Restaurants - Entertainment - Nightlife News

Restaurants - Entertainment - Nightlife News Phuketwan Restaurants - Entertainment - Nightlife News
facebook recommendations

NEWS ALERTS

Sign up now for our News Alert emails and the latest breaking news plus new features.

Click to subscribe

Existing subscribers can unsubscribe here

RSS FEEDS

From the balcony at Rockfish: a million-dollar view, a 75 baht lime juice, and a 60 baht glass of water (plus service and tax)

Rockfish, Kamala Bay

Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Best Restaurant of 2008 contender

Telephone: 076 279732

Open: Daily from 8am for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Address: 33/6 Kamala Beach Road, Kamala 83120, southern edge of Kamala Bay.

Style: Western beach, Asian fusion

Price range: Expensive, except early breakfast or set lunch. The 'East' part of the menu begins with soup at 250 baht and moves to entrees at 200-300 baht, mains at 250 baht, rising to 500 baht for curried red crab or crispy tiger prawns. Under 'West' the burgers start under 300 baht and 600g of Aussie tenderloin will set you back 1800 baht. 'East meets West' brings grilled fish of the day at 550 baht and Rockfish and chips at 350 baht. Then add 10 percent service and seven percent government tax.

Specialty: Surprises. The brochure puts it this way: ''Fusing international flavors with the delicacy of local ingredients, Rockfish offers a casual atmosphere with personalised service.''

What Phuketwan says: Our sense of timing has never been great. So we arrive at Rockfish mid-afternoon, far too late for the choice of six set breakfast options at 99 baht, and overdue even for the Out for Lunch special at 199 baht with a cocktail, beer or juice or 299 baht with a glass of wine. That starts at noon but is over at 3pm. We are too early, though, for the Happy Hour when a beer is just 59 baht. Phuketwan puts great store in value for money and at first blush, Rockfish is priced on the high side. Whenever East meets West, why is it that the prices always head North? This is not to detract from the charm of the setting. Rockfish is a small place, intimate despite being multi-level, hanging off the hillside, overlooking moored longtails on Kamala's broad beach. The restaurant has picked up plenty of awards since 2005. Yet there are conflicting messages galore. While the napkins are cloth, the drink coasters are thin paper. Once a cold drink is in place, the cheap coaster is soaked within seconds. The tabletop is scarred and cracked and bears the round reminders of previous bottles and glasses. Perhaps the distressed look is intentional, but with a white wine list opening at 3800 baht a bottle, that seems incongruous. The view, all sea and sand, is splendid. It's not apparent, though, why the natural silence of a delightful beach needs to be masked by funky dance music. Perhaps at night, when the outlook is more about the lights. But on a lazy afternoon? Please, no. Attention turns to our order. Minus any of the daily discounts, the duck curry comes at 350 baht. The accompanying rice is 30 baht. A lime juice costs 75 baht. A glass of plain water, (cough, splutter) 60 baht. The total of 515 baht covers one serve of food and two non-alcoholic drinks. By the time the 10 percent service charge is added (51.5 baht) and the VAT tax of seven percent (39.66 baht) the total for our afternoon snack comes to 606.76 baht. We begin to wish we had come for breakfast. Six of us could have indulged over the ''special''. And three of us could have enjoyed the discount set lunch for that price, too. It must be said that the duck curry was rather tasty, although the flavor was subtle. Plenty of slices of duck shared the bowl with small tomatoes, grapes, apples and pineapple pieces. But it was the prices that captured our attention. Our brains were conflicted as always by those two great drivers, time and money. Mixed messages galore were thundering down our cerebral synapses. The zinger, flashing up in neon lights: If we had come a little later, our nondescript glass of water at 60 baht would have been more expensive than the Happy Hour beer at 59 baht. Ouch. We know water is becoming more precious, but that's a little extreme. Bearing in mind that we eat often at restaurants where a glass of water comes automatically at no additional cost, it took us a while to gather our senses. Now, Rockfish undoubtedly has a reputation for fine food that is probably well-deserved. But for those of us who appreciate good value and who do not equate soaked paper drink coasters with first-class dining, combining high prices with discounting inevitably sends out conflicting messages. Fortunately, the wealthy denizens who are soon to occupy neighboring 'Millionaire's Mile' in vast numbers may be more obsessed by quality than value. Perhaps. Meanwhile, the Rockfish marketing department probably need to think again.

How to find it: Rockfish is at the southern end of Kamala beach, close to the entrance to Andara. Coming from Patong, take the first turn left at the bottom of the hill. From Surin or Laguna, head for the beach, on your right at the lights. Drive through the village to the sea. Past the school and Kamala wat, both on your left, over the bridge, you will come to a t-junction. Rockfish is a little uphill on the right-hand side. Best to park along the beachfront and walk.

Parking: Difficult. The road is narrow. Best park along the beachfront. It's posible to walk across the sand, if the tide is low, provided you are able-bodied enough to scramble up rocks.

Phuketwan restaurant reviewers pay for their meals. If someone else does, we tell you so

Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

gravatar

Not surprising that few of the wealthy farangs are regulars here..just not good enough for the price..Aussie fusion has to be good to compete with Thai 6/10 not good value

Barney

Posted by Anonymous on October 13, 2008 04:29


Friday March 29, 2024
Phuketwan - Your sweet Phuket, every day

FOLLOW PHUKETWAN

Facebook Twitter