Trip Report 10: Dinner At Sea Zone, Walking Street

The dining area at Sea Zone - Walking Street, Pattaya

[This is part 10 of a series that may or may not ever find its way to a proper conclusion. It has to do with my latest trip to Thailand, and the people, places and things I encountered along the way. You can find the rest of the series by clicking here on Trip Reports.]

On our second night in Pattaya we'd headed to Walking Street for dinner, figuring we'd try a spot a friend of mine had recommended before doing some people-watching. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember the name of the place and had left the paper behind the name was written on, so we were on our own.

In front of some of the restaurants along Walking Street are iced examples of the seafood available for ordering inside.  These lobster tails were approaching the size of your forearm; caught while small and then farm-raised. The man told us they're intended to serve three to five people.  It still looked like one heck of a lot of lobster to me.

For those with no cholesterol worries, here's dinner

Walking out toward the uncovered dining area at Sea Zone

My friend's stomach still wasn't right after his visit to Bangkok Nursing Hospital a couple of days before. I'd previously been to Sea Zone and had a more than acceptable meal, so we went in there. To be truly honest, while the food was fine it was more the view I wanted to share with my relatively new-to-Thailand friend. If you're seated out towards the end of their open air patio area you can have very close to a 180 degree view, making the lights beautiful and bright to the North and South.

Opinions about a restaurant are always subjective; you don't know my tastes or expectations when dining out any better than I know yours. Something as simple as stuffy sinuses can color an opinion about a dish because our sense of smell (and taste) are effected and as for what's "too spicy" vs "not spicy enough", especially in Thailand? Let's not even go there.  Ambiance can have a lot to do with the experience, too, I feel.

We both had an entree of large prawns to ourselves; his in a creamed sauce and mine done with garlic over a BBQ. I figured what the hell - I wasn't going to be close enough for anyone to know I'd eaten that much garlic tonight anyway, and it was delicious. My friend (who was still supposed to be on a lighter diet because of his stomach issues) paid the price a while later for his indulgence, but said that up to that point he'd liked the meal just fine.

Shelling them was a somewhat messy proposition, but we took our time and enjoyed every bit we could scavenge. I'm not one to just eat them whole as some of my Thai friends do.  A bit too edgy and sharp for my liking.

Our servers for dinner (the girl was in training)

 [As a point of reference, I know that shrimp and prawns aren't the same crustacean, really, but I grew up calling anything less than 15 to a pound shrimp and larger specimens prawns. To complicate things further the terms are used differently in different countries, also.]

The Sea Zone sign is visible just past the Lobster Pot from this direction. 

If you're looking for dinner out along the water, my guess is you may well enjoy Sea Zone. Comments and suggestions on other places are encouraged, and when I get back and try the place my friend recommended (it was on the other side of Walking Street) I'll share about it.