Orchid Thai Cuisine (The Next Time You're In Nutley, NJ)

The next time you're in Nutley, NJ or even near there, allow me to suggest lunch or dinner at the Orchid (<--- link to restaurant's website) a small restaurant offering Thai cuisine. This place won't get 3 stars from the Guide Michelin, but it will definitely satisfy any hankerin' you might have for Thai food. I enjoyed a nice Sa-Tae, some steamed dumplings, a bowl of Tom Kha (chicken soup with coconut milk), and medium hot red curry for an entree. To be sure, I was glad I had not chosen "hot" over "medium." Each dish had its own distinctive and delicate flavor. One of my criteria when I eat at places where certain base elements form a common thread through all the dishes is just how different each dish tastes. And despite the preponderance of chiles and coconut milk, each plate had its inidividual character.

Go there, but beware of the "hot" versions. Bear in mind, an endorphin-rushing habanero-hugging chile head is sending out this warning.

Go there, but beware of the "hot" versions. Bear in mind, an endorphin-rushing habanero-hugging chile head is sending out this warning.

Thai is actually in third place (but a very close third place) as hottest/most painful food experience, Gary.

It was those unexpected little threadlike black peppers. They looked so...innocent. Sugar packets, milk and strong black tea finally unblinded me.

There was the unexpected explosion of pain in Matamoros, just across the border from Texas, when I reached in to snag some Mexican giardinera (pickled veggies), thinking the base was jalapenos, only to find out it was habaneros....which had been marinated, with seeds, in the vinegar base. I stopped crying..literally...about half an hour later. I still think it was the surprise that caught me.

But hands down the worst was actually in a Korean restaurant called Kobawoo. Four...count em, four...times the waitress came back to the table and asked if we wanted the Roasted Whole Fish Dinner "Korean style", and maybe we should consider getting it a little less spicy. Hunh, us manly men said. We can handle that. How bad can it be.

It was very, very, ver, verrrrrrry painful. Like blistering the lips, shuddering, and getting reminded the next day all over again just how much it hurt at the time bad.

This, mind you, from a guy who used to go to New Orleans and head for the shop where they'd let you (dare you to) taste all the ultra hot sauces that the store specialized in. (But I can't do that anymore.)

Sounds like a good place, by the way.

[James Roscoe]

I give up. Where is Nutley, NJ? Is it in the pine barrens? Or is it some forsaken part of N. Jersey that should have been annexed by New York years ago?

I give up. Where is Nutley, NJ? Is it in the pine barrens? Or is it some forsaken part of N. Jersey that should have been annexed by New York years ago?

Nutley, NJ(<--- this is a link), where, like Martha Stewart, I grew up, is about 6 miles north of Newark and 10 miles west of New York City. I believe Nutley was the first town in the USA to enact a pooper scooper law. Nutley was home to Annie Oakley, Robert Blake, Nick Zano, Balls Mahoney and other less than notable folks. If you ain't been to Nutley, well, you just ain't!!

[James Roscoe]

As I thought, North Jersey or is that South York?

That's quite a list of "people". I see why you are in California.

This, mind you, from a guy who used to go to New Orleans and head for the shop where they'd let you (dare you to) taste all the ultra hot sauces that the store specialized in. (But I can't do that anymore.)

Sounds like a good place, by the way.

Are we just gettin' older, Hoke? Or maybe just wiser?