The Dark Side

[jonniebkk]

That photo is not an advertising gimmick. It is totally accurate!

Looks mighty good, George...you keep posting pictures like that and you'll temp me to reverse-emigrate If there were just a few ladies back home that were as tempting and inviting as THAT burger!!!

I would probably go for the guacamole bacon version...and with Angus beef no less. I guess things have changed a bit since I have had stateside based fast food.

Edited April 6, 2008 by jonniebkk

[patsfangr]

EUREKA! THE BEST CHEESEBURGER IN PATTAYA! (PLUS a "bonus" find market)

Yes, there IS such a thing as an excellent cheeseburger in Pattaya. Best of all, it's on our Dark Side!

I went out today with the specific goal of trying the cheeseburger at Rung's. It was nothing short of outstanding! It's listed on the menu as a "beefburger", and the addition of cheese is an option for a few baht more. Total for the cheeseburger, with FF's, is 205 baht.

This treat is made by the beef. First of all, it's a nice, thich patty of hand formed hamburger meat. I label it "hamburger meat" because it is made specifically for hamburgers. Rung's supplier is the little shop directly accross the soi from her, called "The Baker's Oven". It's owened by an English guy named Adrian. He was in Rung's, using the computer there, and eating, when I was served. When I asked Rung where she got the beef, she explained that it was from him.

I introduced myself, and struck up a conversation with Adrian. Turns out that, while the beef is from a Thai source, he mixes it for hamburgers, adding a few ingredients for flavor. It is juicy and delicious meat!

Rung served it with a slice of cheese on each side of the patty, on a very fresh bun, also from Adrian's "Baker's Oven" shop. I suggested to her that it would be much better with some lettuce, tomato, and onion on it. She quickly said, "OK, I can put on." She scooped up the plate, and returned a bit later with fresh tomato, onion, and lettuce on my cheeseburger. The FF's are thick cut from fresh potatoes, not frozen stuff. I asked for them well done, and they were great!

THIS IS THE BEST BURGER IN PATTAYA, BAR NONE, IMO. Better than Bob's. Better than Great American Rib. Burger lovers absolutely MUST try it at your earliest opportunity.

As for Adrian's market, he does mostly wholesale business, serving 30 restaurants in and around Pattaya and Jomtien. He makes various pies, both fruit, and the ever popular English meat pies. He carries a variety of sausage, both European, and 'Jimmy Dean' American sausage. (I bought a pack of the latter to take home.) Also some different types of bacon, and some other meat products. So, when you drop in for some F&C's at Chester's; or for a burger at Rung's (large menu of other stuff there too), don't forget to check in to The Baker's Oven for some items to take home.

That little soi is quite the jackpot for falang food, guys!

[jonniebkk]

I went out today with the specific goal of trying the cheeseburger at Rung's. It was nothing short of outstanding! It's listed on the menu as a "beefburger", and the addition of cheese is an option for a few baht more. Total for the cheeseburger, with FF's, is 205 baht.

For some reason, I predict Rung's may have a run on hamburgers over the next few days

Rung served it with a slice of cheese on each side of the patty, on a very fresh bun, also from Adrian's "Baker's Oven" shop. I suggested to her that it would be much better with some lettuce, tomato, and onion on it. She quickly said, "OK, I can put on." She scooped up the plate, and returned a bit later with fresh tomato, onion, and lettuce on my cheeseburger.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will add to your construction and instruct Rung as to the making of a BACON-cheeseburger!

[chuckd]

Jonnie:

Please instruct Rung that I want my bacon CRISP!

Good find, Patsfan. Where is Rung's again?

[patsfangr]

Jonnie:

Please instruct Rung that I want my bacon CRISP!

Good find, Patsfan. Where is Rung's again?

Rung's (not to be confused with Rungthip) is in the same private soi as Chester's; directly accross from the wet market, just east of the railroad bridge, on Nern Plub Warn. The Baker's Oven market is directly accross the soi from Rung's. Rung's & the Baker's Oven are near the beginning of the soi. Chester's is at the end of the row of shops, just before the covered parking area.

By the way, I forgot to mention that there was a sign in that parking area today that said it was "Pay Parking - 20 baht". That wasn't there when I went to Chester's for lunch yesterday.

[jonniebkk]

By the way, I forgot to mention that there was a sign in that parking area today that said it was "Pay Parking - 20 baht". That wasn't there when I went to Chester's for lunch yesterday.

Likely all the new traffic generated by this thread...someone saw a new "business" opportunity Not as bad as what I saw today at Friendship market...on the rolling-gate at the entrance to their parking lot, there was a sign listing a charge of B 10 to used the lot to make a U-turn..."Friendship" indeed!!

[timekeeper]

Jonnie:

Please instruct Rung that I want my bacon CRISP!

Good find, Patsfan. Where is Rung's again?

Rung's (not to be confused with Rungthip) is in the same private soi as Chester's; directly accross from the wet market, just east of the railroad bridge, on Nern Plub Warn. The Baker's Oven market is directly accross the soi from Rung's. Rung's & the Baker's Oven are near the beginning of the soi. Chester's is at the end of the row of shops, just before the covered parking area.

By the way, I forgot to mention that there was a sign in that parking area today that said it was "Pay Parking - 20 baht". That wasn't there when I went to Chester's for lunch yesterday.

the sign or the charge does not apply to users of the businesses in the Soi.

the sign has always been there but its not always so prominently displayed.

its there mainly as a deterent to try to stop non users from the market parking there and making problems for the genuine users of the businesses in the Soi.

by the way, i believe Chester is the name of the hosts son, not the host himself.

[timekeeper]

By the way, I forgot to mention that there was a sign in that parking area today that said it was "Pay Parking - 20 baht". That wasn't there when I went to Chester's for lunch yesterday.

Likely all the new traffic generated by this thread...someone saw a new "business" opportunity Not as bad as what I saw today at Friendship market...on the rolling-gate at the entrance to their parking lot, there was a sign listing a charge of B 10 to used the lot to make a U-turn..."Friendship" indeed!!

the sign for parking in that Chesters Soi has always been there

the charge at Friendship has been there for 7 years to my knowledge.

its to stop a*sholes using it as a free turning point on market days and creating more congestion.

this deterrent is needed even more now when the police make the exit from Soi Bukhao onto Pattaya Thai one way only on market days and you can only proceed up Pattaya Thai to its junction with 3rd road.

drivers were using friendship car park to U turn to get to go down Pattaya Thai in the beach direction causing all kinds of problems for other drivers on Pattaya Thai

i for one support their action and think they should make the parking charge 200 baht on market days unless you spend more than 1000 baht in Friendship.

the people who park there, leave the car for many hours, go to the open market, then go in Friendship, spend 200 baht just to get the ticket stamped are a pain in the arse for the genuine shoppers who can't get a parking place because of them.

i think they have now added the proviso that parking is free only for one hour with a 200 baht spend inside, after that its 20 baht an hour charge

i hope they enforce it vigorously.

same thing applies at bloody Tops, you go there and can't get parked to shop as everyone has abandoned ther cars there and gone to the beach or the bars on Soi's 7 & 8

they should adopt the same policy as Friendship to stop the cheap charlies and freeloaders parking there

ok off topic rant over, flame away......

[bob4you]

Very good rant, I agree.

[jonniebkk]

the charge at Friendship has been there for 7 years to my knowledge.

its to stop a*sholes using it as a free turning point on market days and creating more congestion.

Do you own Friendship by any chance

[timekeeper]

the charge at Friendship has been there for 7 years to my knowledge.

its to stop a*sholes using it as a free turning point on market days and creating more congestion.

Do you own Friendship by any chance

nice thought, spent enough money there (when i can get bloody parked) but unfortunately , no.

[Mobi]

the charge at Friendship has been there for 7 years to my knowledge.

its to stop a*sholes using it as a free turning point on market days and creating more congestion.

Do you own Friendship by any chance

nice thought, spent enough money there (when i can get bloody parked) but unfortunately , no.

I agree with you too. It's their place and they can charge what they like, and if it helps relieve traffic congestion, then why not?

I sometimes park in Friendship and walk down to Tukcom, but I always do a bit of shopping in Friendship as well, as I reckon that's 'quid pro quo' for letting me park there for free.

Incidentally, I've never had a problem parking on market days, but you have to be there before 10 a.m.

[luckyluke]

On the occasion of Songkran, Sure Park organize a Bar-B-Q, embellished with a band, tomorrow evening the 10th of April, price Thb. 269.

[Phil Conners]

I sometimes park in Friendship and walk down to Tukcom, but I always do a bit of shopping in Friendship as well, as I reckon that's 'quid pro quo' for letting me park there for free.

Why bother when Tukcom have their own carpark with 800 parking places and free shuttle to Tukcom?

[Mobi]

I sometimes park in Friendship and walk down to Tukcom, but I always do a bit of shopping in Friendship as well, as I reckon that's 'quid pro quo' for letting me park there for free.

Why bother when Tukcom have their own carpark with 800 parking places and free shuttle to Tukcom?

I sometimes go there, but I find the car park a bit of a pain in the neck, especially if you can't find a place on the ground, and the shuttle bus is rarely around when you want it.

So it's a shorter walk from Friendship, and I can do some grocery shopping at the same time. If I wasn't also shopping at Friendship, I wouldn't park there.

[Mobi]

I heard last night that the "Inn on the Lake" has reopened.

Apparently it was closed because all the staff walked out, and presumably they they have now re-staffed.

[timekeeper]

Well, having trotted down to Chesters, here are a few more comments to add to those that have already been made. I think I have a couple important points to add that have not been mentioned previously. This was my first time eating at Chesters.

First, a couple housekeeping comments. As mentioned before, Chesters is located in a small private road (not numbered public soi) directly opposite the Nernplubwan wet market just east of the RR tracks. There is a 7-11 at the entrance to the road. If you are driving, don't be afraid to drive into the lane as there is a big parking area at the back. Chesters is located in the last shophouse building on the right. As to ambiance, it is a typical single-wide shop-house affair...a small bar, a few inside tables, and a couple outside on the sidewalk. The entire facade is open to the street and there is no air-conditioning but there are plenty of fans.

With that out of the way, on to the food. I arrived around 6:16 in the evening and this presented a small problem. I was greeted by the "Chester" of Chester's, a pleasant man, who went on to inform me that the kitchen closed at 6 o'clock. I said that was too bad as I had come to try the F&C, that had been highly recommended. This being the case, and likely that I was was a new customer, Chester offered to open the kitchen for me. This was generous of him, as he was in the middle of preparing a pot of Indian beef curry for his free football nite feed and there was already a small crowd of beer guzzling football fans gathered at the bar waiting for their free nosh. In fact, he even suggested I could just wait a few minutes and eat for free, but I was determined to try out a few dishes from the menu.

Coming from the land of the "breakfast available 24 hours" I was tempted to try one of the 3 breakfasts on offer. They range from B 80 to B 150. For those not so partial to English breakfasts, there is one with 3 eggs, toast, meats, and coffee - sans the beans, tomatos, and stuff. However, I wanted to try the F&C and that's what I ordered. For B 205, you get a smallish piece of white fish, lightly coated in batter and fried, some fries, and "mushy" peas. While certainly not large, the fish is of high quality. The lightly battered fish fillet is fried to a crispy golden brown and is fluffy and tasty. The fries and peas are nothing special but serve to fill out the plate. It is certainly one of the better F&Cs I have had in Patters and I will certainly go back when the F&C monkey perches on my shoulder again.

As mentioned above, this nite there was also a free buffet of beef curry, rice, and nan bread. Therefore, I availed myself of that too, only in the interests of providing my fellow Far Siders with some more insight on the cooking on offer. The curry was very good - but quite spicy. The beef was tender and there was plenty of it. I take it these free feeds are offered on nites when there is a popular football games on television. As to the menu in general, there are the breakfasts already mentioned, the typical English pub grub type dishes, and specials listed on the blackboard.

Finally, to polish off my meal, I ordered the apple pie and custard dessert. As they were out of apple, I had to settle for blueberry. While I am no expert on English desserts, this dish was a good sized portion of blueberry cake covered with a warm vanilla custard sauce. The sauce was not too sweat as can sometimes be the case and this polished off the meal nicely.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with Chester's. All the dishes I had were well prepared and decent value for money. The service staff are very pleasant and attentive and Chester too is a nice fellow. This place makes a nice addition to our list of Far Side eating establishments. I will definitely be back

FYI: They open for breakfast at 8:00 am, the kitchen closes at 6:00 pm, and the bar at 9:00 pm.

just for the sake of accuracy and to avoid any embarassment for visiting TV 'ers the host/boss of Chesters is actually called Dave, Chester is his son.

[patsfangr]

Lunch today at Chonlada, and tried their Club Sandwich. I had discussed this item with Pook before, and asked her to tell me the ingredients. She said she puts lettuce, tomato, onion, a fried egg (wrong!), bacon, and ham. I explained to her that a REAL Club has chicken breast, rather than a fried egg. She said she doesn't have chicken breast in stock.

So, when I tried it today, I was trusting in her overall concern for serving good food. Indeed, it was very tasty. I begins with the fact that she uses very good, large slices of fresh bread (toasted, if you like, which I do). While it was not an "American Club Sandwich", it was very tasty. So much so, that I would definitely order it again - especially for 115 baht!

It's another positive recommendation from me on this one.

[patsfangr]

On the occasion of Songkran, Sure Park organize a Bar-B-Q, embellished with a band, tomorrow evening the 10th of April, price Thb. 269.

Do you have any more details, Luke? What's on the menu? Will they also have regular (Thai) menu items available? (My wife is basically a vegetarian; and definitely not a "BBQ feast" customer.

[patsfangr]

On the occasion of Songkran, Sure Park organize a Bar-B-Q, embellished with a band, tomorrow evening the 10th of April, price Thb. 269.

Do you have any more details, Luke? What's on the menu? Will they also have regular (Thai) menu items available? (My wife is basically a vegetarian; and definitely not a "BBQ feast" customer.

Well, I had to go out on an errand for my wife, so I stopped in at Sure Park, and talked to Sunny about the BBQ. He actually has a simple flyer printed up, but it doesn't give much detail. He told me that the BBQ meats will include beef, pork, and roast ham. There will be curry, and a salad bar, as well. There will also be chicken nuggets, but no BBQ chicken. Still has to be a good deal for 269 Bt.

I asked if the regular menu would be available for Thai food, since my wife is not likely to care for much that's on the BBQ menu. He said, "I think so". (I thought he'd know!)

Start time is 7:30.

[jonniebkk]

I had the pleasure of dining at Rung's today...and here are my impressions:

As this thread is so long now...something over 250 POSTS, I do not recall who first alerted us to Rung's. I know it was in relation to the complaint of there being no decent hamburgers (which, to avoid any confusion, are labeled "beefburgers" on Rung's menu ] to be had in Thailand/Pattaya. I know George and a couple others I have heartily recommended Rung's burgers and I proudly now add my name to the list

I had the burger tonite and it was very good! Definitely one of the best burgers I have had in Thailand...and who would have thunk...over here on the Farside!!!

Let me start by saying you definitely want to be VERY VERY hungry before you tackle this burger. It is HUGE. The pattie alone is almost an inch thick...and that's AFTER is has been cooked. I ordered mine with cheese and veggie trimmings. It comes on a nice burger roll and it is a real stretch to get your mouth around this monster. I ordered mine well done and it was cooked properly. Another plus is the cheese is real cheadder that is cut from a block and not the processed cheese slices one usually sees. As mentioned previously, it's B 199 for the cheeseburger with fries. The fries are big ones cut I guess from the potato...not the frozen variety. They were ok but nothing special.

Funny, while I was there, 3 other people showed up and ALL ordered burgers. I kidded with the staff that they would have to rename the place "Rung's Burgers." In fact, after these guys ordered, they were all out of meat patties...they had to run across the soi to the baker guy who supplies their meat to get more as another party of 3 had called and said they were coming for burgers I spoke to John [owner?] about the fact of the thread here on Thai-Visa and he said that many people have been coming in the past few days talking about it.

A couple other notes: One nice thing about Rung's is that it is enclosed and air-conditioned (have to ask them to turn it on, however ) so this is a plus vs. Chesters. Also, there is a free internet station for customers.

Overall, another GREAT find for the Farside!

[patsfangr]

TIME FOR THE WALL?!

After John's great post on Rung's, we now have enough options listed here to pretty much cover all taste's, don't we? We have burgers at Rung's, F&C's at Chester's, quality steak at Sure Park and Manneke Pis, breakfast at Chonlada (and others), grilled sea bass & Hungarian goulash at Rungthip, great Belgian dishes and (some say) decent pizza at Doa Cafe, great sausage and other things at Swiss Paradise, good pasta at Ticino's, etc., etc. And most of those, as well as others, also have some excellent Thai food selections.

They'll be opening a small Villa Market on Khao Talo on April 13th; and, someday soon (I hope) they should put up a Carrefour at the corner of Khao Talo and Sukhumvit.

All this gets me to wonderin' if, once that Carrefour is in, we shouldn't ask for a wall to be built on the east side of Sukhumvit to keep the rowdy's from the Red Light side out of our territory. Who's with me?!

[paul1970]

I had the pleasure of dining at Rung's today...and here are my impressions:

As this thread is so long now...something over 250 POSTS, I do not recall who first alerted us to Rung's. I know it was in relation to the complaint of there being no decent hamburgers (which, to avoid any confusion, are labeled "beefburgers" on Rung's menu ] to be had in Thailand/Pattaya. I know George and a couple others I have heartily recommended Rung's burgers and I proudly now add my name to the list

I had the burger tonite and it was very good! Definitely one of the best burgers I have had in Thailand...and who would have thunk...over here on the Farside!!!

Let me start by saying you definitely want to be VERY VERY hungry before you tackle this burger. It is HUGE. The pattie alone is almost an inch thick...and that's AFTER is has been cooked. I ordered mine with cheese and veggie trimmings. It comes on a nice burger roll and it is a real stretch to get your mouth around this monster. I ordered mine well done and it was cooked properly. Another plus is the cheese is real cheadder that is cut from a block and not the processed cheese slices one usually sees. As mentioned previously, it's B 199 for the cheeseburger with fries. The fries are big ones cut I guess from the potato...not the frozen variety. They were ok but nothing special.

Funny, while I was there, 3 other people showed up and ALL ordered burgers. I kidded with the staff that they would have to rename the place "Rung's Burgers." In fact, after these guys ordered, they were all out of meat patties...they had to run across the soi to the baker guy who supplies their meat to get more as another party of 3 had called and said they were coming for burgers I spoke to John [owner?] about the fact of the thread here on Thai-Visa and he said that many people have been coming in the past few days talking about it.

A couple other notes: One nice thing about Rung's is that it is enclosed and air-conditioned (have to ask them to turn it on, however ) so this is a plus vs. Chesters. Also, there is a free internet station for customers.

Overall, another GREAT find for the Farside!

Thats quite funny, I called yesterday lunchtime for my burger but haven't got round to posting yet, the funny part being as I finished my burger another customer came in and ordered a burger and a bit of a panic ensued amongst the staff as apparently they had run out of burger rolls and I beleive so had the bakery opposite. I guess they located some rolls from somwhere but I was having a bit of a chuckle to myself at how the staff at the place must have been wondering why the sudden interest in burgers.

As for the burger, I agree probably the best burgers in Pattaya but I must correct you on the fries, these are indeed frozen products that are normally called English fries or Steak fries unfortunately as I found during my time in the states I think the real chip is lost in the midst of time stateside where everything seems to be more about convenience rather than quality especially where fries are concerned, so I found the fries a bit of a let down. I don't know if as Americans your palate would adjust to real chips cut from a potato but the only place I have had them in Pattaya is Caddyshack and Simons F&C shop in Jomtien (though I cannot recommend them here, they where quite nasty), I have also heard that Mulligans the Irish pub on the lake has real chips but I have yet to be there so I can't verify this.

Would be interesting if our American cousins try real chips if they find them to their taste or not.

[jonniebkk]

TIME FOR THE WALL?!

we shouldn't ask for a wall to be built on the east side of Sukhumvit to keep the rowdy's from the Red Light side out of our territory. Who's with me?!

I'll meet you at the corner of Nerublubwan and Sukhumvit with some bricks and a few bags of cement

We don't want all our great restaurants swamped by people from "over there" and for them to raise their prices to Beachside one's.

[patsfangr]

Would be interesting if our American cousins try real chips if they find them to their taste or not.

I'm 65, Paul. I remember when!

You are almost correct in your comment that it's "all about convenience" in the USA now. Actually, it's all about the (once) almighty dollar. It requires more labor to peel and cut real potatoes. More labor means higher costs, which means higher prices. Higher prices means the customers go accross the street to the cheaper place, with the frozen potatoes, because far too many of them have lost their appreciation for quality food. They want it fast, and they want it cheap.

There are still places that do it the old fashioned way; but they are small, family owned restaurants, mostly located in rural areas. In the cities, the big chains, with their high volume purchasing and sales, rule the restaurant business.

Sad, but that's how it is.

But, to answer your basic question, yes, Americans, at the least the older ones who remember them, definitely appreciate real chips/French Fries.

[patsfangr]

TIME FOR THE WALL?!

we shouldn't ask for a wall to be built on the east side of Sukhumvit to keep the rowdy's from the Red Light side out of our territory. Who's with me?!

I'll meet you at the corner of Nerublubwan and Sukhumvit with some bricks and a few bags of cement

We don't want all our great restaurants swamped by people from "over there" and for them to raise their prices to Beachside one's.

Whoa, now, John. I suggested getting someone else to build the wall. I'm too old for that manual labor shit!

[raro]

I had last night the Wiener Schnitzel at the Outback Bar. Albeit it was a Schnitzel Vienna Style (as I have also been informed upon ordering), it was nice and crispy and came with a slice of lemon, not lime! The potato salad was ok, but something was missing...couln't put my finger on what it was.

I suggested to Bob, the owner, to strip the "AL" in his AustrALian passport...

[raro]

TIME FOR THE WALL?!

we shouldn't ask for a wall to be built on the east side of Sukhumvit to keep the rowdy's from the Red Light side out of our territory. Who's with me?!

I'll meet you at the corner of Nerublubwan and Sukhumvit with some bricks and a few bags of cement

We don't want all our great restaurants swamped by people from "over there" and for them to raise their prices to Beachside one's.

Whoa, now, John. I suggested getting someone else to build the wall. I'm too old for that manual labor shit!

recruit some of the Eastern Germans in Naklua....they are good at it...

[patsfangr]

TIME FOR THE WALL?!

we shouldn't ask for a wall to be built on the east side of Sukhumvit to keep the rowdy's from the Red Light side out of our territory. Who's with me?!

I'll meet you at the corner of Nerublubwan and Sukhumvit with some bricks and a few bags of cement

We don't want all our great restaurants swamped by people from "over there" and for them to raise their prices to Beachside one's.

Whoa, now, John. I suggested getting someone else to build the wall. I'm too old for that manual labor shit!

recruit some of the Eastern Germans in Naklua....they are good at it...

Yeah. We Americans can't even build a fence to keep the Mexican illegal aliens OUT!

[luckyluke]

Not a culinary climax yesterday at the Sure Park Bar-B-Q but for 269 Thb it was quiet enjoyable.