Pattaya & Jomtien Beach Thailand

Braustube International

179/100-101 Moo 5, Naklua Road, Pattaya
038 370168

Marks

Quality: 7
Quantity: 8
Value: 8
Atmosphere: 8

IT was the perfect meal.

My roast pork was looking good, the waiter had brought the draught beer and Arsenal were playing Southampton on the big screen.

It was all going well, until the waiter flicked a switch and the Bundesliga footie appeared instead. You can’t really complain though when you’re the only Englishman in the restaurant, and you’re surrounded by half of Berlin.

Naklua is the home of the sauerkraut, the bratwurst and the schnitzel. I figured when in Hamburg, do as the hamburgers do, and try their cuisine.

Brau Stube is a large restaurant with open-air frontage which leads to a bar and inside seating. Green and white colours festoon the place, while several strategically-placed V screens ensure there’s always something to watch if your date’s conversation becomes stale.

Waiters ferried around to produce a menu that contained dozens of Deutschland dishes, and a few Thai options. I went for a set three-course meal for 210 baht while my dining companion chose the Rindergulasch (195 baht).

My meal began with a delicate chicken soup that seemed more Thai than European and with a touch more lemongrass and lime could have been Tom Yam.

The main course was a generous helping of roast pork laden with a sweet sauce, and was joined on the plate by cabbage, salad and fries. There was also some fried pork skin, but this proved too fatty and too tough for my taste and my knife. The roast pork was thick and well-cooked, and the cabbage proved an ideal companion.

My friend’s dish was a combination of thickly-chopped beef portions and bread dumplings, although the dumplings we had been given to expect by the menu looked suspiciously like pasta. Nevertheless the beef was excellent and had a wonderful stew flavour that is hard to find round these parts.

My dessert was a choice of chocolate mousse or ice-cream, and I went for the latter which was a good choice.

Wunderbar, as they say around here.