Evil Penevil

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 fo

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 Pa

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 scr

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 stea

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 ho

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

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

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.

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.

The U.S. did apologize for the downing of the Iran Air Flight 655 (REAGAN APOLOGIZED TO IRAN FOR DOWNING OF JETLINER). The U.S. also paid over $60 million in compensation to the families of the victims and another $70 million to Iran Air for the plane. The Pentagon denied the intital report of a U.S. warship shooting down a civilian airliner, stating the USS Vincennes had shot down an Iranian military plane. That's what the crew and captain of the Vincennes believed at the time, but the Pentagon acknowledged within a couple of hours it had been a civilian passenger jet. What has remain

Kilkenny on LK Metro is one of my personal favorites for farang food in Pattaya. It serves up big plates of tasty fare at reasonable prices. The Sunday roast lamb dinner at 199 baht is real value for money, as is the pork chop special for 175 baht. On Thursday I tried the chicken parmi special at 199 baht. Here's what I got on my plate: I don't rate it as highly as the Sunday lamb or the pork chop special, but it was still good and the portion huge. You'd have to have one hell of an appetite to walk a

The Shack is the abbreviated sucessor to the former Richman Poorman Restaurant on Jomtien Beach Road. It is a street stall located in the Jomtien Complex, with the entrance to the Complex about two-thirds down the dog-leg section of Thrappaya Rd to Jomtien Beach Road. The Shack is diagonally across the sub-soi from Tinnie's Pie Shop. The Shack keeps alive the BBQ and TexMex dishes that were the signature of Richman Poorman. I would assume most of its business is takeaway, but there is counter dining and one table for four. On Thursday I took the baht bus t

For nearly three decades, the Sailor Bar & Restaurant on Soi 8 has been dishing out low-priced food and drink to chea-, uh, thrifty charlies. Everyone agrees the Sailor's 60-baht cocktails are probably the cheapest buzz in central Pattaya, but opinions have always been sharply mixed regarding the food. Some loved it, others were, shall we say, less enthusiastic. I belonged to the latter category and wrote a very negative review back in 2013. I've quoted it at the end of this post by way of comparison with this review. I thought I would take one for the team , so I

This reminds me of what happened during the 1986 U.S. air strike against terrorist targets in Libya. The Libyan air defenses included very sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles which had been supplied by the then Soviet Union. Unfortunately, the Libyan crews didn't fully understand how to operate them. Some of the crews panicked and fired the missiles straight up in the air. Those missiles fell on Tripoli and caused damage to civilian areas, including some embassies. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, a Russian journalist told me he had interviewed ex-Soviet military guys who had

The Siam Lounge is a German bar and restaurant on Pattaya Klang Soi 12 around the corner from the Siam View hotel and across the street from the KTK Royal Residence. It's close to Nova Gold and Nova Park hotels and Jameson's Irish Pub. I In addition to German dishes with a Bavarian accent, the Siam Lounge has standard international dishes like hamburgers, sandwiches, pasta and pizza as well as Thai dishes. Prices are moderate. It has an extensive breakfast menu with German and English variations. It's an open-front restaurant that's a pleasant plac

It had been months since I tried the 100-baht Sunday roast dinner at the Marquee, so I went back last week. Very little had changed; I could almost repeat the review I wrote in February (LINK post #304). That's both positive and negative. It means the Marquee's popular Sunday roasts are holding a decent standard for the low, low price of 100 baht. I had been worried that if the chicken dinner slipped further in quality it would cross the low into the mediocre category. That didn't happen. The slide appears to have been checked. The chicken brea

Here's one for North Americans: homemade pork corn dogs from Tigglebitties Tavern. I ordered them (100 baht each) for delivery and added a slice of apple pie for 80 baht to clear the free-delivery threshold at 250 baht. A corn dog is a hot dog sausage on a stick that has been dipped in a cornmeal batter and deep fried. It's a relatively new entry into the U.S. fast-food pantheon, having been invented in the late 1930s or early1940s. One story credits a hot dog vendor who had missed the delivery of buns and decided to coat them with batter used for frying fish. The stick was add

I don't have any distain for tomato paste. It's a great ingredient and I use it a lot myself. However, I don't think the flavor of tomato paste should dominate the taste of any pasta sauce. Tomato paste needs herbs and spices to offset and balance the tomato taste. Evil

Meatloaf is an iconic U.S. comfort food that's a lot like the girl in the nursery rhyme who had a curl in the middle of her forehead. When meatloaf is good, it's very, very good, but when it's bad, it's horrid. It's seldom you find good meatloaf in Pattaya, which is doubly unfortunate for me as it's a personal favorite of mine. A few days ago I had the meatloaf daily special from Tigglebitties for 200 baht. I added a slice of carrot cake for 50 baht so my order would qualify for free delivery. I really enjoy the food from Tigglebitties, but its location on Soi R

Here's a note on Mastercard's methodology (my bold highlight): "The Mastercard Global Destination Cities Index ranks 200 cities based on third-party research and proprietary analysis in terms of the number of their total international overnight visitor arrivals and the cross-border spending by these same visitors in the destination cities in 2018, and gives visitor and expenditure growth forecasts. "Public data is used in deriving the international overnight visitor arrivals and their cross-border spending in each of the 200 destination cities. Forecasts are based upon the weighted