Evil Penevil

Haven't I already answered you before on Addicts? It seems like deja vu all over again. OK, second verse, same as the first ... A critical review isn't the same thing as a hatchet job. I wrote about my experience with Saturday's daily special at The Sportsman. The food I got wasn't good and my review simply reflects that. I had no idea who the two men at the bar were. I pixelated the face of one to preserve his privacy. If I am a regular customer in a restaurant, I would politely call the manager's attention to any serious faults with the food. However, I've not found that a particularly effective tactic a when I'm unknown. It can lead to awkward moments. Besides, there's nothing the manager could have done to fix that meal short of replacing it entirely with something different. As I wrote earlier, I had no idea the guy in the white tee shirt was the manager. When I took the pic, I thought he was a customer chatting with a friend. Also as I explained earlier, under some circumstances I might complain about a bad meal, in other cases I won't go to the trouble. It depends on the situation, what mood I'm in, how much time I have, etc. On Saturday, I didn't feel it was worth the time and effort to complain. But as a general principle, I don't think anyone is under an obligation to speak with the manager before writing a review, whether negative, positive or indifferent. It doesn't matter if the review will be posted to a punter board or TripAdvisor or published in the most illustrious food publication in the world. Writing an accurate account of what came down on the plate in front of you is the important part. No matter what sort of magic wand the manager at The Sportsman might have been able to wave, it wouldn't have changed the fact that my initial order was bad indeed. It's the bad food that puts The Sportsman in a negative light, not my review of it. I didn't go to more or less trouble in writing the OP in this thread than with any other review I've done. There are dozens of negative reviews on the various punter boards, Facebook groups, TripAdvisor, etc. How many times has the reviewer spoken with the manager before posting the review? And now, for something new: Before I post in that thread, it will be Evil

The Sportsman is a popular UK-style pub and restaurant on Soi 13 that's been in operation for 20 years. It therefore pains me a bit to write a negative review of the meal I had at such a venerable establishment. I wish I could be more positive, considering The Sportsman's long history in Pattaya. I stepped into The Sportsman on a whim Saturday afternoon. It had been at least five years since I'd last been there and I made a snap decision as I walked past to try it again. I was encouraged by the number of customers I saw on the veranda and inside. At least 10 were eating and another five or so were enjoying a drink, watching sports on the TVs or chatting with friends at the bar. Relative to most of its competitors, that's quite a few customers for 5 pm on a weekend afternoon and it raised my hopes the food might be good. The dining area was well-lit, clean and in excellent shape. I saw no indication of the scruffiness that mars too many bars in Pattaya and took it as another propitious sign. Unfortunately, my hopes were soon dashed. A restaurant's popularity and decor/furnishings aren't always accurate predictors of the quality of its food. I choose the special of the day, which was described as, "Homemade Bowmans pie with cheese, onion and potatoes." Branston baked beans and french fries were the sides. I hadn't had a cheese, onion and potato pie since my childhood and I was eager to renew my acquaintance with this traditional British dish. I wondered if "Bowmans" could refer to a regional variation on the pie or even a special type of cheese, but it turns out that "Bowmans" is the brand name of Sportman's own line of sweet and savory pies. They are available in retail shops as well as in the restaurant. I'm not a fan of either baked beans or french fries and toyed for moment with asking if I could substitute a small side order of salad for them. However, I abandoned that idea as specials don't usually allow substitutions and its often difficult to get waitresses to understand requests. I decided to go with the daily special in standard form. The wait for my meal was a very acceptable 20 minutes. It wasn't an exciting plate of food to look at and got even less exciting once I tasted it. The french fries were lukewarm, soft and soggy, inedible in my book. They were U.S.-style fries that had only gone once, not twice, into the deep fryer, then been left to sit too long. The result was the antithesis of crispy. The pie, the base of the meal, wasn't warm enough for me. I want a cooked meal to be piping hot when placed in front of me. Worse yet, the pie was flavorless. I could neither see nor taste any indication of cheese, onions or anything else in the pie. It seemed to be unseasoned mashed potatoes, maybe moistened with milk, in a shortcrust shell and top layer. As I recall, the cheese, onion and potato pies of my childhood had been seasoned with English mustard. The Bowmans pie didn't taste bad; it didn't taste anything. It was the definition of blandness. It's a disappointing, even depressing, experience when beans from a can are the high point of a restaurant meal. I began to wonder what had been on the menu that afternoon at UK transport cafes, not to mention HM Prison Strangeways. The parts of the meal that could be messed up in preparation had been. There's not much that can go wrong with beans from a can. I guess they could be burned during reheating and at least that didn't happen. The special cost 270 baht and a bottle of SML 90 baht. That's not expensive, but it isn't value for money, especially considering how little of it I actually ate. As I said earlier, it had been five years since I'd eaten at The Sportsman. I may give it another try in 2021. A proviso: This review centers on the food I got one particular afternoon. It doesn't change the fact that many find The Sportsman a great place for a pub visit. Also, I may have caught The Sportsman on a bad day. A restaurant can't stay in business for 20 years by consistently serving food as bad as I got Saturday. However, the inability to serve up a decent savory pie and french fries doesn't inspire confidence that another selection from the menu would be better. Evil

I had the daily special yesterday at Bite Me as I have a particular fondness for German sausage, potato salad and sauerkraut. I had a vague idea of following up the special with a crepe suzette, but I changed my mind once I had the menu in front of me. I decided to have the arancini as a starter and skip dessert. Arancini means "little oranges" in Italian, but are stuffed and breaded rice balls which are then fried. It's a dish that goes back more than 1,000 years to the days when Arabs ruled Sicily. There are dozens of different fillings and flavorings used in arancini, ranging from small chunks of cheese to ragu (tomato-flavored meat). Bit Me went with wild mushrooms and parmesan, with the beetroot aioli adding a nice accent. Good arancini have a paper-thin crunchy exteriors and a creamy interiors. The contrast in textures, or mouthfeel, is a big part of the experience of eating arancini. Because it is a fiddly dish to make that depends on perfect preparation and deep-frying, you don't often see it on menus in Pattaya. If the breading is too thick or it's fried too long, it becomes more like little golf balls than little oranges. Ewan definitely got the texture and flavor right, so if you're a long-time arancini fan or never tried it before, you won't be disappointed at Bite Me. It cost 150 baht for five balls. The special consisted of four sausages (two pork, one veal and one beef) on a bed of warm potato salad, with creamed sauerkraut and a generous dollop of German mustard (senf) on the side. It all went together very well, with the flavor of the sausages enhanced by the tang of the mustard and the mildness of the potato salad and the creamed sauerkraut. The sausages, the star of the meal, had a good meaty flavor without any chemical aftertaste. Ewan said they came from a local producer, but I didn't quit catch which one it was. The emphasis at Bite Me is on quality fresh ingredients that have been seasoned to bring out their natural flavors. I'm personally a fan of big, bold flavors, but balance is also important. The components on the plate should complement each other, not battle for domination. With some main ingredients, it's important that the vegetables or starches that come along with it dance lightly on the tongue. That's where Ewan excels; he is a master at balancing component flavors to create a satisfying whole. If you prefer German sausage, sauerkraut and potato salad served traditional style in big, hearty portions, that is widely available in Pattaya. Bite Me is alone in offering this classic dish in a dressed-up form. The total cost of the meal was 405 baht (150 baht for the arancini; 195 baht for the sausage special; and 60 baht for a Singha Light). Again, another recommended meal from Bite Me. Evil

Fact remains that there haven't been any negative reviews by anyone who claims to have actually eaten at Bite Me. I'm not just talking about the Pattaya punter boards, but also TripAdvisor and the various FB food groups, which tend to be bastions for the guys who use transport cafes as their benchmark of culinary excellence and eat mashed potatoes with their fingers. (EP pro-active note of explanation to head off flames: I know there are many knowledgeable posters on the FB food groups, but the palates of some of the noisiest posters are about as discerning as a Komodo dragon's). It's certainly exceptional for a restaurant like Bite Me to get only positive reviews. As I wrote earlier, I've never seen that happen before, so it wouldn't be wrong to say it is unique. The one obvious conclusion is that everyone who has visited Bit Me has been pleased with their meals, which wouldn't be all that amazing because the food there is very good. That it can dodge the bullet on fake negative reviews is the amazing part. Regarding portion size at Bite Me: the lamb burger wasn't small; it was as large or larger than most standard hamburgers in Pattaya. What is possibly misleading in the pic is that Bite Me uses big plates, which makes the lamb burger look small if there nothing in the pic to indicate the scale. I'll make sure to include a knife or fork in future pics to give a more accurate impression of portion size. Also, the Bite Me lamb burger was big enough that it would have been impossible to eat it with your hands unless you were trying to imitate Homer Simpson. In any case, I have hard time identifying with concerns over portion size. I go to a restaurant to enjoy the food, not just to fill my belly. If the main seems to be small and I'm very hungry, I'll order a starter or side dish to go with it. Filling out the meal with dessert is another option. But if getting as much food as possible for as low a price as possible were the top consideration, I'd choose an "all-you-can-eat" option. The Lek Hotel has a dinner buffet for 250 baht, the same price as the lamb burger special at Bite Me. It's up to you to decide which you'd rather have. Evil

I had a change of plans in January, but I finally made it to Samran Saisam last night. As others have said, the bottom line is very good food at a reasonable price. I had two Thai ladies with me and we got to Samran about 7.45 p.m. The trip from the Avenue in a chartered baht bus took longer than I had expected due to heavy traffic along 2nd Road, Pattaya Klang and 3rd Road. Cerberus was on hand to greet us warmly when we arrived. He was having dinner with another well-known Pattaya bar owner. My Source Coyote has been sharing meals with me since 2012 and I always leave it to her to order. She favors seafood and shrimp in particular. I'm a big fan of hot and sour seafood soup (tom yum talay) and so is MSC. Several more shrimp dishes: Both of us are also fans of salmon sashimi: My contribution to the meal was the Thai-style fried chicken: That's quite a bit of food but the three of us were hungry and did justice to it. The total bill was 1,621 baht, with about 1,350 baht for the food and the rest for beverages. I had a large bottle of Singha at 130 baht and ladies had soft drinks and water. As several other BMs wrote, Samran Saisam is a great place to take Thai girls. Should you ever need a restaurant in which to entertain the parents or family of a Thai wife, this would be a great choice. Thai guests will love the food and attentive service in the traditional Thai style. If you're tired of the indifferent or even rude service in farang-oriented restaurants, try Samran Saisam for something very different. We got to Samran Saisam early in the evening, well before the live music started and other guests arrived. I imagine arriving anytime after 9.00 p.m. would allow you the full experience of food and music Thai-style. All things considered, Samran Saisam gets a big from me. Evil

"Gabor, Bite Me!" Could be an interesting post. Evil

What I also find fascinating about Bite Me Bistro is that I haven't read one single bad review of the place on the Pattaya boards, TripAdvisor or the FB food groups. Even the guys who use UK transport cafes as their benchmark of culinary excellence haven't chimed in with their customary negativity. Amazing! I've never seen that happen before. No matter how good a restaurant is, you'll usually have someone slamming it on general principle. Evil

I had the lamb burger special today. It was delicious and well worth the 250 baht. My only criticism would be that the burger could have done with a bit more hummus (Br spelling houmous) and the hummus could have used a touch of lemon to add some acidity. All the components of the burger (meat, bun and vegetables) were high quality and well seasoned to bring out the flavor. The lamb patty was juicy and properly grilled. For dessert, I had the strawberry cheesecake. I enjoyed it a lot, but Americans should be aware that it is European-style cheesecake: lighter, more cake-like and not as sweet as its creamier U.S. cousin. The fresh strawberries and compote really made it special. A glass of latte was the perfect complement to the cheesecake. My bill was 510 baht in total (lamb burger, 250 baht; SML, 75 baht; strawberry cheesecake, 120 baht; and latte, 65 baht). I ate at Bite Me around 6 p.m. and most of the tables were already taken, so you might want to call ahead to reserve a table to avoid disappointment. Evil

That looks like one hell of a feast! Lucky you! Evil

A quick meal while waiting for a repair to be done at Tukcom. Chicken teriyaki bowl, surprisingly tasty at 155 baht. S & P Cafe next to Starbucks on Tukcom's entry level.

Tinnies Thailand is a cafe specializing in pies, both savory and sweet. It's been open six weeks now and is located on the dog-leg stretch of Thrappraya Road that leads to the beach. It's about one-third of the way down, at the corner of the subsoi into Jomtien Plaza. It occupies the same premises as Sunrise Tacos and Steaksn'Subs once did. It's run by an Australian and his Thai wife. There's no obvious signage, but there is one of those airdancer thingies flapping outside, so it isn't easy to miss. I'm out of my comfort (food) zone here, but I really liked the pie I had at Tinnies. I'd go as far as to say it is the best meat pie I've had in Pattaya, although meat pies aren't a regular part of my diet. I'll leave it to an Australian to comment on how authentic Tinnies' pies are and how they compare with what you get back home, but for me, the roast leg of lamb pie that I had tasted very nice. It had a great crust and a tasty filling. What more can you ask of a pie? The pie shell and crust were flaky, tender and fresh. The one thing you can't fake is flakiness in a crust. It has to be prepared and baked properly and not kept in a pie warmer too long. You can always tell about a pie's quality by the bottom crust. If it is flaky and browned without being burnt, it's been done the right way. Not too much more to say. Tinnies has a variety of pies on offer that are baked throughout the day. It's open from 8.00 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can eat in or take away. The dining area was spotlessly clean. My pie cost 175 baht. That's a premium price, but I got a premium product. Coke Zero (a small can) cost 30 baht. If I had wanted mashed potatoes and peas with the pie, it would have been another 100 baht. A side order of salad and chips would be 70 baht. The lamb pie was the most expensive item on the menu, with most of the pies costing 150 baht.

Time to update the Fuji thread. I had dinner there with two companions on Feb. 7. Since it was the Sunday before Chinese New Year, I had expected it to be jammed and perhaps even difficult to get a table, but it was only half full. We began with sashimi and it was up to the usual extremely fresh standard I'd come to expect from Fuji. We also had yaki gyoza, or panned fried dumplings. We also had a second appetizer, stirred-fried kimchi and tofu. It was light but delicious. The ladies shared an order of salmon tataki Thai, which basically meant a common Japanese appetizer had been spiced to the som tam level. We shared an order of grilled squid, which I thought was excellent. Very fresh squid, grilled on the outside so it had the proper charred taste but still tender. We also grilled garlic shrimp, which I thought was a generic dish, more Thai than Japanese. Then came of "main dishes," which were sets that included various small side dishes, such a few pieces of sushi, kimchi and the ever-present miso soup. One of the girls had the teriyaki grilled mackerel set: The other girl had the chirashi sushu set, which is a bowl of vinagered sushi rice topped with a variety of sushi items. My choice was a Japanese home-cooking style dish- simmered beef and tofu. That was a lot of food, but we managed to get it all down because none of us had eaten earlier in the day. For three people and the number of dishes we had, the total price of 2,121 baht was reasonable. Bottom line: Fuji remains a good choice for Japanese food in central Pattaya. You can eat better Japanese food in more pleasant surroundings. In some small restaurants, you can also find cheaper food of the same quality that Fuji serves, but they tend to be in obscure locations. Fuji gets a strong score from me for convenience at a fair price without skimping on the quality of the food. And the girls love it! Ask just about any Thai lady where she wants to eat Japanese food and nine times out of ten she'll say Fuji. A lot of that has to do with perceived status and posting selfies, but that's very important to a lot of the girls. Evil

Names: Above the Rest Top Chef Pattaya Mediterranewan Skyward A View to Grill Mount Kitchen Munchers for Punters Sam and Ella's (can't be worse than Bite Me) Spire Fryer Evil

Beef patty, melted pepper jack cheese, guacamole and pico de gallo, aka salsa fresco on a brioche bun. Pics are from the Net. I have no idea whether the Baja Burgers at Hooters Pattaya look like this. Curly fries, a pickle and small side of coleslaw. Evil

The code ceopoaldcnmhechacafgagdkklcogkgd refers to the OnlineMapFinder extension. Locate and remove it according to the instructions given by Gawd Elpus in his post. Evil

Yup, dim sum is the kind of food you might as well skip in Pattaya because it will never be really good. Evil

Google "online photo resizer" and you'll come up with many, many possibilities. But if you don't want to be tied to the Internet to resize pics one-by-one, you can download and install a free program that resizes pics in batches. Fast Stone is a good one. If your computer came with a photo editing program, it can also be used to resize photos. Evil

Earlier today, I got a PM from a board member who reminded me I had received 4,999 green votes. I noticed someone had just pushed me to 5,000, so I want to say :"Thank you" to the BMs who have voted for my posts and especially the one who gave me the 5,000th vote. At least I'm heading in the right direction with my posts! Thanks again. Evil

Thanks much, Cerberus! That should do fine and if not, I'll give you a call. Evil

My Way is a small restaurant that specializes in Dutch cuisine. It's located in what's called the Central Shopping Arcade, which is across 2nd Road from Mike's Shopping Mall and runs parallel to Soi Diana. You pass KISS Restaurant, the Beefeater and Patrick on the way to My Way. A friend from New York and I ate at My Way last night around 7,00 pm. It had almost filled up inside and out by the time we finished our meal at 7.45 pm. The same was true for KISS, the Beafeater and Patrick's. The inside and outside dining areas of all three were full when we walked past. If last night was typical, the restaurants in the Central Shopping Arcade weren't suffering this high season. My Way is noted for its large portions of hearty Dutch food at reasonable prices. Besides attracting Dutch visitors with a taste for home, it's popular with Scandinavians and Germans, judging by the languages spoken at the tables the times I've been there. I decided to try the fried pork belly with stamppot, a traditional Dutch dish consisting of a vegetable or vegetable mixed with mashed potatoes. I chose the variation with sauerkraut. I liked it, but the stamppot would have benefitted from a bit more sauerkraut. The pork belly was also good, but I missed the crackling with which I'm accustomed to getting on pork belly in the U.S. or U.K. I'm not familiar enough with Dutch cuisine to know whether pork belly is usually served without crackling. For me, the crackling is the best part of pork belly. At 280 baht for the pork belly and 50 baht for a bottle of SML, I certainly couldn't complain, but I doubt I'll order it again. I will go back to try the sausage with stamppot. My friend had the fish and chips, which he thought was very good. The substantial slice of fish had been breaded nicely and wasn't at all oily, he said. He also gave the thick-cut chips full marks. A small side of garden salad was included and he was pleased with it as well. On earlier visits to My Way, I've usually had one of their beef tenderloin variations. It's Thai beef that is surprisingly tender and flavorful. At 285 baht for 180 grams, it's a good deal. My Way also offers 300-gram portions of beef. The tenderloin wrapped in bacon was particularly good. Since it is Dutch style, I can accept that the sauce is poured over the meat in the kitchen. Normally, I would ask for the sauce or gravy on the side. I've also tried the Dutch-style tomato soup with small meatballs and it was excellent. Bottom line: there's nothing fancy about My Way and the dishes on it's menu aren't delicate, but it does deliver large and tasty portions at reasonable prices. There are some Thai dishes on the menu, but I've never tried them. Evil

A small group of us, maybe 4-5 people, plan on visiting this weekend. Would it be possible for you to post the name of the restaurant and its address in Thai characters? That makes it a lot eaaier to deal with moto- and taxi drivers, Many thanks! Evil

I removed the tails with the blade of my knife. I paid 150 baht for a SML. Evil

This is a review of the food that is served at the newly opened Hooters on Beach Road near the intersection with Soi 13. A discussion of the other aspects of Hooters can be found in the "Gogo and Bar Review" section. I'll limit myself here to a discussion of the food I've had. So far I've had four dishes: a po' boy sandwich; chili con carne; New England clam chowder; and a half-rack of BBQ pork ribs. All four were iconic American dishes and two, the po' boy and the clam chowder, aren't widely available in Pattaya. In fact, it was the first time I've seen a po' boy offered at any restaurant here. The food, taken in isolation from the service, was good. It was almost identical in taste and presentation to the food on the menu of any Hooters in the U.S. Not great, but good U.S.-style bar food that I'd have no problem ordering again. But Hooters is expensive for what you get. I won't be eating there often, but I will go back if I have a yearning for comfort food from back home. The service at Hooters has improved enormously since my first visit on Jan. 1. Service was a total fuster cluck back then; Saturday it was fine because an almost full house. I blame the problems they had earlier on the farang manager. On Jan. 1, the tables weren't numbered, which made it extremely difficult for the girls to get the food to diners in a timely fashion. They also didn't have a dedicated cashier, which meant the bartenders and girls were spending a lot of time punching in numbers. But on Saturday, this rather severe looking woman was entering all the orders and printing out tabs at a very fast pace. Anyway, on to specifics. The first dish I ordered at Hooters was a po' boy (New Orleans dialect for poor boy) sandwich was invented in 1929 by two brothers (and former streetcar conductors) who had opened a food stand. During a strike by streetcar workers, the brothers showed their solidarity by giving the strikers free sandwiches. At first, the sandwiches consisted of whatever leftover scraps the stand had on hand piled on a small loaf of what's called New Orleans bread. It had a very thin brittle crust, but an extremely light and fluffy interior, almost the consistency of cotton candy. You virtually never find outside of New Orleans, but it is the perfect base for a po' boy. The most popular early po' boy featured scraps of beef pot roast and gravy and that sandwich is still popular in New Orleans. In time, however, shrimp, oyster or shrimp-and-oyster po' boys became the standard and spread across the country. Hooters offers a shrimp po' boy, served on a hoagie, not a New Orleans loaf. It with curly fries, which I don't much like. Nothing with Hooters' curly fries; I just don't like that form of fried potato. The sandwich consisted of six pieces of fried shrimp dressed with lettuce and tomato. That's pretty much the standard. The shrimp were fresh and lightly fried. It tasted exactly like a shrimp po' boy I had in Hooters in Orlando, Fla a few years ago. Except for the bread, it wasn't radically different in appearance from the shrimp po' boy served at the Parkway Diner and Bakery in New Orleans. Clearly the Parkway version tastes much better thanks to the special local bread. Here's the downside. The po' boy at Hooters in Pattaya cost 530 baht, which at the current rate is about USD 15.15. At the Orlando Hooters, it cost $10.00, equivalent back then to about 300 baht. The Pattaya po' boy was a good sandwich, but not worth 530 baht, or nearly 1/3 more than you'd paid in the U.S. I next tried the chili con carne, which despite its Spanish name is an American dish that owes little to traditional Mexican cuisine. Chili con carne was the first Tex-Mex dish to achieve national popularity in the U.S. It cost 220 baht and came with three small pieces of French bread. I could have added chopped onion and cheese for an extra 60 baht, but I don't like either with chili con carne. Again, it tasted good. It was light years from the best chili I've had, but still pretty decent. TThe characteristic chili flavor came though, but there wasn't much heat from the chilis. However, the price was premium; the chili con carne wasn't. I've had equivalent bowls of chili elsewhere in Pattaya for half that price. Another day I tried the New England clam chowder, also at 220 baht. I would say the same thing about the clam chowder, Good, but nothing special and expensive for what you get. .On Saturday I had the half-rack of BBQ pork ribs at 460 baht. It came with curly fries and a small side of coleslaw. This was the first dish I had at Hooters that I though was really nice and not just good. The ribs had been slow cooked and glazed with a vinegar-heavy Memphis-style BBQ sauce, which is my favorite. The ribs had a substantial amount of meat that literally fell off the bone. The meat also had plenty of flavor. It's still expensive at 460 baht, but not totally out of line for riibs of comparable quality at another Pattaya restaurant. Hooters has a very extensive menu for both food and drink. Hamburgers in several variations, steaks, fish, crab's legs and other seafood, salads, soups, sandwiches and of course, its signature buffalo wings, are all there, plus a few dessert items like pecan pie. I'm not a fan of buffalo wings and rarely eat them anywhere, so I can't comment on Hooters' wings. But make no mistake, everything on the menu is expensive by Pattaya and even U.S. standards. Bottom line: The food I've had at Hooters was good and the ribs were very good, but the prices seem out of line for what you get. If that doesn't bother you and you enjoy American-style comfort and bar food, then Hooters is OK. The service problems seem to have been solved. Evil

The latest menu, nicked from the Net. Already there have been changes to the menu from yesterday.