USA Gallo Salame (Salami) Lovers & other foods

[oneday]

For 5 years I have searched for a salami that is like the Gallo Salami I love from my home country and a few months ago I finally found it. It’s a different brand and comes in two different varieties. Both come in thin slices in a thin package hanging up in the deli section. One is a larger more flexible slice and the other is a smaller harder slice just like the Gallo Salami I get at home in the hard sausage shape hanging up in the grocery stores at home. Both taste virtually identical to the Gallo brand…good enough for my tastes anyway. The softer one is a little stronger in flavor, but both are fantastic.

The brand is Bei Otto and it can be found at Friendship Market and Villa Market. Villa Market charges a lot more for this salami. For an 80g package they charge 120 baht. Friendship Market had both styles recently and only charges 124 baht for either variety in 120g packages. The name of the product of either one on the package is just "Salami" in black printed letters at the top of the white label, along with the weight, price and expiration date.

In general, I usually find meat prices and many other prices at Friendship Market to be some of the lowest prices in town.

Friendship Market and other markets started selling large cans of Del Monte fruit a few months ago and the prices are cheaper than just about all the other canned fruit they sell, which is fantastic, because I have always liked the Del Monte brand.

Villa and Friendship Market and on occasion I think Foodland will sell Del Monte sweet pickle relish which is a favorite of mine for tuna sandwiches, but when they run out they are usually out for a long time. On that theme, I find the Nautilus Thai brand of tuna fish to be a good tasting brand and cheaper than the other brands. There is no difference in taste for me from the American brands. I used to buy the Select brand, but then I noticed that Nautilus also sells the "sandwich tuna in spring water" for less money.

Heck, while we are on this food subject: There are two restaurants in Pattaya which satisfy some huge American cravings I have.

Many people probably already know about New York Pizza House on 3rd road between Buffalo Bar and The Boxing Roo Bar. It's on the same side as both bars and south of the Boxing Roo bar by about 2 or 3 shop-houses. Their pizza is as good as any pizza in America. I haven't tasted any other pizza in Pattaya as good, but then I haven't tried them all. They have TRUE pepperoni and lots of cheese. They sell a truly huge pizza at 21 inches that is only fit for 4 or more people. I've only had that once.

A new steak restaurant opened up last August 2014 on Soi Lenkee called Steak & Co. Their steaks are phenomenal and taste as good as anything in the US. Their Chateau Briand for two is generous and mouth watering delicious for 1700 baht. It comes with a variety of vegetables, onions rings and sausage sharped deep fried potatoes and a choice of sauces. Their red wine sauce is perfect as well as their Diane sauce which I just recently tried. Their business is really picking up.

Both of these restaurants have websites so look 'em up if you are interested.

...and "no", I have no interests in any of these businesses. I'm just a retired lazy TV watcher always looking out for food from my home country. I like some Thai foods, but I still crave foods from home.

[oneday]

Here are a couple more fantastic finds I’d like to share.

Most of us love our cheeses and we know how expensive they are, as most, if not all, are imported. I don’t know how long Villa Market has been selling this one, but I know they do not always have it in stock and I only noticed it several months ago. It’s an 8oz (226g) brick of cheese with a brand name of “California Premium”. It comes in Mild Cheddar, Sharp Cheddar, Jalapeno Jack, Monterey Jack and Mozzarella and every brick is sold for a incredible price of 125 baht per brick. That is the best valve for cheese I’ve seen anywhere and to top it off, these are cheeses I’m use to at home.

Prior to this I was a buyer of the Bega brand of cheese; a very good every-day cheese. The white mild cheddar, the cheapest, was being sold at Friendship Market a couple of years ago for 155 a brick, but it has since had two price increases and is now over 200 baht a brick at Friendship, but I think the last time I saw it they had lowered it to 195 baht. All the other stores sell it for much more, up to 255 I believe.

Again Villa Market…they sell a Kraft Balsamic Vinegar dressing for only 149 baht. This is not a small bottle and it doesn’t look like a special discounted price. It is a large 16oz bottle (1 pint / 473ml). All the other Kraft dressings at Villa are close to 200 baht. This is my all time favorite dressing back in California. I don’t know why it’s 25% less than the other dressings; I’m just thankful it is. I love getting the farang foods I like here in Thailand at good prices.

[PattayaClub]

The best cheddar, by far, I have had here is "Pauli" brand from Makro, at about 750 baht for a 2 kg log. And where is it from? Imported from Wisconsin! Wisconsin cheddar; no wonder it's so good.