Sunday roast surin city..

Cent said:
Joe,

Back then Martin was the only one who had the Sunday roast dinner (5 years and more ago, before he became ill), there were less restaurants around doing western foods, hell, there were less farang restaurants. There may have been less farangs around, but there seemed to be more from England back then as well who enjoy the Sunday roast dinner, and most were older and it was their custom to have a roast dinner every Sunday, sort of a national habit. And Martin was British and mainly served British dishes.

There seems to me, now at least, to be many more farang, but less British punters - more German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Americans and Australians, most of who do not eat an English roast dinner on Sundays. Plus, Martin was a good host and had been around for ages doing what he did best. Times change. Now the best for British fare in the area are Stafford's and Ryan's Resort in Prasat, and a declining customer base of British, and those who are left are mainly (meaning not all) pensioners dealing with a declining exchange rate for their UK Pounds/Baht. Many of these pensioners who can cook cook and eat at home those foods they are accustomed to, because it is less expensive to do so and they have less baht to eat out as often as they may like to. Many prefer their own cooking to fare they can get elsewhere. So again, due to these factors mentioned, and the deaths, sadly, of many of the older regulars who lived in Surin, there is actually a smaller customer base I would think for these English roast dinners. I may be wrong, but then if it is so lucrative an undertaking I am sure someone will start these in Surin city for those supposedly clamoring for it.

Mike


p.s. And remember, as someone said/posted here recently, Martin said he barely made any money off the restaurant. He said the only time he made real money was during the Elephant Festival week (that would be due to volume from the tourists). It's one reason why he had his hand in a few other ventures to keep afloat and make some cash. Why do all the work and make little off it?
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Wise words and I agree on ever point raised! Bow5
 
excellent POV / explanation

Mike,
I think your well-thought POV / explanation is right on target.
bulls eye . ThumbUp6
(Not speaking on behalf of anyone but myself)
 
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I would think its down to the owner of the eating place who should know their clients requirements,Cent believes he does not have a client base for Sunday Roasts,his choice his decision.

Reading between the lines i think the Farang Connection will soon start a sunday roast,maybe they can confirm that here,only then will we know if there is a market in the Surin City area for this meal.

No idea how busy Staffords or Ryans are for this meal,but if their clients are from Surin then a good quality meal at The farang Connection could well take the Surin market by storm.

Why would you make a round trip of 65 km or so when its on your doorstep ?

Still a popular meal down in Pattaya but of course very different markets to the Surin and Prasat areas.
 
We do have some big events planned for the very near future... at least one of the plans has to do with the weekends.

Farang-Connections-BIG-Events-V1-e1369644960258.jpg


That's all I'm able to say for now but we will be making an announcement very soon to kick-start a couple of new specials and weekly/monthly events.
 
A proper Sunday Roast would be a wonderful addition to the dining options for Farangs up in Surin. Notice, I said a PROPER roast, not some half assed attempt. Take the time to think out the sourcing for the food items, plan the preparation of said roast and finally price it at a point that will not put off the diners but still provide a small profit for the business.
 
There are several references to price on this thread, and I am guessing this could be part of the problem for the restaurant owners.
Different customers will have different expectations as to for example the quality of the beef, size of the portions etc and consequently the price they are willing to pay.
Personally I would be very happy to eat a good Sunday roast frequently in Surin while not wishing to travel to Prasat, particularly if coupled with a good pudding, how about jam rolypoly, apple pie or english trifle.
 
ColinW said:
There are several references to price on this thread, and I am guessing this could be part of the problem for the restaurant owners.
Different customers will have different expectations as to for example the quality of the beef, size of the portions etc and consequently the price they are willing to pay.
Personally I would be very happy to eat a good Sunday roast frequently in Surin while not wishing to travel to Prasat, particularly if coupled with a good pudding, how about jam rolypoly, apple pie or english trifle.
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The price of Thai beef has gone up again the past week. Imported beef will be much more per kilo, and lamb is not cheap here as well.
I'm curious though, Colin (not that I'd be doing one myself), but as someone who would eat a Surin venue's roast dinner as you describe, frequently if you could get it in Surin, what would you say is a fair pricing of the roast dinner you envision? Of the size of portion, quality of the roast and ingredients, with the pudding, apple pie, etc. What do you see, having all that you would want in a roast Sunday dinner, would be what 'you' would be willing to pay for that? Like I said, I'm just curious. 150 baht? 175? 200? 250? 300? More? And by 'frequently' what do you mean? Once a month, twice? 3 Sundays a month? Every Sunday when possible? It would be interesting to see what you reply, and what other members here would say as well. Could be a good thread which might help a Surin establishment know what the punters want and expect of their roast dinner of a Sunday, and what they think would be a fair price for what they want as well.

I don't have plans to do myself, but someone else might and this could be good for them to see.

Mike
 
I'm just thinking aloud here.

I would think that, maybe, a good roast once a month would work well. There is alot of effort in a roast. Sometimes I cook one up and invite some of my friends/customers over. I don't charge, they bring the beer?:wink:

I don't think it would work every week. The market would simply not be there.
 
stevo said:
I'm just thinking aloud here.

I would think that, maybe, a good roast once a month would work well. There is alot of effort in a roast. Sometimes I cook one up and invite some of my friends/customers over. I don't charge, they bring the beer?:wink:

I don't think it would work every week. The market would simply not be there.
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Stevo,

Yeah, once a month would probably work for those who would want it in Surin. Something to look forward to if in town and enjoy the roast dinners.

But Steve, answer me this if you could. The roast dinner you sometimes cook for friends and customers... if you had a restaurant and all the average associated monthly expenses, what would you charge for that roast dinner meal? Or, conversely, what would you think you should pay if you were a customer eating this same meal you do? Just wondering (seriously, I have no ulterior motives for asking, just curious to hear what others will say and what they think on the subject).

Mike
 
Cent said:
Stevo,

Yeah, once a month would probably work for those who would want it in Surin. Something to look forward to if in town and enjoy the roast dinners.

But Steve, answer me this if you could. The roast dinner you sometimes cook for friends and customers... if you had a restaurant and all the average associated monthly expenses, what would you charge for that roast dinner meal? Or, conversely, what would you think you should pay if you were a customer eating this same meal you do? Just wondering (seriously, I have no ulterior motives for asking, just curious to hear what others will say and what they think on the subject).

Mike
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Things would be different if owning a restaurant. One would have to think of wastage too.

For a good roast dinner I would say in the region of 300baht, maybe a bit cheaper for pork. That is for a real roast dinner, all freshly made on the day and not freezer to microwave.

Ideally I would like to run it as a buffet. That way people can choose the size of serving they want. Would have to make some sort of rule to stop people taking too much and not finishing.

Something like this really would be difficult to do successfully.
 
I think Gary at Ryans Resort has a good price at 220 baht.Too much more than that not many would come.
 
SurinJoe said:
I think Gary at Ryans Resort has a good price at 220 baht.Too much more than that not many would come.
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So about what, 40/50 baht less than a Pizza Company large Pepperoni pizza :) for a freshly cooked imported roast beef, with veggies - peas, carrots, cauliflower, mashed potatoes, gravy, Yorkshire pudding, apple pie? A good deal then. I'll get up there soon for one of these. The picture I saw of this roast dinner taken by GL looked like a huge meal. And he does pork, lamb and a roast beef! Sounds good and no wonder a lot of people go there for this. It's well worth the drive up from Surin city. Plus he has a nice swimming pool, excellent bar, pool table, and is a great host besides, with great staff, in a well appointed, clean, pleasant atmosphere with loads of fans (I like his overhead fans), and good music. And a bar you can actually sit at and be comfortable.

Mike
 
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One thing that people sometime forget is that Martin and FC usually drew a good crowd from the Majestic and other hotels for his Sunday Roast. He made a point of advising the hotels.
I would suspect that that customer base is still possible.
 
Bear said:
One thing that people sometime forget is that Martin and FC usually drew a good crowd from the Majestic and other hotels for his Sunday Roast. He made a point of advising the hotels.
I would suspect that that customer base is still possible.
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I use to come to Martins Sunday roast lunch/dinner... was lovely but I'm not sure possible to do these days... with the price of food, the lower value of many peoples income and other factors just not sure it would work.

We do have a plan for weekends that may be a great alternative or at least a new option, but this won't be ready for a few more weeks while we wait for equipment to arrive.
 
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SurinJoe said:
If anyone offered that in Surin for 220 baht they would have a line at the door. I had one at Ryans about a year ago and it was great. Best deal in town!
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Joe,

Well, what if they offered the same dinner or close enough and tasty as well, but in Surin city, for 250 baht? 30 baht more. Would you buy it? 30 baht more, but an hour's less driving and fuel use, and much much closer to home. I mean, you liked the RRs roast dinner and price, thought it was great, are only a half hour's drive away, but have had this dinner once in a year. Why not once a month? Once in 2 months? Is it the proximity? Too far to go? Or do you rarely eat a Sunday roast dinner to begin with?

Gary's got a good thing in that he has a sort of captive audience in his customers/guests staying in the rooms and bungalows right there in his resort, and the closest other farang place is 5 kilometers away, and he has a lot of expats around him that like what he does as well. It helps.

So how often do you truly think you would go to a place here in Surin offering this at a maybe slightly higher price? Once a week? Once or twice a month? 2 times a year? Once a year? Realistically. I'm just wondering. Honest answers will help someone some day that will be doing this for the Surinite establishments.

Just wondering.

Mike
 
Bear said:
One thing that people sometime forget is that Martin and FC usually drew a good crowd from the Majestic and other hotels for his Sunday Roast. He made a point of advising the hotels.
I would suspect that that customer base is still possible.
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Martin was a go getter and knew what he was doing. Saying that though Bear, there really were no alternatives back then, except Norby's. Brad's place was only there for a year or so I think. As was Dan's Rocket Cafe I believe. I do think Martin's location was key as well, being between two of the three major hotels at the time on the shortest soi connecting them, the Petchkasem and the Thong Turin (Majestic opened toward the end a couple/three years or so before he died). Martin was also well known, was a omnipresent sponsor and personality on TV.com, had an online presence for 8 years, and had been there for years, and was basically the only place around even doing a British Sunday roast dinner, and there were more Brits around then as well I believe.

So, I give it a 'maybe' the customer base is there. Hey, even with a smaller base, if you are the only one doing it, you will likely do well enough with this, especially after you see after the first couple of months or so what your actual customer base will be and you know your real numbers. Usually when you do something like this it does great for the first month or two, then dies down as the novelty of it wears off and it is taken for granted as always being available.

Just my thoughts on it. :)

Mike
 
Its pretty certain that the FC is going to do a Sunday Roast and i hope he does very well,i rememeber many years ago my freind had a bar and his main rival started doing sunday roasts,he said he would never do them,one month later after seeing HIS CUSTOMERS going to eat at his rivals establishment saw a change of opinion,he was concerned that he could lose them on other days if they got into the mode of going there.

At the moment cent says he dont have a market for this product,i wonder if that will change if the FC does a roaring sunday trade.
 
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