So when I complained to the waitress....

[Jenise]

....that the tofu in our dish (this was a Thai restaurant) was deep-fried, even though the menu entry for it did not specify "deep-fried" as it did on several of the other dishes, she told me I should have asked first.

There went her tip.

I think the more appropriate response from the server would have been: "Sorry, please let get that replaced for you". That said, I probably would not have mentioned it and suffered in silence (since I won't eat tofu, I have no idea if fried tofu is akin to beans in your chili).

[Robin Garr]

Was there a language barrier? That can be an issue in ethnic restaurants, but you know this.

Assuming not, then yeah, it was kind of rude of her, although to go on playing the devil's advocate, I'd say it's always best to ask rather than to assume when it comes to unfamiliar ethnic dishes.

[Robin Garr]

I won't eat tofu

Concerned about Monsanto-patented GMOs in 93 percent of the U.S. soy crop, or just a more generalized aversion?

[Jenise]

I think the more appropriate response from the server would have been: "Sorry, please let get that replaced for you". That said, I probably would not have mentioned it and suffered in silence (since I won't eat tofu, I have no idea if fried tofu is akin to beans in your chili).

Tofu was the principal protein of this dish as it was with about five other dishes also on the vegetarian section of the menu, like a dish that's shrimp-this or chicken-that. So deep-fried or not is a big deal.

And Robin, no, she was American. No language barrier at all!

You ate in a Thai restaurant with an American waitress??

rwj

[Jenise]

You ate in a Thai restaurant with an American waitress??

rwj

Yup. Most were American or, I would guess, Vietnamese. Remember, this is a small town in the Pacific Northwest. And this particular Thai restaurant used to be just about the only safe Asian restaurant in town, safe meaning they didn't cater to the prevailing caucasian fancy for sweetness requiring the addition of about a teaspoon of sugar in every dish, and sometimes ketchup for seasoning too. Now, apparently it too has gone over to the dark side.

Fortunately, there's great Chinese food just over the border.

You ate in a Thai restaurant with an American waitress??

The best Thai restaurant in our small burg also has a few American servers. The owners and chef, however, are 100% Thai, and the results show.

Mark Lipton

Not to mention the fact that great 'Asian' chefs in the US are American and were born in the US, but have Asian parents (think David Chang).

The principals in the wine store I'm involved with were born and raised in Thailand. They appreciate good food whatever it's origin.There are many Thai restaurants in the LA area but their favorites are up toward Hollywood. The best ones are small and on most occasions I'm the only "round eyes" in the restaurant. My partners say that the vast majority of Thai restaurants have to cater to American palates or they couldn't stay in business. There is a great deal of Thai cooking that is just too hot, spicy, for American palates. Their tolerance for hot and spicy is beyond my understanding.
Before everyone starts to say anything critical they have traveled from LA to Napa just to eat at The French Laundry and loved it.

[Jenise]

. My partners say that the vast majority of Thai restaurants have to cater to American palates or they couldn't stay in business. There is a great deal of Thai cooking that is just too hot, spicy, for American palates. Their tolerance for hot and spicy is beyond my understanding.

Among us, Paul Winalski is probably the only one with that kind of heat toleraance. But yeah, I sympathize and understand about catering to American palates, but you'd be shocked if you came up here (and I don't mean Seattle, where they're more sophisticated, I mean further north where I live) and tried to eat Chinese or Thai. Nearly all of the meats are deep-fried, and the sauces are all extra sweet.

Nearly all of the meats are deep-fried, and the sauces are all extra sweet.

A good friend from Singapore's comment on most of the cheap takeout Chinese/Thai food he had tried when we were doing our UG together in Chicago:
"It's like f***ing McDonalds nuggets in orange sauce!"

Thankfully there were other good dining options in Chicago for Chinese and Thai (Lao Sze Chuan and Spoon Thai, respectively). These days in CT I'm at least able to get good Chinese at Grand Sich and some of the other small Szechuan places in NYC. Have to wait for trips to Singapore before I get any proper Thai food though.

Nearly all of the meats are deep-fried, and the sauces are all extra sweet.

A good friend from Singapore's comment on most of the cheap takeout Chinese/Thai food he had tried when we were doing our UG together in Chicago:
"It's like f***ing McDonalds nuggets in orange sauce!"

Thankfully there were other good dining options in Chicago for Chinese and Thai (Lao Sze Chuan and Spoon Thai, respectively). These days in CT I'm at least able to get good Chinese at Grand Sich and some of the other small Szechuan places in NYC. Have to wait for trips to Singapore before I get any proper Thai food though.

That's a classic quote, Salil, and spot on. Regarding heat in food, my Thai friends have informed me that my tolerance for hot food is pretty high even by Thai standards, so I think that I'd be OK, but convincing anyone who doesn't know me of that is beyond impossible. FWIW, the hottest food I've ever eaten was in Bath, England of all places: a Goanese dish called Chicken Xacutti ordered at a little curry shop in Bath. My reaction to food that hot is that I'll start hiccuping, a result of trauma to the diaphragm, I'm told. Pretty embarrassing when it happens, though.

Mark Lipton

You ate in a Thai restaurant with an American waitress??

rwj

Yup. Most were American or, I would guess, Vietnamese. Remember, this is a small town in the Pacific Northwest. And this particular Thai restaurant used to be just about the only safe Asian restaurant in town, safe meaning they didn't cater to the prevailing caucasian fancy for sweetness requiring the addition of about a teaspoon of sugar in every dish, and sometimes ketchup for seasoning too. Now, apparently it too has gone over to the dark side.

Fortunately, there's great Chinese food just over the border.

I guess I'm jaded by the Thai population here in ATX.
rwj