The Coffee Club…more than just great coffee

 

A lot of people don’t realize Australia has a love affair with coffee and street cafes, especially in the big cities of Melbourne and Sydney. A major reason is the influx of southern European migrants, especially the Greeks and Italians, in the decades after the Second World War. So, to be successful in the café business you have to be better than good.

 

The Coffee Club franchise started life in Australia and has become that country’s largest home-grown café chain. In Thailand it has made great inroads since expanding here, and in Pattaya there are two outlets. The first is in Royal Garden Plaza; the second is in Naklua, on Naklua Road, opposite Soi 18.

 

Both are proving very popular, and the Naklua branch, which opens at 6:30am to cater to the early risers and those off to work, is doing well.

 

You can often tell a great deal about the quality of a place by the way a menu is presented and designed. In this regard the Chef’s Choice menu is a work of art. There’s a crispy noodle duck salad (225 baht), a Spanish omelette (175 baht), pork and poached pear (390 baht) and Asian broth barramundi (490 baht).

 

These signature dishes are the creations of Khun Suchart, the head chef for all eight branches of the Coffee Club in Thailand. Apart from the two Pattaya-based outlets, there are six others, in Bangkok, Phuket, and Koh Samui. In the next few months another four outlets are expected to be opened.

 

Khun Suchart has worked with Coffee Club for five years and has helped to build up the gastronomic side of the Coffee Club’s franchises. Regular customers know they can expect good coffee and top-notch food as well.

 

Khun Suchart came to Coffee Club on the back of a stellar nine-year career working for such prestige hotels as the Conrad in Bangkok and Le Meriden in Chiang Mai.

 

This might explain why the Naklua Coffee Club has quickly become a local favourite. The area has quite a number of high-end hotels and condos and, as with anywhere, if you can offer a good quality product virtually on the doorstep, then word-of-mouth will do the rest and customers should come in decent numbers.

 

Coffee Club prides itself on offering a great meeting place that is suitable for relaxed retired expats or for business people to get together for an informal meeting. The service is always good, the food is much appreciated, and the coffee, of course, is excellent. This is because the management make sure to train their baristas to a high standard; it makes a world of difference.

 

Apart from the Chef’s Choice menu and its tantalizing dishes, Coffee Club offers an all-day Big Breakfast, fish and chips, a variety of sandwiches and salads.

 

The Naklua outlet is open into the evening (until 11:00pm) with pasta dishes, fresh fish, steaks and Thai food being the popular items. The second floor of the Club is air-conditioned, thereby offering a cooler environment for those who feel the heat.

 

Designed like a traditional Thai guesthouse, but with thoroughly modern trimmings, Naklua Coffee Club has an open-air courtyard at the front, perfect for watching the world go by.

 

For more information on the Coffee Club in Naklua, simply call 038 371 162.