Evil Penevil

The MK Restaurant is located on the sixth level (5th floor) of the Central Festival Mall on 2nd Road. It is one of the six MK branches in Pattaya and the three hundred or so nationwide. Like all MK Restaurants, the Central Festival branch specializes in Thai-style hot pot meals cooked directly at the diners' tables, but also has an extensive a la carte menu. MK itself says the main offering of its restaurants is Thai-style "suki," although Thai-style hot pot cooking isn't very similar to Japanese sukiyaki. The MK hot pots are more akin to Chinese hot pot cooking, which has existed for at least

Could be difficult. Reuben sandwiches are an American thing, but hardly a U.S. staple, so demand is probably rather limited. The ingredients, Russian rye bread, corned beef, saukerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian or Thousand Island dressing, are pretty specialized. For many Reuben aficianados, a slice of kosher dill pickle is also a must. Best chance of finding all this would be at a deli-style cafe attached to one of the big hotels with American clientele. I can't speak from personal experience because it's not one of the U.S. dishes I'd order abroad. But I remember eating lunch with a fri

The deep-fried Twinkie was also invented in the U.K. (the deep-fried version, not the Twinkie itself, which is a U.S. cream-filled sponge snack cake). The deep-fried Twinkie, however, was a minor hit on the U.S. carnival and fair circuit. The Mars Bar was first made in the U.K. in 1932 or 1933 by Forrest Mars, an American and son of U.S. candy tycoon Frank Mars. It was identical to the Milky Way, introduced by Frank Mars in the U.S. in 1920. When he died in 1999, Forrest Mars was the 30th richest man in the U.S., according to Forbes. His two sons were in 29th and 30th place. Forre

Charles Ranhofer first made Baked Alaska at Delmonico's Restaurant in New York in 1867 to celebrate the U.S. acquisition of Alaska. Ranhofer, a French chef who had immigrated to the U.S. at age 20, didn't invent the technique of baking ice cream insulated by cake on the bottom and meringue on the sides and top, but he refined and popularized it with his Baked Alaska. It's actually an easy dish to make. Just be certain the ice cream and cake are frozen as hard as they can get, the meringue is stiff and the oven very hot so the meringue cooks and solidifies quickly. Baked Alaska shouldn't n

Yup, it's one of the best desserts ever. Have you ever had it done the traditional way: not baked, but chilled, with the chemical reaction between the acidity of the limes and the sweetened condensed milk-egg yolk mixture thickening the filling? Not easy to get these days because of the fear surrounding uncooked eggs. Some more pics of Key lime pie and other U.S. desserts: Baked Alaska: Boston Cream Pie and Boston Cream Poke Cake: Various cream pies:

Some more dishes that can be considered American because the ingredients or style of preparation originated in what would become the U.S. Despite its Spanish name, chili con carne has little to do with Mexican cooking and probably had its origin in pioneer and cowboy one-pot cooking. Louisiana Cajun and creole cooking is an example of adapting a variety of influences - French, Spanish, African, Native American - to local ingredients. Jambalaya, file gumbo and red snapper creole style: Sweet potato pancakes from New Orleans. Pancakes weren't an American invention, b

Since the USA is country of immigrants, its food is the result of input from many cuisines applied to "New World" ingredients. Over the years, popular dishes have changed so much from their original source of inspiration that they can be considered American food. The hamburger is perhaps the best example. It's based on the Hamburg steak, which consisted of fine chopped (not ground) beef that was fashioned into a patty and fried, usually with onions. It was commonly served on ships sailing between Hamburg and New York. Here's a pic of how the original Hamburg steak looked. It isn't much

There are quite a few places in Bangkok for decent American-style food. At the high end, you have the New York Steakhouse at the JW Marriott on Suk Road, the Rib Room and Bar on the 31st floor of the Landmark Hotel and Prime at the Millennium Hilton. The Marriott Cafe in the JW Marriott also has breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets which are heavy on American main dishes, sides and sweets. More moderately priced is the Avenue New York Grill on Suk Soi 16. Some pics from its Web site: I've never eaten at the Roadhouse Barbecue in Silom not far from Patpong, but I've heard it's g

During the peak days in December 2012 (20-31 Dec) and January 2013 (Jan 1-6), the baht buses from Jomtien used the left-turn-before-the-overpass variation. In the evening rush hours, about 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., there were still huge delays due to the sheer volume of traffic. If the traffic lights aren't timed properly and adjusted to the actual flow of traffic, they can create the same effect as increased volume would. Evil

I believe I remember reading somewhere that Seaside had closed and was for sale. Also read Crazy Dave's was up sale, but don't know if that's correct. Best thing about the Sailor! Evil

Maybe for the same reason the homeless shelter in NYC was packed every night. Evil

The Sailor Bar and Restaurant is well-known for its cheap drinks and food. Since cheap booze in and of itself isn't a big attraction for me, I've never had a drink there and can't comment on the bar side of the business. But I have eaten twice in the restaurant and I strongly doubt there will be a third time. On the upside, it's clean, well-lighted and above all, very cheap. Some of the Thai dishes you can get for 20 or 30 baht and most farang food runs between 80 and 150 baht. The breakfast has to be one of the least expensive in Pattaya. The down

Again, excellent pics. It seems like a great place to spent a secluded holiday. Thanks for the tip. Evil

The marathon will cause havoc in traffic on Sunday and the big Buddha days on Monday and Tuesday will stop the sale of alcohol. If like other years, most bars will be closed those days. Either stock up in advance or allow your liver to make merit. Evil

Evil

More likely dontcha. Evil

Again, really nice pics. Thank you for posting! Evil

It will depend a bit on the time of day, but you're right, the side streets streets around TukCom are heavily congested with delivery vehicles at just about all hours. Evil

I'm really happy that I decided to move into central Pattaya from Jomtien. I wonder how long it will take before it's changed back again. The new routing will mean it will take two or three times longer to get by baht bus to WS from Jomtien, even if the drivers find shortcuts past TukCom to Pattaya Tai. Evil