from bags of dry noodles to hot cooked chicken. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are present in an incredible variety. You can buy ready-made food in supermarkets, warm it up and eat it right on the street, or use everything in the room. If you have kettles in your room or you brought a boiler with you, you can safely stretch on dry noodles and other brewed products. Prices in such stores are about the same as in Russian supermarkets, or slightly lower.

However, in fairness it should be said that food in small shops may not be so cheap. It is much more profitable to buy products in large supermarkets, of which there are plenty in Pattaya. The choice of products in them is simply amazing, and the prices are much lower than in small stores. Among the large shopping centers located in the central part of Pattaya and having supermarkets, we can mention "Lotus", "Tops", "Big C", "Central Festival Pattaya", "Friendship supermarket", "Mike Shopping Mall".

To the right of "Mike Shopping Mall", if you stand facing it, and with your back to the beach or Beach Road, there is an inconspicuous entrance to the store without any signboard. This is something like a wholesale store, or a local store where you can buy groceries and other goods at even lower prices.

Eating outside

If you don't want to "get in touch" with shops, you can safely eat at local street establishments or grab something from numerous stalls. In general, it is not customary for Thais to cook at home, and they mostly eat outside. Accordingly, the public catering network is very developed, represented in the form of: street canteens made in the form of a pair of tables and chairs right on the sidewalk; trays or peddlers (they are also called makashnitsy), which sell ready-to-eat dishes on the go (sandwiches, fruits, kebabs, insects); modern public canteens in large supermarkets and shopping malls.

If you decide to eat in street canteens, then keep in mind that your stomachs will be tight. Thai food is very spicy, and if in modern canteens, cafes or restaurants Europeans prepare specially non-spicy dishes, then here you will most often be cooked to the fullest. Even harmless scrambled eggs can be unbearably spicy for you.

But in general, eating in such places is quite safe and very cheap. The food there is fresh, and the sharpness and speed of cooking and consumption does not allow any microorganisms to develop. And, by the way, eating in such places is even cheaper than buying groceries at the supermarket: for 50 baht (currency of Thailand) you can eat to the brim.

Public canteens (food courts)

If you disdain to eat in local street canteens, we recommend eating in public canteens or cafes in large supermarkets, called food courts. The prices there are more than acceptable (you can eat for 100 baht). These are quite serious, clean establishments, they cook very tasty, varied and high-quality food (there is even Russian cuisine). As a rule, alcoholic beverages are not sold there, since these are family establishments, but there are no restrictions on soft drinks.

A very good dining room is located in the basement of the center "Central Festival Pattaya" on Second Street, in "Big-C", in "Lotus" on North street (North Pattaya road), etc.

In some of these canteens, the service takes place in an interesting "high-tech" way: you buy a plastic card at the checkout, for example, for 200 baht (about 200 rubles), then go to the numerous counters, choose something there. The cook takes the card from you, prepares the dish right in front of you, removes money from the card through the machine and gives the card along with the check and the dish. When you exit, unspent money is returned to you in exchange for a card. In simpler places, the plastic card is replaced by tear-off coupons that you buy at the checkout, but the principle is generally the same.

Cafes and restaurants

Being in Pattaya, I want to visit a new restaurant or cafe every evening and discover a wonderful Thai cuisine, at the same time I want to go back to yesterday's cafe and try what I failed to try yesterday.

Cafes and restaurants of all kinds and categories are just a sea here. The prices in them are quite acceptable. In an inexpensive cafe you can get enough with beer or soft drinks for 150-200 baht per person. If you want fresh grilled fish or king prawns, you will have to pay more - 300 baht. The upper limit of quality and price is not set.

In recent years, a menu in Russian has appeared in most restaurants and cafes.

If you are longing for Russian cuisine, you will find a lot of Russian restaurants in Pattaya. Many of them were founded by immigrants from Russia.

Eating in bars where a Thai stripper is dancing on the table (or maybe not a stripper?) it is also possible, but it is better to drink in them, since they do not pay much attention to food there.

Fruits

You can read about the names and seasons of exotic fruits in a separate article "Exotic fruits".

Fruits are best and most profitable to buy at fruit markets, which you can easily find walking around the neighborhood. But keep in mind that often for Europeans the prices here are called too high. It is best to find a market where local residents shop: prices there are usually already written on paper price tags and are 3-4 times lower than in markets along large streets and near shopping centers, such as the fruit market opposite Mike Shopping Mall. To find such markets, you will have to walk away from the beach and Second Street. A good local market, where, among other things, fruits are sold, is located behind Caesar Palace Hotel, located on Second Street.