Hua Hin farang food prices

[usual suspect]

Well I'm writing this on the back of the recent posting about HH seafood being expensive..
I'm thinking more about if any of us fancy eating 'Farang food'.
There's quite a few facebook pages linked to HH, and various restaurants are freely advertising their specials/ menus..I've no problem at all with that, BUT..This is the Far East where everything is supposed to be cheaper.
Having recently returned from the UK, I'm quickly doing a £/Thb check,(43b/£1) and realising many so called 'specials' here are more expensive than in the UK
Fish & Chips for 189b, Chilli+rice..260b, 'Home-cured' ham, eggs & chips..again 260b.
These prices are in line with most Weatherspoon places. (a large beer at 80/90b brings the meal-deal to same as I've been paying at W/spoons, or the town-centre Coaching Inn)
Am I just being the usual tight-arsed Yorkshireman, or do any others feel this way..?
Or do folk go out once a week to enjoy fish+chips as a treat here..?

[caller]

Or do folk go out once a week to enjoy fish+chips as a treat here..?

I would happily pay a mark up for decent fish and chips - with fish like cod - but I have never seen that in Hua Hin. I get my fix in Bangkok, which works out about £7-8 which I'm okay with. I wont eat some of the fish I have seen used here.

As for other farang foods, a good roast is worthwhile now and again but most of the other stuff you mention I can easily manage by myself, so see no need to pay for it.

[sarnie]

I totally agree that prices in the uk are better than here in Thailand. Beers on the beach are now 90 bht with exchange rate that making it £2.20 ish. Shopping in Tesco is costing more than uk also.

[buksida]

Also concur having just spent several months in the UK. Farang food and beer prices are way higher here, especially in the tourist zones.

[RCer]

I find prices here on farang food on par with the US most of the time.

Depending what is ordered, it will be imported. Like a good steak, or cod, or lobster with claws.

[oakdale160]

On the other hand, last night I went to Night Mkt on 88, had a delicious Curried Chicken and rice and a bottle of beer for slightly over 3pounds.

[europtimiste]

Farang restaurant owners want to make quick money. They overcharge because they know that many farangs want to have their food as they don't dare to try Thai food.

[dundrillin]

Also concur having just spent several months in the UK. Farang food and beer prices are way higher here, especially in the tourist zones.

Can't agree with you there. Going out for a steak in the Aberdeen area is £27 plus £2.50(!!!) for the sauce. At the Fishermans near the pier you get a rump steak on a hot stone plus potato and salad for 450 baht, Chocolate factory is about 750 baht. The only place in the area I'm familiar with that can undercut that is Wetherspoons..

[dundrillin]

Farang restaurant owners want to make quick money. They overcharge because they know that many farangs want to have their food as they don't dare to try Thai food.

What restaurants overcharge give an example please.

[404cameljockey]

Also concur having just spent several months in the UK. Farang food and beer prices are way higher here, especially in the tourist zones.

Can't agree with you there. Going out for a steak in the Aberdeen area is £27 plus £2.50(!!!) for the sauce. At the Fishermans near the pier you get a rump steak on a hot stone plus potato and salad for 450 baht, Chocolate factory is about 750 baht. The only place in the area I'm familiar with that can undercut that is Wetherspoons..

People tend to hold up the cheapest places they know in the UK, whereas places like Aberdeen, London (the South East in general), do not sell pints of beer for two quid. If a beer on the beach or on Walking Street costs 90 Baht then compare it to a beer in a proper tourist area in the UK, not an off-the-map Yorkshire village or Weatherspoons (which is a place I often can't stand, I'd pay NOT to drink in many of them).

[Takiap]

Also concur having just spent several months in the UK. Farang food and beer prices are way higher here, especially in the tourist zones.

Can't agree with you there. Going out for a steak in the Aberdeen area is £27 plus £2.50(!!!) for the sauce. At the Fishermans near the pier you get a rump steak on a hot stone plus potato and salad for 450 baht, Chocolate factory is about 750 baht. The only place in the area I'm familiar with that can undercut that is Wetherspoons..

People tend to hold up the cheapest places they know in the UK, whereas places like Aberdeen, London (the South East in general), do not sell pints of beer for two quid. If a beer on the beach or on Walking Street costs 90 Baht then compare it to a beer in a proper tourist area in the UK, not an off-the-map Yorkshire village or Weatherspoons (which is a place I often can't stand, I'd pay NOT to drink in many of them).

When I was still living in Aberdeen the missus and I would go for a Thai dinner about once a month. We would basically order the cheapest "value set" plus a beer for me and a wine for her, and I can't recall the bill ever being less than 80 or 90 pounds. By comparison, the exact same sore of meal here would cost around 10 pounds, or perhaps 20 pounds if at a posh venue.

I very rarely eat out here anymore since I enjoy cooking for myself and my kids, but whenever I do eat out, especially Farang food, I am always amazed at how reasonable the prices actually are. Yes, they may be higher in the UK, but restaurant owners over here also have to pay higher prices for the ingredients and etc.

[buksida]

Can't agree with you there. Going out for a steak in the Aberdeen area is £27 plus £2.50(!!!) for the sauce. At the Fishermans near the pier you get a rump steak on a hot stone plus potato and salad for 450 baht, Chocolate factory is about 750 baht. The only place in the area I'm familiar with that can undercut that is Wetherspoons..

Obviously you need to apply some common sense when making comparisons, dining out in any central city is not representative of prices across the country. Likewise having that same steak in an upmarket hotel or restaurant in Thailand is likely to cost at least that (check out the Intercon's new year menu).

We're also not comparing a pad grapao in a styrofoam box, of course it will be cheaper here. This thread is about farang food and not necessarily just restaurants, we found groceries substantially cheaper in the UK too. Spend 4,300 baht in Macro Hua Hin and you wont have much to show for it - spend the same 100 quid in Lidl, Aldi or Asda and you will need two trolleys.

[Mod edit: all off topic posts on Zab Wer removed from this thread into their own one.]

[dundrillin]

You are certainly correct regarding the cost of food shopping here compared to the U.K. And as Takiap says that is an added cost for the Farang restaurants here. My personal opinion is that I can get a good farang meal here a good deal cheaper than I can get at a comparable restaurant in the U.K.

On a separate note it could be a good idea to set up a HHF dining club to meet once a month. It would be good to see the face behind the username.

[europtimiste]

Farang restaurant owners want to make quick money. They overcharge because they know that many farangs want to have their food as they don't dare to try Thai food.

What restaurants overcharge give an example please.

No need to name restaurants, but try same food as a steak, a fish, a tom yam or even a pizza in a Thai owned restaurant and in a farang owned one. You will see the difference.

[joelle]

In any country out of Asia you will pay a lot more for Thai food, being in restaurant or Thai speciality shop, it is called "exotic food" and imported therefore expensive
Same goes here for "farang food" as it is "exotic food" and imported therefore expensive