ith its neon lights, beaches, golf courses, range of shopping and warm tropical climate it is hardly surprising Pattaya attracts tourists from all over the world. Pattaya is also home to many expats here year on year. Put these two factors into the mixing pot and it equates to a restaurant for every nationality to cater for the demand and variety of consumer.
Staying in Pratamanak, and arguably the best restaurant in town, is the French restaurant ‘Au Bon Coin’. The ambience is like nothing seen in Pattaya before and you will be hard pushed to find it and may even drive past it, its pretty much next door to Laguna Bay Condominium.
This gives all of us the opportunity to enjoy something new to tantalize our palettes every day of the week, and then some. Plus you can eat five-star or you can eat simply, we are spoiled for choice and lets feel grateful that there are over 18 Tonys Fitness Centres in this town to keep our waist line in check! Lets start our journey at the Soul Restaurant and Bar in Soi 4 Pratamanak that offers both Russian and European dishes; for any of you yet to sample a Russian meal go and give it a try as its very tasty. Do try their Sangria too which they lay claim to serving the best in town, plus they have a selection of breakfasts from the traditional English to a more healthy nutritious option which are both only 99 baht each.
Au Bon Coin Staying with fine dining, if you are looking for elegant European dining of steaks and wine then do try ‘Café des Amis’ at the bottom of Soi 11 off Thappraya road. All their meat and steaks are imported and never frozen; plus they boast a very cosy yet sophisticated environment.
Cafe des Amis
Soul Restaurant & Bar
East Pattaya in recent years has drastically improved its dining options and being located in an expat rather than tourist area the prices tend to be very keen. On Soi Khao Noi you must try the ‘Noisy Cow’ they offer just about every popular European dish you can imagine from chicken kebab, sausage and mash, curry to the regular sandwich. The food is of a great standard and the price is typically between 110 and 150 baht per meal. P. 6
Friendly staff at the Punch & Judy Pub
Thai Garden Resort
If you want something a little different then on the 4th floor in Central Festival Shopping Centre there is a highly tasty Lebanese restaurant serving us lamb kebabs, BBQ chicken and humus. They have an outside terrace where you can watch the sun set over Pattaya bay. Prices are very good; this writer is a regular visitor to this restaurant!
Pizza, BBQ to pasta. You also get to enjoy that holiday experience as you sit around their lagoon pool and enjoy live music at your table. At 399 baht per person it represents very good value.
If you are looking for a wonderful Sunday Lunch then check out the Punch and Judy pub on Soi 8 off Thepprasit road, it is considered by many to be the best in town. Like a good buffet? Then head to the Thai Garden Resort every evening from 6pm. Everyday of the week there is a different buffet from German, Thai,
Food for thought indeed! Visit inspirepattaya.com and check out our food and drink section for more suggestions on where to eat in town; we also will give you a run down on current promotions and offers so you can pick and choose the best places to try each week. Our current best promotion to recommend is the News Steak and Grill on Thappraya road that offer 2 meals for the price of 1 every Monday evening, you must check this out as their food is excellent.
his really is a toss-up between Bangkok and Pattaya, please excuse the pun! Bangkok is the most westernized of Thai cities and is one of the most visited cities in the world by foreign tourists. The price of most things in any capital city tends to be higher than in smaller cities and less populated provinces. This is true of bar girls when you compare the average bar fine, short and long time rental costs between Bangkok and Pattaya. Some guys prefer Bangkok girls, often remarking on a more professional attitude to their work! Pattaya bar girls vary immensely on quality, cost and reliability; but so do the Bangkok ladies! There are three main areas where you can pick up a bar girl in the capital, these are; Soi Cowboy, Patpong and Nana Plaza. One gets the feeling when visiting
‘Star Wars!’ Well, imagine the cantina bar where Han Solo nearly gets run in by a bounty hunter in Episode IV - the first movie ironically - and that’s pretty much every A Go Go in town. There is one exception though, Obi Wan Kenobi has yet to chop off a disgruntled customers arm in a bar fight with his lightsaber, but you get the idea… Freelancers are not paid a salary, although they usually get kick back payments from lady drinks bought for them at the night clubs and bars they frequent. There is no bar fine for a freelancer, you just need to negotiate your price for what you want i.e. short time or long time. That leaves the ‘Dark Side’. This is east of the main city areas of Pattaya on the far side of the Sukhumvit Road. It is called the ‘Dark Side’ because the Soi’s were not well lit until recently. There are many expats and Thais now living on the ‘Dark Side’, so the need for bars and mini A Go Go’s has increased too. A good indicator of bar fine, short time and long-time price is the cost of the bars drinks! On the ‘Dark Side’ a Leo can cost you as little as 40 Baht for a small bottle and up to 4 times this on Walking Street! Bar fines can be as little as 300
these areas that the party is nearly over, their heyday has passed due to control and the authorities trying to clean up the image of the city. Still, there are some great lasses waiting to be yours for a few thousand Baht for the night… Pattaya, on the other hand, is a city that originally boomed in the sixties servicing the needs of the US Marines taking a break from the North Vietnamese war and in recent years has broadened its appeal internationally. It now has many areas where pick up bars and A Go Go bars have proliferated, these include; Soi 6 and Soi 7, Beach Road, LK Metro, Soi Buakhao and the infamous Walking Street. Some of the more swanky A Go Go bars on Walking Street charge higher than average bar fines (up to 900 baht) and the girls can be rather expensive too when compared to free lancers or ‘Dark Side’ bargains! (Up to 3,000 Baht for long time). Ok, what’s a freelancer and where is the ‘Dark Side’? It all sounds like something from an episode of
Baht and girls will go with you for as little as 500 Baht, but 1,000 Baht is becoming more usual for the night. Some of the Dark Side girls are absolute stunners, however, some won’t make it through to next round of the beauty pageant! In conclusion, the choice of best city for bar girls is a personal one, but most people would choose Pattaya as the range of ladies available is wider and more diverse and you can find some real bargains there too!
Pattaya boasts 20 golf courses within a 50km radius and not surprisingly it is an area very popular with golfing tourists and expats. Inspire takes a look at 3 courses for you to consider. For full information on these courses including video reviews please visit inspirepattaya.com and take a look at our dedicated golfing section.
Plutaluang Golf Course The Royal Thai Navy course. Plutaluang is famed for it’s ‘Lighthouse’ hole where you must play your shot directly to a small island that boasts it very own lighthouse. Located 30 minutes from Pattaya in the hilly region of Chonburi. This is one of the oldest and most natural course in Thailand, having been open since 1968.
St. Andrews 2000
St Andrews 2000 is a course for the golfer that likes a challenge. With high vantage tee off points to admire the stunning scenery the fairways have much natural rock and cactus to negotiate. The Resort boasts a wide range of restautants from Japenese, German to Thai whose facilities also service Green Valley Golf and Silky Oak Country Club Courses too. Good accomodation is available. Located 1.5 hours from Pattaya in Rayong.
Siam Plantation
Recognised as one of the finest golf courses in both Pattaya and Thailand. Modern and refreshing in design and boasts a triple green area which can be ideally viewed from their state of the art club house. Continously wins awards for the high standard of it’s greens and fairways. A must play course.