Due to the all too tempting alliteration of the words Tuesday and Tacos there has been a load of Taco Tuesday promotions around town. So for once it’s nice to be able to report on something a bit different especially when it comes from such a well known institution as The Sportsman. Famous for providing the best Sunday Carvery in town this favourite expat eatery has been tweaking their daily specials to now include:

Mexican Monday With 10% off Tex-Mex Food and Margaritas only 99 baht Wednesdays Burger, Fries and a Beer for just 195 baht Thursdays Popular Quiz Night -Starts 9pm, Free to enter +Free Pie and Chips. Fridays All you Can Eat Pizza,Pasta & Salads with 2 for 1 Cocktails

Then the weekend is devoted to their extensive menu, daily and weekly specials and of course that Sunday carvery! So the only slot in the weekly calendar left to fill was Tuesday and for that the creative Sportsman team came up with what I believe will be a great favourite. At only 499 baht for 5 dishes plus 2 servings of rice it offers amazing value for money. There is enough for 2 to share or for 1 extremely hungry person to indulge! In fact,this promotion had only been on offer for a week before we came to do our review and already there was a return customer! So that was already a good sign!

With 12 different dishes on offer, several with the choice of chicken, pork or beef, you can come and try a different selection each time. From this selection there are 3 curries which are pretty much the favourite choices of most of us Yellow, Green and Panang and although the portion size for this offer is around 25% smaller than when offered on the Sportsman’s regular menu, the helpings are still generous. I was also delighted to find in the Yellow curry and Panang that we chose plenty of chicken. Quite often when there is a price deal with curries you find yourself being presented with practically a bowl of sauce and no meat – very pleased to report that this was not the case at The Sportsman! They also clearly indicate on the menu the strength of heat within each choice so if you are not one for spicy food go for the options with fewer or no chillies. After many years living in Thailand I, myself, like my curries hot so I was pleased to find that the Panang had a kick and wasn’t just a bland peanut affair that can sometimes be served to us in Thai restaurants unless we let them know that we are “OK with Spicy”.

I would also really recommend the Fried Chicken with Ginger which was really flavoursome and the Tom Yum Soup which David the Manager recommended we try. Now I have to be honest and say that I might have passed on this as I have had Tom Yums that are thin and watery with meagre helpings of prawn but not so at The Sportsman.

Their Tom Yum is rich, tomatoey,and lip smackingly delicious. I am also pleased to report it has large prawns and yes is a good, thick consistency. When talking to David about this he explained to me that Tom Yum can be served as a clear soup “Nahm Sai” or thicker as “Nahm Kon” so there you go a useful Thai lesson thrown into our experience as well! In fact all the team at the Sportsman are very friendly and helpful – Dave is practically a Pattaya Institution and apparently while he was on holiday in the UK the quizzers couldn’t wait for him to come back and adjudicate their regular Thursday session. Then David the manager really runs a tight ship overseeing every detail yet still being able to chat to customers and give them tips with his extensive knowledge of Thai like the one for me when next ordering Tom Yum. If all that wasn’t enough to make you go to The Sportsman and try their Thai Tapas then don’t forget on Tuesdays you can also get a pint of Guinness for just 199 Baht! Cheers!

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