If you are going to Pattaya for the first time, you may be wondering where to go to eat your meals.
Keywords:
baht, dishes, food, rice, vendors, pattaya, street, hungry, usually, soi, breakfast, vendor, thai, street vendors, food court
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In Pattaya you will be bombarded with smells and tastes from a wide variety of cuisines. Determining where you will dine for the day may be the biggest decision of the day.
I will list approximate prices in Thai Baht and the exchange rate as I write this is about 33 Baht to 1 US dollar.
Breakfast is cheap in Pattaya. You can get basic fare for about 50 to 80 baht which consists of bacon and eggs, toast, juice and coffee. A better deal is the hotel buffet. The Lek Hotel, Apex and Diana Inn on Second Road all have buffets for about 110 Baht. Lots of food but nothing really spectacular.
I prefer to have a big breakfast but one that also tastes good. My favorite is at the Sportsman on Soi 13. They have a full English breakfast for about 240 Baht. This is served on a platter and comes with bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, beans, bubble and squeak, and fried tomatoes. It is all you can do to finish it.
I usually don’t eat lunch after having the big breakfast but for those who get hungry mid-day, there are many, many places to get something to eat. Everything from fast food to street vendor dishes are all over the city. You won't be able to walk ten feet without someone selling something to eat.
If I am hungry at lunchtime, I usually go to the Royal Garden Shopping Center upstairs to the food court. There you buy a card similar to a credit card and put however much Baht on it as you want. I usually add about 200 Baht and if I have money left over, I can get it refunded.
Then you just walk around to the many vendors and see what you like. Most of the food is Thai and there is everything from soup, to rice dishes to noodles. Beverages and dessert are also available. Most of the meals are in the 30 – 40 Baht range.
For dinner, I usually stop at a street vendor and get some meat and rice. There is a group of street vendors, or an outside food court on Soi Buakhao just north of Soi LK Metro. The northernmost vendor is my favorite. He has boiled chicken, fried pork, and cooked red pork. All dishes come with rice and cost 25-30 Baht. A bottle of water is an additional 10 Baht.
If you get hungry while out on the town in Pattaya, you will be able to get food no matter what time it is. Stationary street vendors and vendors with motorized stalls are everywhere serving soup, bar-b-que, and rice and noodle dishes. You can even get a sampling of Northern Thailand snacks – grasshoppers, silkworms, ants, and beetles.
Eating in Thailand is a way of life and you will find yourself eating 4 to 6 times per day. The meals are small in size and huge in taste. Some of the Thai dishes can be very spicy so be careful with the chili peppers.
And if you only eat pizza, burgers and fries, you can get those dishes all over the city too.
You can even find some of the best steaks and European cuisine in this former fishing village. Seafood is also abundant and you can get lobster or crabs for a small fraction of what you pay at home
I can guarantee that you will not go hungry when you are in Pattaya.
