by Miss Terry Diner
Miss Terry will begin this week’s restaurant review
with an admission - I very often do eat at Shenanigans, and I generally go
for the “all you can eat” carvery style promotions. If not, it is the
Impostor’s Stew of beef, carrots and potatoes. I am sure that you too
get into a familiar “rut” with your favourite eating places, so you
will understand. However, when looking through the Dining Out Team’s
restaurant reviews I noticed that we had never done a critique of their a
la carte menu, forgotten in the wake of all of the promotion evenings.
This week the Dining Out Team made up for that. It was an expanded Team
that paid the visit too, with one Australian woman, a Thai woman, one
Englishman and Miss Terry.
Shenanigans itself is really one of the cosiest venues
in town. It does have that all pervading charm of the British style inn -
dark wood, big chairs, substantial bar and the obligatory crop of
“regulars”. It also has the landlord, in the guise of Kim Fletcher,
“Mr. Gregarious”, the man born in a pub and undoubtedly will die in
one, but let us hope that it will not be soon!
There
are many distinct sections of Shenanigans to eat in, but we chose the
“library” area, complete with huge table and enormous Chesterfield
settees. Our Australian member plomped herself down and immediately said,
“Ooh! This is comfy!” While perusing the menu we had a selection of
drinks - Margaritas for the girls, and Singha Gold for Miss Terry, and
thank you, Kim, yes I’ll have another one.
The menu is a large foldout number and begins with the
Thai food, with 4 curries and soups, 5 stir fries, 2 deep fries and 2
spicy salads. The whole range, which includes favourites such as tom yum
goong, stir fried chicken with cashew nuts, soft shell crab with pepper
and garlic and som tum, is generally in the 150 baht region, with 210 baht
tops.
Next up are the snacks and starters (B. 95-330)
including such British favourites as Chip Butty, Colecanon and even deep
fried Irish cheddar. 9 soups and salads follow (B. 95-280) with such
numbers as a hot potato soup with bacon and chives or an Aran salad with
salmon and herbs. There are 15 choices of mains (generally around B
300-350) with even an Irish steak sandwich. Then there are seafood items
(B. 295-540) and pies and stews (around B. 300), followed by a kids’
menu (B. 95 to feed the ankle biters) and desserts.
We chose the green curry, the liver, bacon, onions and
mashed potatoes, the pork ribs and the chicken breast stuffed with cheddar
and asparagus - a wide selection, and the size of the offerings was the
first surprise. “Huge” is the only description worthy of the amount.
For example, the ribs were falling off both sides of the plate! What was
also impressive, from my viewpoint, were the vegetables - excellently
cooked and the garden peas were just delightful!
Of course, when we were finished, Beautiful and Sai,
our waitresses were there to clear away and leave the toothpicks. Well
done, girls!
The Dining Out Team members were totally unanimous in
their praise for the fare that evening. The British member saying, “I am
almost overawed. The quality was superb, the fresh peas, the liver was not
overcooked, the bacon soft and tasty the way I like it, the mashed
potatoes were well presented and a good taste. And I managed to finish
it!” The Thai member was equally happy with her green curry while the
Australian said, “Yum! It was better than I get at home. Great quality,
delicious and the portion was huge.” Miss Terry can only go along with
the team and say that the a la carte menu at Shenanigans represents some
of the best food available in Pattaya, and the portions make it
exceptional value as well. Very highly recommended.
Shenanigans, the Irish Pub, Pattaya Second Road,
Central Pattaya just past the Royal Garden Plaza and the Marriott Resort
and Spa, telephone 038 710 641 and open from 8.30 a.m.
