Dick's Cafe Jomtien

[Marc308]

47 minutes ago, Londoner said:

And that means the chicken and cashew nuts should not be missed. Obviously!

Open yesterday, but from next week, the Tuesday closures will be back.

Haha I am always suspicious of Britishers' food recommendations. I used to see a sign on Thappraya which read "Indian food to British taste" which marked it for me as a restaurant to be avoided at all costs. : )  I once had Phad Thai at the Blue Elephant in London (supposedly THE Thai restaurant there at the time) for the most insipid version of the dish I have every tasted.

While I have managed to piss off many of my friends here now, hehe, let's continue on undaunted with the worst cuisine in the world: Britain, USA, Australia.  Best food in the world: Lebanon, Iran, Morocco, Brasil, Thailand of course! And perhaps Italy and France, although the standards of food in those two countries has gone rapidly downhill in recent years. India deserves honorable mention -- especially for its Punjabi dishes and heavenly Hyderabadi biryanis.

Here my favorite dish is pad siu gai, well prepared just slightly burnt, using all the condiments in the usual 4-glass condiment tray in ample measure which is an ubiquitous dish in Thailand.

[Londoner]

No one who  never tasted British  school dinners of the 1950s is qualified to discuss the awfulness of our cuisine!

[Keithambrose]

23 minutes ago, Londoner said:

No one who  never tasted British  school dinners of the 1950s is qualified to discuss the awfulness of our cuisine!

I would agree, but things have now changed dramatically.  Very good restaurants  of all types. However, there is still an issue. The average Brit doesn't really care what they eat. Hence, I live outside London in a fairly affluent  area, green belt, country nearby, etc. There are hardly any 'good' restaurants  nearby,  and none  in my town. Plenty of second or third class Italian, Thai, Chinese etc.  There is one Michelin star restaurant  5 miles away, very good, but pricey, and one or two good, but not outstanding gastropubs. One gastropub, which I patronised for years, changed management,  and went downhill. I complained, no interest shown.

 

However I remember my first visit to New York, 1976, being taken out by a friend.  He said 'you can have any cuisine you like here, but not American'! That turned out to be my first Japanese meal! The first of many. One more story. In Florida we asked a jeweller where there was a good restaurant.  He said that we had a disadvantage, being English, in that we had a palate!

[vinapu]

13 hours ago, Marc308 said:

 I once had Phad Thai at the Blue Elephant in London (supposedly THE Thai restaurant there at the time) for the most insipid version of the dish I have every tasted.

..........

While I have managed to piss off many of my friends here now, hehe, let's continue on undaunted with the worst cuisine in the world: Britain, USA, Australia.  Best food in the world: Lebanon, Iran, Morocco, Brasil, Thailand of course! And perhaps Italy and France, although the standards of food in those two countries has gone rapidly downhill in recent years. India deserves honorable mention -- especially for its Punjabi dishes and heavenly Hyderabadi biryanis.

 

it means only that Pad Thai in THAT restaurant on THAT day was awful.  

There's no such thing like good or bad food, what tastes good for you it's good for you but nothing universal here.

Quite often the same dish may taste  differently depending of place , chicken with cashews is good example.

India deserves honorary mention for zillion of things  but food? shock for me !

[khaolakguy]

8 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

Hence, I live outside London in a fairly affluent  area, green belt, country nearby, etc. There are hardly any 'good' restaurants  nearby,  and none  in my town. Plenty of second or third class Italian, Thai, Chinese etc.  There is one Michelin star restaurant  5 miles away, very good, but pricey, and one or two good, but not outstanding gastropubs.

Windsor?

[khaolakguy]

14 hours ago, Marc308 said:

Haha I am always suspicious of Britishers' food recommendations. I used to see a sign on Thappraya which read "Indian food to British taste" which marked it for me as a restaurant to be avoided at all costs. : )  I once had Phad Thai at the Blue Elephant in London (supposedly THE Thai restaurant there at the time) for the most insipid version of the dish I have every tasted.

I think at the original Blue Elephant venue in Fulham you were paying for the plants(excessive numbers) rather than the food, which may not after all have been to the taste of Brits as first it moved and then it closed permanently.

[Keithambrose]

4 hours ago, khaolakguy said:

Windsor?

Rickmansworth/Amersham. 

[Marc308]

Oh god touristy Windsor! One of the worst meals I have ever had in my life was, gasp, Fish n Chips at the Duchess of Cambridge restaurant on High Street there. At BP44 it was the most disgusting FnC I have ever had. Unfortunately apparently the monarchy never promoted a "British cuisine". Being so near Windsor Castle, and being named for the next British Queen, to serve such horrible food was a mystery to me.

Anyway, back to Pattaya. I had a huge surprise a few days ago when eating at Yayoi on the 5th floor at Central Festival. Surprisingly excellent Japanese food! Succulent salmon sashimi. Super fresh Shrimp Tempura. Excellent Chicken Teriyaki. All at prices which were 1/3 of what they would have been back home. I am definitely going back! Anybody care to join us?

[Marc308]

17 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

However I remember my first visit to New York, 1976, being taken out by a friend.  He said 'you can have any cuisine you like here, but not American'! That turned out to be my first Japanese meal! The first of many.

There is no such thing as good American food, he was right. When I think of eating in my own country my mind wonders to the Jewish delis on the Lower East Side of NY, the amazing BBQ brisket in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, or Memphis, Tennessee and perhaps the Creole cuisine in New Orleans. Nothing else much tempts my palate, no matter how many "gourmet" hamburgers I eat. : )  In fact the best "gourmet hamburgers" are now served by bistros in France!

[Keithambrose]

9 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

Rickmansworth/Amersham. 

Gilbey's in Windsor is quite good. Not  too far from the Fat Duck, best meal I ever had!

[Keithambrose]

5 hours ago, Marc308 said:

There is no such thing as good American food, he was right. When I think of eating in my own country my mind wonders to the Jewish delis on the Lower East Side of NY, the amazing BBQ brisket in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, or Memphis, Tennessee and perhaps the Creole cuisine in New Orleans. Nothing else much tempts my palate, no matter how many "gourmet" hamburgers I eat. : )  In fact the best "gourmet hamburgers" are now served by bistros in France!

Yes, I have eaten all over the USA, though not much in the Mid West, and while I have had some good meals, nothing really stands out. My friends in Oakland had a cousin who ran a restaurant  called the Bay Wolf. That was good and reliable. Inevitably,  he retired. I have been taken out to some fancy restaurants  in NY, but nothing stucks in the memory.  Funnily enough I remember a bar/restaurant on the waterfront in San Francisco,  pier 3 or so, called Sinbad. Clients would go there at 6pm, and their drink would be on the bar before they got there.  Those were the days when you had 3 or 4 drinks before dinner! One of the clients died of a heart attack! Still great atmosphere,  until it was closed down, health and rental issues! Food was terrible! 

 

Once I was in Beaumont Texas, not recommended  for  a holiday, and I was taken out by a surveyor,  a witness in a legal case. We went to the Beaumont  Country Club, which had a view of 3 oil refineries! For an aperitif, the surveyor  took us to a wet tee-shirt bar! Girls, unfortunately!

[floridarob]

Don't  anyone ever make fun for me taking a post off to the side roads, I had to scroll up to remember what this one was about 😝

[thaiophilus]

6 hours ago, Marc308 said:

Oh god touristy Windsor! One of the worst meals I have ever had in my life was, gasp, Fish n Chips at the Duchess of Cambridge restaurant on High Street there. At BP44 it was the most disgusting FnC I have ever had. Unfortunately apparently the monarchy never promoted a "British cuisine". Being so near Windsor Castle, and being named for the next British Queen, to serve such horrible food was a mystery to me.

That's precisely why it was so horrible (and overpriced.) They are catering to an endless stream of royalty-struck tourists who will never visit the place again, so reputation is not a priority.

Of course, that quintessentially "British" dish is actually a fusion of French/Belgian and Jewish cuisines, later sold by Italians. Its contribution to the flag-waving "Britishness" mythos may be because it was one of the few foods that wasn't rationed in WW2.

[Keithambrose]

38 minutes ago, thaiophilus said:

That's precisely why it was so horrible (and overpriced.) They are catering to an endless stream of royalty-struck tourists who will never visit the place again, so reputation is not a priority.

Of course, that quintessentially "British" dish is actually a fusion of French/Belgian and Jewish cuisines, later sold by Italians. Its contribution to the flag-waving "Britishness" mythos may be because it was one of the few foods that wasn't rationed in WW2.

I am getting fish and chips tonight to take to my disabled mother in law. Both the shops where she lives are run by Chinese, but fish is OK! 

 

What part of Jewisk cuisine contributes  to F&C? I am part of a Jewish family who have never eaten that dish, as far as I know! I gather that game and pigeons were not rationed, during thevwar, but not sure they are so popular, though pigeon is rather nice!

[reader]

2 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

 My friends in Oakland had a cousin who ran a restaurant  called the Bay Wolf. That was good and reliable.

That really jogged my memory. Was taken there by a friend sometime in the 80's and had a good meal. But what I recall most is the truly memorable bottle of Chardonnay that we shared.

[Keithambrose]

56 minutes ago, reader said:

That really jogged my memory. Was taken there by a friend sometime in the 80's and had a good meal. But what I recall most is the truly memorable bottle of Chardonnay that we shared.

It's a small world! 

[Keithambrose]

2 minutes ago, Keithambrose said:

It's a small world! 

Especially as I live in Hertfordshire, UK!

[thaiophilus]

4 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

I am getting fish and chips tonight to take to my disabled mother in law. Both the shops where she lives are run by Chinese, but fish is OK! 

What part of Jewisk cuisine contributes  to F&C? I am part of a Jewish family who have never eaten that dish, as far as I know! I gather that game and pigeons were not rationed, during thevwar, but not sure they are so popular, though pigeon is rather nice!

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_and_chips,

"The British tradition of eating fish battered and fried in oil was introduced to the country by the Chuts: Spanish and Portuguese Jewish immigrants, who had lived in the Netherlands before settling in the UK. These immigrants arrived as early as the 16th century; the main immigration to London being during the 1850s^. They prepared fried fish in a manner similar to pescado frito, which is coated in flour then fried in oil.^[7] Fish fried for Shabbat for dinner on Friday evenings could be eaten cold the following afternoon for shalosh seudot, palatable this way as liquid vegetable oil was used rather than a hard fat, such as butter.^"

The French or Belgians contributed the deep-fried chips. Combining the two ingredients in one meal happened in the 1860s, or maybe before. Then Italian, and later Chinese, immigrants spread the concept all around the UK.

[vinapu]

12 hours ago, floridarob said:

Don't  anyone ever make fun for me taking a post off to the side roads, I had to scroll up to remember what this one was about 😝

you such purist !

[vinapu]

10 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

 

 

What part of Jewisk cuisine contributes  to F&C? I am part of a Jewish family who have never eaten that dish, as far as I know! 

salt perhaps ?

[vinapu]

9 hours ago, reader said:

 But what I recall most is the truly memorable bottle of Chardonnay that we shared.

you guys should have more than one bottle but then likely you wouldn't remember anything 

[reader]

51 minutes ago, vinapu said:

you guys should have more than one bottle but then likely you wouldn't remember anything 

Probably should have since my friend was picking up the check.

A little research tells me that the owner, 76, closed Bay Wolf in 2015 after 40 years.  It was reborn, however, a few years later as The Wolf and appears to be still in business at same location. Wouldn't be surprised if Ggobkk (now posting in "Time to return" thread) is familiar with the place.

[Keithambrose]

6 hours ago, thaiophilus said:

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_and_chips,

"The British tradition of eating fish battered and fried in oil was introduced to the country by the Chuts: Spanish and Portuguese Jewish immigrants, who had lived in the Netherlands before settling in the UK. These immigrants arrived as early as the 16th century; the main immigration to London being during the 1850s^. They prepared fried fish in a manner similar to pescado frito, which is coated in flour then fried in oil.^[7] Fish fried for Shabbat for dinner on Friday evenings could be eaten cold the following afternoon for shalosh seudot, palatable this way as liquid vegetable oil was used rather than a hard fat, such as butter.^"

The French or Belgians contributed the deep-fried chips. Combining the two ingredients in one meal happened in the 1860s, or maybe before. Then Italian, and later Chinese, immigrants spread the concept all around the UK.

Yes, interesting.  Having done some more research, I see some commentators think the fried fish predated the Sephardic Jews, and even refer to a 5th century  Roman recipe by Apicius! The idea of eating it cold on Shabat, is clearly a Jewish staple. I have had another traditional Jewish dish, Gefilte fish, which I can't say I much care for!

[Londoner]

F & C was credited with saving the working class during the Depression , particularly in the north. Of course, there was a fishing industry then...

As an aside, do other posters remember that we used to wrap our chips in newspaper back in the fifties? 

 Some claimed that the print actually enhanced the taste!

Here's poem by the "Mersey sound" poet , Roger McGough, from the Beatles era.

Sometimes

I feel

Like a priest

In a fish and chip queue

Quietly thinking 

As the vinegar runs through

How nice it would be

To buy supper for two.

 

 

[Keithambrose]

4 hours ago, Londoner said:

F & C was credited with saving the working class during the Depression , particularly in the north. Of course, there was a fishing industry then...

As an aside, do other posters remember that we used to wrap our chips in newspaper back in the fifties? 

 Some claimed that the print actually enhanced the taste!

Here's poem by the "Mersey sound" poet , Roger McGough, from the Beatles era.

Sometimes

I feel

Like a priest

In a fish and chip queue

Quietly thinking 

As the vinegar runs through

How nice it would be

To buy supper for two.

 

 

Yes, newspaper was very normal. Brings back memories.  I think when the papers went to oil based ink, which comes off on your hands, it was stopped!