Where do we start? This place has been affected like many others, by the road widening of the Thappraya Road. But it’s nearly finished for them and I bet they will heave a sigh of relief. It’s a shame, since this is one of the better places around. “News”, formerly known as News Café is anything but a café. It’s menu is quite extraordinary and the preparation and presentation of the food is top notch. The staple of this restaurant (run by two Swedish restaurateurs) is their steak menu, which is highly recommended. But to be perverse we decided not to eat steak this day!

Two of us went there. One had 4 tapas dishes, and the other had the Monster Pork Chop (not the name on the menu I hasten to add). With two waters this was 845B, just a tad on the pricey side we though for the food served. But the quality was there. The tapas is a special done only for low season and includes selections such as prunes wrapped in bacon, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and melon wrapped in Parma ham. It’s nice, but as they say fiddly and time consuming to produce.

The pork chop was certainly a monster! Served with vegetables and a bowl of roast potatoes, it was a very good portion indeed and in fact more than could easily be eaten.

The desserts are good if you have room for them.

As a side issue try their Gazpacho. If you’re into this Spanish dish, theirs is to die for! It really is a beautiful choice.

The News has started offering a 20% discount card which gives this discount off everything except the tapas and the specials. Well worth having if you think you’ll eat there more than once (and we do).

The sad thing we noted was the lack of patrons. At 9 pm on a Tuesday, we were the only people there. There were two other Thais outside and that was it. We weren’t rushed and the service was great. But then when a place is as empty as this you can’t be surprised. This was partly due to the depth of the low season and partly due no doubt, to the roadworks. It’s another reminder of the effect the World’s and Thailand’s problems have had on the tourist trade. I hope it doesn’t claim the News as a victim, it would be a shame. Try the place. Give them some support.