Evil Penevil

A lot of bars and restaurants don't bother with Web sites these days and only use Facebook to promote their business. Evil

If I remember right, Time Bar across the street from Billabong has a Happy Hour price of ฿50 for some bottled beer. But Billabong is always jammed later in the evening despite the deafening level of music from the live band: Evil

I'm posting this on behalf of a friend who isn't active on the boards but is convinced I-Rovers Sportsbar and Restaurant on Soi LK Metro deserves more attention than it gets. I can't comment myself about the food at I-Rovers as it's been years and years since I had a meal there, but my friend- admittedly not a picky eater- recommends it both for breakfast and dinner. I-Rovers was the home of the original Baht Buster Breakfast and still serves it after the demise of Retox on Soi Lengkee. The Baht Buster Light Breakfast at ฿99 or the Breakfast Sandwich or Beans on Toast with fried eggs for the same price will be a big enough breakfast for some people. Not everyone wants a full-scale fry up as the first meal of the day. The prices on the dinner specials are competitive: The Web site (https://i-rovers.com/cam-sports-schedule/) has a clear web cam of LK Metro outside the I-Rovers: It was interesting that Billabong looked looked deserted at about 3.30 p.m. in the afternoon. As I recall, Billabong used to be a popular daytime watering spot thanks to its 2-for-1 drink offer. Evil

Mum opens on Feb. 14. It occupies the redone premises of the former ThaiThai Kitchen on Soi 15 behind The Avenue shopping plaza, close to the intersection with Soi Buakhao. By taking advantage of their special offers, you can get a 20% discount today. From Facebook:

I wonder if there is any other city in the world of Pattaya's population and geographic size that has so many square meters devoted to retail sales? I don't just mean shopping centers, but all sorts of stores and other outlets, from stalls through malls. Massive over-establishment in the retail, real estate and hospitality (hotel, restaurant, bar) sectors is causing huge problems for businesses in Pattaya. Here's a list of shopping malls in Pattaya. I'm sure it's not complete: La Galleria, PHHP Business Center, TOSCANO Shopping Mall, The Bay Pattaya, King Power Pattaya, Outlet Mall Pattaya, The Harbor Pattaya, The Avenue, Royal Garden, Terminal 21, Central Marina, Central Festival, Tukcom, Mike's Mall Can anyone argue that enough potential customers visit Pattaya to support all of them? It's the same with go go and beer bars. The number of bars that have opened is hugely out of proportion with the number of tourists and resident ex-pats who are likely to be customers. The result is enormous over-supply in relation to demand. Evil

In less than a year, 3Bz Burritoz has established itself as one of (the?) foremost place in Pattaya for Tex-Mex style burritos, tacos and quesadillas. I've never been to the brick-and-restaurant, but I have ordered food for delivery once or twice a month since June. I've never been disappointed. The U.S. owner and his wife know how Tex-Mex should taste and look. Prices are very reasonable. I particularly enjoy the breakfast burritos, which I agree are the best in Pattaya. They come in three variations and range in price from 99 ฿ to 159 ฿. The 8-inch tortilla Bebecito (two scrambled eggs, ham and cheese) at 99 ฿ is usually enough for me. When I've been really hungry, I've ordered El Grande (six eggs(!), ham and cheese in a 12-inch tortilla) at 139 ฿ or De Maximo (four eggs, ham, cheese, fried potatoes and beans in a 12-inch tortilla) at 159 ฿. De Maximo is a full meal, at least for me. In the pic below, it's a Bebecito on the left and a 8-inch pork burrito on the right. The non-breakfast burritos come in variety of styles (chicken, pork, beef, vegetarian, fish, refried beans), with two sizes (8- and 12-inch) for most. The breakfast burritos come with fresh salsa and sour cream, while you have a choice of two salsas and sauces for the other burritos. You can choose between pulled or ground meat. The Danny burritos are extra large, with double meat. a whole butter sauteed onion and triple cheese. Depending on the meat, they range in price from 169 ฿ to 269 ฿. The pics below feature a pork Danny. On some days the burritos come with a complementary handful of nacho. The chciken, pork and beef tacos are also great and come in hard corn or soft wheat tortillas. Quesadillas round out the three main items on the 3Bz Burritoz menu. It's my favorite in the pics below, the 8-inch cheese quesadilla for 169 ฿. The burritos, tacos and quesadillas are well seasoned and definitely have a spicy Tex-Mex kick to them. They all have their origins as traditional Mexican street food, but the types offered by 3Bz are Tex-Mex adaptations. That's not a bad thing. The "big burritos" that originated in San Francisco are superior to the original Northern Mexican cigar-sized burritos. The menu for 3Bz Burritoz has a few sides as well, including nachos, hot wings and a bad-ass food truck favorite, loaded Mexi fries. You can also order extra black beans, fried rice and refried beans. I've never had an problems with delivery. You can order by phone or through 3Bz Facebook page. Most of the deliveries I've gotten have arrived in 20 minutes, but the current spate of roadwork is delaying delivery, according to the owner. In case you want to visit the restaurant, it's located here: And a pic from the Facebook page: 3Bz does a lot of catering to bars, so you have an opportunity to sample its food for free. Bottom line: 3Bz Burritoz is an excellent option for burritos, tacos and quesadillas, especially if you favor home delivery. Evil

On Sunday I ordered the "special of the day" for delivery. It was an excellent meal. To crossthe 250 ฿ threshold for free delivery, I added a 50 ฿ side order of diced potatoes, onions and sweet peppers to bring the order total over the 250 ฿ threshold for free delivery. This is what the order looked like upon arrival after a one-hour wait. Everything had been packaged separately so all the components remained hot and weren't soggy. The Country Fried Steak order included country gravy, brown gravy, mashed potatoes and steamed mixed veggies as well the steak itself. Country fried steak, also known as chicken fried steak, is a U.S. favorite which dates to the 1850s in Texas. German immigrants are usually credited with inventing it as an adaptation of the classic Austrian wiener schnitzel. In its modern form, country fried steak is a piece of top sirloin or round that has been tenderized through pounding or with a blade tenderizer. The meat is dipped in egg batter and dredged in seasoned flour, then fried in a skillet or deep fried. It is most often served smothered in country gravy, aka white gravy, milk gravy, sausage gravy, sawmill gravy and several other names. In some areas of the U.S., country fried steak is served with brown gravy with onions instead of country gravy. The steak had been cut into strips. I'm guessing that was out of consideration for delivery customers in hotels who don't have access to metal silverware and have to use the plastic knife and fork that comes with the order. It's not always easy to cut meat with a plastic knife. The cubed steak was tender and flavorful. It had been properly breaded and wasn't overcooked. The steamed carrots, broccoli and cauliflower were fresh. Only the kernels of corn had been frozen. The country gravy was the right consistency, had been well seasoned and contained plenty of American-style sausage bits. The mashed potatoes were the weakest point, bland and a bit stodgy, but the brown gravy helped a lot. Bottom line: It was a very good meal that I enjoyed a lot. The portion size was perfect for me. I saved the side order of potatoes for another meal. I had them with corn on the cob from 7/11 and a couple of eggs that I did a bad job of frying myself. Two filling meals for less than 300 ฿ isn't bad at all. Evil

It's a joint military and civilian airport under the control of the Royal Thai Navy. It's the home base for the RTN's First Air Wing. You can find more information here (Link). Evil

Oishi has an all-you-can-eat option at the Oishi Eaterium at Central Festival. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds similar to the Oishi buffet that used to be on the second floor of The Avenue. It's not cheap at about ฿800 (including 7% VAT), but it is still value-for-money because it's not just sushu and sashimi. The Eaterium has a whole array of 88 Japanese and "international" hot and cold dishes from soups and appetizers through main dishes(some cooked to order) and desserts. I'm not sure I can do justice to 800 baht's worth of food in one sitting any longer. You have 1 hour 45 minutes in which to eat all you want. From the Oishi Website:

I planned to have dinner last night at Cheap Charlie's on Soi Buakhao, but when I got there at 6.30 p.m., every single seat, inside and out, at the counters and tables, was taken. The pic below is from an hour later and the crowd had thinned a bit, but it was still very busy. I've been critical of the food at Cheap Charlie's, but you can't argue with success. They must be doing something right and it can't just be low prices. Maybe the discount "Rewards" card was a smart move? The Hungry Hippo and the Chunky Monkey also had plenty of customers, but not a full as CCs. Nearby Prime Burger, Harry's and Kilkenny were well frequented as well. I tend to avoid crowded restaurants as that's when serving times get long and it's easy for the cook and service staff to make mistakes. I popped across the street and had dinner at 18 Coins. It was good, but since I had Thai food, a review would be out of place in this thread. I did notice one of the least enticing promotions I've ever seen, plus a creepy robot watched me eat: Some Saturday specials in the LK Metro area. Most pics are from Facebook. Cottage pie and lasagne at Kilkenny. The Robin's Nest is under new management. I haven't tried it, but hopefully the food has been lifted from its previous steep decline. As I passed by, a staffer handed me a 10% discount coupon. Note that it's "local fish." The Tuesday special looks good. You can have beer and lasagne specials on Thursday: The regular menu includes pasta bowls and paninis. Harry's has a value-for-money pork planksteak every day. I've had it and it's good. This isn't a special, but Prime Burger has begun with a Beyond Meat plant-based burger. To the right is a pic of Prime's signature smash burger for comparison. A bit away from LK Metro at The Avenue Shopping Plaza you have the Robin Hood Tavern with some decent specials. The chicken parm is today's special, but I would have been more tempted by Tuesday's special, the Cajun salmon with penne pasta. Both are ฿249. Evil

This is what the intersection of Pattaya Klang and 3rd Road looked like late afternoon a few days ago: And the same intersection today at about 6.00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon: And Friday: Looking down Klang towards Beach Road: At about 4.30 p.m., parts of Beach Road were gridlocked. I got off the baht bus at the intersection of Klang and Beach Road because trafic was at a standstill. By the time I had walked to Central Festival, traffic still hadn't moved. Evil

What a scumbag. I hope they do report him to the police. Evil

Before I get into the nitty-gritty, it's important to note the downing of Iran Air 655 in July , 1988, came in the wake of the Stark incident. About a year earlier, in May, 1987, the USS Stark had been attacked in neutral waters by a Iraqi jet that mistook it for an Iranian oil tanker. Two missiles hit the Stark, killing 37 sailors and wounding 21. This caused huge public outrage in the U.S. and prompted some major policy changes within in the U.S. government and Navy. A court of inquiry recommended the court martial of the Stark's captain and chief executive officer, both career Navy men, for failing to defend their ship. The top Navy brass chose not to court martial them, but they were reprimanded and forced to resign. The two officers had been accused of delaying defensive action too long as they attempted to determine if the plane was military and had hostile intentions. The Navy sent a clear message to all its captains that defending their ships and the lives of U.S. personnel were their primary duties. On the technical side, the radar of the Stark's anti-missile system had failed to pick up the two missiles attacking it. This exposed weaknesses in the naval radar used to defend many U.S. warships at the time. It was against this background the USS Vincennes had been ordered into the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Good Will to protect U.S. vessels that were escorting Kuwati oil tankers during the "Tanker War" phase of the Iran-Iraq War. This could get complicated and very lengthy. Some of the accounts of the incident that appeared in the mainstream media weren't accurate. You can find the best and most complete account here. The USS Vincennes was one of the first Navy warships to be equipped with the Aegis integrated naval defense and weapons system. The commander of the Vincennes was thought to be under "secret" orders to test the system as thoroughly as possible under actual combat conditions. He also had very firm orders to protect the billion-dollar Aegis system as well as the ships which were being escorted. But to answer your question- no, he was not reprimanded for his actions in connection with the downing of Iran Air 655. The official report felt he had ordered the shooting down of Iran Air 655 on the basis of faulty information from his crew. There was a design flaw in the display function of the Aegis system that had to do with the tracking numbers assigned to aircraft which the system detected. For a long time investigators were mystified as to how the 18-man crew that manned the Aegis system could have mistaken the Airbus for a military jet. For over a decade, the Navy felt the most plausible explanation was a mass psychological factor called "scenario fulfillment." However, other information emerged after 2000 that indicated the screens of the Aegis system were confusing and may have displayed the wrong information. Basically, the display led the crew to believe the ascending Iran Air 655 was a descending Iranian military plane much farther away. There were also mistakes regarding time zones and air speed vs ground speed when identifying Iran Air 655, which had taken off from an airport used for both civilian and military flights. The U.S. government issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) warning airlines that operated flights that crossed the Persian Gulf. The need to respond to messages from U.S. military vessels was emphasized. It's crazy the Iranian government allowed a civilian flight to take off when a naval battle was raging directly under its flight path. It's almost as if they wanted it shot down At that time, Iran was using human-wave suicide attacks in its land battles with Iraq. Ten of thousands of "matyrs," mostly civilians, were used in these attacks. A version of the "swarm" suicide attack was also tried by groups of Iranian gunboats. Suicide attacks were a big part of Iran's strategy. Some observers believed Iran was trying to manipulate the U.S. into attacking a civilian flight as this would put pressure on the U.S. to stop its tanker escort missions. Two hundred ninety "martyrs" is nothing to the Iranian government in this connection. The Iranians were getting their asses kicked at this point in the Iran-Iraq War and needed either a miracle to turn the tide or an excuse for seeking a cease-fire. The shooting down of Flight 655 didn't provide the mullahs with a miracle as the U.S. continued esorting tankers and attacking Revolutionary Guards' unit. It did give the Iranian government an excuse for a cease-fire. Evil

The restaurant at the Gulf Siam Hotel on Pattaya North Road just west of the intersection with 3rd Road has an interesting sign, at least for steak lovers: Who can resist a ฿89 steak? I can't, but I was sure it wouldn't be anything like the pic. The restaurant itself carries a rather curious name, Gulf Sixty-Eighty, but is also known as the Gulf Cafe & Coffee Shop. Gulf Sixty-Eighty plays up the steak angle pretty heavily, but also pushes its breakfast buffet and cocktail promotion. Inside, it's quite comfortable and attractive. And a photo from the hotel's Web site: Gulf Sixty-Eighty even has a separate "Steak Menu," but it's not very extensive. I had the "beef steak with black pepper sauce" for ฿109. The ฿89 steak on the sign is a "chicken breast steak." Well, ToTo, I don't think we're in a Kansas City steakhouse anymore- or even Sizzler. That has to be the smallest piece of beef steak I've seen served that wasn't authentic Kobe. Of course, of course, I know you're not going to get 300 grams of USDA Prime or imported Australian beef for ฿109. If the mini-steak had been good, it still would have been value for money. Unfortunately, it was a locomotive steak- chew, chew. chew, chew. Tough and sinewy, without much flavor. The flavor it did have came from the seasoning used, not the meat itself. I asked for medium rare, but got medium. 😒 One shortcoming on top of another. The small portion of French fries was Pattaya standard. The mixed veggies and salad were good, fresh and tasty. The one outstanding feature of the meal was the black pepper sauce, excellent taste, better than I've had in many expensive places. I just wish I'd had more of it to pour over mashed potatoes. On the whole, however, it's the steak that should have been the star and it wasn't. Tough and bland, it wasn't even a good character actor in a supporting role. I can't rate the meal as more than mediocre, possibly mediocre plus. Maybe if I had taken advantage of the cocktail promotion, the steak would have tasted better. 😀 😀 😀 The service was friendly and attentive, but considering I was the only customer (at 4.30 p.m.), that shouldn't be surprising. Bottom line: I haven't given up entirely on Gulf Sixty-Eighty. I plan on trying a few of the other inexpensive dishes on its menu. It's a nice place to eat and the pepper sauce made me think they might have a decent chef who simply had poor quality beef with which to work. Maybe I would have been better off with the "mince beef steak with gravy sauce." Mincing or finely chopping beef has been a counter-measure against toughness for centuries. In the U.S., "Salisbury Steak," named for 19-century physician James H. Salisbury, has been part of American cuisine for nearly 150 years. Salisbury advocated a diet high in protein from lean meat and low on vegetables, fruits, starches and fats. He urged people to eat a patty of chopped beef three times a day and drink large amounts of water to flush out the system. So in Dr. Salisbury's memory, I might order the "mince beef steak." Or in direct defiance, I could have the spaghetti. 🤣 The pic below shows the set-up for the breakfast buffet. I have no idea what the quality is like, but ฿159 for an all-you-can-eat buffet isn't a bad price. Evil

An unusual set of circumstances put me on Third Road on Monday, so I decided to try Steak Kao Rai once again. I wish I hadn't; it was one of the worst meals I've ever been served in Pattaya. I'm being generous in describing it as mediocre. For many years now, Steak Kao Rai has been filling the bellies of thrifty farang with inexpensive beef, pork, chicken and fish dinners. There are a few other dishes on the menu, namely spaghetti and salads, but most punters have gone to Steak Kao Rai for the same reason they monger on Beach Road: cheap meat. I had intended to have the ฿139 beefsteak, but changed my mind went I saw another customer's order. His piece of beef (it sure wasn't a steak) looked very thin and frazzled. I decided to have the ฿89 pork chop, as it been an acceptable option in the past when Steak Kao Rai had run out of beef. Unfortunately, that was a bad choice. The pork chop was shockingly thin, more like a pounded schnitzel than a chop. Even worse, it was mostly fat. The whole center section (circled) of the "chop" was fat and there were several other blobs as well. Yuck! When meat is that thin, it fries quickly. The piece of pork I got probably didn't need more than 30 seconds on each side. That's hrdly long enough to allow the fat to warm, much less render. Double yuck! I cut all the fat away, which left about two mouthfuls of meat. If I'd been served meat like that in any farang-owned restaurant in Pattaya, I would have complained strongly. Meat like that simply isn't acceptable. I didn't complain at Steak Kao Rai because it seldom does any good when the restaurant is Thai owned and operated. It just didn't seem worth the hassle for ฿ 89. Otherwise, the 10 French fries on the plate were industrial cut, but deep fried better than most fries in Pattaya. The salad would have been good if it hadn't been slathered with Thousand Island dressing. Bottom line: It will be a very long time before I venture back to Steak Kao Rai. It's much better to pay ฿ 175 for the pork chop special at Kilkenny and get a quality meal without having to cross Third Road. Evil But for those of you who want to try Steak Kao Rai, I've included a map and photos of the menu below.