Evil Penevil

Definitely hassles with posting (hangs at the "Saving post" stage, but the post goes through. No hassles in just reading posts. Evil

Same error message with the above post. Evil

I posted with pics in the pizza recommendation thread and it hung during the posting process, then gave me the following error message: The post went through, though. Evil

NYC-style pizza is basically an adaptation of Neapolitan pizza and there are a few places in Pattaya which offer decent Neapolitan pizza. Keep in mind that for many people one of the distinguishing features of a "true" NYC pizza is that it is baked in a coal-fired oven rather than a wood-fired oven. You won't find coal-fired ovens outside NYC. Two of the best places for Neapolitan pizza are Pizza Italy off Soi Bukhao : and Fire and Stone Pizzeria on Pattaya Klang between 2nd and Beach Roads: Both of these have Italian chefs and the chef at Fire and Stone has worked at a pizzeria in NYC. As Idefix said, the Brooklyn Diner also does good pizza. I like the pizza at Mama's Cafe on Soi 6, but maybe the crust is a bit thick for your taste. Evil

Same for me, whether using Chrome, Firefox or IE. Earlier I had a problem with P-T responding sluggishly while other boards weren't, i.e., it didn't depend on my ISP. The sluggishness now seems to have corrected itself, but still no red or green boxes for voting. Evil :

I have a suggestion. How about the active poster with the lowest reputation rating paying all the server costs for 12 months? That would be a very fair solution but you might have some difficulty collecting the money. Evil

Happy to say, I'm half-way around the world from the flooding as I write this. I remember the huge flooding on Sept. 11, 2015, when it took me five hours to get from Walking Street to my condo near Tukcom. Stay safe and dry! Evil

I believe they have discontinued the all-you-can-eat buffet. I'll try a meal there in the near future from their a la carte menu. Evil

Yea, San Miguel Lights and Singhas aren't very scary, even on the Darkside. Evil

Hi, Mike! Yup, the few times I flew Royal First with Thai I got the buggy ride. Once when I had three heavy bags, they assigned me a strong-looking young guy to collect my bags and push the cart to the curb. My driver was a bit delayed and Thai Airways guy stayed with me until the van arrived, then insisted on loading the bags into the van himself. He also declined a tip. On a recent short-haul Asian flight, I booked Fast Track service because the flight arrived late afternoon, when the immigration lines can be brutal. The girl met me with a buggy, even though I hadn't ordered it. I assume it was a time-saving measure for her, as the arrival gate was about as far as possible from immigration control. Another time when flying biz, there wasn't a gate open for a nose-in arrival and we had to use the air stairs, then board a bus to the terminal. The entrance we used was very close to the Premium immigration lane and an elderly couple who had booked a buggy were miffed to find the ride was only 50 meters. Evil

Lions and tigers and bears oh my! Evil

There are indeed some strange and unpleasant creatures lurking on the Darkside. Evil

I ordered the "Braised Pork Jowl and Filet with Morels Sauce and Young Potatoes." Pork jowl consists of the cheek and part of the neck of the pig. It's most often encountered in cured form - Italian guanciale as well as hog jowl bacon in U.S. southern cooking and soul food - but it can also be cooked fresh. In the U.S., I've had pork jowl that had been slow cooked or simmered for anyway between 4 and 24 hours, then seared in a frying pan and finally roasted or grilled to create a crispy surface on the fat and melt away most of the excess. I'd never had it braised and served with a sauce, so I was eager to try Da Marco's version. It cost 460 baht There was a lot of flavor in the jowl meat and sauce, but I hadn't expected the layer of fat to have been that dense and flabby. This could be a cultural thing. I know in some regional cuisines fat is considered to be the best part of the dish, but that's not my preference. The morels weren't very noticeable in the sauce, but it tasted good, if a bit generic. The piece of pork tenderloin (the fillet) was nicely cooked and seasoned. It was juicy with a lot of flavor. On the downside, the menu had said "young potatoes," which I took to mean new or baby potatoes. Apparently Da Marco didn't have "young potatoes" that night, but the waitress didn't tell me this when I ordered. What I got as a side was fried potatoes that hadn't been seasoned. I doubt that I would have changed my order if the waitress had told me new potatoes weren't available, but it's also clear that new potatoes go better with a fatty dish like pork jowl than fried potatoes. MM ordered the pork tenderloin and he seemed happy with it, although he said he get much of a Marsala wine taste from the sauce. Saffron risotto was his side. Dan ordered the backstrap (aka "eye of loin") of lamb, a premium cut. He said it was quality meat that had been cooked and seasoned properly. He did note that there was a bit of an imbalance in portion size: not enough vegetables in relation to the generous serving of meat. He was supposed to have gotten potato gratin with the lamb, but Da Marco didn't have that night or had run out. The waitress had told him this when he ordered and he got the same fried potatoes as I did. MM's side of risotto and my potatoes: The desserts at Da Marco weren't very impressive, mostly vanilla ice cream topped with sauces or liqueurs. I skipped dessert, but MM ordered the crepes Suzette. He said he'd never seen it served in quite that fashion. Traditionally, crepes Suzette is flambeed at the diner's table. It wasn't served that way at Da Marco. Dan had the panna cotta: I contented myself with a cup of excellent cappuccino. The cost of my meal was 270 B for the ravioli; 460 B for the pork jowl; 100 B for a bottle of SML and 30 B for the cappuccino, total 860 B. That's a reasonable price for a meal of that quality. The ravioli was the high point of the meal for me and makes me want to try the other Italian pasta dishes on the menu. On the whole, the food tasted fine, but there were a few misses regarding service, sides and presentation. I've attached copies of most of the menu at Da Marco so you can see what's on offer and how much it costs. I've also copied the map from Da Marco's website to give you a better idea of where it is and how to get there. You can get more information here: Ristorante Da Marco. I have no problem in recommending a visit to Da Marco; just be aware it's a very long way from central Pattaya and can be tricky to find. Also, because of its popularity, be sure to phone ahead to make a reservation. It would be a real shame to go all that way only to find no tables were available. Evil

Ristorante Da Marco is an upscale Swiss Italian and modern European restaurant on the Darkside. It's open Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays) from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Da Marco bills itself as "elegant simplicity." I would term it casual fine dining in that it aspires to serve top-notch dishes in surroundings far less pretentious than a classic fine dining restaurant. It's a relatively small, open-front restaurant which probably has a maximum capacity of between 20 and 30 guests. It appears to be popular, so advance reservations are recommended. At the depth of the low season, our group of three couldn't get a table on Friday, Saturday or Sunday and had to wait until Tuesday. This was surprising, especially considering how far away it is from central Pattaya (30 minutes drive from Tukcom in light traffic) and it's isolated location even for the Darkside. If you don't have your own wheels, you'd have to arrange transportation to and from Da Marco. More about finding Da Marco later in this review. Da Marco has an open kitchen in the dining area so you can watch chef Marco prepare your food. I'd agree that the decor and atmosphere are simple and elegant. No doubt it's a nice place to have a meal, but the lack of air-conditioning and the open kitchen can make it a bit warm. The food is better than what you get at 95% of the farang restaurants in Pattaya, although there were some misses in execution and service the night we were there. Given Da Marco's concept and prices, it has to beheld to a higher standard than the average Pattaya eatery. Bottom line: Would I return to Da Marco? Yes, if I can hitch a ride with a friend; there are some other dishes on the menu I'd like to try. Would I hire a taxi/car service to go there and back? No, never. Da Marco isn't THAT good or exciting to make the trip worth the extra expense and effort. Now for the nitty-gritty of our visit. MM, Pompui Dan and I arrived at 8.30 p.m. There were about 10 guests already dining. Da Marco wasn't full, but there weren't many empty tables, either. A slice of fresh garlic bread and a pat of real butter came long with our drink orders. I chose as my starter the homemade ravioli filled with meat and mascarpone cheese and seasoned with butter and sage (270 baht). It was excellent! Chef Marco hails from the Italian-speaking section of Switzerland and some regional specialties, such as pizzoccheri alla valtellinese and saffron risotto, are on the menu. It seems like about a third of the dishes on Da Marco's menu have an Italian connection; the rest are what could be called "modern European." There are a handful of Thai dishes as well. MM had the avocado and shrimp as his starter and that's where the problems also started. The waitress brought him a bowl of soup instead. No major problem, she had apparently just got the tables confused. The other waitress then wanted to give Pompui Dan's starter to MM. Again, no biggy, but was striking is that the first waitress never offered an apology. A simple "I'm sorry" should be an integral part of elegant simplicity. MM said his starter tasted fine, but the presentation wasn't all that attractive. The avocado slices were brown from exposure to the air and the ingredients seemed all jumbled together in the lettuce leaf shell, neither elegant nor simple. Pompui Dan had the scallops as his starter, which were presented well. According to Dan, the scallops were cooked properly and tasted good. No complaints on his part. This review is getting long with a lot of pics, so I'll divide it into two parts. Stay tuned for the main dishes, including my adventures with braised pork jowl; dessert; more general impressions; directions to Da Marco and a copy of the menu. Evil

Some more pics from Little India> I had the special of the day at 400 baht. It was good, but too much food. There was enough for two meals. The pakora (mixed vegetable fritters) was nice, especially the mushrooms. The meal aslo came with a super portion of rice and big aloo (potato-stuffed) naan. The cicken tikka marsala had a lot of chicken and the sauce was excellent. I'll continue to visit Little India.

Bronx Pizza sells thin-crust, New York-style pizza by the slice or 18" (large) pie. It's located on Soi Diana near the corner of 2nd Road, across the street from Natalie's Bar, which is between Beefeater and Papagayo. While Bronx Pizza has a couple of tables and a few counter seats, it's mostly set up for take-away by the slice. That's what's most "New York" about Bronx Pizza - it was in New York City that pizza by-the-slice got its start in the early years of the 20th century. Until the end of WWII, most pizza was sold as take-away food, whether by the slice or pie. It wasn't until the 1950s that pizzerias as sit-down restaurants spread outside of Little Italy and other Italian neighborhoods. The slices I've had from Bronx Pizza have been OK, especially when you consider the price is two slices for 99 baht. The pics show a slice of Margherita and what's called Bronx pizza. Both have extremely thin crusts with a minimal amount of tomato sauce and mozzzarella. The Margherita was topped with fresh garlic and tomatoes, basil and olive oil, while the Bronx was covered with Italian sausage and slices of fresh green peppers and onion. The basil on the Margherita was burned, but it didn't taste bad. In fact, the combination of cheese, tomato sauce and toppings was good on both slices. It didn't reach any peaks of pizza perfection, but was better than most of what is available in Pattaya. The problem with the slices was the crust. It was almost too thin and crispy to the point of brittleness. The crust wasn't burned, just over-baked. That's a difficulty with a lot of pizza sold by the slice. It has to go into the oven twice, once to bake it almost done, the second time to reheat it before serving. If the crust is paper thin, it can get too dry. What characterized New York pizza, among other things, was a crust that was charred on the underside but still a bit spongy in the upper layer so the slices could be folded in half and eaten without a knife and fork. Still today, a pizza slice is considered "street food" that is eaten standing or on the go. Authenticity is a muddled and dubious concept and it would be silly to think you can find what is considered to be true New York pizza in Pattaya. For one thing, the original New York pizzas were baked in coal-fired brick ovens that achieved more than twice the temperature of a wood-fired or modern gas oven. The high temperature gave the pizzas a taste that can't be duplicated even in a wood-fired oven. Nowadays only about 20 of NYC'S 400 pizzerias still use coal-fired ovens because of environmental and safety regulations. To say a pizza isn't "authentic" New York style because it isn't baked like pizzas were 100 years ago is as absurd as saying a roast of beef isn't authentic because it wasn't roasted on a spit over an open fire. Bottom line: Bronx Pizza slices are OK as a late-night snack, but only if you favor thin, dry, crispy crusts and don't have your expectations set too high. I prefer a Bronx Pizza slice over much of the soggy, tasteless pizza found in Pattaya. Evil

Thank you, lantern, for recommending Little India. Of all the major national cuisines, Indian is the one I eat the least. That's probably due to me visiting India only once and a lack of good Indian restaurants in the areas I previously lived. It's good to have a decent option close to where I live. So pics from my first (but won't be last) visit. It's a clean and well-lit place, which is a very positive factor for me. I had the mutton tikka biryani (270 B ); mint raita (60 B ) and the Peshwari naan (90 B ). SML was 80 b. I asked for it to be served "medium" spicy and that was certainly enough heat for me. At the price, it could have done with a bit more meat in the biryani, but the taste was good. The Peshwari naan with almonds and raisins was the mosst epensive of the many naan options on the menu. It went well with the biryani. Evil

I have also heard good things about Suggestions and would be happy to try it. But as MM writes, it's a bit out of my travel range. Not so much the distance but the hassle of getting there and most of all, getting back. As I understand it, Suggestions is down the road from Aroi and it took a looong time in the back of a chartered baht bus to get to Aroi. On that occasion, I got a ride back with a friend, but I'm not sure how easy it would be on my own. Anyway, if the chance arises, I'll do a review of Suggestions, but it may not be soon. My recollection is that it was Saturdays and Sundays, but that's going back to 2008-2011, when I lived at the Mosaik Apartments on my visits to Pattaya and for three months when I first moved here. I could be remembering wrong or they could have changed to Saturdays only. Evil

La Petite Planete is another restaurant where I used to eat frequently, but my visits became very infrequent when I moved from the area. I've been back several times in the past few weeks, so I decided it's time for an update. Outwardly, not much has changed. It's still the small, well-lit and spotlessly clean restaurant I remember. Even though it had been at least two years since I'd eaten there, the staff remembered me and gave me a very warm welcome. On my first return visit a month ago I had the weekend (only) special, couscous royale. I didn't have my camera with me, so no pics. The couscous had been a favorite at La Petite Planete and I was happy to renew my acquaintance with it. There was a large helping of very tasty slow-cooked lamb and huge portions of couscous and vegetables. It's still the best couscous I've had in Pattaya. Last night I had the three-course special at 320 baht. You can mix-and-match among three different starters, main dishes and desserts. I chose to begin with the tomato and mozzarella salad, which was a bit of a disappointment. Never the mozzarella nor the tomatoes had much taste and were overwhelmed by the vinegar dressing. I had the tournedos with Roquefort sauce as my main course. Tournedos are sliced from the beef tenderloin and often called filet mignon in the U.S. I asked for it medium rare, but it got it rare. That's OK with me as I prefer beef rare when it is tender and my tournedos certainly was. The surface was seared nicely and well seasoned with pepper. The Roquefort sauce, which I used on my mashed potatoes and vegetables, had plenty of flavor. The chef hadn't skimped on the cheese, whic is how I like it. The mashed potatoes were also good and the standard vegetables (peas, arrots, cauliflower) didn't have all the taste boiled out of them. I finished with fruit crepes. I expected it would come with tropical fruit, but the thin pancake was topped with a cherry compote and ice cream. It was quite good and not too sweet, but the bottom layer was more of a thin pancake than a crepes because of its texture. The meal was satisfactory but not excellent, not quite at the level I recalled at La Petite Planete. The couscous, however, held the old mettle. SML cost 80 baht/bottle. Evil

I left things until the last hour, if not minute. I walked into the AIS office at Central Festival at 6.11 pm. I was finished and walked out at 6.13 pm. That surprised me as the office was jam-packed with people, mostly non-Thais. I was expecting to wait an hour, but was out in literally two minutes. Evil

Sure. Andy. Give me a call when you're in town. Evil

The carvery also includes a salad bar ... which I didn't sample because there was so much other stuff to eat. It it looked very fresh and the staff kept the bowls and trays well-filled. One nice touch was a wooden salad bowl in case a customer wanted to mix and dress his or her own Caesar Salad. There's also a dessert table with assorted cakes and fruits. I did feel a bit sorry for the singer, as no one seemed to pay him much attention. The bread pudding is fantastic and comes with custard or simple syrup sauce. In terms of the quality and variety of the food, Dicey Reilly's has one of the better Sunday carveries in town. The staff knows how to maintain a buffet, with everything kept warm and fresh and the serving dishes/trays always replenished. The fact that the buffet runs a limited time (12 noon to 4 pm) is also a factor in its favor, as almost all warm foods except stews and similar begin to lose flavor after standing a few hours. On the downside, there isn't much food that will appeal to most TGs. Som tam on the salad table is the only real Thai dish. A lot of farang will also miss lamb. Drinks aren't cheap, with a bottle of SML running 149 baht. While the cost of the carvery is 399 baht, total cost with a drink and tip will run you between 550 and 600 baht. Well worth the money, but you can eat a Sunday lunch nearby for about half that. Evil

It's been over a year since I did the first review of Dicey Reilly's Sunday carvery, so time for an update I've had the carvery a half-dozen times in the past 14 months and the quality of thee food is as good as ever. It's not the cheapest, but still good value for money in terms of the quantity and quality of the food. The menu has been remarkably consistence as well, with very little change in the carvery meats or sides. The layout of the buffet tables is a bit different, but the most note-worthy change has been in the price. It now costs 399 baht , up from 350 baht in April, 2014. Dicey's has a a spacious dining area, plenty of TVs tuned to sports events and a good air conditioning system. `It's a pleasant place to have a meal, but the food is the really important factor and DR doesn't fall short in that respect. Turkey, roast beef and roast pork are the carvery's anchors. They are all high quality and cooked properly. They come with a slew of condiments: horseradish sauce, several kinds of mustard, apple sauce and cranberry sauce. The turkey wasn't dry; the beef had that the right pink color and the pork cooked through but juicy. The meat is sliced to order. The Yorkshire pudding is among the best I've had in Pattaya. It was light and crisp, but not overcooked. The gravy packed a lot of flavor. There were seven warm side dishes. The Brussels sprouts with peas, carrots, corn, onion and bits of bacon were delicious. The cauliflower with cheese sauce and roast potatoes are also good. I could have made a separate meal of the cottage pie and pasta. Plenty of flavor in both. My first plate: And the second (I asked for dark turkey meat and got a whole leg carved up!): More photos and comments to come.

In terms of porn names, I always thought Pussy Galore would have been unbeatable, but it was already taken. There was a U.S. stripper named Lotta Box, but that's a very poor second. On the male side, I thought Rambone was good name. Evil