This longtime expat favourite continues to wow diners with its generous portions of hearty French cuisine
 | FOR just over eight years this cozy bistro-style restaurant has been satiating diners’ appetites with some of the best-value French food to be found in Hua Hin. Owner and chef Gaston Pousset, a Belgian businessman with a love of the finer things in life – namely delicious food and golf – is one of the most generous men you’re ever likely to meet. Heaven knows how he makes a profit with the hefty portions he puts out – hunger-busting treats made with high quality ingredients and cooked with care |
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and skill by Gaston and his trusty sidekick chefs. Featuring an outdoor terrace and an indoor dining room open on two sides, the restaurant has a modern-yet-homely feel thanks not just to its design (exposed brickwork, shelves stocked with novels and magazines, a warm colour scheme which blends, whites, reds and browns) but also to its well-trained team of service staff, many of whom have worked at the restaurant since it first opened and who greet each diner as though they’re welcoming them to their own home – much like a family business.
Chalkboards hung on the restaurant’s walls are scrawled with eye-catching three-course specials such as the Seafood menu (featuring lobster bisque, sole filets, and fresh fish salad. B490), French menu (onion soup, duck confit “Calvados,” and chocolate mousse. B550), and Chef’s menu (gazpacho soup, pork filet with pepper sauce, and chocolate mousse. B390). Great value for money, the special menus are available for both lunch and dinner.
Gaston likes to take a no-nonsense approach to cooking with a focus on rich, buttery flavours – true comfort food for the soul. His regular a la carte menu features highlights such as Sautéed Saint-Jacques sea scallops with saffron sauce (B380); Duck confit with flambéed apples “Calvados” (B360); and Roscoff rock lobster Thermidor, shelled and gratinated (B390).
There are huge salads like the La Paillote mixed salad (B180) which are perfect for sharing; refreshing entrées such as the Shrimp cocktail “à la Parisienne” (B220); and meaty options like the Grilled Australian fillet steak (B470).
If your tastes are more local, Gaston also offers a good selection of Thai dishes, with stand-out selections such as Chicken satay, made with succulent chicken breasts, and La Paillote blue crab, yellow curry, gratinated (B340), which comes served in the shell and is packed with piquant flavour. Wash your food down with a good French wine (around 20 bottles on offer for under B1,000), indulge in a dessert such as the Paris-Nice pancakes with vanilla ice cream (B210), and maybe even finish with a plate of French cheeses, and you’re sure to leave the restaurant with a smile on your face and a pledge to return for more.
Chalkboards hung on the restaurant’s walls are scrawled with eye-catching three-course specials such as the Seafood menu (featuring lobster bisque, sole filets, and fresh fish salad. B490), French menu (onion soup, duck confit “Calvados,” and chocolate mousse. B550), and Chef’s menu (gazpacho soup, pork filet with pepper sauce, and chocolate mousse. B390). Great value for money, the special menus are available for both lunch and dinner.
Gaston likes to take a no-nonsense approach to cooking with a focus on rich, buttery flavours – true comfort food for the soul. His regular a la carte menu features highlights such as Sautéed Saint-Jacques sea scallops with saffron sauce (B380); Duck confit with flambéed apples “Calvados” (B360); and Roscoff rock lobster Thermidor, shelled and gratinated (B390).
There are huge salads like the La Paillote mixed salad (B180) which are perfect for sharing; refreshing entrées such as the Shrimp cocktail “à la Parisienne” (B220); and meaty options like the Grilled Australian fillet steak (B470).
If your tastes are more local, Gaston also offers a good selection of Thai dishes, with stand-out selections such as Chicken satay, made with succulent chicken breasts, and La Paillote blue crab, yellow curry, gratinated (B340), which comes served in the shell and is packed with piquant flavour. Wash your food down with a good French wine (around 20 bottles on offer for under B1,000), indulge in a dessert such as the Paris-Nice pancakes with vanilla ice cream (B210), and maybe even finish with a plate of French cheeses, and you’re sure to leave the restaurant with a smile on your face and a pledge to return for more.
174 Naresdamri Road, Hua Hin. Open daily 7am-11pm % 032 521 025 www.paillote.net
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