New Soho Town Pattaya is an extension of the original food market. The entrance is around the corner in Pattayasaisong 1 Alley, however it connects with the original market area with both venues forming an L shape, so you can simply climb the stairs at the rear of Soho Village & turn left at the temple.
It will need promotion
The original market is extremely busy every night but this section was almost deserted when I dined there September 30 2019.
Lots of cooking stations
In fact more cooking stations than people at this early stage.
Entertainment was very good
The singer had a nice voice & the volume thankfully was not too loud.
I chose this Saigon kitchen
The food ranged from average to very good.
Interesting prawn & noodle soup
It looked far better than it tasted, sadly it was rather bland but the prawns were good.
A mixed result here
The chicken skewers at B10 or .48 AUD each were excellent, the other small rolls were only average. I will certainly return just for the skewers alone. 🙂
I did return 4 days later.
Enjoyed 4 chicken skewers then took home another 6 for a total cost of B100, or $4.80 AUD.
New Soho Town Pattaya
At the moment the staff converge upon you as you arrive due to a lack of customers, no doubt people will come once they know New Soho Town Pattaya exists.
The Temple
Take off your shoes if you are using the stairs.
This guy is very impressive.
I’m guessing it’s a Chinese serpent. 🙂
From another angle. 🙂
With the temple in the background.
Thanks for visiting my New Soho Town Pattaya photo blog. I will return soon, it’s only six or seven minutes walk from where I live in Soi one. Just head for the black circle.
Tough times Thailand 2019 on two fronts, first we have Thai immigration making it more difficult for expats to live in this wonderful country, secondly the exchange rate for Thai Baht to the Aussie dollar (and other currencies) is hitting rock bottom.
The following 2 charts will highlight the situation.
This is not a travel blog, it is part of my personal photo history.
This photo blog covers from July 1st to December 31, for the first 6 months of 2019 please go to THIS LINK.
Australian $ to Thai Baht
In 2012 there was 33 Baht to the dollar, today it’s 21.
Australian term deposit rates
In 2012 they were over 5%, today it’s a miserable 1.5%.
Rising costs for food etc
Five years ago in 2014 this selection cost $72 AUD, today it would be $98 Aud, one of the reasons Thailand has become less attractive for expats.
Life is still very good in Thailand
Just ask my good friend Hamish, he hasn’t a care in the world. 🙂
Most afternoons I tear myself away from the computer & enjoy an afternoon coffee.
A small tip for a little lady
I often give this nice lady a B20 tip when I see her of a morning sweeping the road at Terminal 21, it’s just under $1 AUD. She gets so excited you would think it’s 200. 🙂 I’m guessing they don’t get paid too much.
Love watching the storms roll in
So exciting when the storms roll in over Pattaya Bay.
There’s nothing like a September sunset.
I was sipping a red wine at the Holiday Inn watching this magnificent sunset.
Doug Burrows, Bill Perry, David Herd, Brian Rawnsley & Shane Andrews. Shane is here for some major dental work which is around 1/3 of the cost in Australia.
Fusillo Italian restaurant
A nice evening with Matt Harkness & is girlfriend Bow.
Spaghetti seafood
Fusillo is in Naklua Rd, what a great looking dish.
From floor 22 in Markland. For more magnificent sunsets follow THIS LINK.
A super cloud
This was 8 am on the morning of October 13, the previous shot was 6.15 pm the same day.
Halloween
Lola, Nina & Lucky playing trick or treat. I anticipated the visit & stocked up on lollies etc.
The boys from Oz
Shane Andrews, Bill Perry & Greg Caldwell were here for some major dental work. According to Greg he paid 55,000 Baht or $2650 AUD for 1 x Implant – 1 x Root canal – 2 x removals and a complete clean which took 2 hours’ in the chair.
Holly’s coffee at Terminal 21.
helping me maintain my 112 kilos.
Tough times Thailand with high levels of pollution in Pattaya
The unhealthy haze from farmers burning their crops in Thailand & neighboring countries.
Thailand is the least miserable country
Australia comes in at 54th. 🙂
Let’s talk about convenience, I often wonder what it would be like living in Australia again. I ask my friends on the Gold Coast to imagine if they could walk from their home to Robina Town Centre, Southport Park & Pacific Fair in less than 12 minutes? How convenient would that be?
Well folks, that’s what I can do in Pattaya, add to that the 6 five star hotels also within 12 minutes of where I live. All with terrific restaurants & coffee shops.
Plus I have a 24 hour supermarket, chemist & The Coffee Club on the ground floor of the condo where I live on the 20th floor with a view to die for. I probably should mention the 200+ restaurants & food courts also within 10 minutes walk.
Convenience folks, are you getting the picture? 🙂
The burning question is, could I be happy living in Australia again?
Cruise ship visits Pattaya
December 7 & a cruise liner anchors in Pattaya Bay.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fuji Japanese Restaurant returns to Central Marina shopping mall in Pattaya. It has not operated there since before the major renovations took place in 2017. The food is still a very high standard however I think the prices may have risen slightly. 🙂
Super decor
Excellent staff as usual, plus the food is top quality & reasonably priced.
Red hot opening special
Only 240 Baht or $7.80 USD including a miso soup.
The old favourites are still on the menu.
Central Marina is only 5 minutes walk from my apartment, & 2 minutes from the Atlantic Bar, so I dine there 4 or 5 times a week. There are several excellent Japanese restaurants apart from Fuji, in particular I recommend Miyayzaki.
California Roll
Certainly one of my all time favourites at Fuji, I must say I love any dish that includes avocado. Please take a look at one of my Japanese blogs, in particular take note of the baked avocado.
A perfect combination
We are so lucky in Pattaya to have many very good Japanese restaurants.
Fuji Japanese Restaurant returns
Japan is my favourite for travel & food so I consider myself very lucky to have so many choices here in Pattaya for top quality Japanese food.
So glad Fuji is back
Thanks for visiting my Fuji Japanese Restaurant returns photo blog.
At Central Festival December 2021
Gyoza, cooked to perfection.
Sadly now in December 2021 we are in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis & 50% of the outlets here at Central marina, the Food Park & Central Festival have closed. I really can’t see them re-opening until mid 2022.
If you have the time please check out some of my favourite restaurants, just follow THIS LINK.
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.
The Bay Beach Road
Let’s go to Starbucks & stare at our phones. 🙂
Opening day at the Bay
September 22 2015.
My breakfast of choice.
Ham & cheese croissant with a tall latte. B240 or $7.8 USD
There are two Starbucks at Central Festival
That makes 4 within 10 minutes walk from my condo.
Inside Central Festival branch
Quite an attractive fit out.
A birthday candle for me. 🙂
As I mentioned earlier the smiles on girls are a really nice start for the day.
Sometimes they run out of croissants.
So I settle for a sandwich. 🙂
Starbucks Pattaya every morning
Every 12 coffee is free if you have a Starbucks card so I often take one home for later. Also they often have a two for one offer.
Almond croissant
A nice alternative to the ham & cheese.
Mr Donuts
Starbucks change B115 for a latte, here at Mr Donuts I paid B93 for what you see.
Xmas day 2021
Two of the lovely girls who look after me every day. 🙂
Thanks for visiting my Starbucks Pattaya every morning photo blog.
Good restaurants Vientiane Laos and terrific coffee shops. You won’t go hungry in this nice city. I was with my friend from Australia Tony Murphy & we both really enjoyed the food & wide choice of restaurants.
Pimenton was one of the best.
TripAdvisor rate this establishment 6 out of 424 restaurants in Vientiane.
Tony chose duck prosciutto
Very tasty & well presented.
A vegetable side dish.
I can’t remember what it was, but it was certainly colourful. 🙂
I chose the pork ribs.
Very tender & tasty indeed.
Good restaurants Vientiane Laos
Red wine & service was excellent & deserved it’s high rating.
Cafe Sinouk
Very good value here, I had a hamburger & 3 glasses of red wine for around $17 AUD.
Hamburger at Sinouk.
To be fair it was not a great hamburger, I would rate it about 6.5 out of 10.
Excellent French food at L’Adress
A TripAdvisor rating of 18 out of 424 restaurants in Vientiane seemed too low to me. The food & service was excellent, I’m surprised it’s not in the top 10.
I chose the spinach soup as an entree.
Very good, I would rate it 8.5 out of 10.
Main course was beef liver.
Different to what I would normally order, however it was on the “specials list” at a very good price. Tasted fine & very French. 🙂
Caesar salad for Tony.
It tasted as good as it looks.
Escargot & scrambled eggs.
Now this is what I call a very interesting creation. 🙂
We stayed at the Bloom Boutique Hotel.
I would like to recommend the Bloom Boutique Hotel, excellent rooms, friendly staff & a great breakfast. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good discount.
Thanks for visiting my Good restaurants Vientiane Laos photo blog. We took a taxi for an hour ($10 USD) to check out the city, follow THIS LINK to see some of the sights.
Bloom Boutique Hotel Vientiane in Laos was a pleasure to visit. I would happily recommend the Bloom Boutique Hotel, excellent rooms, friendly staff & a great breakfast. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good discount.
The restaurant
The restaurant is on the 1st floor & reception is on the 2nd floor.
The bed was huge
Please disregard the horrible sight in the mirror, although I realize it is very hard to un-see something. 🙂
Bathroom was excellent
Plus the shower was perfect, which is often not the case in many hotels.
Lets talk about the breakfast.
In my opinion the breakfast was one of the best I have had in any hotel. Forget the buffet style, the breakfast here is excellent. A choice of fried eggs or omelette, toast or baguette, salad or veggies, coffee or tea, yogurt or fruit.
Fried eggs for a change.
Out of the two the omelette was the best. 🙂 Plus the veggies were excellent.
Bloom Boutique Hotel Vientiane, very nice decor
Their decorator should be congratulated. Those craft items on the table were for sale.
I would visit again just for the breakfast. 🙂
Don’t forget to use THIS LINK to book for a very good discount.
Bloom Boutique Hotel Vientiane
Here is all the hotel staff enjoying a special lunch to celebrate Songkran, the Lao New Year celebration.
After lunch they all get wet.
They celebrated for hours at the Bloom Boutique Hotel Vientiane.
Vientiane is Laos’ national capital, it mixes French-colonial architecture with Buddhist temples such as the golden, 16th-century Pha That Luang, which is a national symbol. Along broad boulevards and tree-lined streets are many notable shrines including Wat Si Saket, which features thousands of Buddha images, and Wat Si Muang, built atop a Hindu shrine.
MYTT Hotel Pattaya Thailand is part of the A-One hotel group & is located in Soi 3. I watched the whole construction process from my condo in Markland one street away in Soi 1.
Spectacular entrance
As you can clearly see it’s a stunning foyer.
The view from my condo
I’m on the 20th floor of Markland in Soi one & the MYTT is in Soi two.
Here is the building site.
It was quite a radical change to Soi 2.
The Kitch restaurant
Many people may find the name is a rather poor choice, here is the meaning courtesy of Google; “Kitsch is art that’s garish, nostalgic, and very low-brow. Some people who love the aesthetics of souvenir culture think kitsch is really cool, while others think it’s in very poor taste. Kitsch is a German word that’s been adopted into English, meaning“worthless, trashy art,” or the quality of that art.”
Swish may have been a better name.
Kitch may be short for kitchen, but it’s pronounced the same as kitsch. Swish means impressively smart and fashionable, which the restaurant certainly is. 🙂
Live lobsters
The following is from their website; Seafood Buffet Dinner Promotion • 2,500 THB per person includes unlimited Lobster(serve half of the Lobster at once). Not include a beverage. • 3,000 THB per person includes unlimited Lobster (serve half of the Lobster at once) and also beverage (Alcohol included) Special discount for you to add Line @:MYTTHOTEL or check on Facebook. Please kindly contact MYTT Hotel Pattaya Thailand directly to get the special discount.
Sky Bar on the 19th floor
A nice atmosphere with a great view, far too expensive for my budget however. A Singha beer is B220 or $9.80 AUD. Most of the beer bars in Pattaya sell it between B65 & B85.
At last they have a “special”.
They invite you to join them every Friday for 99 Be Mine – where 99 Baht gets you a glass of wine, a pint of beer or 3 in 1 Tapas.
Small intimate bar
Two DJs were playing fairly loud music, as they do in Thailand. 🙂
Final feast Mantra Pattaya Sunday brunch with friends, I have so many memories of great moments in the last 12 years at this wonderful restaurant. This photo blog features many of the long lunches dating back to 2007.
We are going to miss the fabulous food.
Alaskan crab & oysters from France have always been my favourite at the Mantra Sunday brunch. Having said that I must admit the quality has been going down slightly in the last 2 or 3 years. I apologize for this criticism just their standards were always so high I guess they were hard to maintain.
The seafood section.
I would always ask to be seated near the seafood & sushi. 🙂
Final feast Mantra Pattaya, lets not forget the cold Sake. 🙂
Included in the price of the buffet, so I would always take full advantage of this special.
My friend from Sydney Roland Bonnici.
Roland loves dining out & the Mantra was his favourite Pattaya restaurant. This visit was a week before it closed on February 10 2019.
From the Chinese kitchen.
Pork Belly, roast pork & duck, delicious.
A favourite dish
From the Chinese wok the beef & onion creation just melts in your mouth.
Wonderful decor
The Mantra featured 7 different kitchens.
Lets look at previous years, 2007 Trevor & Nui.
Trevor hails from Western Australia & spends lots of time in Pattaya.
This was 2008.
Nick Partridge from the Gold Coast & his lovely lady Sharron have been Mantra fans since the beginning.
Big group in 2010
At the back is Trevor & his son Cameron + xxx, then myself, my brother Warren, Nok & Phil Avalon, & at the front we have Greg Johnston & Herbie Pastor.
Big birthday with lots of friends.
No better place to celebrate than the Mantra.
Beautiful Benjamas Sitthi
Ben now works at the Avani Hotel adjacent to Royal Gardens.
Before Ben there was Amy
Amy really knew how to make you feel welcome.
Another birthday in 2009.
I remember this one very well, my great Phil Thomson from Australia bought his 21 yo son Michael to Pattaya as part of his introduction to life in the fast lane. 🙂
March 2012.
Another super Sunday.
February 2010
On the left is my brother Warren & Bill Austin & Joan Baptiste from Wiltshire in England.
Xmas with Yaowaluck Bumrungthum aka Kartoon
For Xmas day lunch the Mantra was always our choice.
How could we forget Pothole aka John Martin.
We call him Pothole Bin Ladin the mouse of Markland. A flashback to Potholes birthday, aka John David Martin, at the Mantra in 2013 when love was sweet.
Allan & Vicki Chiswick from Sydney.
Laem Chabang Their cruise ship spent 24 hours at Laem Chabang so they hightailed to the Mantra. 🙂
Putting on the Ritz
Finally here are some of the glamorous Mantra girls putting on the Ritz.
Check out three previous Mantra photo blogs here. Number one,
& link number 2,
Many thanks for visiting my Final feast Mantra Pattaya photo blog.
