spiciest dishes?
When in the mood for endorphin-releasing, spicy food, my usual go-to is whatever the hottest flavor a particular wing joint offers. To expand my pallet, what's your favorite, face-meltingly spicy dish in Austin. I'm guessing there's some Indian, Thai, or Szechuan I should be looking for, but any category of food welcome.
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popvulture
Sep 17, 2012 01:03 PM
I like a good face-melting, but I try to keep it within reason; I don't like eating stuff so hot that it distracts me from the flavor... some of my go-tos in town:
Sap's - Special Gang Prik - it's one notch down from their Gang Pa, which I believe is the hottest thing on the menu, but it'll put a hurtin' on you nonetheless. REALLY good flavor.
El Borrego - Puerco en Chile Verde - carnitas under a different name as far as I can tell. The heat has varied over the times that I've gotten it... consistently hot, but crazy hot once or twice. Always delicious.
G'Raj Mahal - Rechaad Masala - Someone mentioned earlier that they haven't had much spicy Indian in town; this dish will answer that call. I always get it with fish (which is tilapia, I believe - shrimp is the other option), which is bathed in a great red sauce. It's a Goan dish, so it's pleasantly different than the typical Indian fare we get in the states... it's very heavy on the chile, and has a strong vinegar presence. Definitely not the hottest thing out there, but fiery enough and f***ing fantastic.
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Thai Kitchen (the one on Guadalupe is better) has a special "5-pepper" menu with titles like "Hurts So Good" and "Nuclear Fish". I haven't tried that menu in 20 years, so I can't comment on what it's like today, but when I tried it, I thought my innards were melting.
I find Asia Cafe inconsistent heat-wise, but they've got some pretty intense items. A recent discovery, Sichuan House, seems more reliable and a bit more intense in the heat department (usually I'm sweating for the rest of the day).
I've sadly yet to encounter any Indian food here that's induced much of a sweat, but I'd recommended giving Asiana or Maharaja Cafe a shot (and asking the friendly proprietors' advice on the hot items).
As was mentioned, Texas Chili Parlour's XXX items are worth a try. I haven't been there in about 20 years, but remember the XXX chili as scary hot.
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re: lodermulch
TroyTempest
Sep 16, 2012 09:03 AM
the XX is always enough for me. I haven't been in about 3 years since i don't work downtown, but your post has inspired me to go. Now if we only had some cool weather (for more than 2 days) to go with it.
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amysuehere
Sep 15, 2012 09:51 AM
Green jungle curry at Madam Mam's is up there, as is the pad ped nor mai 5 pepper spicy.
Red's Porch habenero wings are tingly-belly hot.
Hopdoddy's el diablo burger can sometimes range in the melt-your-face range.
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At SPIN Modern Thai, for dinner, I tried their Seared Duck in Pineapple Curry. For me, that was about at the limit of what I can take; my other dinner partners simply gave up. I kept alternating ice cubes on my tongue with more spoonfuls of the curry.
I haven't tried their Belly On Fire.
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slowcoooked
Sep 14, 2012 03:44 PM
Hands down my favorite go to spicy dish in Austin is the spicy fish fillet at Asia Cafe on (appropriately) Spicewood Springs Road. Actually many of their dishes would be in my top twenty.
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re: twyst
If you want the heat, try the shrimp and fish filet in special pepper sauce. I think that's what it's called. It's written on the white board behind the counter. It's by far the hottest thing I've eaten in Austin. To gauge my heat index, I do not find the spicy fish filet hot at all.
The ma po has a nice kick to it but after a bite or two, I'm hard pressed to call it too hot.
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