Big Ben

Beach Road
Central Pattaya


Marks (out of ten)
Quality: 7
Quantity: 8
Value: 8
Atmosphere: 6

SO English food may not be up there with Italian or Chinese cuisine – but for some Anglophiles all you want sometimes is cod and chips or Yorkshire pudding.

Given the number of Brits staying in Pattaya, the resort has its fair share of mashed potato and pasties, and Big Ben is one of the more prominent.

The neon Big Ben sign on Beach Road gives a pretty good clue as to what’s coming up. The open-air venue allows you to look out onto the beach while choosing the sort of food that is usually accompanied with grey days, bleak forecasts, and rain. Roast beef, fish fingers and baked beans are great ways to inspire nostalgia, and Big Ben has the lot. A children’s menu is thoughtfully provided for those with a family.

The restaurant itself doesn’t have a significant British feel – unless you count the Premiership on a few TV screens – but the complementary bread roll and butter that arrive before the main course makes it feel a bit more like home.

I went for steak and onion pie at 175 baht, while my friend opted for cottage pie for 175 baht. Both come with vegetables and French fries, although in honesty I had been looking forward to proper chips.

The steak and onion pie was covered in thick gravy and had enough meat inside to keep the most ravenous carnivore happy. The vegetables were not over-cooked and the whole package was well-presented. Cottage pie is a personal favourite, and this was one was excellent, with cream, smooth potato.

Big Ben is typical of most English restaurants; no-frills, honest, and plentiful when it comes to the goods.