Friday, November 09, 2007

Shenanigans Restaurant Review, Villa Market Too

Tonight, Epril and I, Geoff and Honey Mae, and Jeff... but without Stan who was unfortunately home sick... went out to Shenanigans for dinner.


The cabaret show at Malibu is half
ladies, and half ladyboys.
First though, it was a stop at Malibu... an open air bar/cabaret located on the corner of Second Road and Soi Post Office. This place benefits hugely from location, and the open-air see-what's-inside advertising they have: From the street, you can look right in and see girls and ladyboys putting on a bit of campy cabaret. With that simple hook, Malibu reels in tons of tourists.

The cabaret show is mostly crap, and the drinks are a bit expensive... but the cheesy nature of the place makes it fun to sit down with a group for a little while and have at least one drink, but not more.


The Avenue shopping mall in Pattaya
is brand new, and very pretty.


Shenanigans Irish Pub located on
the second floor of The Avenue.
After that it was off to Shenanigans, located in The Avenue — the beautiful open-air shopping mall located across the street from Soi Post Office on Second Road. The restaurant is located on the second floor at the very front of the mall, overlooking Second Road. Shenanigans moved to these new airy quarters recently from it's cramped, cavern-like location below the Marriott.

The new space is really quite nice, with tons of wood finish, a tiled floor, and very high quality furnishings. Although any connection to Ireland and the atmosphere of an Irish pub is completely gone, it is a pretty place. There is also outdoor seating, located out in front of the restaurant.


The interior of Shenanigans is very
nice but not particularly Irish.
Truth be told, I really didn't even look at the menu, except to get an idea of the prices: It seemed that the majority of dishes were in the 300-350 baht range... a bit pricey, but for an upscale non-fancy place like this, it's about average.

Instead, I (and Geoff, Epril, and Honey Mae) went for the Friday-night special: All you can eat bar-be-que ribs for 295 baht... which is really a pretty good deal. (Jeff, a fan of the restaurant, also mentioned a Saturday afternoon 140-baht huge-sandwich and soup deal that is a must-try.)

The ribs were great... about the same as the Great American Rib Company out on Thepprasit Road. I still prefer Bob's BBQ ribs, because his sauce isn't as sweet as Shenanigans', and his meat is a little less fatty... but that's just my personal preference (and just a little bit of plugging for my best friend). I also had a pint of Kilkenny for 220 baht. Jeff had the Irish steak sandwich for 345 baht, and potato soup for 130 baht.

The total bill for 5 people came to 2700 baht, which is about average for Pattaya upscale tourist-focused locations like this. I really wouldn't recommend Shenanigans over a more homey place like the Pig & Whistle on Soi 7, or The Queen Vic on Soi 6... but it's a nice enough place to take out-of-towners for dinner before starting a night out in Pattaya.

After Shenanigans, Jeff went home while we remaining four went for our first wander through Villa Market, also located in The Avenue. Because of the prices and location, I can't imagine anybody making this the place to go for their regular shopping chores; however, with the monstrous selection of rare foreign delicacies (pumpkins) and imported comfort foods (Ben & Jerry's ice cream) located under one roof, it will be your first choice when going to look for that hard-to-find item.

Whatever they don't have at Villa Market, ask a salesperson, and they will write down what you want along with your phone number, call around to their suppliers and importers, see if they can get it, and then call you back and let you know: Spaghetti-O's, of course, are the item I'm using to test this system.


The beer selection at Villa Market is
fantastic, as is the rest of the store.
Villa Market definitely has the best selection of beer in Pattaya by a very substantial margin, and their wine selection seems quite good. Jeff had mentioned being impressed with their spirits section, but I didn't see anything special there. (I would still recommend the fancy liquor store on Pattaya Central Road near Foodland for that.)

Anyway, I spent 3,000 baht on beer and spirits (primarily on a new bottle of Drambuie... 1,600 baht, and 6 bottles of Trappist ale.... 900 baht), as well as some chocolate for Epril, and Le-Vache-Qui-Rit cheese. Then, it was home just before midnight.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I love to see the show at Malibu. The "campiness" is what makes it hilarious. I often sit through both shows, sip on my beer, and watch the world go by. The costuming and the "off-lipsinking" are the best.

Jil Wrinkle said...

Heh. Yeah... I forgot about the lip-synching, which made me laugh. On one song, the girls had no idea what the words to the song were; they were just opening and closing their mouths in rhythm to the music... they looked like goldfish.

Unknown said...

Some of the performers have been there for a few years now, especially the ladyboys and the one female who can really dance. Did you see the limbo number at the end where the audience is invited to participate? This same girl gets down to less than 12 inches off the floor without falling over. Amazing!
I love this place.
There is a similar, more extravagant costumes, show down further on 2nd Road, but it is no where near the close up and personal like the Malibu.
There was a "for sale" sign up at the Malibu in August. They may be cashing in. I'd buy it if I had the money. Valuable property front and always busy.

Anonymous said...

..just about "Malibu"....now, at first of may they start an a new place, 2.nd Road, after soi 10 in a new building.....so let's wait what the new show brings..!?

for me ever a must, stay there and relax during the show....now about 3 years....'cause i like fun and katoeys.......

Anonymous said...

Jil Wrinkle really knows what he is talking about. Great restaurant.