“Passion” is what separates the “ordinary” from something “special”.  The Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya has an Italian chef who exudes the passion of his homeland.  There can be no ordinary meals from Chef Alberto’s kitchen, because Alberto is no ordinary chef.

Casa Pascal and its owners Kim and Pascal Schnyder are very well known in the culinary side of Pattaya dining, having opened the doors of their eponymous restaurant 12 years ago.

How does a restaurant in Pattaya manage to stay beneath the radar for five years?  After reviewing the Parrot’s Inn Bistro restaurant last week, I think the feathered creature must have been quietly hiding in the upper branches of a tree all that time!  But then, as a mitigating factor, Christophe the owner and his Thai wife speak French preferentially but against that idea is the fact that both speak very passable English.  Whatever, Pattaya will now know more about this restaurant.

Joe Parlatti has been an important feature of Pattaya dining having been on Walking Street for over 20 years.  He has remained the same enthusiastic restaurateur all that time, though he has put on a bit of weight!

His origins are Verona, an area of which Joe is very proud.  You will not leave without Joe reminding you that Romeo and Juliet came from there!

From some rather simple beginnings in 1989 in the West End of Brisbane, the Coffee Club has grown to over 288 outlets in Australia, 35 in New Zealand, 3 in China, 2 in Egypt, 1 in New Caledonia and now 8 in Thailand with a further 20 planned over three years.  Thailand got its first one in Phuket in 2009, followed shortly after by Pattaya in the Royal Garden Plaza.  The sixth Thai one was Pattaya’s second on the Pattaya-Naklua Road (opposite Soi 18).

Every so often you come across a tiny restaurant which is trying so hard you cannot just walk past.  The Hot Chilli restaurant is one of those, tucked away inside the View Talay 2B building on Thappraya Road after the traffic lights, and unless you actually go looking for it, it is seemingly invisible.

There are many reasons why the Dining Out team enjoys dining at the Hilton.  Some of these include handing the car keys to the valet and let him struggle with the corkscrew ramps in the parking station, others include the impeccable service we have always received in the Flare restaurant from Maitre d’ Sunny and his crew, excellent food from the kitchens of Executive Chef Supoj, and finally the effusive welcome from their Marketing Communications Manager K. Sunday.  It all certainly puts the Dining Out team in a good mood before we even begin to read the menu.

The name “Chrysanthemum” refers to a genus of flowers, and the “Chrys” part refers to gold.  So it was with some interest that we went down the spiral stairs in the Royal Cliff Grand to their Chinese restaurant, the Chrysanthemum, hoping for perhaps a golden experience!

Long gone are the days when a pub was a pub and you drank there after work with some mates until sozzled and then crawled home.  The social contact side is still there, but in addition you need (these days) good food with a changing menu, internet access, TV screens showing all sports and good attentive service.

I consulted a large dictionary to ensure that “Shenanigans” was an accepted word in English, and there it was described as “Prankishness, Mischief”.  And so I thought to myself, just how apt that name has to be for a hostelry run by the mad-cap Aussie Stewart Fraser!  Forgive me, Stewart, but anybody who goes round the patrons playing “Toss the boss” with an Australian 50 cent coin is no shrinking violet!