I'd be interested to hear which bars people reckon are, or
were, the best in South East Asia. I'll throw a couple in
for a start.
Cap'n Greggs on MH Del Pilar in Manila. Used to be used
as a Manila outpost for his Puerto Galera diving operation.
Quiet drinking bar overlooking the street.
Firehouse on MH Del Pilar. Some of the most beautiful
girls you would ever meet plus video clips well before they
were mainstream action.
The Border Bar in Mae Sai, Thailand. A small place on the
road to Mae Sai Guest House. Just nice relaxing atmosphere
but always with the impression that something was about to
happen.
Madrid Pizza Bar on Patpong, BKK. Good food, friendly
waitresses, great pizza. Mostly expats. I remember one
time there when I went to pay I realised that I didn't have
enough money - I offered to phone up a mate to come over and
give me some but they said "No, just come back later and
pay"
Cheers
Cheers
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the best is Hollywood II at Nana Plaza in Bangkok Thailand.
-hare & hounds - soi cowboy bangkok - sit on the verandah
and watch the "world" go past.
-jools bar - soi nana bangkok (not in the plaza - but close
enough)
-hollywood II - nana plaza bangkok (just for the music!)
-blue velvet - kalayan makati manila (above galleon)
-magombos - p.burgos makati manila
-geronimo - makati ave, near p.burgos manila
-cathouse - kalayan makati manila
-365 (or somesuch number) - orchard towers singapore
-long bar - raffles hotel singapore (but only on
expenses!!)
-inya lake hotel - rangoon burma (OK, this is my No. 1)
-BBB - mandalay burma (an oasis in a culinary desert)
-strand hotel - rangoon burma (not as expensive as you might
think)
-outside bar - yusana garden rangoon burma
-terrace bar, old section, kangawgyi hotel - rangoon burma
(No.2 for ME but i don't expect anyone to understand -
except him, him and him)
.
all city bars i see, but then i have to work for my living
out here. the names of the beach and hill bars are all an
alchoholic blur, and quite right too.
Diogenes
I'd forgotten about Cathouse in Makati. That is a good bar.
I thought about Raffles but I was in theer playing snooker a
couple of years ago and considering the amount of money they
charge I wou have thought they would have the long cues and
bridges for use on their full size table, but alas, no.
Cheers
The Hollywood II in Nana Plaza just for the music? Yeah,
right. (snicker) If only those naked ladies wouldn't so
distract you from enjoying the music. (The way some of them
move, they must be tone deaf.)
The truly best bar sadly is no more. It's was Lucy's Tiger
Den not far from Patpong in Bangkok. Old Tiger was a WWII
seabee (US Navy construction engineer) and some American
Legion Post was there in exile from its old home in
Shanghai. The walls were lined with photos of everybody
who'd set foot in Asia in the last century, probably. All
sorts of mercenaries, journalists, world travelers, authors,
secret agents (some of the above actually real, but most of
them phonies) used to hang out there. The bar was a bit of a
cross between a Fellini movie and Monte Python. It would
have been the perfect setting for a James Bond film (or a
Woody Allen flick). Tiger's health caused him to move his
bar to Manila about ten years ago. Then he ended up losing a
leg to diabetis (I think). He snuffed it not long afterward.
If the bar's still in Manila, I hardly think it's the same.
I think I might plump for apocalypse now in saigon/ho chi
minh city - good disco, nice pool table, handy outside patio
for a quieter drink, and staff who are very good at quickly
remembering you.
for a nice quiet bar with wonderful food, both western and
thai,in Bangkok I'd go for the ship inn on it's either soi
23 or 24 off Sukhumvit Road, the soi that runs off down the
side of a BP petrol station going to one end of Soi Cowboy.
bar Rolling Stones in Saigon number one
it's in soi 23 just before soi cowboy and the petrol station
is a shell one. not a bad pub but gone a little downhill in
the recession, not the same athmosphere.
I had some of the best fun in The Roadhouse, Angeles city,
Philippines. Hard Rock music and soft legged girls!
Choice number 2: The rest of the bars in Angeles!
I liked Kios Samarang in Ujung Pandang. From the outdoor
patio on the third floor, the sunsets over the Makassar Sea
were beautiful.
Diogenes, next year when I'm in Burma, I'll buy you a beer
at Inya Lake. You've so generously provided helpful
information for all of us, it's the least I could do.
THE THERME IN bangkok. Even in its new incarnation--a
unique experience. After 11pm it starts to really warm up
until total body pack and maximum bliss is attained. Not for
the prudes or rigid.
Dunno where to start really....how about "Cheap
Charlies" (sukhumvit soi 11) for an early evening drink?!!
How about Das Kellar in Johore Bahru. Not because of
atmosphere but simply because there are so few decent bars
in JB.
Anybody know of any good places up in NE Peninsular Malaysia
in Kota Bahru, Kuala Terrenganog or Kuantan?
is very consistantly interesting, amazing, and has movies.
Music - the Ya Dong bar in the parking lot off Suk Soi 23 plays
good tunes at acceptable volume and still charges 10 baht a
shot.
Where is Thermae??
Try www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/1107
i thought the old one was where all the girls from nana and
cowboy went after chucking out time if they hadn't been
bought out. is this still so. it was rumoured to be run by
the police "in the old days".
Corner Beer, in Songkhla, several years ago was a nice
place to relax and soak up Singhas. Now the patrons are
mostly stuck-up Canadian Air helicopter pilots who are all
too full of themselves. I'm sure most of you Canadians are
decent sorts, but your country hires twats as pilots.
...is now a few doors down from the original location. It is UNDER the Rumchitt Plaza Hotel on Sukhumvit Road near Soi #15 (look for the stairs in front, or go straight through the hotel lobby, then down the steps to the Thermae back door).
There is a Thermae web site - a search will lead you to it.
Off duty bar girls do, indeed hunt for companions there. The stories of the owner being a high ranking police official are still popular.
I agree The Madrid is nice, and a free turkey dinner every Thanksgiving day. On the bad side, it's on Patpong Road, which at night is packed with portable stands selling most everything. It's so congested a tragedy will occur should a fire or other emergency break out on Patpong while the 'night market' is operating.
Apocalypse Now, Saigon
not even a good bar. why? because most of the time you
have to stand because he only has a few stools. its in a
driveway to a parking lot AMBIANCE!. And the jerk used to
hustle heroin as well.
Somebody took the bait about cheap charlies Haha.
It's still worth a look if you havent seen it before though
isnt it? I think so anyway! JIM.
The bar at the New Hut guest house is nice. Cold beer,
great food, top views and average service.
The Red Fox in Lamai, Ko Samui...... V.nice people, some
local expats. An oasis in the middle of the crazy beer bar
area, at the end, by the beach, under the palms, etc. etc.
At lamai is a good place, food good too. (I certainly
enjoyed the Xmas dinner last year)
Run by a very nice lady called "PENNY".
JIM.