Infiniti - At Pattaya’s Sheraton Resort

Chef Spencer has transformed the menu to reflect his culinary creativity gained from his globe-trotting gastronomic activities.  Classically trained in London at the Connaught Hotel and a student of Westminster-Kingsway College (from where the young Jamie Oliver started his culinary capers);  he has traveled the world gaining the expertise which culminated in his appointment at the legendary Oriental Hotel in Bangkok and currently at The Sheraton, Pattaya.

Our table of four, including Jason the Editor and his charming mother Diane, visiting from Melbourne, chose the upper terrace to throw more light on the proceedings. For more subdued lighting and to dine by the light of the moon the lower level would be ideal (LED clip on reading lights provide more illumination).

Chef Spencer visited our table and suggested he prepare a selection of tasting dishes with a flight of wines to best experience his new repertoire. As a starter, from the pizza menu, we were served a seasonal mushroom, rosemary, mascarpone, rocket version bathed in white truffle oil (B.320++) and quick fried spiced calamari with lemon (B.260++). The accompanying white wine was selected from the Rueda region of Spain, clean, sharp but well balanced it made the perfect escort for our starters.  For our first course there followed soft shell crab, brandade potato in a champagne sauce and tuna tartar with grilled tiger prawns.  The tuna tartar proved my personal favourite with its subtle Indian fusion spicing perfectly lifting the rawness of the tuna. With this course we enjoyed a glass of  Mendoza Alamos Argentinian Chardonnay 2007.      The salad course arrived next with an innovative shrimp Greek salad and another favourite, an asparagus mushroom salsa with pecans and blue cheese in a chilli mustard vinaigrette (B.360++). 

We were now sipping a Rosemount Cabernet Merlot 2008 which for Mick and I proved the star of the evening.  Penne pasta was then served tossed with a robust braised lamb ragout and anointed with basil oil (B.400++) together with pan seared scallops resting on a bed of white chocolate and truffle risotto.  Our main course was to follow and yes, we were feeling a bit on the sated side but one look at the salmon filet mounted on a potato bacon cake surrounded by an apple and fennel salad and the succulent grilled veal chop perched atop a puddle of pumpkin puree and we were sold!  In concert with this the selected wine was a full-bodied Wyndham Estate Shiraz, Bin 555 which admirably befriended both dishes.

A delectable medley of desserts followed which deliciously concluded our dining at Infiniti.     By now, we were, yes, decidedly full (and heavier) but glowing with the pleasure of Chef Spencer’s high level chefery.

The a la carte menu is divided into First Bites, From the Garden, Pastalicious, Hot off the Grill, Fire Kissed, Wood-Fired Pizza, and Sweet Endings so something for everyone here whether for lunch or dinner.  For pasta lovers, the braised lamb ragout with penne pasta and rosemary oil would surely hit the spot.  Meat devotees are catered for with the rib eye steak, herb butter, large chips and oven-dried tomatoes with balsamic glaze (B.890) and for fish aficionados there is the salmon fillet, potato and bacon cake, fresh apple and fennel salad or pan fried red snapper, melted eggplant, tomato raisins and pine nut sauce.

Pattaya’s Sheraton Resort is one of the finest hotels on the eastern seaboard and does carry the requisite Government  “plus, plus” on your final bill.   Infiniti is as fresh and breezy an al fresco dining spot as you could hope to find perched as it is by the Sheraton’s lavish pool and overlooking the Gulf of Siam.   To be able to visit this stunning location on a plu-perfect sunny day or a balmy evening, to relax and enjoy the jaw-dropping magnificence of the view and select from the new menu should be high on your list of “must do” while in Pattaya.

Sheraton Resort is located at 437 Pratamnak Road (next to The Royal Cliff).  Open daily from 11.00 am to 10.00 pm.  Tel:  (038) 259 888.