Four hours, unlimited prawns and a rooftop sunset over the Gulf of Thailand — Siam@Siam’s Big Fish seafood buffet earns every one of five stars.
There are buffets, and then there is Big Fish. Perched on the sixth floor of the Siam@Siam Design Hotel Pattaya, this sprawling, marine-themed seafood market and grill has quietly become one of the most talked-about tables on the eastern seaboard, and having spent a long, happy evening working through its tide of langoustines, sashimi and slow-roasted meats, this critic can confirm the talk is entirely justified.
The evening begins, as it should, with a drink and a view. Cocktails in hand on the open-air terrace, my party watched the light soften over the towers of Pattaya as the Gulf turned gold, the kind of vantage point that makes you forgive a city its neon for at least one evening. Wicker-backed bistro chairs, woven placemats and glassware already gleaming on crisp linen set the tone: this was going to be considerably more polished than the average hotel spread.
And then, the food. Big Fish operates less like a buffet and more like a working seafood market with a live grill bolted on. Whole tiger prawns and langoustine arrived charred and glistening straight from the coals, their shells caramelised to a deep amber, flesh beneath still sweet and just barely firm, exactly how shellfish should be treated, and rarely is, on a buffet line. Alongside them sat grilled squid, scallops and a hunk of perfectly charred fish, each clearly cooked to order rather than left to steam under a heat lamp.
The raw bar was, if anything, even more impressive. A vast platter of house-cured salmon gravlax, rolled into roses and studded with capers, sat next to whole octopus tentacles glistening under a single dianthus flower, more art installation than canapé. A little further along, ranks of nigiri marched down slate boards in perfect formation: butter-soft salmon, ruby tuna, hamachi and shrimp, each portion cut with the kind of precision that suggests a sushi chef who takes real pride in the work. Maki rolls followed in neat regiments, tobiko-crusted crab and avocado on one side, sesame-crusted tuna and cream cheese on the other, while a whole tray of premium shrimp rolls, piled generously into brioche buns and finished with a scatter of chives, disappeared from the pass almost as fast as it was replenished.
For those who wanted their protein without a shell, the carving station did not disappoint. A whole roast chicken, its skin lacquered to a deep mahogany, sat beside a prime rib of beef carved to order — a thick, rosy-centred slice that would not have looked out of place on a Sunday table in Yorkshire. Sliders followed in a steady procession: soft brioche buns filled with beef patty, ham and cheese, dressed simply with ketchup and mayonnaise, ideal grazing food for a four-hour marathon at the table.
It is worth pausing on that last point, because pacing is everything at a buffet of this scale, and Big Fish gets it right. A dessert station kept things moving with crêpes made fresh to order — batter poured, flipped and caramelised in butter right in front of diners, sizzling audibly over the open flame. It is a small piece of theatre, but a welcome one after so much seafood, and it signals a kitchen that has thought about the rhythm of the evening rather than simply piling plates high and hoping for the best.
None of this, of course, happens by accident. The kitchen operates under the direction of Executive Chef Antonio Velazquez Rodriguez, a Sevilla native whose European training is evident in the confidence of the grill work and the classical precision of the carving station, even as the menu happily roams from Japanese raw bar to Thai-inflected seafood and American-style sliders. It is an ambitious spread to run for four hours a night, five nights a week, and the consistency on show — from the char on the prawns to the temperature of the beef — speaks to a tightly run pass.
The deal
Big Fish’s seafood buffet runs Wednesday to Sunday, 5:30pm to 9:30pm, on the sixth floor of Siam@Siam Design Hotel Pattaya, with live music and sweeping views over the Gulf of Thailand thrown in.
Price: From THB 849 net per adult
Children: Free under 6; THB 759 net for ages 6–12
Hours: 4 hours of unlimited grazing, five nights a week
Extras: Live grill stations, full raw bar, carving station, dessert and crêpe station, extensive wine list and cocktails
The verdict: ★★★★★ (5/5)
Big Fish is that rare hotel buffet that behaves like a proper restaurant: food cooked to order rather than left to wilt, a kitchen leadership that clearly cares about technique, and a setting — that rooftop, that sunset — that most standalone seafood restaurants would kill for. For anyone visiting Pattaya, or living there and looking for a reason to dress up on a Thursday, this is as close to essential as a buffet gets.
Book the buffet +66 (0) 38 930 600
WhatsApp: +66 93 959 2582 [email protected]
Reserve online: tablecheck.com — Big Fish, Siam@Siam Pattaya Restaurant page:
Restaurant page: siamatsiam.com/restaurantsbig-fish-restaurant
Book a room siamatsiam.com/pattaya
Follow along Instagram: @siamatsiampattaya
All links: linktr.ee/siamatsiam.pattaya
390 Moo 9, Pattaya Sai 2 Road, Nongprue, Banglamung, Chonburi 20150, Thailand
Disclaimer: The above review represents the opinion of one of our contributing readers and local expat focused on food and lifestyle Andy who has written many other reviews like here.