Great Buffet at Cherry's

[Gaybutton]

I did, over two months ago and still haven't gotten a reply.

Yes, I can certainly understand your position if your complaint is falling on deaf ears. I agree that if nothing else, out of sheer courtesy, you should have gotten a "thank you, I'll look into it" response of some kind.

 

As an alternate, some of you might want to try the buffet at the LK Kitchen. It's a very good buffet with several Thai and western choices (but no dessert) on Soi Buakhao. They also have a barbeque included in the buffet price with a selection of kebobs and fresh grilled prawns, as much as you want. You just tell the attendant what you want and they'll cook it and serve it to you.

 

The easiest way to get there is to go to Soi Buakhao via Central Road (Pattaya Klang). Enter Soi Buakhao and the restaurant is located at the first left-turn intersection you'll come to. On the map below, it's located where you see LK Royal Suite.

 

 

The price is 180 baht for the buffet. If you order bottled water, now the price is 210 baht.

 

Like any other buffet, the food is at its best when you arrive early, rather than after the food has been sitting there for a length of time.

 

I think it's a very good buffet for the price.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

I had a similar "non response" from American Rib Company not long after they opened. I sent an e mail with some comments about the extremely loud music and problems with dessert and never heard from them.

[Gaybutton]

I sent an e mail with some comments about the extremely loud music and problems with dessert and never heard from them.

Although there really is no excuse for a non-response, I think you have a much better chance at getting results when you speak to the owner personally, rather than sending E-mail. Usually when I speak to owners, they're very nice and they still do nothing about the complaint, but at least they're polite enough to listen . . .

 

I know of one high end restaurant in Pattaya at which the owner has a reputation of addressing complaints by telling you what essentially amounts to: if you don't like it, tough shit and there's the door. Yes, it's always a nice feeling to know that the customers' wishes and complaints are taken seriously . . .

[Guest lvdkeyes]

I know of one high end restaurant in Pattaya

Could this be "B's"?

[Guest TOQ]

Could this be "B's"?

 

 

Never heard of B's. Where is it please? High end ?

 

 

john

[Gaybutton]

Could this be "B's"?

Sorry, if I wanted to give the name of the restaurant I would have posted it. No hints . . .

[Guest TOQ]

Sorry, if I wanted to give the name of the restaurant I would have posted it. No hints . . .

 

 

 

None needed

 

 

john

[Gaybutton]

Last night 5 friends and I tried the buffet. It was just as good as PattayaMale described. Actually, it was even better.

 

There is an extensive salad bar, with various dressings along with the salad selections. There is a variety of hot and cold appetizers and soup. They even had unlimited quantities of Parma ham and prosciutto.

 

Among the main course selections there was spaghetti, with your choice of several sauces, fillet mignon, pork fillet, chicken stuffed with vegetables and cheese, lamb, fillet of sole, beef stroganoff, a marinated beef selection, a beef stuffed with vegetables and cheese selection, and several more items. I can't remember them all.

 

The dessert choices included tiramisu, fresh fruit, creme brulee, and an apple tart.

 

In all honesty, there were a few flaws. We had reserved a table. We had no problems about our table, but what we didn't know was they have a live singer. Unfortunately the volume is loud enough that we requested a table change to their second room. We don't enjoy music and singing so loud that you can't have a quiet conversation and end up having to shout to be heard. They did move us to their second room, but they had recorded music blaring in there too! We had to request that they shut off the damned music and they did comply with our request. However, the air conditioning was inadequate and the room was much too hot.

 

So, we had a choice - the singer in a nice cool room or the quiet room in which you're uncomfortably hot. They do have several outdoor tables, but yesterday was one of the hottest days of the year. So, we were damned if we do, damned if we don't.

 

Our other complaint is they are very slow to replenish the food items when they run out. Some items were not replenished at all while we were there. Quite frankly, I see no excuse for that. If we had arrived at 8:00pm, when that was happening, and found several of the food selections completely empty, we would not exactly have been pleased. I admit I'm surprised a restaurant as good as Cherry's would permit that to happen. To my mind, if a restaurant, any restaurant, is offering a buffet, then do it right or don't offer a buffet. Doing it right does not include excuses for running out of food and failing to replenish the empty food trays in a timely manner or failing to replenish the food at all.

 

We arrived at 7:30pm. The buffet opens at 6:00pm. Like so many buffets, the food is at its best when first put out. We're going to try it again next week and we're going to go at 6:00pm. Hopefully everything will be much better.

 

Despite the problems, I would still give the buffet at Cherry's a big "thumbs up" for the food choices and the quality. It's a great bargain at 295 baht. With water, the total bill comes to 320 baht. Just get there early so that you don't encounter the problems we encountered.

 

I do suggest making reservations if you intend to give it a try. Even though we are at the lowest point of the low season now, the restaurant was packed. You can call for reservations at 086-314-5819.

 

They also have a Sunday set menu special at 295 baht.

[Guest fountainhall]

what we didn't know was they have a live singer. Unfortunately the volume is loud enough that we requested a table change to their second room . . . but they had recorded music blaring in there too! We had to request that they shut off the damned music and they did comply with our request. However, the air conditioning was inadequate and the room was much too hot.

 

I don't care how wonderful a buffet - or a restaurant, if they have live music blaring away, then they've lost me as a customer. I simply cannot understand the desire of many restuarant owners/managers to pump out loud music which kills all possibility of reasonable conversation.

 

I was once at the Boathouse in Phuket which is renowned for its cuisine and excellent, though (mostly) pricey, wine cellar. The setting is almost perfect - right on the beach where with the windows wide open you can hear the waves lapping on the sand as you dine. Or at least you could - if the management had not provided a 5-piece amplified band. A year later I was giiven a special offer to return. This sparked a long conversation with the manager about there being no need for music. He assured me that it was now just an unamplified piano and flute, which I guessed might be just aceptable.

 

I did not stay at the hotel, but I did make reservations for dinner one evening. The duo had become an amplified trio. We cancelled our reservation. In several more visits to Phuket, we have never gone back for dinner.

[Gaybutton]

if they have live music blaring away, then they've lost me as a customer.

I'm mostly with you on this one. There are many places I've stopped going to because of just that. I used to love the buffet dinner at Captain's Corner. It's been at least two years since I've been there. I just couldn't take any more of that God-awful, off-key singer anymore. The way I see it, if you want to have live music and/or a singer, then open a cocktail lounge, but please, leave me alone during dinner. And when the singer is an off-key singer, that's even worse.

 

There have been restaurants I entered, and then turned around and walked right back out again as soon as I realized they've got the music blaring. Have you ever been to one of these restaurants at which they're playing music too loudly and one or two doors down there's a karaoke? Escoffier himself could be the chef, but there's no way I'm going to eat there.

 

I wouldn't mind the music so much if it was soft and in the background, although I can do without even that. But when the volume makes the music dominating to the point you can't even have a quiet dinner or conversation with your friends, that's something I don't want. I can't understand why some of these restaurants think they're doing their customers a favor by drowning out their dinner conversation with the goddam music. Music is supposed to enhance a dinner, not ruin it by making it impossible to even hear yourself think. Is there really anybody who truly likes that?

[Guest gay_grampa]

Is there really anybody who truly likes that?

I have been to restaurants where conversations from other tables dominates the entire room. Some people just don't know how to behave in public and their voices carry a long way.

In cases like that I prefer the music.

[Gaybutton]

In cases like that I prefer the music.

My own voice carries. I'm well aware of it. People who know me know my voice carries whether I'm quiet or not. But in my case, if I'm unintentionally loud to the point it is bothering someone else, all they have to do is ask me to lower my volume. I realize my voice carries and I would imagine that others with similar voice characteristics are also aware of their own voices. It's a hell of a lot easier to get people to quiet down a little bit than it is to get the restaurants to lower the music volume or eliminate the music entirely.

 

Next time you're in a restaurant and someone at another table is too loud, try politely asking them if they could quiet down. Maybe that person is me!

 

If the entire table is loud and boisterous, then chances are they've had too much to drink and you can probably forget about them quieting down.

[Guest fountainhall]

I can't understand why some of these restaurants think they're doing their customers a favor by drowning out their dinner conversation with the goddam music

 

It used to be said in the catering trade that music should be played when a restaurant opens so that diners don't feel overwhelmed by silence! Maitre d's would then gradually lower the volume as the restaurant filled up.

 

But I'm totally with GB in being basically against all forms of music when I dine. I go to a restaurant to eat and enjoy the company of my companions - not to listen to music, and I cannot see what any type of music adds to the overall ambience of any restaurant, especially over-amplified and out-of-tune singers.

 

I also totally fail to understand why some of the top hotels feel they need live music in their lobbies. The Oriental in Bangkok has the most dreadful string quartet playing in the evenings. Not only can these guys not play in tune, they play slow dirges most of the time. For one of the best hotels in the world, it's a disgrace - and so totally unnecessary! Maybe with the current tourism downturn, hotel and restaurant managements will realise they can make some savings by getting rid of such background noise.

[Guest TOQ]

My own voice carries. I'm well aware of it. People who know me know my voice carries whether I'm quiet or not. But in my case, if I'm unintentionally loud to the point it is bothering someone else, all they have to do is ask me to lower my volume. I realize my voice carries and I would imagine that others with similar voice characteristics are also aware of their own voices. It's a hell of a lot easier to get people to quiet down a little bit than it is to get the restaurants to lower the music volume or eliminate the music entirely.

 

Next time you're in a restaurant and someone at another table is too loud, try politely asking them if they could quiet down. Maybe that person is me!

 

If the entire table is loud and boisterous, then chances are they've had too much to drink and you can probably forget about them quieting down.

 

What does all this have to do with Cherry's Buffet

 

 

john

[Gaybutton]

What does all this have to do with Cherry's Buffet

john

I guess not all that much. Yes, I got sidetracked with that aspect of the discussion. Guilty as charged. Ok, back to the buffet . . .

[Guest DanT]

It's a great bargain at 295 baht. With water, the total bill comes to 320 baht. Just get there early so that you don't encounter the problems we encountered."

 

That post reminds me of my cheap cousins who retired to Florida and who eat dinner while the sun's still blazing so they can take advantage of the early bird specials at the local fat factories. From what you describe: loud music, lousy air conditioning and empty buffet trays, I'd give it a finger up too, but not my thumb. One of the great luxuries of life when you get old is to enjoy good food and be willing to pay the price for quality. Some people will do anything to save a few bahts.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

That post reminds me of my cheap cousins who retired to Florida and who eat dinner while the sun's still blazing so they can take advantage of the early bird specials at the local fat factories.

There was an episode on Seinfeld about his parents living in Florida and going to dinner so early. Very funny.

[Gaybutton]

Some people will do anything to save a few bahts.

Good of you to attempt an insult with your second post on this board and I'm sure you're right. However, if you're suggesting our reason for going to Cherry's is to save a few baht, then you're dead wrong. We also go to places like the Montien, Casa Pascal, Bruno's, Manhattans, etc. As a matter of fact, the same group is going to the Montien this very evening.

 

Cherry's happens to be an excellent restaurant and we went there on the recommendation PattayaMale wrote on his original post. And yes, we're going to go back, probably many times if it's better at 6:00, despite the fact that it's less expensive than other restaurants.

 

There are a lot more inexpensive, very good restaurants in Pattaya than there are expensive high end restaurants in the first place.

 

My friend, if you truly believe that you are somehow on a level higher than others because you prefer thousand baht dinners and can afford them on a regular basis, then I'm certain you have gained the admiration of us all. Oh, and don't forget the bottle of wine. After all, dinner just isn't dinner without a bottle of fine expensive wine. Us Cheap Charlies, however, prefer a bottle of water.

[Guest RichLB]

One of the great luxuries of life when you get old is to enjoy good food and be willing to pay the price for quality.

Dan, you are perhaps betraying an assumption set that may prevent your from enjoying some of the delights of Pattaya. As far as I can recall, none of the posters touting Cherry's identify with being "old" - that was your assumption. In addition, you are emphasizing some of GB's criticisms and completely ignoring the positives he had mentioned. While there was music in the back room, the air conditioning could have been increased (it was one of the hottest nights I can recall in a while) and the dishes were not replaced the instant they were emptied (they were refilled within minutes, however), the food was of high quality and they had a variety of different dishes. I would be less than honest if I did not confess that the bargain price was a factor, but not a major one.

 

If you truly believe in that rubric of quality pricing, you are missing out on a lot of things. One of the best Quay Teo (I have no idea how to spell that) I've had is a 20 baht bowl sold by this wizened little woman from a food cart, my computer repairman charges so little I am embarrassed each time I pay the bill and he is excellent, and I won't even mention the tips some of the boys expect (if you still believe in quality pricing after a trip to Boystown, I can't help you). It's not always true you get what you pay for. Don't let low prices scare you away and don't assume that because something is expensive it is necessarily good.