Flamboyant (located in Jomtien Complex across the street from The Blind Massage Institute) which opened last November under German chef Michael, has taken a successful dining concept here in Pattaya — a prix fixe menu of gourmet food for a reasonable price — surrounded it in one of Pattaya's prettiest dining rooms, added great service to it, and turned the posh factor up to 10.
Flamboyant offers both indoor and
outdoor seating, the tables are not
crowded, and the ambience is airy,
open, and very pleasant and relaxing.
The presentation of dishes is superb.Flamboyant has 4 prix fixe menu choices, which include an appetizer, a soup, an entreé, and a dessert. The entreé choices are pork medallions, a chicken paella, a sole dish, and one beef dish. All are 390 baht each. A dinner like this, in a place like this, with a drink, for under 500 baht per person is an outrageously good deal.
The rest of Flamboyant's menu is very good as well. I had the paté fois gras appetizer for 190 baht, and Stan had a beef bourguignon for 390 baht and a broiled shrimp appetizer, both of which he loved. Pui and Mem had Thai food, and they said it was excellent, which is always important here in Thailand.
The staff at Flamboyant are very attentive and watchful... the most attentive and watchful I've seen in Thailand, actually. However, Michael needs to stop his staff from reaching over one diner's food to reach another: I nearly had my nose wiped on waiters' sleeves on several occasions.
My dinner consisted of an amuse bouche of prosciutto, a bit of ham in a light horseradish sauce, and a bit of a potato/egg dish which was very nice. After that came the paté fois gras, served with a cranberry orange sauce of some kind, which was easily the best paté dish I've ever had. Then came a lentil beef soup which unfortunately (while excellent in and of itself) was really too hearty and filling to be served as part of a 4-course meal... it was more like a beef stew. After that was the filet of sole in a white vermouth gravy. (The sole portion was laughably small, but Stan tells me that sole is so expensive... and so difficult to get in Thailand... that he was impressed the restaurant was even able to serve it.) After that, dessert was a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of fresh fruit. (I enjoyed that with a bit of kirschwasser, recommended by Chef Michael.)
Anyway, to sum it all up: Flamboyant, due to its excellent decor, its capable staff, its innovative and interesting dishes, its Thai-approved Thai food, its 390-baht prix fixe menus... it is really the best place to dine in Pattaya right now.
6 comments:
Jil,
Nice review; have you eaten at O'livia's near there?
Curious to see how their set menu (at the front of their menu) and quality of food/price compared to flamboyant.
Also, can you change the description link to my blog from 'adult content' to 'part time expat' or 'doing the best he can'?
thanks
Jil (one L)
You've changed the settings to "invitation only". Is that a mistake?
Yes... I've tried L'Oliviers before on several occasions. (See here and here for 2 mentions.) It's one of Stan's favorite restaurants... however we both agree that it is only half as good as Flamboyant in ever aspect... except that L'Olivier's campy wait staff is a bunch of fun.
cool, thanks for the info.
Send me your email address and I'll add you to my readers list.
That wierdo Harris Black was taking my photos and putting them on his site.
Have a good weekend; see you ?soon.
Heh. He added me as a friend to his facebook site apparently, though you have to create an account to see it, which I haven't bothered to do.
All I can think is "with friends like Jil...."
Hi Jill,
Good review thanks. I visited Flamboyant when it was there and although I enjoyed the food they were having a problem with the aircon and it was very hot inside.
Have you been back now it has re-opened as Pagoda? Different owner but still very good.
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