jehricaholic

So is there actually anything in this town that is historic or is everything a stagnant 1970's?

My friend advised to the boss that he could at least freshly make the breads for the customers who eat inside the restaurant. But he bla bla bla that it is inconvenient.... We still have no clue why should it be "inconvenient" ?!?!?

We decide to go there in future mainly for "wheat food", but should not hold high expectation for other stir-fried dishes. And the toilet is not so clean either.

The restaurant could have done much much better. But the owner seems quite contented with the current status

.....Since Thailand is so close to China, maybe Farangs who like Chinese food can take trips there. Can go to cities like Suzhou, Hangzhou, Xia Men, Kun Ming, etc.. They are all with long history and the cost is cheaper than that in Beijing, Hongkong and Shanghai. Spring is the best time to visit Jiang Nan (South of Yangtse River area ). Besides the inexpensive and good food, you can also enjoy the scenery, art, tea, Chinese massage, and herb medicine etc ...

This is the expat website for my hometown Suzhou : http://www.whatsoninsuzhou.com.cn/

Normally, every big city in China has its own expat club and website which offers lots of info about everything.

Well, sounds like I am the travel agent ... I am not!!!! .. Ok, I shut up now

I can imagine the culture shock: 'the west' vs Pattaya vs 'unknown' cities in China

the award for useless post of the day goes to...

I had heard of this "translation" before and quized the locals and they had no clue to what I was talking about ? I also heard it called the South "East" Monsoon wind ?

Now if we can only get all expats and visitors to pronounce PATTAYA correctly......if you go round the bars and Go Go joints - you might hear an old song about the town...

it gives you all the clues how to say it.

Pattaya, Pattaya Hello sexy man I like you very big.....etc...broken down the word is PAH THAI YAH......now just run those words together - easy and nothing like anyone says it on local Expat radio and Cable channels....I know I might be a bit pedantic but ....could it be more simple...?

Even that so-called "superstar" DJ in Pattaya, the over-exposed one on local cable TV, cannot even pronounce it the same within the same TV commercial: we hear him say both 'pa-tee-ya' and 'pa-tie-ya'

I prefer my Russians white and on the rocks

Knowing the size of Tequila Reef and the # of patrons in the FF group, that could be a little chaotic....

+1 to that but FF on Valentines Day?

thats a booking i would have passed on.....

some people attend FF functions just to see the car crash

For those of you with or without Valentine's who enjoy Tequila Reef Restaurant (I've never been) Frugal Freddy group is going there Tuesday with the following promotion:

"Tuesday we will be meeting at Tequila Reef Cantina for Mexican food and Margaritas blended or shaken. Tequila Reef extends a 20% discount to all Frugal Freddy Members that night and if your check bin is over B1000 they will give you a 25% discount."

You don't need RSVP or membership, just show up at 6pm.

We ate at Mikes last week. Guacamole "large portion" (what I would have called "normal", would be interesting to see their "small" and "medium" portions) and Nachos (kinda bland, later realized we should have ordered Nachos Grandes - not suggested by the waitress) for starters, mix of burritos and tacos for mains and vanilla ice cream with (more, sweet and cinnamon dusted this time) nachos. Marguaritas and water for drinks. All in all around 1,300 baht. It was ok, and I think a notch up from Tequila Reef, but we were not bowled over.

Still have to try Sunrise, that'll be for next time we crave Mexican.

I happened upon Mikes a few weeks ago, another one of these places located in an off the beaten path area, midway between Jontiem and Pattaya. My dinner bell was ringing so I stopped in for a visit. For drinks I tried a rather ordinary Pina Colada and a rather potent, reasonably priced Sangria. The service was rather poor for order-taking... there are hand bells at each table, and I realized by the end of the meal that if you wanted attention you needed to ring it (I rang it once to get the bill). I didn't really know what to order, but I'm a big eater so I ordered their mammoth 3pm combo (or whatever they call it), a burrito, enchilada and a hard taco. You can choose the fillings but ordered everything with beef for consistency purposes (and it is the traditional meat filling, at least at Taco Bell...Ugh). As stated in a previous post, I'm not a soft taco kind guy so I didn't think much of the burrito or enchilada, the silky texture was a bit too monotonous for my palate (that's just me), but the taste was good and I liked how the beef had a unique, pulled pork consistency (at least compared to Taco Bell). I really enjoyed the hard shell taco (I don't know if Sunrise makes a bigger version of the hard/crispy taco for their a la carte menu, but Mike's taco was double the size of Sunrise's). I paid about 600 baht for my meal. I think I'll stick to Sunrise Tacos and their promotional 220 baht Taco Tuesday/Friday.

If the wife/girlfriend/barfine is Thai there isn't much point taking her to an expensive Farang type restaurant where she won't appreciate the difference.

VERY UNTRUE... my wife and I have been together 5 years, honeymooned in Las Vegas and she has gone to the States 3 times.... She loves prime rib, Hamburgers, corn beef and cabbage and many other farang foods. She is intelligent, hiso and enjoys a good ambiance. We usually go to cabbages and condoms, but I am tired of that..

Not all Thai women are ignorant bar sluts. People are people no matter where you are, so get some class and stop thinking so poorly about the people in whose country YOU ARE A GUEST...

Now look who is over generalizing.."Not all Thai women are ignorant bar sluts", and is "thinking so poorly" about those who have an opinion contrary to yours. Tropo has a valid point, but perhaps he could have used a smaller brush, but at least he stated his opinion with "some class".

jingthing instead of posting a sarcastic "next....." if you have experience with Malay food can you post a few dishes you know of to give me/us an idea of what it is? Sounds like I stand corrected and would really like to know as I might be working in Kuala Lamphur soon. I like my "farang" food but also like to try any local food in the countries I visit.

We are the weaker links... Goodbye!

Sunrise Tacos Review: Taco Tuesday/Friday Promotion

I paid my first visit to Sunrise Tacos, Jontiem Beach this past Friday to sample their all-u-can-eat taco promotion which happens every Tuesday and Friday (2-7pm only). This restaurant was reviewed extensively during their opening period a few months past however now that the teething period is over and nothing has been said in the mean time, it's time for another review of this ThaiVisa sponsor.

I paid a visit @ 4pm on the day and most of the tables were occupied (by singles or duos) and I was greeted promptly and my (first) order taken promptly (there have been issues mentioned in previous posts about lack of service, but this was not apparent on this visit).

The 220 baht taco promotion (http://sunrisetacos.com/tacotuesdaymenu.pdf) includes the following unlimited items:

- access to the salsa bar

- soft flour, soft corn, or crispy tacos of the following types: grilled chicken, ground sirloin (beef), carnitas (pork), or grilled vegetable

- All Pastor tacos (soft flour with pork)

- Baja fish tacos (soft flour with Red Snapper)

- Apple or Pumpkin pie

Additionally, there is a 100 baht promotion on selected cocktails and wine

What I ordered:

- soft chicken (x1)

- soft beef (x1)

- soft pork (x1)

- Al Pastor (x1)

- Baja (x2)

- crispy beef (x2)

- pumpkin pie (x1)

- Coke @ 40 baht

- Horchata (beverage) @ 69 baht

Total: 387 baht (including 33 baht service charge & 25 baht VAT)

Service:

Service was good but there were a couple of minor issues: I ordered water but was served Coke (Coke can @ 40 baht is severely over-priced. I think the server was confused because I wanted the promotional gigante Coke in the souvenir glass, but they had ran out. Another issue was that I ordered hard/crispy tacos for my 1'st round, but everything was served soft ( I think you need to be clear about what you prefer (ie point to the photo of a hard taco like I did for the 2'nd round, also there is no mention of hard/crispy tacos on the promotion menu but it is included). I did not have to wait long for my food (an issue mentioned in previousposts) and I did not wait long for the server to take orderes for additional rounds of tacos). A nice touch was when the server asked if I wanted my pumpkin pie served warm or cold.

Food:

Let me start by saying that I am neither a soft taco kinda guy nor one who makes much use of a salsa bar. Firstly the salsa bar: I ended up picking one of the smooth salsas to go with my tacos but I never ended up using it. I did not use the 2 chunky salsas I picked to go with my tacos but i did 'snack' on them between rounds of tacos (pineapple & mango), they were quite tasty on their own. I thought the tacos had enough variety of fillings already but I know there are those who cherish fresh salsa, but to each his own)

I ended up consuming 6 soft tacos, 3 by accident plus the Baja and Al Pastor which only come in soft versions. I could not tell which was the Carnitas and which was the Al Pastor of the 2 pork soft tacos, one had fajitas style pork and the other had a rather dried-out semi pulled pork style. Both were OK. The chicken soft was the weakest of them all in terms of flavor and if I had ordered more than one I would have added some salsa to liven it up. The beef was my favorite, thus for my 2'nd round I ordered 2 hard/crispy versions. By the time I tried the Baja tacos (2'nd round) I had already consumed 4 soft tacos and was getting fed up of them, however the fish was very nice, crispy and fresh. By this time I would have preferred them as a salad topping, the subtle flavor of the fish I personally feel is not suited for a taco as salsa would easily overpower the fish. Some of the soft tacos came as flour and some came as corn, I did not note much of a difference. The hard/crispy tacos were terrific and I'll make sure in future to order my tacos hard/crispy.

Round 3 was the pumpkin pie and the Horchata beverage. I've had pumpkin pie dozens of times over the years and this is a decent version. The Horchata is a cinnamon rice milk beverage. It was very nice but I didn't like the fact that it came iced, just chilled from the fridge would have been better.

Verdict:

Great value and quality. Decent service. I will definately come for Taco Tuesday/Friday on a semi-regular basis.

I received my 1 year Visa on Nov 25/2011 (exp 12/2012). I left the country on Jan 6/2012 and paid to have my single use Visa renewed. Does this mean that I do not need to do the 90 day report till April 6/2012?

Malay food is very similar to Indonesian food.

I haven't been to either but I understood that there are now a couple of Indonesian restaurants: one in Jomtien near to JT's up and coming area (Soi 4/5 and 2nd Rd) and another thats in one of the smaller roads behind the Tesco Lotus on Sukh road.

Went to the one on the new 2'nd road by the market area, had the 15pc sample platter or whatever they call it, not impressed.

If the wife/girlfriend/barfine is Thai there isn't much point taking her to an expensive Farang type restaurant where she won't appreciate the difference.

The words I want to use would have me banned, but if thats your attitude towards Thais then how on earth have you survived here?

Chill dude... I'll think you'll find you're in the minority

^^ Isn't she worth it?

no comment necessary

Cafe Des Amis

Where is that? Menu? Price? Info?

Thanks

Google is your friend:

http://www.cafedesam...a.com/home.html

Not cheap but I like the food and the setting is very nice. To me wins hands down over places like Mata Hari and Manhattans

Couldent agree more, in our opinion it has got to be the best restaurant in Pattaya !!!

and most expensive?

Is Malay food anything like the dreadfull offerings from the Phillipines?

Let's start hearing some reasonably priced options

dam_n jehricaholic, if a gourmet diner like you cannot recommend anywhere

what the rest of us supposed to do....?

lol... this will be my first (and hopefully last) Valentines in Pattaya. Anyways, even if I were to think of myself as a 'gourmet' type, my spouse is the boss and will only eat steak.

For Duck Lovers:

(not the wild quacky kind, the flavorful roast kind)

As this is the Chinese food lover's thread du jour, I'll post my discovery here instead of starting a new thread.

I've found a very nice, thai run, hole-in-the-wall type, recently opened, Chinese style duck restaurant. It's located on 3'rd road (east side) about 100m north of Central (Klang) Pattaya road. The menu is small but it's feature is roast duck (you can see the roast ducks hanging inside the glass at the front of the restaurant.

The duck was very tasty and not very fatty, and the presentation was quite nice for a 40 baht dish. The congee was very authentic for a Chinese style rice soup and their (shrimp) wontons were tasty and fresh not frozen. I will definately make this place a regular part of my week.

As you can see below it is value priced for Thais, no inflated Falang pricing. If your in the area give it a try, it's open 10-10 daily.

Here are most of their menu items (from recollection):

(*items I tried on this first visit)

Roast duck @ 150 baht (family portion)

*Roast duck with rice @ 40 baht (single portion)

Roast duck stirfry with Basil @ 70 baht

*Shrimp wonton soup with/without roast duck @ 40 baht

*Roast duck congee @ 40 baht

Roast goose @ 250 baht

Crispy pork

Roast pork

Let's start hearing some reasonably priced options

Anything that makes the Thai gov't react in a posotive way is good foor me. Good woork by the fast acting Chinese consulate. If only the Thai gov't can start being proactive for a change!

I've heard good things about this place, too bad about it's location in no man's land

Wouldn't it be nice to hop in a taxi and go support these places?

You're preaching the choir. When a mafia cartel controls transport, EVERYBODY loses (except them).

Minimum 200 baht one way for hired baht bus. I feel sorry for tourists who unknowingly book hotels on that hill.

I've heard good things about this place, too bad about it's location in no man's land

I hope this is not the dreadfull Korean resto with a new name. There is/was a large place in the same location JT is speaking of. My favorite Korean resto is in Naklua next to Zign hotel, but anyways...

I just came back from 10 nights is Seoul and let me tell you that the Korean BBQ here in Pattaya is better then in Seoul... yes I said it. In Seoul you will pay 1000 baht p.p for (small) BBQ meat platters and a soft drink, you get Kimchee and side salad and NOTHING ELSE. I visited a few places in Seoul and they were all like this, yes the meat may be fresh but who cares when your grilling it, tastes the same to me. I now have a much greater appreciation for the Korean restos in Pattaya with the 8+ Banchan and the 400 baht p.p price

Last ferry (to catch the last bus from Rayong) from Ko Samet is 4pm. The bus leaves Rayong at 5pm (bus station is 1 min walk from the pier). This is for the daily mini-bus service that will pick-up/drop-off from hotels. It's 200 baht each wach way. I took it just before Xmas, good service!