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.
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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.
This is not a travel blog, it is part of my personal photo history, you may describe it as the melancholy musings of an old man. My answer to that is simple, it’s far better to be a “has been” than a “never was”. 🙂
Pretty woman stop awhile, Pretty woman talk awhile, Pretty woman give your smile to me, Pretty woman yeah, yeah, yeah, Pretty woman look my way, Pretty woman say you’ll stay with me, ‘Cause I need you, I’ll treat you right, Come with me baby, be mine tonight. It seems fitting looking back on a random selection of some of the Pretty women I have been lucky enough to know, that Roy Orbison should help me recall some of those wonderful memories.
That’s Karen Smith in 1985, my 3rd & last fiancee, I have never known a nicer girl.
Carol Aboud in 1978
This was taken on my birthday which fell on 7-7-77, Carol & I were an item (on & off) for around 4 years.
Sing it for me Neil. 🙂
Carolyn Clark 1994
I still see Carolyn when I’m on the Gold Coast, in fact in July 2019 we made a little promotional video for her boyfriend Andy Sims.
Next we have Glenn Frey sing a beautiful song, ok I know the song is Caroline as opposed to Carolyn, but you get the picture.
Now this definitely is a pretty woman.
Kelly Davis hailed from Tasmania, we knocked around together for a few months in 1991.
Kelly was a huge fan of Van Morrison so here is another one of my favourites.
One of the sexiest of all the girls I knew.
There is something about those Kiwi girls, hot, hot, hot. Karen Greenwood & I had an on & off relationship for over a year in 1991. She stuck around mainly because I lent her a car. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Now here we have a real wild child.
Allison Schroeder, 18 years of age & gorgeous. Of course I was only 45 at the time. 🙂 If I remember correctly I promised her the world & bought her an atlas. 🙂
As they say in the classics, I was having the time of my life. 🙂
Allison was wild but Tanya was crazy. 🙂
Great company sober, but give her a couple of drinks too many & she would turn into a nightmare. This was 1989 on the Gold Coast.
Time to feature a triple treat.
Meet Kitty, Di Parko & Helen Burke, before you ask the answer is yes. 🙂
They don’t come any hotter than Donna Turner.
This was 1996 & she still looks fabulous today in 2019.
Marlene Cuthbert
Around 1983 Marlene worked for Ansett Airlines, she had a very sexy voice on a microphone, that’s why Ansett used her to make all the announcements at mascot airport. 🙂
Looking back I sometimes regret I chose Karen Smith to be my 3rd fiancee instead of Marlene. Don’t get me wrong, Karen was one of the nicest person I ever knew, our personalities were at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Lee Gregory was my 2nd fiancee.
Lee was from Adelaide where met, then we reconnected again in Melbourne in 1974. We had a fairly hectic dramatic short time together, travelled to Singapore & Bali & saw Frank Sinatra in concert in Melbourne on my birthday 7-7-74.
This is one of my all time Sinatra favourites, I can think of no better song to play when I think of Lee.
And they did…..
Teresa Hamilton-Smith & Helen Burke, we had a lot of fun together in 1982 & 1983.
Barbara Manneli aka the Gypsy.
The classic island romance, we celebrated the millennium on Koh Samui, 3 months later I flew to Italy to re-kindle the affair. Guess what? I didn’t make 1st base. 🙂
This one’s for you Gypsy.
Tall & tanned & young & lovely
This is Mel, we me on Copacabana beach, she had green eyes & was 6′ tall, say no more. 🙂
Bebel Gilberto will sing the song for us.
Someones knocking at the door.
Do me a favour open the door & let em in.
This is Emily at the Sheraton Mirage.
Was a Gold Coast meter maid.
Then there was Jill….
Cool, sexy & a lot of fun. Last time I saw her was in Sydney in 2102.
Back to the 60s
Veronica Crocker was my 2nd serious girlfriend, we dated for a couple of years when I was a teenager until the wanderlust took hold of me & at the ripe old age of 20 I sailed to England.
Dion DiMucci was a huge artist in the 60s, here are two of his songs. Both bring back great memories of my time with Veronica.
Teenager in Love
Take good care of my Baby
My first serious girlfriend
What incredible memories I have of this gorgeous girl Elizabeth Wiggington, better known as Beth. She lived on the corner of Wellington Rd & Antwerp St & I would ride my bike 3.3 Km from my home at 58 Kihilla Rd. It was much easier when I got my drivers licence & bought my little Morris Minor, except for the night I was driving home from her house & collided with a horse on Cumberland Rd. 🙂
Now here is one of the reasons I love Facebook, it was 1960 when we were together for 1 to 1.5 years, then I never really saw her again. It’s now September 2019, 59 years later & we have re-connected on Facebook, in fact Beth sent me quite a few photos, because way back then for some stupid teenage reason I had torn up all the ones I owned. 🙂
Johnny Burnette can remind us how it was back then.
The old shipboard romance.
I needed to get over my long romance with Veronica & Leanne Scott on the ship to England seemed like the perfect solution. 🙂
Sing it for me Bobby……
Wendy Winspear, tall & gorgeous.
A lovely Dutch girl on the Gold Coast, sadly she passed away far too young around 2017, RIP.
My first fiancee, Melbourne 1970.
Paula Wills was an Adelaide girl living in Melbourne & working as a an hostess for Ansett. After 3 months living together I think we just ran out of things to say.
Dianne Parkinson in 1975
To say Parko bought some dramas into my life is a gross understatement. Read about some of it on THIS LINK.
The sweetest Diane of them all.
Adelaide 1973 Diane Butson was one of my neighbours in a condo block on Anzac Highway. She was a dance instructor at Arthur Murray dance studio. A great girl & absolutely gorgeous. Follow THIS LINK for more old photos.
Great song from the Bachelors in 1964.
The Bachelors ~ Diane ~ 1964
Another beautiful Adelaide girl.
Jan Seagers was another neighbour, we had some terrific times together. We caught up again in 2015, I had not seen her for 40 years. Check out THIS LINK.
Pretty woman stop awhile
Helen Burke from Melbourne, we really had some fun, played backgammon all through Hawaii & the California coast in 1982.
Linda Ronstadt will tell you about the coast.
Well by now you are bored silly by the memories & musings of an old man. But make no mistake, Glenn Frey will describe exactly how I feel today.
Surfing Duranbah Beach Australia which is officially known as Flagstaff Beach, is the northernmost beach in New South Wales. It’s at the mouth of the Tweed River and the rocky headland Point Danger, which also marks the Queensland-New South Wales border.
Sand transport system
The Project is a sand transport system that collects sand from the southern side of the Tweed River entrance at Letitia Spit, and pumps it under the river to outlets on the northern side. From there the sand is transported by waves and currents to nourish the southern Gold Coast beaches.
Great view of the beach
We are standing on a cliff in QLD looking across Flagstaff Beach to NSW.
Surfers waiting for a wave.
There seems to be many personal and indescribable experiences in their lives that keeps them paddling out again & again. Plus the willingness to wait for them often defines a surfer more than his or her individual ability.
Bring it on.
The waiting is really worth it.
Everyone loves the beach
Not just surfers, kids with their mums & dogs as well. 🙂
My friends from England
Joan Baptist & Bill Austin from Wiltshire visited Australia in 2010 & naturally I took them sightseeing along the coast. The following week we drove down to Sydney.
They actually got married in England yesterday August 3 2019 after being together for over 20 years.
Surfing Duranbah Beach Australia
It’s not just the board-riders who love to surf. Kite-boarding is an action sport combining aspects of wake-boarding, snowboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, skateboarding and sailing into one extreme sport. A kite-boarder harnesses the power of the wind with a large controllable power kite to be propelled across the water, land, or snow. Wikipedia
Surfing Duranbah Beach Australia
I’m guessing he is heading for a cold beer.
OK, I’ll meet you at the pub. 🙂
This is what the Beach Boys call a “surfer girl”.
Thanks for visiting my Surfing Duranbah Beach Australia photo blog.
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.
Drifters Beach Cafe Pattaya, or to be more exact, it’s in the Sattahip District which is a twenty minute drive from Central Pattaya. Actually it’s hard to know if you are in Barbados, Brazil or Thailand. 🙂
The best beach bar in Pattaya
What a terrific unique establishment, they offer a large selection of food including wood fired pizzas, meat pies & burgers.
Watch the sunset
David Robertson from Australia
Such a unique beach shack.
Drifters Beach Cafe
Brad Robbins from Townsville.
Drifters Beach Cafe Pattaya
Thanks for visiting my Drifters Beach Cafe Pattaya photo blog, put this unique beach bar on your bucket list.
Vientiane excellent coffee shops were right around the corner from our hotel. They were every bit as good or better than I expected. The shot above is the cafe next door to Le Trio, I believe it is either part of the same business, or simply a shop who they sell their coffee to.
LE TRIO COFFEE
The first ’boutique roaster’ in Vientiane, they source ethical beans from local Lao producers and use only Robusta and Arabica beans, using a magnificent German roasting machine to make their coffee.
There are only 2 stools to sit at here.
I guess that’s why they send you next door. 🙂
Vientiane excellent coffee shops
Coffee does not get any better than this.
Many other coffee shops in Laos buy coffee beans from Le Trio to make their own coffee, showing just how powerful their blend is.
Joma is very popular among expats and travellers & has two locations in Vientiane. As well as their drinks, they serve great sandwiches, pastries, quiche, muesli, bagels and fruit shakes. It’s an excellent place to go to if you seek the taste of Western food. The mango pudding in the photo was absolutely magnificent.
Joma
Joma was founded by Canadians in Laos and now has 12 stores in three countries, including Cambodia and Vietnam. I must say it was very similar to a Starbucks.
We stayed at the Bloom Boutique Hotel.
These great coffee shops were only about 50 metres from our hotel. I would certainly recommend the Bloom Boutique Hotel, excellent rooms, friendly staff & a great breakfast. Use THIS LINK to book for a very good discount.
Sinouk Coffee Night Market
Small restaurant/bar at the corner of the street, you can watch the crowds pass by at night on the way to the night market.
Thanks for visiting my Vientiane excellent coffee shops 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.
Taxi tour discovering Vientiane in Laos only cost us $10 USD for an hour of sightseeing. This is the capital city with a population of only 783,000 in a country of 6.858 million.
The photo above is Pha That Luang, a gold-covered large Buddhist stupa in the centre of the city of Vientiane. Initially established in the 3rd century, the stupa has undergone several reconstructions, as recently as the 1930s due to foreign invasions of the area. Wikipedia
Temple near our hotel
In fact it was virtually in the same street as the Bloom Boutique Hotel, we would walk through it to get to the riverside.
Lets take a closer view.
Like many cities in Thailand there seems to be temples everywhere.
We did not spend too much time in the temples.
Our focus was more on the bars & restaurants. 🙂
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.
Patuxai is a war monument
Built between 1957 and 1968. The Patuxai was dedicated to those who fought in the struggle for independence from France. In romanising the name from the Laotian language, it is variously translated as Patuxai, Patuxay, Patousai and Patusai. Wikipedia
Meet the jolly jumbo
Made out of porcelain plates, saucers, cups etc. I have no idea what it stands for. 🙂
Rather spectacular.
It really is a fantastic monument.
Thai bank in Vientiane
I actually have an account at Kasikorn Bank.
This is what you need for a road trip. 🙂
Gotta be the most famous bike in the world.
King Anouvong Statue
Chao Anouvong (1767-1829), or Chao Anou for short, was the last king of the former Lao kingdom of Lane Xang. He ruled from 1805 to 1828 in Vientiane and came to power after his brother’s death. Chao Anouvong had long been an ally of the Thai monarchs against Burmese invaders but unfortunately his accomplishments and support of the Thai kingdom was not well recognized. From 1826 to 1828 Chao Anouvong rebelled against Siam in an attempt to gain independence from Siam.
Thanks for visiting my Taxi tour discovering Vientiane photo blog.
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. 🙂