Friday, May 11, 2012

Thai Me Up

No, this isn't about 50 Shades of Grey, tsk tsk...such a dirty mind you have.

I am not always adventurous when it comes to food.  It's not because I'm afraid I won't like it, I'm okay with that.  I am more afraid of not knowing what to order.

The last time I went to a Thai restaurant, I was 18 years old, in San Francisco with my 2 cousins.  I was not an adventurous eater, I hated anything spicy, so I'm pretty sure I had steamed chicken wrapped in banana leaves.  It wasn't a great endorsement to ever go back.

Today my husband was back from his work trip and decided to take me out to lunch.  He didn't tell me where we were going.  We pulled in to the parking lot and in the tradition of "keeping it real" on here, I will admit to this embarrassing conversation.

Me- "Wait , what? No!  I don't know what to get here!  This is the worst idea ever!"
Him- "We'll figure it out..don't worry" ( I worry)
Me- "No, I meant someday, as in I need some time to Google this and ask around, I'm not ready!"
Him- "We will figure this out together, it will be fine"

Even as I'm panicking, I realize I'm acting like a lunatic.  I was the one who said a few weeks ago that I wanted to try Thai food.  He's the one doing exactly what I asked for. This is like Haley's comet! I should shut my mouth.  Now.

My fear is based from that feeling that people have been eating this for awhile now and living out in the burbs with kids , I am not always exposed to different cuisine.  I assume that all the cool people know what to get , so I think that when I get into the restaurant it will just be a bunch of words that mean nothing to me.

Of course, this menu had descriptions on it. I worried for nothing.  I think I was safe in my choices, but I loved everything that I had.  I even tasted some of my husband's soup which sounded disgusting, but was very tasty.  I am looking forward to exploring the menu ( I took like 3 menus home, so I can study them, I'm not completely cured) and I really am thankful to my husband for a great idea.

I am willing to hear suggestions on foods to try....anyone?  anyone??

5 comments:

Christine said...

have you tried Indian yet? I too am not very adventurous in eating, Hubby is always after me to try things. Took him forever to get me to agree to try Indian. Much to my surprise, I really like it. I stick to pretty basic things, but I like everything I try! Especially the naan, yum!

Devon said...

I love that he did this and good for you for going through with it! :)

I'm usually limited to where i can go out to eat too, because of the husbands particular tastes. BUT! here's a list of things I like when I do go out:

Pad Thai-even though it's like the beginners version of Thai food, I love the peanuts on the top.

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce-That's also Thai, and it's DELICIOUS.

Nime Chow-Usually I get it Vegetarian, but when I could eat shrimp, I'd get it that way too. It's Vietnamese, with basil and rice noodles and bean sprouts in a rice wrap and it's served with peanut sauce.

(I have an obsession with Asian food and peanuts, apparently)

Pineapple Fried Rice- Yeah, it's chinese food, but no one ever seems to order it and I don't know why, because it's delicious.

Since I can't really stand the smell of curry (and it can be really spicy!), I don't make it into Indian restaurants too frequently, but Christine is right, naan is good.

There should be some Portuguese restaurants close to you, and that food is really delicious.

OH! and one more thing, I just discovered Sweet Chili Sauce. It's not spicy at all, and it's really great for Asian dishes. I'm not sure if it's just an Australian thing, but it's used in a lot of Thai recipes, and I'll vouch for it's yumminess.

Devon said...

PS, when I went to Japan, they didn't always have English menus, which is how I ended up eating fried fish bones and they were one of the best things I had on that trip. Clearly, I wouldn't have ordered them if I could have read the menu, which would have been a loss.
if you don't have allergies, the best thing to do sometimes is just point or order something. I mean the other day I ate Ox tongue here at a Korean BBQ. If it's a good restaurant, they'll usually do a good job and if the don't it's usually not so horrible that it's inedible. go have fun food adventures!

Diane said...

Just Thai it, you'll like it...

Safe choices are typically:
Pad Thai, Drunken noodle, any stir fry rice or noodle dish. I love fresh spring rolls with dipping sauce. "Thai" tea is good too. Both hot plain tea. And most places make an iced sweetened thai tea as well.

You should try Sushi next.

Amy said...

If you try Indian, Chicken Tikka Masala is great, and you can get it not spicy. Also, samosas are these little fried bundles, sort of like a pierogi with pie crust, and usually have peas and potatoes inside. I didn't like Indian food for a long time, but have come around.