The Sportsman on Soi 13

[Edge]

Cheap night. You'll be advertising New Nordic next...

 

Of course it was a cheap night - happy hour all night on Sundays at Sapphire.

 

I like the Norwegians - great company and really enjoyed the party at Sweethearts last Wednesday - food from Pastrami on Rye not Sportsman.

 

Is that two more on your hate list?  

[socrates]

270 baht - very overpriced

[Lambik]

I want to learn and appreciate English cuisine .

 

This is a recipe of baked beans in tomato sauce  :

 

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/baked_beans_in_tomato_sauce/

 

Any place is Pattaya where they don't serve beans in tomato sauce out of a can ?

 

This is a recipe for brown sauce :

 

http://www.lovefood.com/guide/recipes/14390/niamh-shields-brown-sauce

 

Any place in Pattaya where they serve this and don't bring you a bottle of HP when you ask for brown sauce ?

[Evil Penevil]

I want to learn and appreciate English cuisine .

 

This is a recipe of baked beans in tomato sauce  :

 

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/baked_beans_in_tomato_sauce/

 

Any place is Pattaya where they don't serve beans in tomato sauce out of a can ?

And here's a recipe for real baked beans, Boston style. Boston baked beans date back to Colonial times and homemade (as opposed to canned), they are excellent!

 

 

 

Cook time: 8 hours

Yield: Serves 5-6 as a main dish or 10-12 as a side

 

INGREDIENTS

1 pound (2 to 2 1/4 cups) dry white beans such as Navy beans or Great Northern beans (can also use kidney beans)

1/3 cup molasses

1/3 cup brown sugar

3-4 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

3 cups hot water

1/2 pound salt pork (can sub bacon), cut into 1/2-inch to 1-inch pieces

1 medium onion, (1 1/2 cups) chopped

 

METHOD

1 Soak beans in water: Place beans in a large pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Soak overnight and drain. Alternatively, bring a pot with the beans covered with 2 inches of water to a boil, remove from heat and let soak for a hour, then drain.

2 Mix molasses, brown sugar, mustard, ground cloves with water: Mix the molasses, brown sugar, mustard, and ground cloves with 3 cups of hot water.

3 Add ingredients to slow-cooker, layering them, starting with the salt pork: Line the bottom of a slow-cooker (or a Dutch oven if you are cooking in the oven) with half of the salt pork (pick the fattiest pieces). Layer over with half of the drained beans. Add all of the chopped onion in a layer.

Top with another layer of beans and the remaining salt pork. Pour the molasses water mixture over the beans to just cover the beans.

4 Slow cook until beans are tender: Cover and cook in a slow-cooker on the low setting for 8 hours (or in a 250°F oven), until the beans are tender. Check the water level a few hours in, and if the beans need more water, add some. Add additional salt to taste if needed.

Note that fresher beans will cook faster than older beans. Your beans may be ready in less than 8 hours, or they may take longer. Best the next day.

 

Serve with Boston brown bread. (EP note: I prefer cornbread or biscuits).

 

 

Read more: http://www.simplyrec.../#ixzz42BfToRpj 

[Evil Penevil]

So the manager was present yet you could not go to the trouble of complaining about your food. Yet you have gone to a lot of trouble to to write a "critical review" of the managers restaurant. This certainly does not bode well for that manager in the future as this piece of writing will hardly put bums on seats. You could have given the establishment an opportunity to right their wrongs before portraying their eatery in a negative light.

 

As I wrote earlier, I had no idea the guy in the white tee shirt was the manager.  When I took the pic, I thought he was a customer chatting with a friend.  Also as I explained earlier, under some circumstances I might complain about a bad meal, in other cases I won't go to the trouble. It depends on the situation, what mood I'm in, how much time I have, etc.  On Saturday, I didn't feel it was worth the time and effort to complain.

 

But as a general principle, I don't think anyone is under an obligation to speak with the manager before writing a review, whether negative, positive or indifferent. It doesn't matter if the review will be posted to a punter board or TripAdvisor or published in the most illustrious food publication in the world. Writing an accurate account of what came down on the plate in front of you is the important part.  No matter what sort of magic wand the manager at The Sportsman might have been able to wave, it wouldn't have changed the fact that my initial order was bad indeed. It's the bad food that puts The Sportsman in a negative light, not my review of it. I didn't go to more or less trouble in writing the OP in this thread than with any other review I've done.

 

 

What were your thoughts on the 'service'....?

 

Having been there SEVERAL times over the years, although I was reasonably happy with the food, I thought the staff was 'cold' and indifferent-at best.

 

I had no problems at all with the service.  The waitress greeted me warmly when I entered, showed me to a table and took my order efficiently.  I didn't have much other contact with her, but I had no reason to complain about the service.

 

Evil

[felix the cat]

Last year i had the burger with fries...it was pretty good, no complaints on service as well.  

[Evil Penevil]

Back from 10 days of heavy duty traveling and I just noticed the response of the general manager of The Sportsman to my review on Trip Advisor, which was essentially the same as the review I posted here.

"DartfordDarren, General Manager at The Sportsman Pub, responded to this review, 6 days ago
Hi

Firstly apologies if you felt you had a bad experience , we can only apologise if you were not satisfied and hope this does not deter you from future visits

I have taken up the issues regarding your meal wit the kitchen and since revised the recipe for the cheese pies (it was from bbc good food mag)

We will address the fries issue today m not acceptable"


That was a very polite and reasonable response and if for no other reason, I'll change my usual policy and give The Sportsman a return visit in the near future.

Evil

[davidge]

Thanks for the review Evil.

I was far from impressed when I went there last July - only the one visit! I wasn't tempted to return.

Plenty of cheaper places with better food.

 

My review is here:

 

http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/274240-the-sportsman-soi-13/

[mmaaarrrkkk]

I walked in on Feb saturday nite and it was full. I didn't want to sit on the counter so asked for a table and I didn't mind waiting. A couple was getting up but the waitress just shrugged me off and I left.

 

Maybe just caught her on a busy day and she did look tired but I am unlikely to go back since so many good restaurants around town , and with Casa Pascal just a (slightly long) stone throw away!

[xdrt33]

I've been past The Sportsman many times. Never been in.

Mr Evil confirms my suspicions that the food would not be too good.

The place looks too British for me - and that's coming from a Brit!

 

Potato pie and soggy chips is not my idea of a good time - and 270 Bht?

I always go to The Berliner next door.

A wide variety of tasty German meals for 160 Bht per plate

[zzzz]

.....funny,as an Australian,i thought all Pommie  food was alwase like this ! u mean it can b better ? STREWTH COBBER !   

[Lambik]

^

Butchers Arms is advertising, on a board outside, that they serve beans from Heinz.Amazing for me,Belgian, that a restaurant seems to be proud to announce that their food is coming straight from a can.

[Edge]

^

Butchers Arms is advertising, on a board outside, that they serve beans from Heinz.Amazing for me,Belgian, that a restaurant seems to be proud to announce that their food is coming straight from a can.

 

Do Belgian baked beans come in a chocolate box ?  

[Hawkeye75]

I had a great meal here in October and plan on returning for another in April, had great service and was at a reasonable price, looking forward to my next visit here

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Evil Penevil]

^

Butchers Arms is advertising, on a board outside, that they serve beans from Heinz.Amazing for me,Belgian, that a restaurant seems to be proud to announce that their food is coming straight from a can.

 

The popularity of canned (tinned) beans in the U.K. is actually an interesting footnote in culinary and cultural history.  Heinz began exporting cans of baked beans in tomato sauce to the U.K. in the early 1900s.  At first they were sold as an exotic and expensive luxury food, but were being produced in the U.K. by the 1920s, which brought down the price considerably and made beans on toast a British staple. The recipe used for Heinz Beanz in the U.K. is different from the one used in the U.S. for Heinz' main line of baked beans in tomato sauce. The U.K. version isn't as sweet and doesn't contain pork. Today, the name "baked beans" is a misnomer, as the commercial tinned variety isn't baked at all but stewed in tomato sauce.

 

Evil

[Pheat]

I've been past The Sportsman many times. Never been in.

Mr Evil confirms my suspicions that the food would not be too good.

The place looks too British for me - and that's coming from a Brit!

 

Potato pie and soggy chips is not my idea of a good time - and 270 Bht?

I always go to The Berliner next door.

A wide variety of tasty German meals for 160 Bht per plate

You are not missing much

I use to be a regular up until about 6 years ago

I used to visit 3-4 times a week on every trip

Last couple of times

The meals I ordered were very poor quality for the asking price

When I want my British food fix now

I either go to Nickys or Rosie O Gradys

Much better tucker and on average 50-100 Baht cheaper per meal

The staff are much more friendly

[xdrt33]

"The pie, the base of the meal, wasn't warm enough for me. I want a cooked meal to be piping hot when placed in front of me.  Worse yet, the pie was flavorless. I could neither see nor taste any indication of cheese, onions  or anything else in the pie. It seemed to be unseasoned mashed potatoes, maybe moistened with milk, in a shortcrust shell and top layer. As I recall, the cheese, onion and potato pies of my childhood had been seasoned with English mustard. The Bowmans pie didn't taste bad; it didn't taste anything. It was the definition of blandness."

 

It probably tasted better without the cheese Mr Evil.

 

Opinion in the western world is divided on the subject of cooking with cheese.

Everyone thinks it's a good idea except me.

Nothing kills the taste of a meal quicker than claggy, gooey disgusting melted cheese.

Few ingredients knacker a burger quite like a slab of pre-sliced cheese.

Pretty much any meal can be, and often is, destroyed by a cheese sauce.

Cheese should be used uncooked in sandwiches and with crackers. Rant over

 

The Sportsman could have run to some salt, papper and onions though.

 

Potato and onion pie.....mmmmmmmmm!

[SoftPorn]

 

 

Cheese should be used uncooked in sandwiches and with crackers. Rant over

Not sure if you're trolling but I gotta ask if you ever heard of italian classics called pizza & Lasagne,

try to imagine those without cheese.

[Moo-ton]

I aways stay Soi 13, and used to frequent the Haven, but lately prefer the Sportsman better food and service for mine.

Moo ton

[xdrt33]

Not sure if you're trolling but I gotta ask if you ever heard of italian classics called pizza & Lasagne,

try to imagine those without cheese.

 

Not trolling at all SP. Yes I have heard of both these delicacies.

Pizza is just glorified cheese on toast (though much bigger).

I probably eat 1 - 2 of these a year, if made thin in a very hot oven.

Lasagna is probably the heaviest pasta dish on the planet.

The bechamel sauce should not have any cheese in it.

It is often added though, which makes the meal even tougher going.

 

Another crime against good food - onion soup is delicious on it's own.

But it seems to be compulsory to top it with soggy bread and melted cheese.

[mmaaarrrkkk]

Not trolling at all SP. Yes I have heard of both these delicacies.

Pizza is just glorified cheese on toast (though much bigger).

I probably eat 1 - 2 of these a year, if made thin in a very hot oven.

Lasagna is probably the heaviest pasta dish on the planet.

The bechamel sauce should not have any cheese in it.

It is often added though, which makes the meal even tougher going.

 

Another crime against good food - onion soup is delicious on it's own.

But it seems to be compulsory to top it with soggy bread and melted cheese.

You sure are eating at all the wrong places!

[Skalliwag]

You sure are eating at all the wrong places!

Wonder if he likes cheesecake?

[eanto]

Anyone else run the rack at the Sportsman?

[striderman]

Anyone else run the rack at the Sportsman?

the pizza pasta buffet on a friday is worth a trip.

wednesday burger n chips with a SML  beer included is 150 bht.....................you could pay that for the beer in walking st !

[xdrt33]

Wonder if he likes cheesecake?

 

No.

 

Anyone for fondue guys?

Dip absolutely all your food in melted cheese! Mmmmmm.....

I'm guess it probably all tastes of cheese.