by Miss Terry Diner
Pattaya is really too young a city to have an
“institution”, but if it were to have any venue that could possibly
fit the bill, it would be Shenanigans Pub on Second Road. It is a real
pub, where real people meet their friends to have sociable drinks in
really conducive surroundings; it has a real publican in the (expanding)
shape of Kim Fletcher (sorry Kim) and it has real food.
The pub has a very friendly ambience, partly through
attention to detail, making it an authentic pub in the Irish/British mode,
but also through the warm welcome you receive from the staff. Nothing is
too much of a problem for Beautiful and Sai.
On this particular Dining Out evening, the Team had
five people, with three expats and two Thais, so it was going to be
interesting to see if the Poacher’s Night had an international appeal.
On the buffet table there were food warmers with
rabbit, crocodile, venison and potato au gratin. At the roast servery
there was quail, black chicken, wild duck, pheasant, frog (do people
really poach frogs, Kim?) and pigeon, as well as chicken and the usual
roast meats.
To accompany the game meats, the vegetables included
deep fried cauliflower, roast potatoes, steamed rice, fried rice, Brussels
sprouts, carrot, garden peas and gravy. There was also a Scotch broth for
starters.
We began with the soup, which was hot (so important and
so often forgotten in many restaurants I fear), meaty and very filling.
Universal approval from the table for that one.
We then went up and tried our own particular choices,
with Madame having a hearty appetite that evening, as you will have seen
from the photograph of her plate! We also received the double shots of
Johnny Walker Black to add to the “authentic” nature of the
Poacher’s Night.
I was particularly interested in trying the venison
stew, which had a most intriguing “sweet” taste and yet quite spicy.
Taken with the gratin potatoes which just had a hint of garlic, this could
have been a meal in itself. I also went back and tried the black chicken
(soaked in soy sauce before baking, Kim told me) and the wild duck, which
has a very strong “gamey” flavour. The others tried the crocodile,
given the thumbs up as well as the rabbit, and the quail, both of which
were sampled more than once. The frogs we left for any itinerant
Frenchmen.
We finished with the Irish coffees, all included in the
B. 395 all you can eat promotion, with flaming Irish whiskey poured into
the waiting coffee and cream. Nice touch and a nice ending for the dinner.
The entire (expanded) Dining Out Team enjoyed the
Poacher’s Night. There were enough choices to keep everyone happy, and
enough food to even keep Madame quiet! The selection of game meats is such
that it gives everyone the opportunity to try items they would not
normally be able to sample, and the addition of the double shot of Johnny
Walker Black is an extra bonus for the Scotch drinkers. Like all
“events” at Shenanigans this was an excellent value for money evening.
Very highly recommended.
The Poacher’s Nights are special evenings and not
every week, so look for the advertisements in the Pattaya Mail. The other
nights of the week, in addition to the a la carte menu, are Saturday and
Sunday Carvery days with soup and prawn cocktail to start, followed by a
choice of six roast meats, as much as you can eat B. 395. Monday is now
Chilli Day with a free bowl of Chilli Con Carne and a plate of rice with
every drink ordered in between 12 noon & 2.00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. &
8.00 p.m. Tuesday is a B. 100 Dish of the day with a different dish every
week. Wednesday is now Steak Night with soup, a 400 gm T-bone steak, salad
and chips for B. 195. Thursday is Pasta Night, B. 195 as much as you can
eat. The choices are astounding.
Shenanigans Pub, Royal Garden Plaza, Pattaya Second Road, telephone 038
710 641, email shenang@ ptty2.loxinfo. co.th, website www.shenani
gans-pattaya.com
