Remember
the old Irish ballad about ‘sweet Molly Malone’? It ended so tragically with
“She died of a fever, and no one could save her
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone
But her ghost wheels her barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive-O!”
Well, the ballad was wrong, as Molly Malone is alive and well and living in
Walking Street, downtown Pattaya, where she traded in her barrow for a
full-blown Irish Pub! And for those with a sense of immediate local history,
this was previously the Kilkenny Irish Pub. And for those who like detective
work, this new Pattaya Molly Malone’s is actually part of the Phuket-Bangkok
Molly Malone’s group, and has just opened.
It is not difficult to find, on the ocean side of Walking Street, before the
Marine Bar, coming from the South Pattaya Road end. Dark wood abounds as you
enter a long narrow section, with the bar along one side. This then opens
out into another area with tables and chairs and a raised dais for the band
(which plays three nights a week from 10 p.m.). But it doesn’t end there.
You go out through the back on to an ‘ocean terrace’ with more tables and
rustic chairs, looking out over Pattaya Bay. We chose the ocean terrace with
the mild breeze and great vista of the bay.
The menu is not large, but covers enough choices with Starters generally
under B. 100, Baguettes around B. 199, Burgers mainly under B. 200, all-day
pub breakfasts (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) B. 99-249, Big pub meals generally under
B. 300, Weekend roasts B. 249-289 and Thai favorites mainly B. 139.
Local beers are B. 99, whilst a quaffable house wine is B. 139 per glass.
Our service girl was the delightful ‘Lizzie’, a young lady with a smile even
sweeter than Molly Malone’s herself, who memorized our order, and then
brought it out correctly. She is an asset.
We began with some starters which we shared between four of us. ‘Moo Tord’
(B. 99) came with a great garlic dip and was not dried up and tough at all.
We also tried the chicken satays, which have to be the best in town. Each
satay was one quarter of a chicken breast fillet, soft, juicy and came with
a tangy satay sauce. Brilliant!
For mains we tried two Thai dishes, the Pad Thai (B. 149) and the Pad Kaprao
Gai (B. 139), plus the archetypal pub food of fish and chips (B. 299) and a
beef burger. Once again the chef obviously knew his Thai cuisine and the
Thai dishes were generous in proportions and very well cooked. Top marks.
The beef burger was very large, cooked to order and came with so many chips
we couldn’t finish them. The fish and chips was another huge portion, lovely
batter, very good fillet with absolutely no bones and a superb home-made
tartar sauce. Again a very high standard of pub food.
It might have been Molly Malone’s, but we did not eat ‘cockles and mussels
alive, alive-O’, but instead tried British, American, Pub food and Thai
food. We were very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the Thai food, as
we have often found in many restaurants that the Thai items are not to the
same standard as the European food. This was not the case at Molly Malone’s,
all the food was of a very high standard, with large portions, and
incidentally, not expensive. The only jarring note was the lack of cushions
for the outside seating, but the new landlord “Catt” Brett assured us that
this would not be difficult to correct.
We are very happy to report that Molly is certainly alive and well, and
definitely worth a visit next time you are in Walking Street. Remember that
you can drive and park there up till 7 p.m. any night.
Molly Malones, 186/4 Walking Street M10, South Pattaya (before the Marine
Bar on the right coming from the South Pattaya Road end of Beach Road),
telephone 038 711 094-5, fax 038 711 098, www.mollymalonesthai land.com.
Open 10 a.m. until late, seven days.
Chicken, cheese and mushrooms
This is another easy recipe. Mozzarella cheese is
plentiful in the supermarkets. Choose whichever mushrooms you prefer.
Cooking Method:
Flatten chicken breast halves until thin. Dredge chicken breasts through the
flour. Heat 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat and cook chicken for 4
minutes on each side, until tender. Remove chicken to a shallow baking dish
and sprinkle lightly with salt.
Add 1 tablespoon butter to skillet and sauté mushrooms until tender. Arrange
mushroom slices on top of each piece of chicken and cover with a slice of
cheese and sprinkle cracked pepper over them. Place chicken breasts under a
hot griller until cheese is melted and serve immediately.
Ingredients Serves
4
Boneless chicken breast halves 4
Mushrooms sliced
100 gm
Mozzarella cheese 4
slices
Flour
¼ cup
Butter
3 tbspns
Salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
