bars | Hello from the Five Star Vagabond

Holiday Inn Seafood Buffet

December 14, 2019 by David Herd

Holiday Inn Seafood Buffet

Holiday Inn Seafood Buffet at the East Coast kitchen in the executive tower on the 6th floor. Available from Thursday night until Sunday night. Priced at B1100, very reasonable for what they offer.

Lots of seafood choices

Apart from seafood there are are a variety of Thai dishes, salads & deserts to choose from.

Oysters from Korea

I always enjoy a buffet that offers fresh oysters.

Holiday Inn Seafood Buffet

Korean oysters don’t particularly impress me, I prefer French or Australian, check out THIS LINK for lots of variety.

Barbecue prawns were delicious

Oysters to start followed by these prawns.

Delicious crab

Very fiddly to eat of course, you just need to persevere. 🙂

The busy chefs

They do a great job on the barbecue making sure everybody has plenty to eat.

There is also an indoor kitchen

When you count all the waiters & waitresses there is a huge number of polite staff looking after you.

Thai food is also available

A very good variety of food to please all pallets.

Desert to finish off an excellent dinner.

There is also lots of ice cream flavors on offer.

A choice of 2 place in the hotel for a pre dinner cocktail.

Before dinner we went to the sky bar for happy hour, two for one drinks between 5 & 7 pm are terrific value.

Holiday Inn Seafood Buffet

This is also a wonderful venue for cocktails at sunset. I’m so lucky to live only 200 meters from this fabulous hotel, I guess you could say it’s my local drinking hole. 🙂

Thanks for visiting my Holiday Inn Seafood Buffet photo blog.

Click bottom right hand corner for full screen.

Istanbul Budapest London

Mostar Dubrobnik Split

Saigon Zagreb Vung tau

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

Pattaya live webcam

9a1fec74-4461-46cd-8663-97f5893c8f6e (1)

That’s all folks

Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.

Check out these great food photo blogs.

World is my oyster

Tokyo fabulous food

Upmarket Chinese Food Sydney

Food review Pattaya Thailand

Good English restaurants

Amazing World Food

Fresh seafood Bangkok

Steakhouse New York

Korea restaurants Itaewon

Pattaya live webcam

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Fresh seafood Naklua market

December 7, 2019 by David Herd

Fresh seafood Naklua market

Fresh seafood Naklua market, it’s been 4 years since I published my blog on this lively venue, so I thought it was time to re-visit & see what changes have taken place.

The variety is amazing.

So is the crowd, better to visit mid week if you can.

Price is per kilo

I’m guessing you would get around 3 for a kilo.

Many varieties of fish

Including live fish that they will clean for you on the spot.

Fresh seafood Naklua market

Lots of fresh vegetables also on sale.

Scallops look very good.

There are so many choices, how do you make a decision on what to have for lunch? 🙂

First I’m going to try an oyster.

These are B50 each or $1.60 USD, there are also some for B40, or $1.30 USD. I can buy imported oysters from France at El Mercado in Bangkok for the same price.

Quite large as you can see

I was pleasantly surprised, very tasty even without lemon, lime or sauce.

OK, now for some fresh prawns

B270 or $9 USD a kilo, what a bargain.

Now here is the clincher…

This guy will cook your prawns or other seafood for B30 a kilo, how easy is that?

He will even supply a chair. 🙂

So you can eat the freshly cooked seafood right here. We had our prawns boiled rather than barbecued, so we decided to eat them at home after they cooled down.

Here is the result

Delicious on a fresh bread roll from Central Marina.

Fresh seafood Naklua market

They will cook fish for you as well.

So many varieties of shellfish

I’m not sure what some of these are.

I guessing this is an unusual type of prawn or shrimp.

They are quite a strange looking creature selling at B1500 a kilo, or a whopping $72 AUD.

More crab

As they say in the classics, too much crab is never enough. 🙂

Mussels

Not one of my favourites for some reason.

This is a super prawn. 🙂

Great shot, this & the next one were taken by Mike McNamee from the group Pattaya 24/7. Fairly expensive at B1300 a kilo, or $62 AUD.

Only B280 a kilo

That’s more in my price range. 🙂

That’s all for now folks.

I hope you enjoyed my Fresh seafood Naklua market photo blog.

Follow THIS LINK for my 2015 fish market blog.

Istanbul Budapest London

Mostar Dubrobnik Split

Saigon Zagreb Vung tau

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

Pattaya live webcam

That’s all folks

Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

Check out these great food photo blogs.

World is my oyster

Tokyo fabulous food

Upmarket Chinese Food Sydney

Food review Pattaya Thailand

Good English restaurants

Amazing World Food

Fresh seafood Bangkok

Steakhouse New York

Korea restaurants Itaewon

Pattaya live webcam

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Fabulous fresh seafood Bangkok

December 4, 2019 by David Herd

Fabulous fresh seafood Bangkok

Fabulous fresh seafood Bangkok, where else but El Mercado’s seafood room in their wonderful market restaurant. After I enjoyed another memorable lunch I purchased 2.5 dozen fresh oysters to take home to Pattaya.

Prawns look terrific.

In fact everything looks so fresh and appetizing.

The question is……

Where do you start? 🙂

Fabulous fresh seafood Bangkok, here is where I start.

Oysters natural from France, 6 No 4 Cancale B35 each or $1.70 AUD, & 6 No 3 Claire B55 each, or $2.66 AUD.

Price rise at el Mercado

It’s now June 2022 & the price for Fin de Clare hase jumped to B99 each.

Cultured on the French Atlantic coast, Fine de Claire is the favorite oyster of people who love less fleshy and more juicy oysters with a balanced taste. This oyster must be refined in the shallow water of the claires basins, according to a strictly stipulated number of months and a maximum limit on the number of oysters per square meter. The result is a less meaty but juicy oyster rich in water, with translucent or white mantle, an earthy flavor, smooth with an incredible lingering aftertaste.

How about this beauty?

I’m guessing it’s from Alaska.

Many types of oysters available

Most are from France but there are some Irish varieties as well.

OK, lets take some home to Pattaya.

The guys are packing up my “to go” box of 2.5 dozen.

Two nights later the feast begins on my balcony

Of course they need to be shucked, luckily my friend Hanish Elton, who I call the oyster man, has a glove & a knife we purchased in Coffin Bay South Australia a few months ago.

Here is the master shucker

I’m surprised how efficient he was, lucky he had those lessons in Coffin Bay. 🙂

My job was to pour the wine & eat the oysters.

We washed them down wit a cold New Zealand sauvignon blanc.

More than just seafood

There is a huge choice of cold cuts & cheese from all over the world. The Salami truffle was sensational.

Fabulous fresh seafood Bangkok

Here is the view from my balcony, what better place could you pick to enjoy 2.5 dozen oysters? I have eaten oysters all over the world, check THIS LINK, however this is by far the best view.

Australia has wonderful seafood, check out THIS LINK.

Thanks for visiting my Fabulous fresh seafood Bangkok photo blog. I am planning a trip to the east coast of France to indulge in an oyster feeding frenzy. 🙂

Istanbul Budapest London

Mostar Dubrobnik Split

Saigon Zagreb Vung tau

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

Pattaya live webcam

That’s all folks

Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

Everything you wanted to know about Bangkok but were afraid to ask. 🙂

Amazing shopping mall

Chinatown Bangkok

Notorious Nana Plaza

The fabulous Commons

Patpong red light district

Canal cruise long-tail boat

Spectacular Bangkok Sky Bars

Mahanakhon Sky Walk Bangkok

Jim Thompson Bangkok Museum

Soi Cowboy Bangkok

Pattaya live webcam

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Bangkok river buildings

December 3, 2019 by David Herd

Bangkok river buildings

Bangkok river buildings photographed from the Iconsiam free ferry shuttle on the Chao Phraya River. Everything from tall modern skyscrapers to ancient waterfront homes. The photo above is the State Tower which was built in 2001, it is the largest building in Southeast Asia, with 300,000 m² floor area. The building on the right is the Shangri-La hotel.

Shangri-La hotel

One of the best locations in Bangkok, 5 minutes walk to the sky train. On the right is Centre Point hotel. For a discount at the Shangri-la just use THIS LINK. The rooms in Center Point are excellent, for a discounted room rate just use THIS LINK.

Long-tail boat looking for customers.

These boats are very good for exploring the Bangkok canals. See more on THIS LINK.

The old & the new.

What a contrast we see along the Chao Phraya river, modern skyscrapers & wonderful old buildings.

The ghost building.

Often referred to as the Ghost Tower, the Sathorn Unique is an abandoned Bangkok skyscraper. Not only is it illegal to enter but it’s also in a state of dangerous disrepair. Where there’s a will there’s often a way, however, and many daring souls have slipped a “tip” to the security guards and made their way through the debris to experience an exhilarating adventure with glorious views over Sathorn’s towering buildings.

CAT Telecom Tower

This impressive office building is owned and operated by the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT). Consisting of 30 floors.

View from Iconsiam shopping mall

Great view of the CAT building with the State Tower featuring Sirocco restaurant on the far right with the gold dome.

Bangkok River Park condominium

Bangkok River Park is located at Trok Saphan Yao, Chakkrawat, Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100. Construction was completed in 1994. The condominium comprises of a single building, having 36 floors and includes 97 units.

Old waterfront homes

Such a contrast compared to the the modern high-rise buildings along this great river.

River City Bangkok shopping complex

River City opened in l984 and was the first riverside shopping complex of its kind in Bangkok. With over 47,000 sqm of space and a couple hundred retail spaces, the mall offers a wide selection of shopping choices. Its main focus is on Thai cultural articles and antiques. It does offer standard retail shopping as well. The mall also hosts a number of exhibitions, events, festivals and auctions throughout the year.

To the right is the Royal Orchard Sheraton, for an excellent room discount just book through THIS LINK.

Bangkok river buildings

Icon Siam Mall is called the “Mother of All Malls”, with 500 shops and 100 restaurants from more than 30 different countries. Developed by the same tycoons behind Siam Paragon and EmQuartier, Icon Siam offers high-end brands, an indoor floating market, an art gallery, exhibition space, and a beautiful riverside location with views of downtown Bangkok.

Thanks for visiting my Bangkok river buildings photo blog, this great city is forever changing, put it on your bucket list.

Please check out these fabulous posts

Gold Coast Pattaya Cinque Terre

Rio de Janeiro Singapore Eastern Europe

Bangkok Bars Tokyo Cape Town Safari

Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

That’s all folks

Pattaya live webcam

Everything you wanted to know about Bangkok but were afraid to ask. 🙂

Amazing shopping mall

Chinatown Bangkok

Notorious Nana Plaza

The fabulous Commons

Patpong red light district

Canal cruise long-tail boat

Spectacular Bangkok Sky Bars

Mahanakhon Sky Walk Bangkok

Jim Thompson Bangkok Museum

Soi Cowboy Bangkok

Pattaya live webcam

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Iconsiam Bangkok great food

December 1, 2019 by David Herd

Iconsiam Bangkok great food

Iconsiam Bangkok great food, however there is a problem, there are so many great places to eat it is difficult to make a decision. There is a selection of over a hundred famous restaurants from all over the world in seven different zones, each of them catering to diverse culinary tastes. The incredible choice of dishes available come from venues ranging from Michelin starred restaurants to famous Thai street food stalls.

Excellent Japanese food

Very authentic, it’s as good as you get in Tokyo. 🙂

California role, Unagi & Miso soup

Only B420 or $14 USD. Siam Takashimaya offers three zones of Japanese food venues, the ground floor features a food court and more Japanese restaurants, while cafés and bakeries from across Japan on UG floor are divided into three smaller zones named after the Japanese prefectures of Kyoto, Hokkaido and Nara.

This restaurant specializes in seafood from Hokkaido.

In fact I travelled to Sapporo in July 2018.

You gotta love food on a stick.

Lots of varieties here to choose from.

Are you taking my photo?

Yes, I certainly am, everything looks so good. 🙂

Casual dining

Another interesting casual venue.

Check out the seven dining zones.

Iconsiam Bangkok great food

So many restaurants & such little time.

Not sure what they are cooking here.

Lots of heat under that big bowel.

Something a little more formal here

As you can clearly see there are so many choices at Iconsiam, please put it one your bucket list, you will not be disappointed.

The view from the ferry

Just catch the free shuttle ferry from Sathon pier, they run every 10 minutes or so.

Thanks for visiting my Iconsiam Bangkok great food photo blog.

Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

Please check out these fabulous posts

Gold Coast Pattaya Cinque Terre

Rio de Janeiro Singapore Eastern Europe

Bangkok Bars Tokyo Cape Town Safari

Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

That’s all folks

Pattaya live webcam

Everything you wanted to know about Bangkok but were afraid to ask. 🙂
- Amazing shopping mall
- Chinatown Bangkok
- Notorious Nana Plaza
- The fabulous Commons
- Patpong red light district
- Canal cruise long-tail boat
- Spectacular Bangkok Sky Bars
- Mahanakhon Sky Walk Bangkok
- Jim Thompson Bangkok Museum
- Soi Cowboy Bangkok
- Pattaya live webcam

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Food Park Central Marina

November 17, 2019 by David Herd

Food Park Central Marina

Food Park Central Marina is a great example of eating cheap in Thailand. Only 5 minutes walk from my condo & offers a huge variety of very good fresh food.

There are so many choices here

Like most food courts you put money on a card & get your refund when you finish.

Duck is always popular

The hanging ducks are a common sight in Thailand.

Fresh seafood is available

So many choices & such little time. 🙂

Food Park Central Marina

Cooked food examples on display to tempt you.

Wonton soup

A favourite of mine & only B70 or $3.40 AUD.

Lots of skewers

The staff here are deaf, but you would never really know.

Bbq skewers

They also specialize in sausages however the skewers are world class.

Teriyaki chicken

Absolutely delicious, as good as I have ever eaten, and only B15 each or $0.70 AUD. These great skewers just melt in your mouth.

Food Park Central Marina & finish off with a Thai classic

Magnificent Mango & Sticky Rice. Certainly one of Thailand’s iconic dishes.

Sadly now in October 2020 we are in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis & 80% of the outlets here at the Food Park have closed. I really can’t see them re-opening until mid 2021.

If you have the time please check out some of my favourite restaurants, just follow THIS LINK.

Thanks for visiting my photo blog. For a selection of cheap places to eat just follow THIS LINK.

Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

Please check out these fabulous posts

Gold Coast Pattaya Cinque Terre

Rio de Janeiro Singapore Eastern Europe

Bangkok Bars Tokyo Cape Town Safari

Great hotel room rates anywhere in the world if you book

through these links below. Book now & pay later.

Free Cancellation.

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

That’s all folks

Pattaya live webcam

Soapy Massage Pattaya Bangkok

Hawker Chan Hollys Coffee

Le Bordeaux Pattaya Restaurant

Flashback Sydenham Cellars

Art of desert Pattaya

Breakfast Bake n’ Brew

Food review Pattaya 2020

Pattaya live webcam

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Flow Cafe Holiday Inn Pattaya

August 31, 2019 by David Herd

Flow Cafe Holiday Inn

Flow Cafe Holiday Inn Pattaya is my usual venue for afternoon coffee, only a 150 meter walk from my condo at Markland in Beach Rd. The shot above is the hotel reception, turn left to fond the Flow Cafe Holiday Inn.

Terrific cakes & pastries.

Also meat pies, sandwiches & sausage rolls, and excellent coffee of course.

So many choices….

And such little time. 🙂

My favourite waitress

This lovely lady with the gorgeous smile is Opor, that’s the shortened version of her name, she always makes me a special coffee. 🙂

How sweet is this?

Opor takes great pride in her work. 🙂

Luckily I get a 25% discount.

For a small cost you can get a “Hi Club” Card which gives you the discount on food & beverage except for the specials.

Other hotel specials

Happy hour every day between 5 & 7pm.

Pizza happy hour

In fact they ate my favourite pizzas in Pattaya.

There are specials every day.

Every day is a good day at the Holiday Inn Pattaya.

Flow Cafe Holiday Inn

Thanks for visiting my Flow Cafe Holiday Inn photo blog, you will find me there most days around 3 pm. 🙂

Something different

It tasted as good as it looked, very healthy indeed. 🙂

New sandwich system

Instead of ready made sandwiches you now order from this list.

Click bottom right hand corner for full screen.

Holiday Inn

Fabulous views, excellent restaurants & a very good room rate if you book through THIS LINK.

The building in the middle is the Holiday Inn, on the left is the Amari Hotel which is another very good five star hotel. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good room rate.

Sabai Wing North Pattaya

The best Pattaya budget hotel, 3 pools & opposite Central Marina shopping mall. For a great room rate just book through THIS LINK.

Sutus Court is a great budget hotel right i the heart of one of Pattaya’s main bar areas, just use THIS LINK for a terrific room rate. 420/100 Moo 9 Soi Buakhao.

Pattaya Hilton

This is the view from Horizons the amazing rooftop bar. A great five star hotel located opposte the beach & above the Central Festival shopping mall. Just book through THIS LINK for an excellent room rate.

Soi Cowboy Nana Plaza Patpong

For London & UK hotels there are great discounts through this link.

Here are some of my most popular posts.

Pattaya live webcam

Beautiful Brazilian beach babes

Copacabana beautiful beach babes

Nana Plaza Bangkok sex sin sleaze

Sexy Cherry Bar babes Pattaya Thailand

Tim Bristow Iron-Bar Freddy Tropical Joe

Atlantic Bar North Pattaya

Sexy Soi Cowboy Bangkok

Beautiful Budapest

Australian seafood

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Beachfront restaurant Pattaya

August 24, 2019 by David Herd

Beachfront restaurant Pattaya

Beachfront restaurant Pattaya is aptly named Surf & Turf & is rated number 100 out of 1187 restaurants in Pattaya. For far better food photographs than in this post just check out THIS LINK for my previous Surf & Turf photo blog.

Location

On the beach next door to the Long Beach Garden Hotel.

Beachfront restaurant Pattaya

A fairly ordinary front entrance.

Air conditioned inside section

It’s much nicer inside which you can clearly see.

Catering for the smokers

The further away from me the better. 🙂

Inside in the aircon.

Especially during the day the front area beside the beach is the most popular part of the restaurant.

Another outdoor area

There is quite a number of different sections in this popular Beachfront restaurant Pattaya.

This is the beachside section

No aircon but they have plenty of fans & there is usually a beautiful breeze coming off the ocean.

An unusual dish

My friend ordered snapper, as you can see the portion was rather small & there was a skewer of beef with it.

Here is the seared tuna

Rather delicious.

Chicken Satay

The peanut sauce was excellent.

Oysters from France

Delicious, rather expensive here, around B500 or $24 AUD for 6, double what I pay at El Mercado in Bangkok.

My 2 Australian friends

Ian Fraser-Smith & David Robertson from the Gold Coast in Australia are regular visitors to Pattaya. They were both impressed with the food at the Surf & Turf.

For far better food photographs than in this post please check out THIS LINK for my previous Surf & Turf photo blog.

Thanks for visiting my Beachfront restaurant Pattaya photo blog, Surf & Turf has good food in a great seaside location.

Click bottom right hand corner for full screen. There is also a zoom facility.

Zagreb Croatia Rio de Janeiro Brisbane River

Koh Samui Korea London

Bangkok Osaka Pattaya

Chiang Mai Pattaya Chao Phraya river

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

Pattaya live webcam

That’s all folks

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Pattaya coffee shop review

August 18, 2019 by David Herd

Pattaya coffee shop review

Pattaya coffee shop review from my perspective. These are the venues where I choose to spend my time and money. 🙂

The photo above is the Coffee Club at Markland on Beach Rd, this in fact was opening day on 31-8-2018. It closed permanently 2 years later.

Coffee Club Eggs Benedict.

Good quality food & coffee but far too expensive. For instance the equivalent of a Starbucks tall latte is B146 or $6.97 AUD, at Starbucks you pay B115 or $5.50 AUD. Even though they have a branch in my condo building I generally walk 200 meters to the Holiday Inn where I only pay B113.

Smiling faces at Flow in the Holiday Inn.

The staff here are very friendly & the food & coffee is excellent. The large coffee is B150 which is what you would expect for a 5 star hotel. However as I’m a member of the Hi Club I get a 25% discount which brings the cost down to B113.

Pattaya coffee shop review, how nice is this?

Coffee art at the Holiday Inn. 🙂

Pastry Addiction next door the Hard Rock Hotel.

An excellent up market coffee shop on Beach Road.

Breakfast at Pastry Addiction

Good food, coffee & decor.

Bon cafe in Naklua Rd

Certainly has one of the best value breakfasts in Pattaya, B185 including excellent coffee.

Bon Cafe coffee machines

Bon Cafe import coffee machines from many countries around the world for including Italy, Switzerland, Spain, the United States of America, and other countries to satisfy their various types of customers.

Starbucks, my favourite coffee shop in Pattaya

Around 5 days a week I am at Central Marina or the Bay in Beach Road. The lovely girls put a candle in my croissant for my birthday. 🙂

My Starbucks breakfast of choice

Accompanied by a tall latte of course. Starbucks sell 4 BILLION cups annually. Which (divided by 365 days) means that roughly 10,958,904 cups sold daily between ALL Starbucks locations. So we are talking about 388 cups of espresso and/or coffee drinks daily on average per store globally.

This is Boonthavorn

Surprisingly they have the best value coffee in Pattaya. They are on Sukhumvit Rd,see the map below.

Just inside the front entrance on the left.

Top quality coffee for only B30, or $1.40 AUD.

The Bay center on Beach Road

Good value coffee in a pleasant atmosphere.

Location

Many thanks for visiting my Pattaya coffee shop review photo blog.

Click bottom right hand corner for full screen.

Zagreb Croatia Rio de Janeiro Brisbane River

Koh Samui Korea London

Bangkok Osaka Pattaya

Chiang Mai Pattaya Chao Phraya river

Bangkok Hotels Pattaya Hotels

Brazil Hotels

Pattaya live webcam

That’s all folks

Soapy Massage Pattaya Bangkok

Spectacular Bangkok Sky Bars

Fresh seafood Bangkok

Pattaya live webcam

Hawker Chan Hollys Coffee

Le Bordeaux Pattaya Restaurant

Flashback Sydenham Cellars

Art of desert Pattaya

Breakfast Bake n’ Brew

Food review Pattaya 2020

Counter only started June 16 2020.

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Starbucks Pattaya every morning

July 28, 2019 by David Herd

Starbucks Pattaya every morning

Starbucks Pattaya every morning is a perfect start to my day. Not just the excellent coffee, the friendly smiling staff always put me in a positive mood. Above is the branch at The Bay on Beach Road Pattaya between Soi 5 & Soi 6.