Valentine's Day Restaurant Review

[hhfarang]

Another holiday specifically designed to force a man to spend money on his sweetheart has passed and I treated my wife to dinner at her favorite restaurant. Even though this place is very good and a highly recommended restaurant, we rarely go there because I cannot generally afford it. Visits to upscale eateries of this class for me are relegated to special occasions, usually three times a year; the wife's birthday, our anniversary, and Valentine's day.

I'm speaking of the romantic and popular Coco51. The first mistake I made was not asking if they were doing anything special for Valentine's day when I made the reservation. Thinking that that day was a western thing that had barely made inroads into Southeast Asia I expected maybe a special centerpiece on the table but nothing unusual other than that.

My wife doesn't usually drink so we usually go there and have three or four Thai dishes in very pleasant surroudings with (live) soft dinner music and I get away for around 1500 baht; as I said, out of my budget but this is a special occasion.

After we were seated, we were presented with a set menu that had two choices. A six course French/European meal that could be ordered for an individual, or a several course Thai meal that was only served when ordered for two people. We asked if we could order from the regular menu and the answer was negative.

Being in the mood to try something different, we ordered the French (they called it European) meal. That menu was set but offered two choices of main dish; bbq seafood or bacon wrapped veal fillet. I ordered the veal and the missus ordered the seafood.

First they brought us the included drink. It was red (for Valentine's day I suppose) and was served in a shallow martini glass. It turned out to be some kind of rum punch which I normally don't drink, but what the heck, it was included in the price after all.

After the drinks they proceeded to the first course which was some kind of liver pate. The pate as well as the accompanying pieces of toasted bread were heart shaped per the occasion. I like pate but this particular one was very strong in smell and taste. After one taste, the missus pushed hers aside with a wrinkled nose saying “smell bad”. Being one to never waste food I ate mine even though it was a bit disappointing.

Course number two arrived and it was a nice seafood Caesar salad. I like Caesar but I've never had one with mixed seafood in it before and it was surprisingly good that way. As soon as the salad arrived I ordered a glass of the house white wine to go with it. I'm a snob that way, I always enjoy food more with an appropriate drink, which varies depending on the food. Seafood Caesar definitely called for a glass white wine. By the time I got the wine, my wife was finished with her salad but I stubbornly refused to eat mine until I had the accompanying libation!

After the salads were finished we were served a strawberry flavored sorbet, normally a dessert in my book, but I guess it is used this way (in France?) to clear the pallet before the main course is served.

Next was the main course. Having veal I naturally ordered a glass of the house red as soon as the food arrived. Again, I had to wait until the meal was cold, nibbling on the accompanying veggies (baby corn, asparagus, broccoli, and mashed potatoes (dyed red and formed into a heart shape). At the same time as I placed my wine order, my wife ordered a glass of iced tea. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity (in reality probably between 5 and 10 minutes) my wine arrived so I proceeded to enjoy the bacon wrapped veal fillet. It was delicious, if a bit cold because of the wine delay.

My wife's main course was a mixed seafood grill that included tiger prawns, squid, and some other items I didn't examine too closely, served with vegetables and she seemed to be reasonably happy with it. Her iced tea came as she was nearly finished though. Can it really take a big restaurant like that fifteen minutes to make (pour?) a glass of iced tea?

We both enjoyed the main course and the ambiance of the place, sitting under swaying palms in a light breeze with soft romantic music playing in the background.

Finally after we had thoroughly devoured our entree's, plates were removed and dessert was served. It was the absolute best chocolate mousse I have ever tasted. It had a one centimeter base of chocolate cake with a middle layer of light fluffy mousse that must have been five centimeters high and the whole thing was topped with a dolop of whipped cream; a dessert fit for a king! This may sound weird to some of you but try it and you'll like it. I've always been of the opinion that chocolate and red wine go together and complement each other nicely, so upon seeing the mousse I ordered another glass of the house red. Again, I waited so long for it to be delivered that we thought they had forgotten it and my wife asked another waiter to go and check if it was indeed coming. It did arrive shortly after that and I proceeded to have as close to an out of body experience as one can have through the enjoyment of food and wine.

Then came the bill... as I stated earlier, we go to Coco51 two or three times a year for special occasions and ordering from the regular menu with a couple of glasses of wine or beer, it usually costs me around 1500 baht. This meal (set menu for two, three glasses of wine, and a glass of iced tea) with tax and tip came to 3600 baht! I would have never expected to pay this much for dinner except in one of the area's big hotels, especially without a bottle of wine being ordered.

Was the food good? Excellent, except for the pate. Was the service good? Food service was excellent as it was served in orderly courses and the next course appeared on schedule just as we finished the previous one. The drink service was abominable! I will never understand how it can take five to ten minutes to pour and deliver a glass of wine or iced tea. Yes, the place was full, but I assume it was mostly, if not all, by advance reservation so they should have been prepared to give flawless service at those prices.

As a side note about drinks, something I've never understood here that is different where I come from is that there when your glass is empty, or near empty someone (a server or roving manager) automatically asks if you'd like another drink. This is not only good service but it makes money for the establishment as a lot of the profit of such places is more from alcohol than food. At nearly every restaurant I've been to in Thailand, they not only don't ask, you have to spend five minutes waving your arms and yelling Khun Krop! just to get the attention of a server to get your glass refilled!

Bottom line; will I go back you Coco51? You bet I will, but not on a “special” day when they have a fixed menu that will cost me more than double the meal we would have ordered from the regular menu and with which we would have been just as happy. Now my personal beer budget is exhausted for the month and I'll be drinking coffee and bottled water until my next pension check comes!

[g.tott]

Hi i took my girlfiend to the french place opposite sofitel ,we got there about 21.00 hrs and the place was packed but we got a table waited 5 mins to get a menu a further 5 mins to place our order ,anyway we wern't bothered about the wait because it was a nice change for the two of us to be out and not worry about work so we both ordered prawn cocktail for starters (very nice) main course my girlfriend had duck and i ordered the chicken with bacon and mushroon sauce 5 mins after i ordered it the waitress came back and said that there was no chicken left not just the chicken i ordered but no chicken at all which i was suprised about anyway i ordered the peppered fillet steak with creamed potatos and it was fantastic .Drinks wise i had 2 bottles of water and a bacardi coke and my girlfriend had 2 maimtai's .So on the food that was served 10 out of 10 service 6 out of 10 but it was very busy and they did try there best then we got the bill and it all came to 2,100 baht which i thought was ok but mymgirlfriend said was peng .all in all i will go back on a normal night


g.tott

[dtaai-maai]

Interesting report, hhf. Only two questions:

1. Why didn't you order the wine when you ordered the food?
2. Didn't you look at the price before ordering?

Romantic devil that I am, I left the choice of eatery to Mrs D-M. Slightly surprising, but she went for spare ribs and apple pie at Buffalo Bill's, and very nice it was too!

[Spitfire]

Valentines day is just a commercial money making excuse. Agree HHF, even places such as you're talking about can't get their act together properly on nights like this and then charge double for it, kind of reminds me what hotels are like at festival time everywhere.

I'll take the wife out tonight instead, more relaxing and peaceful. I just went out and got pissed last night in a restaurant and it was most enjoyable.

[hhfarang]

1. Why didn't you order the wine when you ordered the food?
2. Didn't you look at the price before ordering?

Both good questions and both my mistakes. When we saw they had set menus, I was surprised and didn't bother (even think) to ask the price (which I believe was not printed on the menu). They probably assumed that when reservations were made people asked the price, but having made the original mistake of thinking we could order from the regular menu, I had failed to ask.

Also, I in my surprise about the set menu I scanned it quickly mainly paying attention to the entree and didn't even remember what the other courses were until they arrived. But, as I said, why the heck should it take between five and ten minutes to pour and deliver a glass of wine at one of the top restaurants in the city? If it hadn't been a special night out where I didn't want to embarrass my wife I would have just walked to the bar myself and ordered my wine (I have done that in other restaurants when the wait staff was slow or inattentive).

[barrys]

Well, four of us went to Crawfords in Cha-am - I hadn't seen John for quite a while, anyway.

He seems to be in much better form healthwise and he's almost back to his old jovial self.

John put on a 4-course dinner and before we went my friend had asked if we could have garlic bread as well.
We were presented with 2 LOAVES of garlic bread - gratis!!

We were also able to take our own wine - with no corkage charge.

We were given a complimentary Baileys-based cocktail on arrival and the courses were served with just the right pause inbetween. Everyone enjoyed their meal.

The girls had two soft drinks/juices each and the total bill for the four of us was a massive THB 1560, with the meal priced at THB 350 each.

It was extremely good value and it was great to have a bit of banter with John again.

[moja]

We too were at Coco 51 last night and although the set menu was on the table we were able to order off the normal menu - in fact the set menu was not pushed at all.

I did read the set menu and the first thing I noticed was that there was no price on it. We all (7) decided that 6 courses was much more than we would eat. Although having heard about the chocolate mousse maybe I made the wrong choice!!

I will agree that the drinks service was very very slow and we too thought our drinks had been forgotten.

All the ladies were given a Rose at the end of the evening which was a nice touch.

[PeteC]

We too were at Coco 51 last night and although the set menu was on the table we were able to order off the normal menu - in fact the set menu was not pushed at all.

I did read the set menu and the first thing I noticed was that there was no price on it. We all (7) decided that 6 courses was much more than we would eat. Although having heard about the chocolate mousse maybe I made the wrong choice!!

I will agree that the drinks service was very very slow and we too thought our drinks had been forgotten.

All the ladies were given a Rose at the end of the evening which was a nice touch.

Would be interesting for you and HHF to compare notes as to what time you were both there. Sounds a bit to me that early on they were pushing the 'set' to assure they would use all that was prepared, and later on perhaps opening up the regular menu? Pete

[hhfarang]

That is interesting Pete,

We were there early at 7:00 and my wife specifically asked two different employees if we could order off the regular menu and they both said that we could not.

Maybe later they started to run low on the set menu items and started letting people order from the regular menu.

[richard]

Well I'm a bit of a humbug when it comes to Valentines day, fathers day and mothers day. All too commercially orientated

Valentines day for me means it's for unattached couples and fun with the card scene.

I ventured out last night with the missus for a quiet meal at SJ's. Nice spot in the garden at the rear. Then it filled up with couples who jived on the dance floor and I have to say it was good fun. Most of the couples were in their 60's but were really enjoying themselves. Even the staff joined in with their version of Thai jiving

Any excuse for a party Eh here in Thailand

[moja]

we were at Coco 51 just after 1930 - should have been a little earlier but we were caught up in all the traffic.

I too wondered if they were running out of the food for the set menu but to be honest at that time it was not that busy there; it was only after 2000 it started to get really busy.

[PeteC]

Now it sounds as if one hand didn't know what the other was doing. Given their disorganization concerning beverages, probably some waitresses were told one thing and others something else. Pete

[PeteC]

I was just looking at their web page advertisement on here. The bass player appears to be a farang. Anyone know who he is, perhaps he's a member on here? Pete

[Terry]

Sadly.........

Away on business in Doha - so - will have to make up for it with a bottle or three of duty free Champagne for Mrs.T

[Big Boy]

Interesting thread.

hhfarang, if service was so slow, why did you tip them? You should only tip good service.

Spitfire, I have always done the same. Like Richard I'm a bit of a Valentines humbug. Mrs BB does not like paying over the odds for anything. We always go out the night after, pay half the price, get double the service and the less crowded surroundings are much more romantic.

moja, maybe if they thought there was a danger of you voting with your feet, then they compromised with the normal menu rather than lose the trade.