BenDeCosta

2 minutes ago, Crossy said:

All excellent input chaps, thanks muchly.

 

The items in question are not easily counterfeited and probably not worth counterfeiting anyway (very low throughput).

 

Would you be willing to say what these items are? Can they be bought locally at all?

Portugal is a much better option than Turkey.  But for me, there are better options.

If you've got a very attractive girl, and viagra and cialis are not working, then assuming you aren't drunk or gay then this can be a sign of an underlying health condition. Go and get a full health screen.

Almost all Thai ladies that I have met are good cooks. Why not try hiring a cleaner who will also be willing to cook for you?

I'm certain that you could find someone to come and clean your apartment and cook you a decent meal for under 500 baht a day.

I've sold some things on BahtSold.com, very easy to use.

Most people think that electric cars are helping the environment and that they are doing something virtuous by driving one because they don't understand where the electricity comes from. 

6 hours ago, poohy said:

 

Turkish food has to wipe the floor with Thai food

100% agree with this sentiment. Turkish food is absolutely fantastic.

It's easy to get really good food at cheap prices in Turkey, including really good steaks and lamb dishes. And their beer is much better than Thai beer. Good wine is available for a few Euros. But the women are almost off-limits unless you are willing to change your name to "Mo".

I'd take a Turkish kebab with french fries over som tam and khanom jeen any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

If you're surprised that many hotels have a discount rate for a stay of only 3 hours.

13 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Welcome to the true delights of rural Isaan! Good for them, but just keep it well away from my plate ! ????

About a year ago I was invited to a barbeque in Isaan. When I saw what they were cooking on the barbeque, it took me quite a while to identify what they were cooking and then told them in Thai "that one makes the urine", "that one makes the faeces", and "that one is full of toxins". Honestly, they'll eat anything EXCEPT good quality meat. Why don't they eat the good meat? It boggles the brain.

I told some of my friends back home what they were cooking and their attitude was "show us photos or we won't believe you". If I have a child here in Thailand I will make sure that they don't develop a taste for entrails.

It is so odd that someone would eat rodents, insects, small birds and then turn their nose up at a barbequed Australian fillet steak. But each to their own I guess.

8 minutes ago, covidiot said:

if you have the time and patience, make stews.

stews can be made with the toughest and cheapest cuts of beef.

 

Yes, that's just about all you can do with Thai beef, if you have a pressure cooker then you can make it edible in a couple of hours.

1 minute ago, Disparate Dan said:

I would not have made the suggestion if I wasn't satisfied with what I have bought so far.

Thanks, I think I will give them a try tomorrow.

8 minutes ago, Disparate Dan said:

Isn't that approx 200 baht in real money? If that's your budget, you won't get anything worth cooking, let alone eating, from a decent online supplier.

I was going to suggest paleorobbie, which provides a lot of detail about the provenance of its beef, fish etc, - but not for 200 baht.

I've got no problem paying that much, if it's good quality which is why I started this thread. But if I'm paying that much for a poor-quality lamb burger when I can make 4 chicken fillet burgers for the same price then I take issue with that. Nobody ever got rich by wasting money.

So, if anyone has experience from ordering from these places, I'd love to know, was it any good or not?

Paleorobbie actually looks like the best candidate so far.

12 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Beef turns bright red when it's exposed to the air, before that air exposure it's very dark - as it should be when fresh.

I think you've made a balls-up there buddy, fresh meat including beef is usually bright red when fresh, it only turns brown when exposed to the air. It's because muscle tissue has a lot of iron which oxidises. If you cut a cow in half, it'll be red, not brown. I did a two week work placement in a butchers decades ago, the only brown meat we saw was that which was too old to sell, and it stunk. The fresh meat is almost purple in colour.

If by dark, you mean purple, then I agree, but fresh meat should never be brown. Dark red, purple is super fresh, brown is old meat that shouldn't be sold. But nowadays they inject colourings into the meat so you never know what you're getting.

6 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

I didn't know that, but now I understand why the Australian beef at a major supermarket here in Pattaya is almost dark brown.

 

It isn't cheap either, so I won't buy it any way, but I always thought the reason for that was that it had been exposed too long to the air.

Yes, you are correct. Once the myoglobin, and not blood (many people think that the red juice from steaks is blood) is exposed to the air, it oxidises and turns brown.

Look for red steaks. Dark red or purple is best. You want the freshest steaks possible, I would never buy a "brown" steak. 

Season before cooking with a pinch of salt and pepper on both sides. Then, a minute or two on each side in a very hot pan, followed by a splash of brandy, some freshly ground peppercorns and a glug of single cream. It doesn't get any better than that.

5 minutes ago, tgw said:

 

personally, I dislike the Aussie steaks sold by the big M supermarket. I even tried the expensive ones because I like to treat myself from time to time, but the taste is just off, and you are right they tend to lose a lot of moisture when cooked.

the color of the meat is very important, darker means the water content is higher. light colored meat contains much less water and will be tough if cooked any further than rare.

I've tried dozens of their steaks, frozen and fresh and I must be honest, I have had a few good ones that were tender and delicious. But more often than not, the meat is just stringy, tough or has a bad taste that I can only assume means that the steak is older than advertised.

I usually cook my steaks quite rare, which my wife and her friends think is disgusting, "man mai soop, man mai soop, mee luat".

Thais just don't seem to like beef, so either I should accept it and give it up or move somewhere else.

It's so odd that just a few hundred km away in Cambodia you can get good steaks for a couple of dollars.

3 minutes ago, tgw said:

 

if you have the ability to tell good meat from its looks, it is a great advantage in Thailand. I buy Thai ribeye in my local supermarket for a little more than 300 baht a Kg. Most of what they sell is rubbish, but they get good meat once in a while and when I see it, I just buy everything they have from that animal and freeze it for later use.

if you are looking for meat that will make a great steak, look for dark meat (as dark as possible) with a lot of marbling. about 2.5 cm thick if you want to cook it right away, or 3cm thick and then let it rest in the fridge for about a week.

I know how to spot good quality meat, but appreciate your advice. But here, I either buy beef from the market, and it turns out tougher than shoe leather, or I buy a vacuum sealed steak from a big supermarket that starts with M and it shrinks to half it's size when cooking. I think I should just give up eating beef, it's not worth the hassle.

1 minute ago, Airalee said:

If your Makro is anything like the Makro here in BKK, I have found that the frozen Australian beef tenderloin (sold in shrink wrapped 2 packs) was actually better than the (also frozen)Australian beef tenderloin from the one of the popular delivery services.  It’s about ฿800/kg.  I haven’t tried the Wagyu beef (don’t want to pay the price for NY strip/tenderloins and don’t want rump steak).

To be quite frank, the appalling quality of the produce here is one of things that is making me regret living in Thailand. The fact that you even need to go on a forum to find out where to buy half-decent beef is depressing. I didn't realise how important food was to me until I came here. Once this covid rubbish is over, I'm going to be doing some travelling, and from my experiences in Cambodia, I suspect that I might end up there.