Food is very cheap in Pattaya but you might want to break away with your girl and eat at a decent restaurant. Here are some recommendations:
ALI BABA:Excellent Indian Food with great selection of curry dishes and breads. Place is on Central Pattaya Road and next to Ruen Thai restaurant which is also excellent. Surroundings are set with Indian antiques and are somewhat rustic but quite nice. Located on Pattaya Central Road.
PIC KITCHEN:Authentic Thai Cuisine cooked to perfection. Beautiful setting with teak floors. Patrons must sit on floor and take shoes off. Good music occassionally at night. Great place to take a date. There is a jazz lounge area that is phenomenal. Huge leather couches with great lighting and good music and drinks. Everything in the restaurant is teak. IMHO, the best traditional Thai restaurant in Thailand.
SUGAR HUT: Located at the Sugar Hut Hotel. Very romantic.Absolutely beautiful setting with all furniture in teak wood and floors in teak as well. Open windows with dense tropical garden surroundings. Food superb, service excellent. In Jomtien Beach area. I recommend the seafood curry served in a fresh coconut, spicy papaya salad and shrimp satay. Meal for two will set you back about $20 which is pretty high for Pattaya.
LOBSTER POT: Off of walking street. Excellent selection of fresh seafood on ice. You can pick from the front of the restaurant or order from menu. Combination seafood platter for two includes grilled fish, crab, slipper lobster, mussels, giant prawns, cockels, calamari and fried rice and will set you back about $10. No two people could finish the platter....it's huge. Setting is very casual and has outdoor table facing ocean.
PIG AND WHISTLE: Excellent British eating establishmen on Soi 7. The draft beer selection is excellent and their breakfasts are famous. The best fish and chips in Thailand.

SOME IDEAS FOR CHEAP EATS ON THE GO:Almost everywhere in Pattaya, you can find a meal for about $1-$3. Way too many British and German deli's but Thai food is abundant everywhere. Good idea to go to food court in Central Pattaya Plaza/Big C where they serve mostly classic Thai dishes for under a buck and most drinks are 50 cents. Great coconut and banana shakes. Another smart place to eat is in the Food Court in Tops Supermarket. It's located on Central Pattaya Road and contains about 6-7 food booths serving all sorts of Thai and Indian dishes. Most dishes are around a buck. Water is 10 cents and beer is around a dollar. Other great places for cheap eats are the Pink Kitchen and Pink Lady. I don't recommend eating from street vendors until your stomach has absorbed some of the local bacteria. You should try eating street food on your second trip. There is also a new trend on some of the restaurants on Beach Road to give you a seafood barbecue for 150-200 baht...great deal.

PIC Super Food

GREAT place to cram your face with all the food you miss from the states. Their sandwiches are world class fair to poor, but the burgers are pretty good. Just be sure to ask for your food w/o mayonnaise unless you want your food to look like a starlets face in a bukake flick!!

This place has one menu item that kept me coming back for more every day - the BEST POTATO SALAD IN THE WORLD!! I couldn't believe it, but I was just blown away by this stuff!! You know it's good when a diabetic goes back for a nice bowl of starch!! I'm not 100% on this, but methinks folks from Idaho would be blown away!! Worth at least trying once. A nice, big bowl filled to overflowing and covered with real bacon chunks will set you back 50B (less then $1.25).

Located at Soi 4 and 2nd St. just down from Big C. You can see the Pattaya hospital when you sit at the window. Seeing as they have egg and bacon sandwiches you can order with fries and potato salad it's probably a good thing you're so close!!

Tequila Reef

Soi 7, right down from the Pig & Whistle. Run by an American expat, the place has the best Mexican food I've had in Asia, just beating out Zapatas in AC. Now, by no means should you think this is GREAT Mexican food, but it fits the bill if you need to eat something with rice and beans in it!!

This place is located across from a complex with 5 beerbars. Kind of nice to eat some fajitas and "shop" for your next victim.

E