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Dining Out: La Gritta - new chef - new menu
We are not amused: After around 14 years serving the denizens of Fun Town, Jimmy Macs, one of the oldest establishments in Soi 6, is no more. The old place was in need of a facelift and quite a bit of moolah is being splashed about to turn the joint into a traditional English hostelry.Jimmy Macs will become the Queen Victoria Inn. It will be a boozer cum sleeping palace cum noshery serving traditional English fare. The place should be up and running by about September. Digit reincarnated: In an effort to try something a little bit different, the Diamond ogling den (the narrow end of Soi Diamond) has a nightly Gorilla/King Kong show that gets under way at around 11:30 p.m. It’s a kind of Gorillas in the Mist with chrome poles and little foliage. The show began when a person came out dressed in a gorilla suit that looked more like the inside of a vacuum cleaner bag than real fur. On stage, taking on the Dian Fossey role, was a dancing maiden wearing not much more than a smile and a garland of flowers. The show, such as it was, consisted of the creature dressed in the threadbare ape suit groping the dancer and wielding a priapic lump of black plastic with which he proceeded to ‘beat’ the young maiden. The dancer looked like she was being attacked by a giant carpet. Diamond sells amber fluid, liver wasters and lolly water at 95 baht; however, Lady Drinks are great value at just 65 baht. The music in the den was of the techno variety when I went in, but strangely - and thankfully - after the gorilla show the DJ began playing some good rock and roll. I happened to notice that the dancing maidens started to gyrate with more enthusiasm once the rock came on. Either that or they had been threatened with being King Kong’s next victim. For a good read: More than one reader of this column has suggested I should get my hands on a copy of a book titled ‘Tippawan, The Joy of Math’ by Jesse Gump, a man with an unfortunate surname. Not unfortunate to him mind you, but I couldn’t help but think the author might somehow be related to the character from that Hollywood movie Forrest Gump. The last thing I wanted to read was a Thai-style, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates...’ So, when a friend of mine had a copy lying around I asked if I could borrow it and, in spite of a number of really annoying grammatical clangers and the odd typo, it is a wonderful yet tragic yarn, the bulk of it set right here in Fun Town. The blurb on the back cover claims the story is ‘based on actual events. Only the details are fiction.’ As I understand it, the book sells at around 400 baht and really is one of the best novels I have read on Thailand, the grammar notwithstanding. For some unknown reason, the novel is not available in the local bookstores but if you are interested in finding out where to get a hold of a copy then simply e-mail the author: [email protected] The early opener or, we never close: Pizza Service, known for its original 24 hour pizza delivery operation along South Pattaya Road, has now opened a similar set-up in North Pattaya, this time just around the corner from Soi 2 and right next door to the Elvis Pub. This place is more a noshery than a quick-eat diner and has the advantage of being licenced to remain open for 24 hours a day. So, if you happen to get the munchies when the bars are closing or closed or you’d like to continue knocking back a few ales, indulge in a glass of the grape or slug a few liver wasters, then Pizza Service might just be the place for you. Not just picking on us: Just in case bar owners in Fun Town are becoming paranoid about all the crackdowns re closing times and licences, you might like to know that even in the far flung provinces the local plod are enforcing 2:00 a.m. shut downs. In the Big Chilli the infamous Thermae Coffee Shop has been compelled to turn on the lights and boot out drinkers at 2:00 a.m. Makes life interesting as Sukhumvit Road from Soi 4 right down to Asok and beyond can be a bit like running the gauntlet with ladies looking for a little extra action gathering in little groups, preening and smiling at potential customers. My e-mail address is: [email protected]
Copyright 2001 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co. Ltd. E-mail: [email protected] |
The
new executive chef at the Amari is Stefan Heller, a young man who has been
featured in the Pattaya Mail recently, and a chef who spent some time in
Italy to learn the subtle nuances of the cuisine. The latest project for
chef Stefan has been to re-vamp the La Gritta menu, which while full of
some excellent choices, was starting to show its age.
To
present the new menu, we were treated to a five course
‘mini-selection’ from it, but a description of the full new menu is
worthwhile mentioning at this point. It is tri-lingual and begins with 11
antipasti between 165 and 275 baht, including a Carpaccio of Australian
beef (Chef Stefan even stating that he felt this beef was better than the
American variety), various salads and even grilled quail. 5 soups are next
(B. 110-170) including a mushroom soup with truffle cream, which we
sampled during the evening.
Our
next sampler was angel’s hair spaghetti with shrimps and black shells -
by the way, the “black shells” are mussels! I felt the best of this
trio was the mussels, with a tasty gratinated topping.