Mantra Buffet- the best in Pattaya?

[sabang]

Mantra restaurant is located in the grounds of the Amari Hotel, basically where Pattaya North Road meets Beach Rd.
It's a big, trendy, upmarket place- must have cost a bomb.
They have a Web site- Mantra, Pattaya Homepage

Now Pattaya types, the first thing I should mention is don't come here with the standard local garb of flip flop sandals and loose shorts and T shirt- you'll get turned away.
Second thing is, it ain't open for lunch except the Sunday buffet, from 11am- 3pm.
Third thing is, the Sunday buffet is the Dogs Bollocks- definitely must be the best in Pattaya.

So put on a half nice pair of tailored shorts, half decent looking sandals and a shirt that doesn't look like it's been chewed by a dog, and join me for a feast.

You enter into the Bar/lounge, through some nice big doors with a nice small lady waiting to open them for you. Much too chic' not to have a drink in whilst you peruse the wine list and menu. Except on Sunday, no need for menu perusal- it's all buffet, and they even offer an unlimited wine buffet for around 950 Bht, you can choose between about 7-8 wines. Decent value actually, if you make it worth your while and hit the vino. So enjoy your first glass of white- a sauvignon blanc perhaps- in the bar:-

[sabang]

A word for the wise- this place can get pretty busy, especially in High season. It is advisable to book, and specify a downstairs table. That way, you don't have to go traipsing up and down stairs with mountains of food- they have an upstairs dining area too.

We booked, but as it turned out there were still some vacant downstairs tables- better safe than sorry though. Luckily, we were even able to grab the Prime seating position in the Bar/Lounge- and of course smoking area. This is known as the Opium Den :-



It was nice to sit there, wondering what the Hoi Polloi were doing, and feeling glad they took credit card. The Buffet itself is 1150 Bht (+ 7&#37, so if two of you go for the wine and food buffet, you are up for 4200 Bht + 7% and Tip- you'll get some change from 5000 Bht. Save it for a special occasion then.

[Marmite the Dog]

Maybe we could have a TD soiree there. Should weed out most of the riff-raff...

[sabang]

I was enjoying it, so I started my second glass of wine there, and had another smoke. Pained glances were coming my way however from Mrs sabang and my old Biz partner from HK, so it was time to attend to the task at hand, Buffet Racing. As we walked into the main dining area (through suitably Big Doors), I was starting my third glass of wine, being the diligent researcher and value seeker I am. This was a chardonnay.

The Main Dining Area:-

[Butterfly]

I haven't been to this place yet, but I heard of it, looks really nice. Hardly for the Pattaya crowd

[sabang]

Maybe we could have a TD soiree there. Should weed out most of the riff-raff...

Too right MTD. I think they could accomodate us no ploblem, here are their seating capacities -
Restaurant Total - 261 [129 downstairs; then upstairs & some private rooms].
Bar Lounge - 45 + 8 at the Opium Den, 4 at the Hedonist Harem.

Now just before you walk into the Main dining room, theres a really groovy glass walled wine cellar on your left which might be worth checking out.

Just after the Big Doors are corridors leading to le Pissoir and the ladies powder room, on the left. The Pissoir is as nice as you would expect, and has those chiselled type granite washbasins so popular now- what happened to porcelain.
A concerningly Gay touch however is that the air is wafted with Essential Oils, predominant amongst them rose petal. I am sure some of our members will Out themselves by approving. I will get a shot next time- this lot of photoes are lifted from their promotional CD & Info Pack which they generously gave me when I told them I was a restaurant reviewer.

Anyway, got people coming around for lunch now, hope they don't expect the Mantra buffet. Back to review the food in a couple of hours.

[Marmite the Dog]

Just after the Big Doors are corridors leading to le Pissoir and the ladies powder room, on the left. The Pissoir is as nice as you would expect, and has those chiselled type granite washbasins so popular now- what happened to porcelain.

You do realise that this thread will be deleted by DD if you don't post any toilet piccies, don't you?

[sabang]

I think the main problem in this place is orientation. It's not quite like your normal buffet- there are different stations spread all around the room, serving different kinds of food. It's kind of fun exploring, but I did grab a few Dim Sum to munch while I finished my last white wine of the day.

Suitably reinforced, now with a really quite nice Aussie Shiraz/Carbenet, I went around the circuit. Actually all three of us ambled around the circuit at our own pace, a testament to the visual treats. A lot of the stuff in this buffet they cook up fresh for you, then deliver to your table. Pretty cool.

In rough clockwise order theres-

Chinese, Dim Sum & some other stuff
BBQ, beef tenderloin, lamb, Goose liver (yes!), a couple of Roasts, whatever else cooked to order and delivered. Spuds & gravy of course.
A Kebab stand
A Tandoori oven
A Meditteranean buffet, with all those good things like Parma ham, pizzas cooked to order, freshly baked bread, weird but tasty cold meats, exotic salds with stuff like artichoke- you get the picture.
A cold seafood selection of Prawns, bugs, oysters, rock lobsters. All very fresh and good.
A Japanese section with sushi & sashimi, plus a toucha class- Free Sake! Great sashimi btw, but I really think the complimentary sake was nice. {Beer drinkers- a couple of ales, some free sake and you've saved money compared to the wine buffet.}
Theres Thai too- somewhere. Theres an eggs all day section, but hard to justify with all the other delectables. Theres a seperate room with a big dessert buffet.

I think thats most of it- the thing is, the stuff that tastes best cooked to order, rather than left in a tray, is indeed cooked to order. The food is hard to fault, at least what I had- and wife and Mike.

Dogs Bollocks. This is their Treasure Wall, to one side of the restaurant:-



It's loaded with genuine fake antiques, to help you feel good about your bill.

[sabang]

I think, for what you get, it's hard to match this buffet.

The food is really very good- and I have to say you can't say this about most buffets, and it's a lot of fun just trying all these different foodstuffs, finding out whats where, getting pissed on all the wine you can drink (I had three glasses of that shiraz cab, before switching to a Chilean Cab), and walking out wondering what you missed out on.

Ferk, I forgot to mention- the Meditteranean section has a great little cheese selection too. I concentrated on this, and forsook the dessert room.

Theres a number of deliberate nooks and crannies in this place, be they opium dens, food corners, private rooms or the dessert room. It kind of draws you back, I will certainly return. Here's one, I don't remember even seeing it, it's called The Lost Gallery:-



When I heard about this place first, I wrote it off as one of those style over substance trendy fusion places that don't really do anything that well, except charge a fortune.

Quite wrong really. It's several good restaurants under one roof, each doing there own thing well. It's up to you how you mix n' match.

[sabang]

This is Mantra seen from outside, big restaurant for sure and theres plenty of parking.

I had only been to Mantra once before the Sunday Buffet, and was pleasantly surprised. Like a lot of Upmarket places, the menu emphasizes stuff that you can spend an absolute bomb on- they have genuine Boston lobster, Kobe Beef, expensive champagne and so on. This place attracts a following with the Bangkok and local Thai HiSo crowd. They were the well dressed ones, the tourists were the more shabbily dressed types.

But when it comes down to it, you can actually eat and drink quite reasonably here and because of the various kitchens, you can really mix your cuisines how you want. We had-
A Chinese mixed BBQ platter, delicious and decent value at 280 Bht
Some sushi and sashimi
Some assorted Dim Sums
Stir fried Bok choi,
A sea bass dish
A bottle of Sth Africa sauvignon blanc, 1200 Bht.

The bill came to something like 2500 Bht, and it occurred to me that several people that would be put off by the somewhat glitzy look of this place probably end up spending just as much for a meal in an altogether more basic, tourist oriented place. You don't need to spend a fortune at Mantra.

[chuckd]

This is Pattaya after all...does the upstairs have a glass floor?

My first post. Please forgive my flippant attitude.

[pugforever]

haven't been to pattaya for years. maybe it's time to check how things are now. the restaurant decoration looks good. any suggestion of good place to stay? something with a bit of charcacter? thanks.

[Headworx]

Pugforever you could google Tim Boutique Hotel and look at their website as possible digs. I've tipped a lot of mates coming from Bangkok or overseas to Pattaya into staying their since it opened not that long ago and bar none, they all automatically stay there on following visits. There's several different room types, all still like new inside. It's just back far enough from 2nd Road to be quiet, the food is ok and like the rest of the hotel, the rooftop pool is well kept and not a bad place to have a beer and hide till that pesky sun pisses off for the night.

Mantra is the ticket of Pattaya's 3 biggest Sunday brunch options!. The other 2 are Benihana and Casa Pascal and both not bad but Mantra gets the gold. I've been there probably 25 times for the Sunday brunch, it's almost a ritual. Fredi from Bruno's has been spotted having brunch there so, nuff said. 2 small tips though, don't bother taking a TG with you unless you're sure she's into farang tucker. Made that mistake twice and won't be again! I couldn't give a shit about the money but they just don't enjoy what's on offer and are happier being dropped off to dine somewhere like Pattaya Nua or Tai markets with 100 baht.

2nd, Mantra has one of those pressure fired pizza oven things going. You don't want to sit too close to it where the aircon isn't as effective but you do want to try their pizzas!. The cold meat and salad bar is in front of the oven and while it's not advertised, it's not a problem to load a plate up with whatever you like and ask the guy to make a pizza from it. Parma ham, leg ham, smoked salmon, and a selection of roughage like onions, tomatoes, garlic and bell peppers comes up just superb on their thin crust pizzas believe me .

[pugforever]

did google tim. it looks handsome and doesn't scream "pattaya", good recommendation. i will give it a try.

your tips about the food are useful, but i'm afraid i can't do this bit-

quoted "don't bother taking a TG with you unless you're sure she's into farang tucker."

i am a TG but i think i will be doing ok there.

cheers and welcome to td.

[sabang]

^ My TG did just fine there.

[sabang]

This is Pattaya after all...does the upstairs have a glass floor?

My first post. Please forgive my flippant attitude.

Regrettably not, but the wine cellar does have glass walls. TD welcomes you.