Pattaya & Jomtien Beach Dining

Pakboong Loyfa Restaurant

2 nd Road , junction with 13/4

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

ONE rather drunk Thai was taking great pleasure in saying hello to a foreign couple on an adjacent table.

He performed a traditional wai greeting, and the couple reciprocated.

The Thai's friends loved this, and they all spent the next 5 minutes wai-ing to each other amid growing levels of hilarity.

This is the place to come to meet real Thais.

Situated on the busy 2 nd Road, it's a street restaurant that offers a glimpse of what Thais usually eat. It s a no-frills, metal table, plastic-plate place that caters for foreigners as much as it does Thais.

We went for fried asparagus with pork (80 baht), tom yam pla (spicy fish soup at 100 baht), cavilla soup with pork (80 baht), and some rice.

Waiters and waitresses here are busy and run to and from their tables with stressed looks, so don't be surprised if they forget little details like giving you a plate.

The food arrived within five minutes of each other, not a bad achievement, and was plentiful.

The tom yam had all the aromas and freshness one expects from the classic dish. It was not overly spicy, and this was compensated for with an abundance of lemongrass and lime.

The asparagus was superbly-cooked with a meaty flavour that was set off well by the oyster sauce it lay on. Cavilla is a tricky fruit to cook well, as it's particularly bitter. This time they didn't quite pull it off and while my companion liked it, I found it impossible to stomach.

There was more than enough food on the other plates to be satisfied.

And as if to prove it's for foreigners as well, they even do fries.

Pattaya Dining

Breakfast

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