cochran

I challenge you on the worst Irish coffee ever - I made the mistake of trying it one night at Molly Malone's on Walking Street and thought I would absolutely puke. I'll take your word for it at Ruen Thai. If the food is average there, I'll just stick with Mum Aroy if I need some really good Thai food.

I think tonight we plan to venture into a Swiss restaurant off of Naklua - Swiss Paradise Resort. Any experience from anyone on this place?

PattayaParent, thanks. I think I'll give that one a miss - I've seen the traditional dance numbers several times (even participated in one at a company New Year's party, and no, I won't be posting those pictures!).

MeetJohnDoe - No argument here about Cherry's - as frequently noted above in this thread, outstanding taste and value combined. Also agree with you that Pascal's is overpriced, but I personally didn't find the food to be average. Really thought the taste was good...until settling the bill!!

As I think we've also noted, Wii's, while not quite as good as Cherry's, is a chip off the same block as Cherry's.

While we were headed to Casa Pascal, we saw the sign for Ruen Thai. Anyone know this place? Opinions?

On Friday night, my girlfriend and I decided it was time to try another new restaurant. Casa Pascal was on the list, so we went there for dinner.

The atmosphere and decor in this place are very nice, easily on par with Bruno's or Manhattans or Mata Hari. Lots of exposed, polished wood, nice table settings, well-lit, etc. The place is not too large, and some of the tables are set off in little alcoves to add a touch of privacy. The place was not too busy on Friday night, so they did not have an issue with seating us, in spite of our lack of a reservation.

The staff here is very professional and attentive. They speak good English and are well informed about the menu and the main ingredients.

I do have a few negative comments about this place, so let's get those out of the way first.

1. They don't make a good margarita here. Its not their forte, so probably not a lot of call for these anyway, but that's always the first thing my lady orders.

2. We wanted a bottle of wine. When the wine list was presented, I saw that they offer Penfold's Koonunga Hill cabernet/shiraz, which is a personal favorite. The price? 3880 baht, or well over $120 USD. I've bought this exact same wine many, many times in the US for 9 - 14 USD, depending on who had it on sale. I know wine is much more expensive here, but there is no reasonable explanation for that level of markup.

3. Our backup solution, a Wolf Blass blend (not a great bottle, but okay) was served chilled. I cannot describe how much I hate chilled red wine. I had to let it sit interminably to reach anything close to room temperature.

4. The dessert, which we'll get to in time, was much too expensive relative to the size of the dish. Overall I was not impressed with the value for the money at this restaurant.

Okay, with the negatives out of the way, the positives:

When we were seated, the staff brought out fresh bread (available with or without sesame, your choice) with butter and a small dish of a chunky chicken spread. The bread was warm and tender, with a touch of crustiness, and quite good. The chicken spread had a sneaky bit of heat that you only tasted at the end, but was quite enjoyable. Not too hot, but nice and spicy. There was also a shot glass of gazpacho served.

The gazpacho was a first for me. I've never tried it because cold soup seems antithetical to the entire notion of soup for me. This was very good. There was a little spiciness, a great crunch from corn and etc. in the blend, and the shot glass size was just right for an introduction. Nice surprise.

For our appetizers, she ordered a crab and lobster cake, and I had the french onion soup, which is a typical order for me. The crab cake was huge, beautifully presented over a yellow sauce (perhaps hollandaise; my allergy prevented a sampling on this) with a few steamed vegetables for decoration. The surface of the cake was well browned, and it smelled delicious. The french onion soup is simply the best I've ever had. While this dish is often characterized by the sweetness of the caramelized onions, the broth in this version was quite savory. It didn't overpower the onion flavor, but added a nice counterpoint to the sweetness. The obligatory crouton was in the soup, with just a touch of cheese. I added a dash of freshly ground pepper and really enjoyed this soup. The portion size was decent - served in a slightly oversized cup.

Main courses: Thai sea bass with mashed potato for her and chicken ballotine for me. Unfortunately, I failed to sample her main course, so can't comment on the flavor, but it looked great on the plate. This may sound like a minor note, but the presentation of food is a very important point for me. It shows that some extra time was taken with the dish. My food was outstanding. It was a chicken breast rolled out, then wrapped around chopped apples and truffle chips, then cut into slices. This was served with artichokes and roasted shallots and smashed broccoli, all over a smooth, brown sauce. The chicken was moist and tender, and the apples retained their crunch. The interplay of the flavors was tasty, with the savory sauce and meat playing off of the sweetness of the apples and the mild flavor of the artichokes and the smoky excellence of the roasted shallots. As an added bonus, there was the contrast in textures as well - the crunch from the apples vs. the velvety texture of the sauce on the plate had great mouth feel.

For dessert, we wanted to try the caramelized peach with sour cherries in zabayone. Okay, to tell the truth, I wanted to try it and browbeat my girl into agreeing to share it. This dish is prepared tableside as a flambe. The peach is very tender and the sweetness of the peach works great with the sour cherries and the foamy sauce that its served in. Referencing my above comment about size, this dish consisted of four small section of peach, each less than a tablespoon in size. We only wanted to try it, so I guess it all worked out, but at almost 400 baht I didn't feel this was worth the price.

Normally I don't mind paying a premium price for premium food, but I have to feel that I've gotten my money's worth. In this case, I just didn't feel that way. The food was really excellent, so we will be back to try something else from the menu, but we will apply lessons learned - we'll bring our own wine, pay the corkage fee, and skip the dessert tray.

Enjoy!

Agreed, Cherry's is great, and no idea how you get that much quality for so little coin.

Recently stopped in at the Butcher's Arms on Buakhow (Tuesday night, I think) as it was on the list and we hadn't been there before.

When you walk into the place, the first thing you notice is how much like the Pig & Whistle it is. It actually reminded me that while I have had breakfast and P&W, I should give their dinner menu a shot as well.

The drinks are good here. Mine was a bottle of Magner's, so the quality is not dependent on the house, but the temperature is. This one was good and cold. The lady had a margarita that was quite good.

The split pea soup with ham was very good - hot, satisfying, great flavor and texture (What's the difference between pea soup and roast beef? Anybody can roast beef.... The shrimp cocktail is quite different from what I'm used to seeing. Instead of cocktail sauce, the prawns were served over what looked like slaw, with thousand island dressing.

For mains, I ordered the roast pork dinner (roast pork, gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed steamed veg, yorkshire pudding) and she had bangers and mash.

The roast pork was tender, but could have used a little more seasoning. Very good potatoes and gravy, and the steamed vegetables still had a little crunch to them, which is very good. The yorkshire pudding was...well, yorkshire pudding. I'm no judge on this dish - I guess its an acquired taste. The sausages were very good - great flavor there, and probably just as tasty as the sausages from Nicky's that I like so much for breakfast.

We didn't order a dessert, but the menu does have a good selection of pie, which was tempting, but I was too full. Cost was reasonable. If you're in the mood for standard English pub fare, give this place a shot.

PattayaParent, Arabic/ME food sounds pretty good, actually. I've eaten in the one Iranian restaurant (Paradis) on 2nd Road and thought that was pretty good. I'd love some good hummus and pita - it has been a while since I had that.

Last night we did end up at Taj. I have to say this did not impress too much. Its different than Indian By Nature and Madras Darbar. Ingredient quality doesn't seem to be up to standard, and the level of heat in the spices was higher than the others. I ordered massala pappadums for an appetizer. While the crackers themselves had more flavor (quite tasty, actually) the vegetables on top didn't seem as fresh, and they included carrots, which kind of threw the flavor off. To compound the issue, they were very spicy.

Main course was tandoori chicken for me with vegetable jalfrezi and garlic naan, and a crab curry for my gf. Nothing really stood out here, except for the blazing heat. We ordered everything medium spicy, and I guess we should have gone for mild. The chicken didn't have a lot of flavor, but wasn't actively displeasing. The naan was a little overcooked, I think.

I don't think we'll make a return trip. The other two places are just far better, in my opinion, and I don't think the prices at Taj justify the quality/freshness/flavor that you get.

I can't believe the last post on here was from June 1. In my defense, I just got out of the hospital here (in from the 6th until the 10th with pneumonia), so haven't really been out and around on the food scene. For the record, I don't really recommend the Sodexho cafeteria service in the hospital as a "top pick". I have had worse food for sure, but not voluntarily!

So we're back on track now. Revisitied Zico's churascarria last night for my first night back in action. I'm thinking maybe Taj tonight for an Indian fix, but not sure. Haven't been back to Cherry's, and really liked that one. I'm not allowed any alcohol for ten days, so the wine list is totally irrelevant for a change!

+1.

Great building and furnishings and environment, but food wasn't good and service wasn't good.

I live in Pattaya full time and have visited Bangkok on several occasions. I would say that the planning for your trip depends on your trip goals, as many others have alluded to.

For tourism in terms of anthropology, reduce the time in Pattaya and take in the sights in Bangkok and Ayutthaya. Temples (both functional and derelict) abound in these areas, and while in Bangkok, you can take advantage of the subway and the skytrain, really excellent shopping, and etc. Be very aware, though, that the traffic on the surface streets in and around Bangkok is nightmarish - I've never seen the equal. Its bad enough in Pattaya, but Bangkok is terrible for traffic.

For tourism in terms of "Wow, this is just like spring break in college, only better," go to Pattaya. Buy condoms in bulk. Be careful crossing streets when drunk...or when sober for that matter. Keep one hand on your wallet and use common sense, as advised. Pattaya can be a really fun town, no matter what level of activity you want to get to.

My two cents worth...

Update:

Its been a little slow lately on the new restaurants front. Work is getting increasingly demanding and there's just not as much time any more. Also was out of town this past weekend at Kao Yai National Park - worth the trip, beautiful place.

jbaldwin, we followed up on your recommendation last week of Bei Gerhard, soi 16/2, Naklua. For those unfamiliar, this is a German restaurant (Schwabian, to be specific) with an open-air setting. Parking was not too difficult, and as we were there fairly late in the evening, the temperature wasn't too bad either. One gripe with the environment: there were people constantly wandering in and out of the place trying to sell copies of DVDs. This did nothing to enhance the atmosphere or to encourage a nice dinner conversation.

On to more positive things. I have commented before about the lamentable lack of choices in beer that you typically find here, and was pleased to see that this place offers Erdinger wheat beers, in regular, dunkel, and cristal varieties. I really like this beer, though many of my German friends / colleagues tell me they don't think its very good. Gerhard does not have too much of a selection either, but at least there's some variety as compared to other establishments.

As an appetizer I ordered the french onion soup. Its decent, not spectacular. You can really taste the sweetness of the sauteed onions in the soup, and there are plenty of croutons (though they're rather soft) and enough cheese on top to satisfy. I would say that the soup is typical.

I wanted to try their potato salad, but didn't get to it. As an entree I ordered their homemade maultaschen in bacon and onion broth. This is like a huge German multilayered ravioli, with minced meat and spices. My serving was three large pieces, and it was more than enough. There is a ton of shredded bacon in the onion broth, and the dough on the maultaschen was firm but soft. This was a really good dish, and the first time I've been able to find it since about 2004 when I briefly visited Schwabia (most of my time in Germany has been in Saxonia, and I don't enjoy Saxonian cuisine as much).

My gf ordered what she thought was a plate of mixed sausages, but was really a plate of cold cuts with some cheese and pickles. She said the flavors were okay, but it wasn't what she was really in the mood for.

All told - good beer, decent appetizer, really tasty main course. The place was not too expensive, and is for sure worth a visit. Somebody let me know about that potato salad, okay?

As MeetJohnDoe mentioned, try Narissa. This is the Chinese restaurant on the Beach Road side of Siam Bayview. Its not just skin, but be advised the meat is very dry. The Chinese pancakes are very good, and the dish is served with green onion and sauce.

Can anyone recommend a really good German restaurant in Pattaya? Food quality more important than beer quality in this case...

Come on MeetJohnDoe, you wouldn't want me to leave out half the story, would you?

Saturday night we went to the Bartimes restaurant on Walking Street. It was recommended early on in this thread, and we were on our way to a repeat visit to La Notte when we stopped in.

I have to start being more careful about the drinks I order when I'm out in public. I'll order something on the menu that sounds like it will taste good, only to have it arrive at the table looking rather...unmanly. Know what I mean? You'd think they could serve stuff in a regular glass without fruit and flowers and etc if a male orders it. Oh well. Their signature cocktail is pretty good, but looks a little fruity. Give it a shot, but take a miss on their Blue Hawaii. Not so good.

Appetizers: The chicken wings have a good flavor, but they are served very very hot, right out of the fryer, so be careful. The Thai style grilled pork was a little chewy for my taste.

Entrees here were not very good. Duck with a green pepper sauce for her (served with mashed potatoes and a small side salad) and a filet for me, served with goose liver on top, and a side of potato casserole and mushrooms. Serious lack of flavor here. Steak was undercooked, and didn't seem seasoned at all. Tenderness was okay, texture was more or less there, but no flavor at all. The goose liver tasted very bad - may have been turned, I don't know. Anyway, stop in here for a drink and move on...my recommendation.

Quick note from Sunday night dinner: Narissa chinese restaurant, affiliated with Siam Bayview Hotel.

Had the shredded chicken Szechuan style (served cold on a bed of julienned cucumber with a thick, peanut flavored sauce), steamed fish in soya sauce, and the crispy duck.

The sauce for the chicken takes some getting used to, but is quite flavorful if you like slightly spicy peanut butter. The fish was average, but the duck was killer!

Word of advice: when they say crispy, they really,really mean it. The duck was actually quite dry, which was fine with me, but may not suit others. Its served with very thin crepes, sliced green onions and cucumber, and a sweet duck sauce. Delicious dish. The large is enough for two people.

Drinks here were very good as well. Total bill about 1800. Wasn't our first visit here, and won't be our last.

Saturday's update:

We slept in a little today, so missed breakfast. As I needed a haircut, we headed for Central Festival today (and by the way, the new Star Trek movie is awesome!) and for lunch we tried the Segafredi Zanetti Espresso place on the ground floor.

We'd stopped at Starbucks as soon as we hit the mall, as is our custom, so i can't comment on beverage quality at Segafredi. I will say that if you're hungry, head elsewhere.

My gf ordered spaghetti carbonara. As I've previously noted, this is one of her frequent orders in restaurants, and this one just wasn't up to par. The noodle was very thick, and looked more like buscatina than spaghetti. We'd tried to order marinara with corn chips for an appetizer, but they didn't have it, so we got garlic bread. This came out at the same time as the carbonara, four slices, well seasoned but disappointingly thin.

My entree came out some time after hers. So the delivery was her entree arrived with the appetizer, and mine maybe 5 to 10 minutes later. I ordered the tuna panini, with capers and onion and black olive and cheese. The bread was nice and crisp on the outside, but the filling was more a spread - very skimpy, to the point that I took the tuna and etc. from one half and added it to the other side to make a decent bite. All in all, this was a loss.

For dinner, we had no major plans. Took a walk down Beach Road and stopped in at Hopf. After reviewing their menu, we decided to have a drink there and move on. Their wheat beer is okay, but the food just didn't look good. We wound up at Benihana inside Royal Plaza.

There were no surprises here. The drinks were very good. The food was nicely presented and the perfectly seasoned, and came with the normal teppanyaki show. When I say no surprises, I mean that in a positive fashion. Our chef was very personable. and put on a good show. My gf had tempura shrimp and chicken, while I had the pork and chicken.

The chicken was cooked with sesame seeds and soy sauce, and was quite good. The pork was cooked with garlic butter, soy, and pineapple. Delicious. This place also has the best pork gyoza that I've had yet. Crisp on the outside and with a delicious filling.

Keep in mind that the portion sizes at Benihana are quite large, so order accordingly. you don't really need appetizers.

This place was a little pricey. We had one cocktail each, then an appetizer and a main course. No wine, no dessert, and the bill was about 2950. I was still pleased with the meal and could easily recommend this place as a sure thing.

This past week has been absolutely insanely busy, so our adventures in dining have been quite limited. Today we managed to escape from work quite early (only half an hour past quitting time!) and decided we'd try someplace new. I reviewed this thread and looked at recommendations from all of you, and decided on La Notte. We took a song taew from our place down to the Beach Rd. entrance to Walking Street, and hiked in from there.

From the street, the place is quite unprepossessing. But once you walk inside and are seated, you wonder at the juxtaposition of this restaurant and those environs. This is a nice restaurant, with well dressed staff, nice appointments and furnishings, and a genuinely good atmosphere. Its not an overly large establishment, but attention has been paid to the surroundings, and it shows.

We were served a small standard appetizer while we perused the menus - a highball glass of ice, with spears of cucumber, carrot, celery, and green onion, and a shot glass sized serving of a really nice tartar sauce for dipping. Cold and crunchy - just right.

I know that there was a previous criticism of this restaurant's temperature, and I have to agree. Because of all the rain, its not so hot outside, and the fans inside were doing a good job of keeping up, but I can see where this could be problematic with our normal temps outside here.

On to the action: I ordered a glass of their house red wine to drink, and my girlfriend ordered the "Perfect Cocktail", which is gin, sweet vermouth, and dry vermouth. Once the drinks arrived, we were a little nervous. The wine was served very cold (which I don't think anyone wants in a red wine), and the perfect cocktail was not a very tasty concoction. After I allowed the wine to warm up toward room temp a little, it was an acceptable glass. We replaced the Perfect with a double shot of Grand Marnier, neat, and all was well on that front.

For some reason, my girlfriend decided I should order her food tonight. Was I nervous? You betcha, but never one to let a little trepidation get in the way of things, I forged ahead, ordering her the Fisherman's Soup as an appetizer. This is a tomato-based soup that is absolutely loaded with tender chunks of white fish and savory herbs. Delicious is an understatement. She recently enjoyed a fish soup at Mata Hari as an appetizer, and the offering at La Notte is a hands down winner. No kidding - it was that good. It was served with a small basket of crusty bread and should be on everyone's must-try list if you visit this place.

I saw a dish on the menu listed as smoked fish and potato salad. i assumed this was a potato salad, with smoked fish incorporated into the dish. The actual delivery was a large serving of a very good potato salad (finely chopped red onion throughout, firm but well cooked cubes of potato, and just the right amount of dressing) with slices of assorted smoked fish arranged around it. The smoked fish was not exemplary, but exactly what you'd expect. The potato salad was more than good enough to carry the dish.

One warning - both appetizers and main dishes here are very large and very good. Order accordingly!!

For main dishes, I ordered the braised lamb shoulder with white kidney beans for her, and the roast pork mignon with mustard sauce for me. Huge portions! Her food was served with as advertised, but with a serving of carrot, cauliflower, and broccoli, plus a serving of a tomato, eggplant, and pepper saute' on the side. While the white kidney beans were just average (after all, what can you really do with a kidney bean?), this lamb was amazing. it was served in a smooth brown sauce, and was absolutely fork tender. Melted in our mouths.

The pork mignon came with roasted potatoes and the same sets of veg mentioned above, plus a gravy boat with a nice mustard sauce. The mustard used was a whole grain version, so lent the sauce a great mouth feel. I was on the fence flavor wise, probably because the roast pork was perfectly capable of standing alone. It was cooked and seasoned perfectly, which means it was cooked well through but not dried out, and wasn't crusted in black pepper. it had the perfect touch of salt, and not much else, which is great. i really enjoyed this dish, and appreciate the recommendation from Lost in LOS and others.

Of course, I couldn't leave without trying the dessert recommended here earlier as puff pastry with ice cream. This is on the menu as profiteroles, puff pastry sliced open, vanilla ice cream inserted, then the pastry top is stacked back on. this is covered with a chocolate sauce (and you can actually taste the cocoa in this sauce - not just an overly sweet sauce here), slivered almonds, and whipped cream. I was able to eat one of the three served. So good!! I think I will make another trip here just for the profiteroles and to see if the espresso machine behind the bar turns out a good cup.

Folks, if you haven't been here yet, please go. The prices are reasonable (2400 thb for us tonight) and you won't be disappointed. As I said, once we got past that speed bump with the drinks, it was an awesome meal.

My experience with Japanese food is quite limited, but I'm frequently in the neighborhood of Xzyte (I work out at Tony's on 3rd) so may give this one a try.

Mata Hari, Sunday night:

After a fairly tame weekend this week, we wanted a really good dinner and decided to try Mata Hari. Based on the conversations on this forum, I expected a home-run, and was not disappointed.

First off, atmosphere. This is a really nice restaurant, on a par with Manhattan's and Bruno's. The only facility related problem is the mess of the construction on the road outside impacting the parking area. The place was not packed, but had a fair number of tables seated already and the flow was steady during our meal.

Service was of course fantastic, but not obtrusive. They have it right.

We started off with drinks. We were not in the mood for a bottle of wine, so she ordered a mojito and I ordered a Chimay Blue. The mojito here appears to be made with dark rum, and was quite good. The Chimay was a pleasant change of pace - its so good to see something other than Chang/Leo/Singha/San Mig/Heinekein for the beer selection. I tried this beer before, direct from the bottle (you can buy this at Villa Market at the Avenue) and wasn't too impressed, but enjoyed it much more here when poured into a glass. Odd, but there it is.

For starters, my girlfriend ordered the Mediterranean fish soup. This is served with fish-shaped croutons, chunks of white fish, in a rich, garlic-infused broth. Delicious! I had bruschetta, served as three slices. This was very fresh - the tomatoes were juicy, but the bread was toasted enough to stand up to it, without being too crunchy. You could really taste the garlic on the bread as well. Definitely satisfactory.

For mains, she had a breast of chicken grilled with parma ham, mashed potatoes, and vegetables (green beans, carrot, broccoli, bundled with a slice of zucchini wrapped around). Very nice dish. I didn't sample this, as I was quite busy with my own, but she was well satisfied.

I had the Fillet Steak Mata Hari - a medium-sized fillet served with a slice of chicken liver pate on top, a rich brown sauce, mushrooms, the same veg as above, and a few stems of asparagus with bacon. This also came with croquette potatoes. Far too much food to finish it all. The steak had a great texture and was cooked exactly to order. Well pleased there. The sauce was velvety smooth, a touch sweet, but worked well with the flavors of the steak and the pate. The brown sauce actually went a little better with the potatoes than with the steak. No need for steak sauce - this was good enough already! I really enjoy asparagus, and this was done exactly right.

We tried the apple cinnamon crepe, flambeed with Calvados, as dessert. Too much to finish, but the flavor was outstanding. This thin and delicate crepe is laid out, has diced apples and dates placed inside, then folded over and dusted with cinnamon. Its served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, a small dab of whipped cream, and a fresh raspberry. Then they light up a glass of Calvados and pour it on the crepe at the table. Great presentation. The burning alcohol crisps up the edges of the crepe just a little, and you can really taste the Calvados as you enjoy this dessert.

When the bill came, I was surprised at the total: just over 2300 thb. Quite reasonable in my opinion for this level of food and service.

The owner stopped by for a moment to check on us. While he didn't stay long, he seemed very sociable and sounds like he has a great sense of humour.

This was a win. We'll be back.

Saw this one and was really interested, as I'd like to take up some kind of martial art within the next six months. Veered off primarily because of the parking issue. How have you found that aspect?

dalmatian - this place has been recommended earlier in this thread as having great burgers as well. I know nothing at all about the darkside, so could you be so kind as to give detailed directions on how to get there? If you know their operating hours and days closed that would be helpful too. Its a new month, so its burger time!

Echoing MeetJohnDoe.

Tony's is 6k for a year, and you get access to three of his facilities. I don't know about punching bags, but should be accessible at one of the two Tony's on third road (the one attached to Tony's muay thai academy). It is hot in there, with minimal if any aircon, but they have about everything you need. Not a huge weight room, but also usually not crowded. I think its good value for the money.

aussiechick - you're welcome. I know what you mean - you get up early for breakfast and then you need a nap to recover! I do think Jameson's is the 2nd best in town, so far, and that makes it pretty good in my book!

Revisited Indian by Nature last night for dinner - murgh-something chicken from the tandoor, a little rice, and garlic naan, with massala poppadums for a starter. Great, as expected. I like this place a lot. The gf had a lamb vindalho curry that tasted really good as well, and we tried paneer tikka - basically tandoor-cooked cubes of cottage cheese. I'm not a fan of this dish, at all, but as far as I know it was cooked and seasoned well. Let me say that in general, if you like Ali Baba, you'll absolutely LOVE Indian by Nature. Easily as good as Madras Darbar, but a different menu and a better atmosphere.

Hello, everyone. Been a few days and I wanted to quickly catch up.

Not much to add for this past weekend, as the gf and I went out to Koh Chang for the long weekend. Did manage to drop in at Nicky's on Friday morning before we left Pattaya, and I'll say again this is my favorite breakfast in town so far. Asked for the bread toasted this time, hold the beans, and I'm a happy guy.

Koh Chang was a great time, but staying focused on our topic here...this is not a good getaway for the "foodie" crowd. We had some average food and some bad food and one really good meal.

We stayed at Paddy's Palms, because I thought it would be a hoot to crash out behind an Irish pub on a Thai island. Also their rates are great - 1300 baht per night, including breakfast. Room was clean and in good repair, nothing fancy, but seemed well kept. The food in their restaurant was just average though. Not as good as Jameson's for sure, and the service was terrible at lunch time. It recovered somewhat for breakfast, but off putting at midday for sure. I did try Magner's cider here in the pint bottle and enjoyed it very much. So far, Stowford Press draught is still the best, but the bottled Magner's is a close second.

We had dinner one night at Texas Steak House, and...well, I just should have known better. When I asked for the imported beef and got the old "mai mii", should have put on the walkin' shoes then. But stayed and had the domestic version. It must have spent quite some time in the MSG/tenderizer/marinade, based on the aftereffects. I won't go into detail. This place is best left alone, but does make a decent margarita.

We also tried the Blue Lagoon restaurant at lunch and were very pleased with it - food was not over-the-top incredible, but the setting and the atmosphere were very nice and we had a long, leisurely late lunch there. Not expensive, and very relaxing, with good drinks - Tom Collins for me and a screwdriver for her.

On Saturday night, the 15 Palms. We ordered, waited, tasted, paid and left. Meals were almost untouched. This food was simply not good at all. Very little flavor, didn't really measure up to the menu descriptions. Great location and loads of potential, but not a winner. My first choices for food and drink here were both unavailable, so I was already not too pleased. Olde English cider in the can is terrible, by the way (not as bad as Blackthorn, but darn close).

We left 15 Palms and went to Invito Italian restaurant and this was where we had the one really good meal of our stay. I had a four-cheese pizza and my girl ordered poached sea bass. We were both very pleased. The cheese pizza is not overloaded, and you can really taste the parmesan on it, which is a good thing in my book. The only problem here was the lack of a bartender (he'd not shown up or something), so the drink availability was limited. I had an Irish coffee to finish my meal, and it didn't taste quite right. Come to find out, the waiter who made it substituted Johnnie Walker Black Label for the intended Jameson's. Otherwise, good meal and nice place, quite a departure from the normal beach shacks.

I know you don't go to Koh Chang for the food, but for the scenery and activities and relaxation the place offers, but this is just my take on the food scene there. After all, you do have to eat something!!

No report from last night. Had a late lunch on the way back yesterday, so went to the gym and skipped dinner. Maybe tonight I'll get to indulge my Indian jones...

Thursday night - the new Brazilian chiarascurria between Central Festival and Beach Road (I think the name was Zico).

This is a new restaurant. According to the staff, they've been open just under a month. They feature indoor and outdoor seating, and the decor is nice but not overdone. A note on seating: sit inside. This place has good music to accompany your meal, but if you sit outside, it has to compete with traffic noise from beach road and with music from the mall, and it is just too much discord.

As we were seated, we were offered a complimentary cocktail, a capairina made with vodka instead of rum. This is served with a giant leaf as garnish. While the sugar tends to settle in the bottom of the glass, this was actually a good, refreshing drink served with plenty of ice. I ordered a second one before we were done here. They also make a good margarita, but be aware this is served chilled and without ice in the glass.

The salad bar is simply the best-supplied spread I've seen in Pattaya so far. Nice bowls of crisp, fresh, assorted greens (not all mixed together, but grouped in the salad bowl so you can pick what you like), parmesan, bacon, egg, tuna salad, peppers, onions, potato salad, pasta, etc etc. Wide array, all cold and fresh and quite tasty, especially the sliced roast turkey. Could have easily made a meal from the salad bar.

The staff assumes you haven't been to this type of restaurant before, as they should, and helpfully explain to you the red and green card system that they use. According to the server, they offer 15 different skewers as entree. Before the "parade of meat" begins, you are given a huge plate and shown to their selection of side dishes. Tonight's offerings were a vegetable beef soup / stew, steamed vegetables, steamed rice, spaghetti with tomato sauce, and a type of potato puff (mashed potatoes with a panko-ish coating). These are not the type of side dishes I've seen in other restaurants of this type, but perhaps this is what plays here. Others who have eaten at real churrascarias in Brazil can chime in on authenticity. The soup was very good, rich and hearty and not overly salty. The tomato sauce for the spaghetti was not great, and the potatoes didn't have much flavor. The steamed vegetables were good, but were getting a little limp already, and we were there before eight pm.

The main event: endless skewers of protein. We were offered: roast pineapple (?), prawns, white snapper, salmon, beef tenderloin, beef sirloin, chicken drumsticks, roast turkey, duck, pork sausage, pork tenderloin, shark, and maybe a couple other things. I lost track!! I didn't try the pineapple or the prawns or white snapper. The salmon was delicious and is a recommended pick. Be aware its a little dry on the edges but is great beyond that. The beef tenderloin, as well as the duck, was a bit too chewy for my taste, even though the beef was clearly medium and not overcooked. I didn't try the chicken or the sirloin. The roast turkey was my absolute favorite of the night. Good smoky flavor on the skin, tender and moist inside. Awesome. The pork sausage was very reminiscent of a bratwurst. The pork tenderloin was nicely done as well. The shark was an interesting flavor, but was unfortunately a little too dry. Is this normal with shark?

The place also offers blueberry cheesecake, a warm brownie cake, and an apple dessert, but we did not try any of these. no room left!!

Pointers: Sit inside. Order drinks. Don't go here unless you're really hungry, because you will eat a lot. Or maybe I just lack willpower in the face of grilled animals...

Total tariff was just over 2000. It was seven fifty each for the meal, as reported in another thread, and in my opinion worth it. We'll definitely go back here. Super convenient, good food, nice energetic music, enjoyable atmosphere.