My apologies for the lack of updates on this blog recently. My weak excuse is that I have been home to NZ for a couple of weeks much needed R&R and we have been busy adding a few improvements to the Beer Garden as well.
We are approaching our 1st year of operation and with that experience behind us looking at ways we can improve the services The Pattaya Beer Garden offers.
Probably the biggest problem I could see was that the main bar was so large that it was a little hard for people trying to meet the girl of her dreams. I wrote in February about the smaller, more intimate bar we were adding specially for those looking to meet someone. Well it has been operational for about a month and seems to be fulfilling its function. Freelancer numbers are up and most are choosing to sit at the small bar. Our afternoon promotion is having a slow but sure effect and the number of girls about in the afternoon is on the increase. We could still use much more and so the promotion will continue through April and probably May as well.
The new bar in operation.
No change to the bar would be complete without a picture of a crazy Thai workman. In this fine example, when the ladder was not high enough to reach the roof the simple and obvious solution is to tie two ladders together.
The tables around the inside of the bar annoyed me. The problem with them was that they were normal height tables so people sitting at the sort of disappeared and go a free view of the bums of people sitting at the nearby bar. (Sometimes not such a bad thing). We have now replaced all the inside tables near the bar with new models that are at standard bar height and they have comfy high backed chairs as well. We have also added fans above this internal seating as it could get quite hot sitting there.
These tables all have a near by power point as well and so make an excellent workplace for those who want to use the free wifi.
The final improvement finished last month was to the toilets. I made the classic mistake when we built the bar of letting the builders choose the toilets. Of course they chose cheap Thai made ones that are too small for many Farang bums and with a plastic mechanism so cheap it would break if you looked at it for too long. Having kept out maintenance man fully employed for the past year fixing them I finally bit the bullet and threw out the four units we had and purchased five brand new American made Farang friendly appliances. The fifth one will eventually be installed in the Ladies where we only have two stalls at the moment. ( a bit of a bottle neck at times).
It’s only a toilet but it is Farang friendly.
Having got all that out of the way we are no revisiting the menu. No drastic changes are planned but we will drop a few items that do not sell so well and add a few new things. I asked our Executive Chef about a Sausage based meal to add to our comfort food menu and she blew me away by preparing a gourmet delight Sausage and Mash spectacular. With the special sauce she adds it is actually one of my favorite meals now and even a few Thai’s who tried it out really loved it. It should be on the menu in a few days.
VEGETARIANS TAKE NOTE:
I’ve had a few vegies approach me in the last month asking if we could add some vegie food. We do a mixed vegetable Thai dish as well as Fried Rice with vegetables but we are now looking to add some Tofu dishes as well. As I am not a vegetarian any feedback from the Vegies out there as to what you would like to see on our menu would be welcome.
We get a lot of good comments on our steaks. This surprised me a little as I made a decision way back at the start that we would have to use local beef as the imported steaks would lift the price beyond the bracket we wanted to be in. As many of you will know local Thai beef does not make for great steaks but it seemed an unavoidable compromise.
While recently going through the prices of different suppliers with the Executive Chef we were looking at steak and she pointed out to me where our steaks come from and how much they cost. I was more than a little taken back when I realized she has been buying and serving imported New Zealand steak the whole time. No wonder they taste so good.
Although our profit margin is a bit low on these steaks I am pleasantly surprised that we can do them for the price we do. It must be the cheapest imported steak in Pattaya. We will continue serving these at the same price and I will stop telling everyone they are local beef.
In light of the world wide credit crunch and the tough economic situation we will not be raising any of our prices in the foreseeable future. Thailand is actually experiencing quite high inflation at the moment and our cost of goods have gone up around 10 percent in the past year. The volume that we are doing is much greater than I originally planned for though and good news about that, is that it will allow us to absorb the price increases and not pass them on to our customers.
See you in the Beer Garden.
Cheers
Pete
This thing has 9 Comments
Good to hear from you again pete i will try those great steaks that you talk about.Any way will be in patts on the 29 april and will be making many visits to the best bar in pattaya.I think its a great idea with the smaller bar should be a success .Keep up the good work and see you soon
Thought we had lost you there for a while, good to see you’re still around
Been bad in the homeland for a month and am still trying to come to terms with the fact that Pattaya needs to wait for another year. At least there is a reason for living!
Had a wonderful time on each of my visits to the PBG, you are certainly on the right track and have great place. Take care.
I’m afraid I don’t like the new tables. I liked the nice dining atmosphere those old tables created. I don’t want to perch while I’m eating a meal with my girlfriend.
I loved this bar when you first opened, but I’m rather afraid that your idea of improving it is gradually stripping away everything that made it different and special in the first place.
Continued good luck with it anyway.
Will be there saturday and our first stop will be the beergarden. Hope you are still serving those steaks around 11pm (just arriving from the airport around 10).
Don’t panic JJ. The new tables are only those close to the bar. There is still 40 of the low ones on the balcony and near the free somtum bar. Had a few people comment on the new tables and that they now feel part of the action when sitting at them.
High or low, it’s your choice.
Will be in Pattaya in a few weeks im looking forward to visiting your bar
Love the idea for a smaller bar to meet some ladies. your last post looks great
Keep them coming
Anyone got a list of accommodation places near the beer garden? Cheers
Thanks for the reassurance Pete
I’m over there in a couple of weeks, and will take my daily spot at the nicest bar in Pattaya with my book, great music, and wonderful daytime staff for company. A big part of looking forward to my holidays now includes looking forward to my downtime at the beer garden. catch you all soon
Pete – I have been wanting to provide a post based on my experiences at the PBG for sometime and now that you are back from your R&R and coming up to the end of your first year in operation I thought I would give you one punters observations/comments based on my two visits to the PBG in July 08 and March 09.
Freelancers: with great respect I think what the Pattaya Ghost blogged back in Sept/Oct 08 still very much holds true “…that the PBG has not become the Freelancer venue that Pete wanted it to be but does not need to be.” (or something very similar.).
I want to say at the outset that I love the place and the following should in no way be thought of as criticism of any kind, they are just my own personal views based on my two visits, and in particular 6th -14th March 09.So here goes, I will leave the controversial items to last:
1) Wine/Cigars – I will say right at the start I know absolutely nothing about wine – it’s either red or white. No problem with the white wine that goes in the chilly bins with beer I am assuming, but the red is a different story. Lots of theories about serving red wine at room temperature and you will know better than me, but serving red wine at effectively the best part of 30C , which it was in March, does nothing to enhance the wine. I appreciate purchasing a purpose made wine cooler is yet more capital expense but if you are half serious about your wine then that’s the way to go. On a similar vane, if you are serious about cigars you are going to need a small humidifier to keep them fresh rather than the current yellow box
2) Hot plates – I appreciate that this is not farangland and in general food in Thailand is served semi warm , but “hot “ food served on cold plates does my head in. However, there is no consistency – one day cold plate the next the plate is so hot the server was having real difficulty holding the plate it was so hot.
3) Serving meals – you are on record in saying that meals MUST be served together when ordered together. Well, your staff seems to have forgotten that one. Having ordered a farang and Thai meal together, the Thai meal came well before my meal did. My new TGF, who had never been to the place before, was embarrassed and took some persuading to start her food before mine arrived some 20 minutes later, I don’t know if it was the mash potato with the pork chop that caused the chefs some grief but serving meals ordered together does need to be emphasized again I think.
4) Coffee: I wonder if your fancy silver coffee machine in the middle of the bar is capable of making coffee mild/medium/strong? Don’t get me wrong I had a perfectly acceptable cup of coffee but is was too weak for my taste and as a result did not have a second cup for the rest of the holidays
And now on to the controversial bits
5) Servers English: I will put money on the fact that your latest recruits were not interviewed by yourself as the level of English, even for a Thai, left a lot to be desired. One poor lady really struggled and to get some assistance.
6) No Shirt no Service: I am no prude, I come to Pattaya for my holidays for goodness sake, but the guys, inevitably British like me, who insist on bare chest in the PBG leave me cold. The beach is less than 20 yards away so then can sun bath there and it cannot be the most hygienic thing. So, for me anyway, as well as your famous smoking and beer guarantee signs there needs to be a third – No Shirt No Service.
7) Ladyboys: I would be interested to know why you have changed your views on this Pete? If it’s the law of the land that you have to allow them in then so be it, (and they are entitled to live their life as they please of course) but I think that if you were to take a poll of your farang customers they would rather not have their favorite chill out place invaded even if they are restricted to the external tables. They do tend to be an aggressive bunch and I for one avoid them if at all possible.
And finally
You are there everyday so you will know better than me on a long term basis but certainly between the 6th – 14th March this year the Freelancer numbers were absolutely abmismal. I say this because any newbie reading your blog are going to be disappointed when they turn up expecting the PBG to be full of talent. Maybe I have just hit Pattaya at the wrong time of year so far.
As I say I love the place and it will be my first point of call when I am in Pattaya later this year. I can recommend it to anyone .As one businessman to another it took some bottle to pull this off and you deserve all the praise that comes your way. There is nothing like it on the Planet and long may it continue.
DubaiGeoff