144539 Sun Apr 13 20:19:58 -0700 2003 5 12 Boston Area 0 774632 Thought I'd try Rod O Cha (this is the name as indicated on their takeout menu) for lunch last week for a change from Dok Bua. I ordered one of specials from the board, crispy fish in a spicy sour curry, and the waitress asked if I liked "spice" (I do). While I was waiting, the staff in the kitchen looked in my direction more than once, and one woman even came out and peaked around the corner at me. Now, I just assumed that they were talking about my 5 month old son, who was with me, and the woman who peaked out from behind the counter wanted a better look at him (I get this quite often when I take hime with me to a restaurant by myself). However, I rather think that I, not he, was the subject of interest, as you'll see from my story. The curry came out in a metal bowl over a sterno flame to keep it warm (hot, actually, and I eventually blew out the flame). It was more like a soup, the brown curry covering a whole (minus the head) smallish deep-fried fish and some vegetables. It was very good, and pleasantly hot, but not *too* hot. A bowl of rice was served separately. I ate the curry, alternately taking out a piece of fish or vegetable and placing it on the rice, and eating the "broth" like a soup. A couple minutes later, the waitress came up and asked if it was too spicy because the cook had made it according to Thai tastes and she could take it back and make more mild. I said that it was very good and not too hot. She left and I continued to eat. About 10 minutes later, another woman came up and asked the same question with the same offer (this was when I started to think that the staff were looking at the white boy who ordered a spicy Thai curry at full strength). She went away and I happily continued to eat. Several minutes later, my waitress checked-up on me again. I told her I'd be disappointed if wasn't as hot as it was, and she she left again, only to return a couple minutes later. She said "my boss told me to tell you that if you come here again and order the same thing, and it's too hot, just tell her and she'll make it less hot." It told her I liked it very much and she went away. Then it occurred to me that I might be eating it in a way that gave them the impression that I thought it was too hot. I called her back and asked her how I should be eating the curry. "I spoon the sauce over rice and eat the rice, and some people eat it right from the bowl", she said (exactly what I was doing). So she went away again, and I finished everything in the bowl. Has anyone else ever had a similar experience? Sun Apr 13 20:19:58 -0700 2003 0 Micah 1 774633 Since it's a Thai place you could probably have just dropped galleygirl's name during the ordering process and they'd have been imediately convinced of your legitimacy re: spicy foods. It wouldn't surprise me if galleygirl's oral prowess suffused local Thai restaurant lore for generations to come. -psmith Sun Apr 13 20:32:14 -0700 2003 774632 0 Psmith 2 774634 Might she have meant heat-hot, not spice-hot? You yourself admit that it was too hot. Perhaps they were just responding to your blowing out the sterno. Sun Apr 13 22:02:43 -0700 2003 774633 0 Taylor 3 774636 >Might she have meant heat-hot, not spice-hot? I thought of that, but no, this was before blowing out the flame (and if she thought I thought that the temperature was too high, she could have suggested that I blow out the flame). Also, she kept saying that they could make it more mild, and offered more rice. Since eating starch is one of the ways to stop the burn, I took it to mean chili heat. Sun Apr 13 23:07:52 -0700 2003 774634 0 Micah 1 774635 Spooning the curry sauce (be it Malay or Indian or Thai etc...) over rice and eating that with the meat/fish/vegetable in the curry is a common practice all over South East Asia. It's a good thing, because it reinforces the contents of the curry with the curry sauce, and it also makes the rice a lot more interesting to eat. Of course, going straight for the curry isn't bad either. :) Also, I don't think you're giving her the impression that it was too hot -- I was thinking that she might have offered to make it less hot because you were eating directly from the bowl, instead of over rice. If you're into hot soups, the ubiquitous Tom Yam soup are best when really spicy -- for me it brings out the lemongrass flavour. Sun Apr 13 22:11:48 -0700 2003 774632 0 Limster 2 774637 I was actually eating it both ways -- over rice aswell as straight from the bowl. But I find that spooning the curry over the rice tames the spice. Re: tom yam: a few days later I went to Rod Dee with a friend from Thailand, and we had Tom Yam, among other things (he ordered from the "Thai" menu -- the one that's not in English). The soup was spicy, but not *too* spicy, and had a great lemongrass flavor. Sun Apr 13 23:15:41 -0700 2003 774635 0 Micah