Many years ago, Spike Milligan starred in
the TV comedy “Curry and Chips” where he played the part of
an Irish Pakistani. Whether this was the concept behind the
latest Thursday special at Jameson’s Irish Pub I was not
sure, but when landlord Kim Fletcher suggested the Dining
Out team come and try the new lasagna and chips, I presumed
that he must have changed chefs and the new chap came from
Italy and had served an apprenticeship in Belfast!
The truth was
nothing quite as romantic. Having decided that lasagna would
be a good item for the daily rotating specials, local chef
Vinai set to and came up with his own recipe. This was an
immediate hit with Kim and Jameson’s regulars, but one diner
asked to have chips with his lasagna. The unlikely
combination of Bologna and Belfast caught on, and soon there
were dozens of people ordering the lasagna with
chips.
Now, is there anyone who does not know the
location of Jameson’s? It is next to Nova Park on Soi AR
(Sukrudee) which you can easily find by driving up Soi 4
Second Road to the top. Jameson’s has its own private car
park as well.
Inside it is the archetypal Irish/British
pub, with dark wood everywhere and many areas for dining as
well as others for some serious thinking, or was that
drinking? It also has some of the happiest service staff
around.
Being a weekly Thursday special means that the
lasagna and chips is actually a three course meal, so for my
first course I chose the goulash, a very well packed soup
served hot to the table. A great start for my dinner.
The
main course was the lasagna, and this was not a small piece
surrounded by half a dozen chips and a limp lettuce. Quite
the contrary. It was an enormous slab of lasagna on a
pre-warmed plate, with two side plates, one with a mountain
of chips and the other a mountain of fresh salad. These
Irish-Italians must like their tucker, there was no doubting
that!
Madame was unable to make it to Jameson’s that day,
so a substitute was roped in and my dining partner had a
penchant for fajitas, and the thought of “Irish” fajitas had
taken his fancy. The menu assured us that the meat for the
fajitas was cooked in the traditional way in Guinness
(that’s Irish traditional not Mexican), and he asked for a
mixed selection of beef and chicken. Again the helping that
arrived at the table was huge, on a sizzling plate with
lashings of capsicum plus another large plate with the
trimmings of cheese, salsa, guacamole and sour cream, and
another plate with the tortillas. Madame’s stand-in was a
big lad, and even he had to say he was unable to finish it
all, believing that there was more than enough for two
people in his serving. This was confirmed by landlord Kim
Fletcher, who said that it was a dish very often shared
between two. Whatever, the Irish fajitas were given top
marks.
I had to admit that I was in the same situation,
being unable to finish all my lasagna, but the combination
did go down well, especially with the vinegar and salt
liberally applied to the fries. A chip isn’t a chip without
the salt and vinegar. After clearing away the plates, our
waiter wanted to know which dessert did I want. Dessert? He
had to be joking. Quite impossible! Totally out of the
question.
Next came the bill. The Thursday three course
special lasagna and chips costs only 195 baht. That is an
incredible bargain. Just make sure you are really hungry, so
you can do justice to it all. The Irish fajitas were 415
baht, and remember that it will easily feed two, so again a
bargain.
Jameson’s Irish Pub continues to be one of the
leading value for money restaurants in Pattaya. Do try it!
Highly recommended.
Jameson’s Irish Pub, 80/164 Moo 9,
Soi Sukrudee (Soi AR), Central Pattaya. Secure parking. Open
seven days 8 a.m. until 1 a.m. Telephone 038 361 873, email
info@jamesons-pattaya.com, and website
www.jamesons-pattaya.com. Secure parking just around the
corner.
Minestrone
Soup
Minestrone soup would be as Italian as
Michelangelo’s David, but unlike the famous statue, you can
substitute many vegetables and not take away from its
Italian heritage. It was, after all, a soup made by Mumma,
with whatever was available at the time.
Cooking
Method:
Add one tablespoon
of olive oil to the frying pan and warm to a medium heat.
Add the chopped streaky bacon pieces and turn them
frequently for two minutes. Add the chopped onion and cook
for a further two minutes.
Turn the heat down low then
add the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil, carrots,
celery, tomato and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and
cook for 15 minutes stirring every five minutes.
Add the
risotto rice and stir well for three minutes. Add the stock,
tomato puree and basil to the pan. Bring the soup to the
boil then simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the chopped cabbage.
Stir in well and cook for another 30 minutes, seasoning when
necessary.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Italian risotto
rice
100 gm
Streaky bacon (chopped small) 50 gm
Carrots
(chopped
small)
200 gm
Celery (chopped
small)
2 sticks
Onion
(chopped)
1 medium
Tomatoes
(chopped)
2 medium
Potatoes
(diced)
200 gm
Cabbage
(chopped)
150 gm
Garlic (chopped
fine)
2 cloves
Tomato
puree
1 desert spoon
Olive
oil
3 tbspns
Basil
(fresh)
2 tbspns
Parsley
(fresh)
2 tbspns
Chicken
stock
1.1 liter
Salt and pepper to taste
