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I'm Impressed - The 'new' Sukantha Buffet!


FolkGuitar

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Sukantha Buffet - behind Hillside 4,  Huay Kaew Rd. Chiang Mai

 

Pros and Cons;

Pros:  New and improved... An entirely new seafood assortment... three tables full of just different seafoods for cooking!

Piles and piles of shrimp, crabs, scallops and mussels, several different clams and cockles, 2-3 different snails... awaiting the 'grill' on your table. Now it's eat as much shrimp as you want, either cooking it yourself, or dishing it up cooked for you in several different styles.

Lots of new and different items in the 'to-be-cooked' tables too! Some for the Korean BBQ dome (yakiniku?)  others for the open grill. They now put two different hibachis on the table so you can grill directly over the coals too. They are grilling whole fish on larger grills, too, and setting them out.

The regular, cooked selection seems to be about the same, but as it's a Wednesday night, and not so crowded, I can't tell if they've jazzed that up to on the weekends. The Braised Pork leg is still just as delicious as always, and the roast duck juicy!  Lots more fruit on different tables.

Cons: The ice cream sucks and the Beer Girls are wearing more clothes than Sister Mary Agnes.

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5 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

Thanks for the update, we haven't been there for a few years but we used to go regularly when we lived in the city. My wife will be very interested to hear about the improved seafood selection.

 

It was impressive! Several different sizes of raw shrimp, lots of fresh squid, mounds of shell fish, grilled fish, boiled fish, raw fish, several different prepared shrimp, prepared squid, and prepared fish...  There was in increase in the 'to-be-cooked' tables too!

I only had my cell phone with me, rather than a good camera, but here are a few shots of the seafood tables  ...

 

 

Buffet1.jpg

Buffet3.jpg

Buffet4.jpg

Buffet5.jpg

Buffet7.jpg

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1 hour ago, sfokevin said:

What is the cost per person?

 

It's 299 Baht for the 'regular' buffet, and 399 Baht to include the new Seafood section.

They start you off with a big plate of crabs to cook, but we didn't want to bother. We went for the rest of the sea foods and regular Thai dishes instead.

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1 minute ago, FolkGuitar said:

 

It's 299 Baht for the 'regular' buffet, and 399 Baht to include the new Seafood section.

They start you off with a big plate of crabs to cook, but we didn't want to bother. We went for the rest of the sea foods and regular Thai dishes instead.

Thanks for posting the prices...

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Do they have live music?  Many nights we heard live music wafting in from that direction.  Now that Sutsana is closed (and they had much better music) I'm wondering if it's Sukantha.  Don't really mind, our bedroom is on the other side of the condo, but it is interesting noise if I'm up late doing Thai Visa in the living room.

 

Like others, I haven't been there in able four years and was pretty well turned off by the "termite mound" (love that term) of people swarming food and the idea of cooking my own dinner over hot charcoal in warm temps, while my dress develops snags on the concrete furniture.  Oh, for a table at Le Meridien in a cool, calm environment where polite, English speaking staff bring your food to your table and offer excellent wine.  More my idea of a night out with friends.

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".... Beer Girls are wearing more clothes than Sister Mary Agnes. "

 

It's the cold season, or what we refer to as the comfortable season.  Thai dress up like they are going skiing whenever the temperature drops below 25C.

 

The buffet sounds promising.  I'll check it out, maybe after things warm up.  Is it in the lobby of Hillside 4, or that place on one side?

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5 minutes ago, heybruce said:

The buffet sounds promising.  I'll check it out, maybe after things warm up.  Is it in the lobby of Hillside 4, or that place on one side?

 

LOL! It's the size of three football fields! Hardly fit inside of Hillside's lobby.

It's 'behind' Hillside 4 (or beside it, depending on your point of view.) You can enter from the small alley next to the east side of the building, go through and you'll come to the buffet's parking area. Plenty of room to park.

You are better off coming during cooler weather, as there will be two burning hibachis on your table, keeping you more than warm enough. In fact, unless we plan to cook, we often have them remove the hibachis.

 

Do they have live music?  Many nights we heard live music wafting in from that direction. 

 

They have live noise. I'd be reluctant to call it music, but there are people up on the stage singing and playing guitar.

 

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1 minute ago, holy cow cm said:

How do they distinguish and police who paid what price? 

 

There are people watching. There is some sort of code added to the bills at the table when you sit down. They ask if you want the sea food option or not. I suppose it's possible that a few people do cheat, but I doubt if it's very many.

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16 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

 

There are people watching. There is some sort of code added to the bills at the table when you sit down. They ask if you want the sea food option or not. I suppose it's possible that a few people do cheat, but I doubt if it's very many.

Yeah used to go a few years back but the Chinese ripped this buffet all to God’s earth. This was also the once upon a time buffet that the Chinese brought a grocery doggie bag to stock up for the hotel. That soon stopped but their antics didn’t.. I will take my family one more time. It is or was sort of fun. And girl watching is always fun there. 

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Do they have live music?  Many nights we heard live music wafting in from that direction.  Now that Sutsana is closed (and they had much better music) I'm wondering if it's Sukantha.  Don't really mind, our bedroom is on the other side of the condo, but it is interesting noise if I'm up late doing Thai Visa in the living room.   Like others, I haven't been there in able four years and was pretty well turned off by the "termite mound" (love that term) of people swarming food and the idea of cooking my own dinner over hot charcoal in warm temps, while my dress develops snags on the concrete furniture.  Oh, for a table at Le Meridien in a cool, calm environment where polite, English speaking staff bring your food to your table and offer excellent wine.  More my idea of a night out with friends.

 

 

 It's aimed at Thai customers who enjoy this way of eating who probably can't afford the Le Meridien. It's their idea of a night out with friends.

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, heybruce said:

East side of Hillside 4 towards the back.  I last went there about ten years ago.  Is it the same place, or something different?

 

Same place as ten years ago, but the variety of foods has increased from one 'line' of food tables to three or four lines.

 

8 hours ago, roo860 said:

 It's aimed at Thai customers who enjoy this way of eating who probably can't afford the Le Meridien. It's their idea of a night out with friends.

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

Having been to both, it's easy to compare them... and contrast them.  The Meridian puts nicer tables under its serving dishes, but has less than 1/10 of the choices of foods. The Meridian is much quieter, which is nice. It's a restaurant dinning room. The Sukantha lacks the snob appeal and bragging rights. It's a barn. The food in both is excellent. A meal at the Meridian is a quiet affair. A meal at Sukantha is a party.  I like both.

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11 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

 

 

 

 

 

They have live noise. I'd be reluctant to call it music, but there are people up on the stage singing and playing guitar.

 

Yup, that's the place.  Another reason I've found it not to be an enjoyable experience the few times I've been pulled into a group to go there.  It's bad enough to hear the music drifting into our condo window some evenings.  Sounds like it's karaoke, not professional music.

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37 minutes ago, NancyL said:

Yup, that's the place.  Another reason I've found it not to be an enjoyable experience the few times I've been pulled into a group to go there.  It's bad enough to hear the music drifting into our condo window some evenings.  Sounds like it's karaoke, not professional music.

 

It's not professional music. And it would sound a lot better if it weren't amplified to astronomical levels inside a venue with a tin roof. But we don't go there for the music... we go for the food and the good companionship of friends. It reminds me of a German 'Octoberfest' in a Munich beer hall... lots of  laughing people, singing, having fun together, kicking off the traces and having a rollicking good time together. 

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Have been to Sokontha twice with extended family, within the last four years.

Enjoyed both experiences.

There are numerous gripes and complaints that could be exercised if one was pedantic and ingrained to a Western concept of dining.focussing on comparison to a Meridean  type dining experience.

Prices have increased slightly from last  visit.

Thank you FolkGuitar for the update and accompanying photographic examples.

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I have been before again quite a while back. Was very busy and we live the other side of town so we didnt go back..   Our usual haunt is the one on the moat next to Wattana school.   Not as much choice but cheaper.  As its less crowded and nearer to us we tend to go there.

 

Would be interested to know of any other decent moogata's ? or BBQs preferably Nong Hoy side of town not Nimmaheimen

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29 minutes ago, stament said:

I have been before again quite a while back. Was very busy and we live the other side of town so we didnt go back..   Our usual haunt is the one on the moat next to Wattana school.   Not as much choice but cheaper.  As its less crowded and nearer to us we tend to go there.

 

Would be interested to know of any other decent moogata's ? or BBQs preferably Nong Hoy side of town not Nimmaheimen

There is another Moo Kata that Opals historic University friends of past have taken us to. Will do a Google Map search and update.

Venue doesn't sell alcohol but there is a mom/pop shop a block or so away  and more than happy to provide for your byo.

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Yup, that's the place.  Another reason I've found it not to be an enjoyable experience the few times I've been pulled into a group to go there.  It's bad enough to hear the music drifting into our condo window some evenings.  Sounds like it's karaoke, not professional music.


Going next week will give the band 5,000bt to turn it up full blast!
[emoji106]

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

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10 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

 

What a nasty thing to imply!

Do you have anything at all to back up such innuendo? Or are you just defaming the restaurant out of spite because you get a headache? 

Some people just have to denigrate and whine bud.

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Nancy may have overstated the case of formaldehyde in that moogata's buffet, but if you were in charge of feeding 1000 adults every night at 300 baht each, you would not be spending on the very best quality food.  Is seafood, from Asia, often treated with formalin?  Yes, indeed.

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