Up2u wrote:Looking for something really good not just ok.
Probably the best you'll be able to find around here will be at Prime Beef. If even Villa Market can't supply what you're looking for, it's going to be very difficult to find what you want. The only other idea I can come up with is if you've been to a restaurant that does serve roast beef sandwiches at the quality you're looking for, ask them where they're getting their beef.
When it comes to being unable to get just what I'm looking for, I kind of agree with the philosophy in this song, sung by Lotte Lenya:
The only place in Thailand I have ever seen beautiful rare Roast Beef sliced in a deli is off Sukhumvit on the same Soi to Hero. I want to say it was Villa but if it was certainly not the same as the one in the Avenue.
They only had it 2 or 3 days of the week and I never could figure out when. Hit or miss but it was just like the Best Deli Roast Beef I get in the USA..
firecat69 wrote:I want to say it was Villa but if it was certainly not the same as the one in the Avenue.
I think you're probably right about it being Bangkok's Villa Market. Same owner as Pattaya, but a very different place. They have several stores in Bangkok, but the only one I've been to is the one near the BTS Phrom Phong station. It's within very easy walking distance from there. I think that particular store is the first they ever opened. They carry several products that are not carried in Pattaya and their deli section is far better than the Pattaya store. I don't think the Pattaya store carries deli sandwiches at all, but the one at that Bangkok location does. I don't know why one does and the other doesn't, but that's the way it is.
I just had a cold roast beef sandwich. The meat was medium (not medium rare, my preference) and dry. Huge portion (a meal in itself) of beef on a large roll served with very good potato salad. Overall the taste was just ok, but I will return to try the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. Bottom line, the search for the classic American deli sandwich continues, but I feel these are the best sandwiches in Pattaya by a big margin. BTW, he uses local beef/meat which he processes, no imported beef, and in the case of roast beef it shows.
Up2u wrote:I just had a cold roast beef sandwich. The meat was medium (not medium rare, my preference) and dry.
One more idea. It's been a long time since I shopped there. I'm not sure if they carry roast beef, but have you tried Western Wholesale Meats on Soi Chaiyapruek?
Up2u wrote:I just had a cold roast beef sandwich. The meat was medium (not medium rare, my preference) and dry.
One more idea. It's been a long time since I shopped there. I'm not sure if they carry roast beef, but have you tried Western Wholesale Meats on Soi Chaiyapruek?
Thanks for the link. Per the website, the beef is local and the lamb is imported. I have found the ground beef and steaks at Tops (Central Festival) to be very good, but they have no rb.
Up2u wrote:I have found the ground beef and steaks at Tops (Central Festival) to be very good, but they have no rb.
I would still call or go to Western Wholesale. Just because it's not on their web site, that doesn't mean they don't have it, can't get it, or know where you can get it. That web site has been around for years and I don't think they've updated it. On the web site they still show whole corned beef, which is what I've been trying to find. But they don't sell it anymore, so I wouldn't give up on the basis of the web site.
If that fails, the only other thing I'm able to think of is to go to a few high end hotels and ask the chefs where they get their meats or if they at least knows where you can get what you're looking for. If no luck with that, then I think you're what's known as S.O.L.
You might try Yorkies on Soi Chaiyapreuk 1 - one or two doors south of Cocos Restaurant. If I recall correctly, they do have roast beef - how good it is, or if it is imported meat, I don't know. They sometimes have corned beef, but I found it more suitable for making corned beef hash than sandwiches.
