Nicky’s Handlebar
Pretty close to where we were staying there was a restaurant called Nicky’s Handlebar. As you can probably guess, it was a biker type bar. It was decorated with a ton of Harley Davidson paraphernalia.
This was my favorite item in the place:
Anyhow, the atmosphere was great. It had the right look. It was even playing classic rock songs and the TVs were playing sports and some Harley convention show.
The food is where the authenticity failed to deliver though. Half of the menu was European food and half was Thai. I figured I’d try the burger. I’ve sort of been in search of a great burger since I left the US, along with my search for a great pizza.
I’m not sure what my wife ordered, but it looks good and tasted good too.
This is the burger I got. It wasn’t quite up to par. First off, they served it with the bun put together, with the veggies inside already, but with the meat pattie sitting off to the side. So, I had to take the whole damn thing apart and put it back together. Presentation is only important if it doesn’t create hassle for the customer. Also, the meat looks a little pale to really be beef so I wonder if it was mixed with pork. The taste was decent, but not great.
The search continues.
The following morning we dropped by there again, because it was convenient, and we had the Thai omelets. They were actually pretty good. The filling was mostly ground pork and it had a sweet taste to it.
The above image is a glass of sweet tea that I ordered. The orchid along the rim was a nice touch and it tasted good.
Overall, Nicky’s Handlebar is a 7/10. The atmosphere is nice, most of the food we ate is nice, and the drinks are nice. I would just recommend sticking with the Thai menu though.
Street Vendor Crepes
We found this guy along the road that fronts the beach. In the top right of the shot you can see the ocean.
He was selling crepes for 30 baht. Some might have been a little less or more. I don’t recall.
This was a great snack to munch on while walking down the road … looking for dinner!
Mama Mia’s
I can’t really say much for this place. We totally weren’t impressed. We both decided to try local dishes and got yellow curry. I had the chicken and my wife had the shrimp. The overall taste was bland. If bland were a real ingredient, I would say they used too much. Isn’t curry supposed to be spicy? Plus, the food had no texture to speak of and you couldn’t taste anything except the bland curry.
The only thing good about this place is that the beer was cheap:
San Mig Light is a popular beer both in Thailand and in the Philippines. I think in Thailand it’s #3 and in the Philippines, where it originated, it’s #1.
Pizzaria Fresca
This is another restaurant that was on the road fronting the beach.
This place was great!
This is the dish my wife ordered. It’s a traditional pasta from Italy called Putanesca (Whore’s Pasta). The story behind it is that Putanesca was a cheap dish prepared in Italy by prostitutes. It was served to ‘clients’ after the deed. Now that’s customer service! Over time, the dish became a national favorite and is now served in many restaurants.
Ham, mushroom and green pepper. It cost about 13 SGD I think and was the best pizza I’ve had since leaving the US. It still doesn’t hold a candle to New York City pizza, or even to fast food pizzas like Papa John’s, but it beats out anything I’ve had in Singapore so far. I think the cheese was a bit off though, or maybe something in the sauce? My stomach was going nuts later that night.
Goodies!
The last two items aren’t anything special or specific to Thailand. They’re just things that we really enjoyed eating.
We found an Au Bon Pain at the mall in Phuket. Imagine that! I’ve only ever seen one and that was in New York City. I got a poppyseed bagel with Philadelphia Cream Cheese and my wife went nuts over it. Apparently she’d never had a bagel before. It’s interesting how we keep introducing each other to new foods.
Muay Thai, not just a boxing event! I’d never had one before and decided to try it for the first time while sitting at the bar at the Simon Cabaret while waiting for the show to start.
Dunkin’ Donuts! Until a week or so before we left on our vacation to Thailand, Singapore didn’t have a Dunkin’ Donuts. So, we really enjoyed this chance to buy and eat a few. We bought some a few hours before our flight to take back to Singapore with us. The only Dunkin’ Donuts in Singapore is located in the downtown area and I have a feeling it’d be a lot more expensive.
Bradley Farless 