jehricaholic

You guys sure like to get ripped off on blades. I just buy 100 Astra double edge blades at a beauty supply for B150. Good blades, those.

Ripped is the word,I cannot use them without cutting myself,yes they are cheap. Again it it the shaving lotion and brush that makes the difference,used to sell Old Spice shaving cream at Best supermarket at 150 baht a tube,went like wildfire,brushes too. The guy near Villa sometimes sells the stuff too,at around same price.

I don't think North Americans use shaving brushes, we just squirt the foam into our hand and slap it around our face. Is this a European thing? What is the benefit of using a brush?

I'm a Norte Americano myself. Feels s-o-o-o good. Besides. it's what real men™ do, part of The Ritual. Think Steve McQueen squirted foam into his hand? Nah! No way.

from what I've read other things were squrting in his mouth

Honestly the response they gave does not line up with the comments I'm hearing here. Didn't the OP even say he had a reservation?

The OP said he had a 7pm revervation, thus it's a he says - she says thing going on. Somebody is telling porkies!

I'll start this topic off with the Thai Garden Resort's daily pool-side buffet 6-9pm @ 299 Baht. They are located on North Pattaya Road. Their buffet is as follows:

Mondays: Pizza and pasta

Tuesdays: BBQ buffet

Wednesdays: Multi-cuisine buffet

Thursdays: German buffet with roasted pig

Fridays: Thai buffet

Saturdays: International buffet

Sundays: Steaks and skewers buffet

There is a live band daily except Monday and they have happy hour half priced drinks.

Here is a biased review here: http://www.pattayamail.com/diningout/thai-garden-s-amazing-buffets-9146

Has anyone tried this?

You guys sure like to get ripped off on blades. I just buy 100 Astra double edge blades at a beauty supply for B150. Good blades, those.

Ripped is the word,I cannot use them without cutting myself,yes they are cheap. Again it it the shaving lotion and brush that makes the difference,used to sell Old Spice shaving cream at Best supermarket at 150 baht a tube,went like wildfire,brushes too. The guy near Villa sometimes sells the stuff too,at around same price.

I don't think North Americans use shaving brushes, we just squirt the foam into our hand and slap it around our face. Is this a European thing? What is the benefit of using a brush?

Here is the reply I just received from Cherry about their time limit policy.

Thank you very much for your inquiry to our restaurant We would like to infromed you. We never had any policy limiting the time. some body misunderstanding because on buffet nigth [ WED., SAT.] We are very busy all tables are reserved. That man he came at about 19:00 he didn't booking We ask him before he sitting he have time for eat until 20:00 because that table was reserved for another customer at 20:00 and he ageed. After he eat for 1 hour maybe he forgot. We need all customer. All customer welcome. We sorry for any inconvenience and any rude misunderstanding. If you want to visit our restaurant on wednesday and saturday please make booking table avoid any understanding

Thank you very much

Cherry restaurant

and now the penny drops!

Hi Guys...

There's been some posts recently mentioning buffets and how some people would rather spend the same money on a decent buffet than they would on some of the good quality a la carte restaurants (Chinese, Indian, and Tex-Mex restaurants as some current examples).

Yes the Thai buffets are of great value but lets stick to buffets that are geared towards the western palate (not excluding international cuisine). I've never been to a western style buffet in Pattaya so I'm looking for affordable suggestions.

Some names have been mentioned of late: Cherry's, Beefeater, and Thai Garden Resort being a few. If you've got your favorites lets hear them, whether they be a theme buffet on a particular night or a daily international buffet.

Rather a strange topic for a thread. Just a simple sign that you see around the world really.

an even stranger reply to said topic

I went yesterday 6PM, I was the first one there. I had the hot and sour soup with Chinese ravioli , excellent. I had the smoked ribs in the house sauce, very good flavor but some people might expect more meat on the bone. I put the rice into the sauce and that was filling for me. Bottle of water. Total 220. I plan to go tonight for the soup and those fried pies.

Yes, I think the Chinese ravioli is the only variety of soup 'filling' I have not tried yet (also have the shrimp, & pork dumpling varieties). Be sure to try the Ramen, I like it without the soup, but there are soup versions also.

Pao: Restaurant Review

When: Feb 24 @ 8pm

Where: Central (Klang) Pattaya Road - North side, midway between 2'nd and 3'rd Roads

What I Ordered:

- Coke can @ 50 Baht

- Drunken Chicken Wings (Free Sample - 2pc)

- Pan Fried Beef Pie (2pc @ 60 Baht)

- Shrimp Wonton Soup @ 100 Baht

- Ramen with Savoury Beef topping @ 70 Baht

- Fried Squid @ 160 Baht

Total Cost: 440 Baht (1 person)

Overview:

This place has a lot of potential (open for 3 months) but if they don't make a few changes they will be gone by the next high season. The food is really good and it would not take much change for it to be a profit making venture. The restaurant is double size (2 retail units) and the decor is very modern and has a HiSo feel. I was the only diner with the exception of a Farang/Thai couple who walked in/walked out when they looked at the menu and saw there was no Thai food for the Thai partner. They have 2 menus: a written dumpling menu, and a well photographed Photo book menu. The menu is varied (see Jingthing's previous post) but needs some additions to bring in the crowds). This is the first Asian restaurant I've even been to in the world that does not provide any table condiments (seasonings etc).

The co-owner (young Chinese guy) has excellent English and is really interested in knowing what people think about his food and why they want to come to his restaurant. When my meal was finished he came over asking about my experience which turned into a 15 min conversation about his food and the Pattaya food scene.

Review:

Coke: Can for 50 Baht! Enough said.

Drunken Chicken Wings: These looked totally unappealing in the photo (think boiled chicken winglets). I asked if this is how they looked and the guy said he'd let me sample them. although the flavor was good they were served cold! I think this item should be reserved for the minority who enjoy boiled chicken feet salad. A very Falang-unfriendly dish.

Pan Fried Beef Pie: (2pc @ 60 Baht) Although a little bit pricey by Thai standards, they were very fresh & tasty and contained 'soup' inside (you have to be careful when making that first bite - I was warned) They are about 3" in diameter.

Shrimp Wonton Soup: (100 Baht) 5 giant Wontons with traditional broth (you can also chose a different soup accompaniment). Delicious and fresh and good value.

Ramen with Savoury Beef topping: (70 Baht) The ramen is a handmade thick udon style. Although a delicious dish, the problem was that it became tastier the more you got towards the bottom of the bowl (where the toppings congregated after mixing with the noodle). This is where having condiments would have been useful, the first few bites tasted of unseasoned pasta, thus having some table seasoning to add to the top of the dish would have been beneficial. Very good value.

Fried Squid: (160 Baht) The best fried Squid/Calamari in Pattaya. It came with pickle garnish and lime wedges. Very fresh and lighly battered and well seasoned BUT the portion size was miniscule (think Tapas for 1), perhaps 1/3 the portion size you'd get in the West. Very poor value!

Conclusion:

Great food and great potential to be successful.

I think the owners were a little over-ambitious with this restaurant considering it's location: They spent too much on decor and they could have made do with a single retail unit restaurant without the oversized tables & chairs, and oversized kitchen with a fancy double-doored fridge, but what's done is done, they now need to look towards the future and get the customers inside.

I told the guy that he needed condiments. He acknowledged the customer walk-out mentioned above. I hinted that he needed to expand his menu (I told him I can only get my Fried rice noodle with beef fix from Foodland). I told him about his far away Jontiem competition (soon to up & leave from what's being said on the other thread). He recommended a good Thai restaurant: 'The Boat' on 2'nd Road, which I've never been but is currenly being praised on another thread by JT. I told him that Falang Expats are craving decent, authentic alternatives to both Thai food and the Touristy items readily available by the beach (F&C, burgers, steaks, pasta, pizza etc).

He was interested when I told him about ThaiVisa and how this is the means we Expats find new places to go eat and that he had just been discoverd by the resident food expert JT. Jingthing I think you would enjoy having a talk with this guy, I think he's receptive to change for the better ($profit). I've told him you'll probably be back, so don't be shy, introduce yourself and get some free samples!

Pao: Restaurant Review (Followup)

When: Feb 28 @ 1030pm

What I Ordered:

- Coke Can

- Hot & Sour Soup with Shrimp Wontons

- Pan Fried Pork Buns (6pc)

- Shrimp & Egg @ 160 Baht

- Deep Fried Pork Ribs @ 120 Baht (5pc)

- Rice Noodle Roll with Beef

Total Cost: 640 Baht (1 person)

Overview:

The co-owner (guy) welcomed me back when I entered the restaurant. Still no table condiments but they now provide re-fillable cold Chinese Tea. I sat in a different type of seating area today: I can now say that the seating in this restaurant is quite uncomfortable. If you sit at the sofas with the coffe tables then eating from the table is ackward. If you sit at the regular tables then your knees are pushed up against the table support. There is a third seating area: diner style facing the kitchen, perhaps I'll try this on my next visit. There were 2 Thai ladies eating when I entered, from what I gathered from their conversation with the Pao guy: 1) they are restaurant owners 2) Pao has a 2 year lease 3) Pao does not want to have Thai food on the menu because that is not what they do. Afterwards the Pao guy mentioned that table and said how Thais waste so much food in his restaurant. I concurred, telling him that Thais need to have a more open palate. I ordered a lot of food and he tried to tell me to stop ordering, but I told him I have a large appetite and in the end I finished everything but was completely stuffed. He asked me for the name of this website and I wrote it down for him and told him to search for 'Pao', so he shall be reading these posts (and hopefully commenting on his own... I want to stop calling him Pao guy).

Review:

Hot & Sour Soup with Shrimp Wontons: These are the same delicious wontons mentioned in my previous review except that the soup different. I like this version better, I always liked Hot & Sour soup but with the addition of wontons it is so much better (think spaghetti with sauce vs spaghetti & meatballs with sauce). This soup was very tasty and there was a little kick with the 'Hot', Good value & great flavor

Pan Fried Pork Buns: (6pc, no soup inside) I found these rather underwhelming & monononous. I much prefer the beef pie (with soup inside) version as mentioned in my previous review.

Shrimp & Egg @ 160 Baht: This looked quite appetizing from the photo in the menu but in reality looked a little boring. It was simply @ 6 jumbo shrimp cooked with egg and came with steamed rice. Simple but very tasty. The eggs and shrimp were cooked perfectly and the flavor was subtle but well balanced with none of the oil you get with the Thai egg dishes. Although better value than the fried Squid previously reviewed (at lease this dish portion wise can be shared), it is still quite expensive by Thai standards.

Deep Fried Pork Ribs @ 120 Baht (5pc): There were maybe 5 rib versions on the menu, some braised and some fried but all using the same rib (as per Pao guy). I chose the basic deep fried version. They had a nice subtle vinegary flavor but were unfortunately very fatty (think biting into the Parson's nose of a Chicken). I think this dish is more suited for the Asian clientel who appreciate fattiness in their meats. The Pao guy asked me if I wanted more steamed rice but i declined since I was already quite full.

Rice Noodle Roll with Beef: This was the weakest item. I never really liked the Rice Noodle rolls when I've had Dim Sum, but I wanted to see if their version was any better. They had the usual filling choices but I chose beef since it's not the usual filling choice. This was the last dish served (he told me it takes 20 min to prepare) so I was full already but I'm very sure I would still not have enjoyed this dish had it been served first. Just a whole lot of boring rice noodle roll (70%) with beef filling (30%). It was perhaps slightly poorer then what I've tried for Dim Sum, only because the ratio of rice noodle to filling was too high.

Pao: Restaurant Review (Followup #2)

When: March 4pm @ 10pm

What I Ordered:

- Hot & Sour Soup with Pork Dumplings @ 80 Baht

- Pan Fried Beef Pies (2pc) @ 60 Baht

- Ramen with Savoury Beef topping @ 70 Baht

- Beef with Black Pepper @ 120 Baht

- Red Bean Pancakes (FREE)

Total Cost: 330 Baht (1 person)

Overview:

There was 1 Russian couple eating in the restaurant when I arrived, otherwise I was the only customer during my meal. The co-owner guy said he looked at his 'reviews' on this website and could even remember Jingthing's id. As for some of the statements about his restaurant, he said he was shut the last friday because of unforseen circumstances, and he has take-out containers but prefers to use them only for leftovers since his food is designed to be eaten right away (he doesn't want customers to get a negative opinion about his food after sampling his re-heated meals). He also says he has Sezchewan peppercorn oil for JT.

Review:

Hot & Sour Soup with Pork Dumplings @ 80 Baht: Previously reviewed soup except in this case I had it with the Leek & Pork dumplings, 5 good size dumplings with good flavor. I do prefer the Shrimp dumpling version better.

Pan Fried Beef Pies (2pc) @ 60 Baht: As excellent as when sampled on my first review

Ramen with Savoury Beef topping @ 70 Baht: The 'guy' said he slightly adjusted the recipe for this dish, adding chile/garlic paste from HongKong as an ingredient. The dish was indeed spicier but this time I thoroughly mixed the noodles with the beef 'topping' so I did not have an issue with bland first bites as mentioned in my previous review.

Beef with Black Pepper @ 120 Baht: This was another attempt at exploring the menu. My expectations were not high based on my previous failed attempts at exploration, but I thought I'd give it a go because the price was not too expensive. The dish tasted very good, containing the beef & pieces of bell pepper and a side of steamed rice. Portion wise very small, thus very expensive for what your getting.

Red Bean Pancakes (FREE): Because of my repeat business! I would not normally order this sort of dessert item (I think Asian desserts for the most part suck). It was like a a flattened, fried Moiki, served warm and somewhat chewy (he said he made them fresh yesterday). They were nice, somewhat unusual, but if he'd have asked my opinion, I would have told him they needed some sort of sauce/coulis.

I started a post awhile back about customer service in Pattaya going to the dogs and this is just yet another example of poor customer service in Pattaya.

I started eating at home buying from Big C Extra i got so sick of wait staff in Pattaya.

I am working in Singapore at the moment and the service is impeccable everywhere you go be it low end hawker stalls or classy restaurants..

You must have been desperate, getting fresh food from Big C

Out of curiosity, what makes an Easter egg "good quality"? As far as I know, Easter eggs are ordinary eggs that have been hard-boiled and colored. Regard: http://www.mama-know...aster-eggs.html

LOL that is so 2 centuries ago

Yeah me too...

Cant stand it, especially what I call "Songkran Farangs". I wonder if they know what they are celebrating?

There's nothing worse than to be sat drying off - nearly getting there and then drenched again with icy cold water by some drunken moronic farang whom is having an absolute riot of a time.

Some of them are plain sick, you see some of them shooting water at a girls ass or pussy and breasts, and I last year saw some guy outside a bar in Jomtien doing that to a young girl of about 12.

On top of that, it fuc_ks your phone, wallet, cigarettes, lighter and paper money in your pocket if you dont carry half a dozen plastic bags with you or be forced to buy a waterproof pouch from a hawker.

Yes, I dont like it.

Well simply go somewhere else this year as it will be the same as last year, what is is with people that relentlessly complain about something, go home or go somewhere else, get it? You only mention farangs what about the Thais? oh they really care if you don't want to be wet or not, lmao.

My comment was not meant to be a thesis on Songkran.

I was adding my thoughts on the behaviour of certain groups of farangs - as mentioned earlier down the thread by several other board members.

I can do without you telling me to go somewhere else considering I have lived in Thailand over 12 years now.

Battle of the Newbies!

@Sharky1

I have tried those blades before but they left me with a terrible rash under my chin. I used Gillette shaving gel as well. I stick to the terribly expensive Gillette blades now. Although they are expensive, they are kind to my skin!

Also, I always shop at Big C. I find their fresh veg section cleaner and cheaper than Tesco-Lotus and the South Pattaya Big C is always quiet. The queues at the checkouts are always small as well, compared to Tesco-Lotus. Am I in the minority here?

The selection of fresh veg at Foodland triples that of the Big C 200m away

I think many of us avoid Big C like the plague nowadays, you get better quality and selection elsewhere.

May I know where is better than 5 blades for 60 baht please?

I'm speaking in general, if more people started shopping elsewhere perhaps Big C would get their act together

No idea of these blades,the best I have had though are the 5 bladed type from Watsons,were 139 on offer for a packet of 5a while ago,think now at 200,bought a sackful while the offer was on. It is the shaving creams and brushes that are a let down in Thailand,just the horrible gel that is on sale

Foodland has Western brands of shaving foam at reasonable prices

Mikes Rellanos as of 30 minutes ago. I believe they are substituting a Thai green mild chili which is more suitable for Thai sauces and dips. The problem with this chili is there is no meat to this pepper. Extremely thin with no flavor. Did not like the veloute based sauce that it was smothered in as well. We also had nachos and the chicken was boiled breast meat which was shredded. This cooking method is notorious for drying out proteins. Very little white cheese on the plate. Mini quesadilla was smothered in ranchera or enchillada sauce which i have never seen a sauced quesadilla before and the big beef burrito smothered in the same sauce. Jalapeno poppers were a slice of pepper with a dollop of cream cheese rapped in deep fried pastry which oozed oil out the sides as we ate.This is not a jalapeno popper and this dish should be 86'd. Disgracefull. The waitress had pretty contact lenses and there was no one smoking.

(Dont get the carrots in the hot sauce, no comprende muchos! Who does that?)

The interior was cool, clean and inviting. The bar seems like a lovely place to get your ear infection on! I give it a 5 out of 10 but still imho the best in patts. I heard the Sunrise Tacos in BKK is much better. Have a great one!

Sunrise Tacos +1

I think many of us avoid Big C like the plague nowadays, you get better quality and selection elsewhere.

Update on the Soi Welcome place.

Some good news and some bad news.

Sort of good news:

They now have a more extensive and organized picture menu. It includes a limited number of dishes. However, it's still hard to really identify what the dish actually is even from the picture and certainly not from the English name!

In fact, the English names which I assume are largely literal translations of traditional dishes are fantastically entertaining. Almost worth a trip just to read them.

For example (not literal) but the types of name:

The Night Watchman Exploded the Potato

Anyway, I still wanted to look at the "regular" huge menu to choose from a bigger variety of potential dishes. Also even though the descriptions are short, they are at least mostly quite clear, even though there is little guarantee you will get everything written about. One can also hope they have stuff that they usually don't have.

I ordered Sechuan Pork from the text menu. It was listed at 150 baht. It turns out there was the "same dish" on the picture menu with a different name that was more, I think 180 baht now.

Bad news: they have raised their prices!

I think that's really bad because it is already a very challenging restaurant with big risks ordering as far as consistency and predictability.

Anyway, the Sechuan pork I believe was actually what westerners know as Twice Cooked Pork but done (mostly) in the traditional Sechuan style, using a pork belly kind of meat. I suggest ordering it spicy, it really works that way. It was missing leeks, which is similar to the traditional leek-like veg used in Sechuan. In fact the only veg it had was fresh chili which might have been because I ordered it spicy. The meat and flavor was excellent, and the portion was decent. However, with the missing leeks they really are pushing it asking more than 150.

I also ordered the Sechuan cucumber salad, shown non-spicy on the picture menu at 120 baht; it is listed on the printed menu at 80. Big up there, huh? Anyway, it was OK, good portion, decent flavor, but a very rough dish, the chopping of the cukes was pure peasant style. Not worth 120 baht!

OK, to get rice this time but the male waiter still hasn't learned with word for rice, English or Thai. (Bizarre.) Might be good to bring a Russian phrase book.

Anyway, even more mixed feelings now. I seriously doubt you can get anything approaching their Sechuan pork in Pattaya for rustic Sechuan flavors, even though its missing leeks which is the really a shame, so close yet so far. I still really don't know if they use Sechuan peppercorns, but if they do they use the grounded up stuff because there are never any visible ones in any of their dishes so far.

Because I didn't realize the issue with the same dishes being priced differently on the two menus, as you might expect when the bill came I got the higher charge on all dishes. I protested because I had sincerely ordered from the text menu not fully realizing the overlap. They honored the lower price, but I am guessing next time, they will clamp down on that issue.

I think they're making a mistake pushing the price for what they offer. Not only talking the food, because some of it is quite good and unique for Pattaya, but the difficulty and risk factor in eating there. Referring of course to expected ingredients being missing and even listed ingredients being missing.

Oh, BTW. I ordered the boiled pork dumping again. They weren't as good as the first time, sad to say. OK, I guess.

The other diner was a Russian man who order two of the meat pies from the front, sat down and at them and ordered no drink.

Anyway, it's there if you are game.

Sounds like they're using good old Google Translate to get the English names of their dishes

Why is this in the Pattaya Threads?

some of us don't like to wander too much outside the 4 walls of the Pattaya Thaivisa room, it's quite an abyss on the rest of the website.

I can't comment on that particular one, I used the Pattaya Memorial Hospital a few years ago as I thought I had a wax build-up too.

They discovered that my problem was actually a blockage in the eustation tubes instead and a course of antihistamines plus nasal spray cleared it up.

I too have quite a bit of experience with a young female ENT doc at memorial. She seemed very knowledgeable and I have had the wax sucked out of my ears a few times by her. It's been a few years since I've seen her so no idea if she's still there. I want to think her office was #4.

Well, I have never in recent years had any wax sucked or syringed out, as far as I am aware it can cause more damage if the problem isn't a wax build up. Which is why I went for a full ear check, I don't know if the place mentioned in the OP can do that but the Memorial can for sure.

Incidentally, it was a male doctor that I saw and at one point he asked me if I smoked, I said "yes, and I know Doc, stop smoking, stop drinking and don't hang with naughty girls"

'Oh no" he said "you can do the last one, it's good exercise"

In my experience I've had wax removed from my ears in 1 of 3 ways. Syringe of water squirted into my ear to break up the wax and then it naturally flows out (US doctor did this). Hydrogen Peroxide solution placed in the ear to soften the wax and then have it naturally flow out (Thai hospital) and then the using of a special suction device at the ENT office in Memorial to suck out the sticky wax. Of course you don't want that done by a nurse or a non specialist as this can easily damage the ear drum if not done correctly. All the equipment used for this was specialized for the job. As I mentioned, the female ENT that I used to see at Memorial seemed very competent to me.

I've only ever had to have wax removed 1 time (if it ain't broke don't fix it), and that was recently at an E,N&Throat clinic in Naklua, the hot water syringe method was used and worked a charm after a few minutes of sucking and blowing. As you can now imagine, the sensation was quite sensual, it felt like someone was making love to your ear.

Call me old fashioned, but, when I post something I go to a Post Office. I post registered mail and never have a problem. 7 days max to the U.K. and about the same to Australia. I use the Soi 5 Jomtien P.O. and the Soi 13 one in Phattaya (note BBC World spelling ! ) I have a mail box in Soi 13 and pay 500 Baht a year.

I have seen these "rogue" postal counters all over town and think "disaster waiting to happen". As for DHL and UPS......look what happened the last time I used them. Tom Hanks stole my beach ball......

I just used DHL to send a few pages of important documents to Singapore. It arrived in 2 days and cost 900 Baht. EMS (Thaipost) would have cost 550 Baht but the last time I used them it took a week to send documents from Bangkok to Pattaya, not to mention their online tracking 'lost' the package.

Let's get real here! Nobody needs to spend 650 baht a person at Pao. Any normal single diner can certainly fill his stomach for 300 baht, easily less, and probably even less if you're sharing. At that price level considering the quality, Pao rates as a great value.

Indeed, I knew I was ordering too much food for myself (way too much for an average appetite) but since I'm still in the menu exploration phase, I don't mind over-indulging to shorten the exploration process. Based on what I've experienced thus far I'd be happy with 3 of my favorite dishes (Wonton soup, Spicy Beef Ramen, and Beef pies) with a bottle water for 300 Baht, while others can make do with less bringing the cost down to 200 Baht.

We don't need a second thread on this tired subject... reported fo mods

Why not using a REAL post office? These shipping shops all are robbers...

The real post office is in Buddha forsaken Naklua

Ah, Russians. Well, I've moved to a new area of Pattaya so I don't have to see them. Life is good..

You can't see them in the dark