is it just me or is thai food really that bland ...

[BKKdreaming]

I do not like foods that hide behind "Hot" chiles etc , Thai, Mexician , BBQ , some Curries and other fire breathing foods

I like foods with good sauces that you can enjoy without having to grab for a glass of water to wash it down !

[maswov]

I guess you could say its bland compared to Indian or Arabic food. Compared to English food, Thai food is bursting with flavor.

[Friendly Stranger]

Anyone else tend to agree or am I wrong .... Btw .I'm not saying all thai food is bland .. just this was..

Went out to a friends house last night for a casual evening dinner around the pool.

On offer was two of those salted barbequed fish, two containers of uncooked shrimp, chopped up squid, some mussels & those coral shell pippies, lettuce and shallots.

Now this was all bought outside at the corner street vendor I guess to minimize traveling .....

I don't mind some thai food so long as it's not cold ... but most of this was cold except for the fish that was just warm ....

Well I tucked in to some fish and squid and that was about it ... and not a lot of it either .. I did get a fish and squid wrapped in lettuce handed to me which was ok. ... the others were all commenting on how delicious it all was ..

The shrimp being uncooked is topped with that green seafood chilly sauce that they use every where you go in thailand .. and a bowl placed for further dipping if needed.

Is it that thai food is bland, minimalistic, simple with little finesse ....

I just found everything pretty ordinary and when cold is not so enjoyable in my view.

I would much prefer a nice hot nachos or buffalo chicken wings or some pizza.

IMO.

Are you new to Thailand? Not flaming, but serious?

Maybe they (your friends) don't like it so seasoned.

It's similar to when I went to a buddy's mom's house for pizza, he says it's fantastic as it is from a certain region. However, it wasn't spiced enough to my liking. But I wont say that region's food sucked.

You didn't use the Thai condiments that was probably nearby?

[steven100]

I guess you could say its bland compared to Indian or Arabic food. Compared to English food, Thai food is bursting with flavor.

I don't mind the Arabic bread ... or lebanese bread .. I toast it and put some german potato salad, sliced ham and mustard on it and fold it over like a sandwich ...

[blazes]

Deep-fried makes Thai food taste better, but I can't help wondering, as I munch on some deep-fried wings, how often the oil that the wings were cooked in has been used.....

Most Thais seem to eat pad thai with SUGAR .....disgusting taste to a savoury meal.

[Johnnie99]

I do not think Thai food is bland, but if one puts copious amounts of chilli into everything, the taste becomes uniform.

That's what Thai food suffers from.

[Johnnie99]

I guess you could say its bland compared to Indian or Arabic food. Compared to English food, Thai food is bursting with flavor.

Clearly you are not an aficionado of subtle flavours and blends which are present in English food.

If your idea of 'bursting with flavour' is the usual taste of chilli then your food must be unexciting.

Most foreigners have had their palettes destroyed by the over use of spices to mask the poor quality of ingredients.

[elgenon]

In the States sweet sells so most restaurant food below gourmet is too sweet, including Thai. Much better here at the source.

[mike324]

I think the OPs Thai food experience was just based on eating seafood alone as he stated in the beginning. He is not saying other types of Thai food is bland. I would say its comparable to eating American seafood where its a meal of grill fish topped with wedge of lemon, boiled crabs and lobsters dipped with butter sauce, or breaded seafood with ketchup. Its funny how Thais think western seafood is bland because its not spicy

Thais use their green chilli sauce

Westerners use their lemon, butter, and ketchup

in the end all same same

[Docno]

It's just you ... and it sounds like you're staying away from most Thai food (in favour of fries and burgers?)

"The shrimp being uncooked is topped with that green seafood chilly sauce that they use every where you go in thailand .. and a bowl placed for further dipping if needed."

That's gung che nam pla ... one of my favourites. I can't see how anyone in their right mind can call that bland. You've got a mix of garlic, chinese parsley, fiercely spicy chili, lime juice, etc., blanketing a raw shrimp, and balanced with a slice of bitter melon. Probably a half dozen or more different flavours in there, reinforced by the brutal kick of the chili... and believe me, this is intended to be one of the spicier ones. How is that bland (def: "(of food or drink) unseasoned, mild-tasting, or insipid")???

You need to either have your taste buds or your thesaurus examined...

[Docno]

It's just you ... and it sounds like you're staying away from most Thai food (in favour of fries and burgers?)

"The shrimp being uncooked is topped with that green seafood chilly sauce that they use every where you go in thailand .. and a bowl placed for further dipping if needed."

That's gung che nam pla ... one of my favourites. I can't see how anyone in their right mind can call that bland. You've got a mix of garlic, chinese parsley, fiercely spicy chili, lime juice, etc., blanketing a raw shrimp, and balanced with a slice of bitter melon. Probably a half dozen or more different flavours in there, reinforced by the brutal kick of the chili... and believe me, this is intended to be one of the spicier ones. How is that bland (def: "(of food or drink) unseasoned, mild-tasting, or insipid")???

You need to either have your taste buds or your thesaurus examined...

And one more thing.... that 'green chili sauce that you see everywhere in Thailand' varies enormously from place to place (so long as they're not cheating and pouring in from the bottle). My gf makes it from scratch using the mortar and pestle I keep in my house just for her visits, and it's brilliant. As far as one could imagine from 'bland'...

[cooked]

You've nailed it ...

Thai food really is that bland ...

Thanks for the reminder to pack that extra bottle of HP Sauce for my next trip over.

.

HP Sauce, now your talking my language

If you really want to ramp it up, just bring some ghost peppers back with you...only don't say they're "ghost" peppers, nobody here would go near them with a name like that ??

Maybe they even those peppers.

I still have a bet going, my thai friend will eat 5 habanero peppers without drinking water, if he can do it i will pay him 1000 baht.

Good that you remind me, i will do it soon.

Bad bet. I can do that if I have plenty of sugar available. Water just makes it worse.

[cooked]

.. a thought comes to mind... try cooking a dish using ginger instead of chilli. They can't eat it. Too spicey!

[Evolare]

Troll post or just ignorant...

[Ace of Pop]

Even Thais argue bland or not.My old father in law said hed sooner eat a MacD than his Wifes Food.....Must admit so would i, but we all enjoyed SILs offerings.That Parche Herb they use in some areas here makes me puke at the smell, like a Joggers Sock.

[Smurkster]

The longer I stay here the less partial I become to Thai food..

I do find that a lot of the time it really is bland, or if that is not the problem, too greasy! Recently I seem to always have a problem with any Thai food that I purchase. The other day, I bought Kai Tod Had Yai and it was still pink in the middle..I really get upset when meat (especially chicken) is cooked in such haste that it is still raw. I also find a lot of times the use of Oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, MSG combination in SO many of the fried, stir fried "phat" dishes can be very repetitive and bland.. I actually am one of the rare ones probably, I like the version of Thai food that is found in Europe or in the States. For example, most Thai restaurants in the US serve their 'Pad Bai Ga Pow' with "Bai Hua Rapha" (sweet "Thai basil") instead of with "Gra-Pow" (Holy Basil).

personally, I find the hype about Thai food overrated, there are so many Asian cuisines I would rate above it: Japanese, Korean, Indian and possibly even Vietnamese cuisine. Food

[Hatyaier]

Thai food is bland is Canada but I love thousands of varieties I've eaten in Thailand.

[SoiBiker]

I do not think Thai food is bland, but if one puts copious amounts of chilli into everything, the taste becomes uniform.

That's what Thai food suffers from.

If you can't tolerate chilli, maybe.

[SoiBiker]

.. a thought comes to mind... try cooking a dish using ginger instead of chilli. They can't eat it. Too spicey!

Nonsense. Thai people eat plenty of dishes cooked with ginger. Gai Pad Khing, for example. Or Gaeng Hang Lay.

[Smurkster]

Plenty of fat Thais. I blame Swensens.

ooooh but the cantaloupe ice cream is sooooo good!! Yesterday I had an interesting combo from the Swensen's in Vientiane LPDR: a scoop of cantaloupe ice cream and Strawberry cheesecake ice with rainbow sprinkles on top, I devoured it

[DrTuner]

You've got to mix more ingredients in. This type of stuff is basically slapping the ingredients on the table and let you finish the cooking.

Lettuce, vermicelli on bottom, cracked roasted peanuts, fish, chili sauce, wrap it up and munch. Not bland, but beware of fish tasting like mud.

[Soiyamoto]

Sugar salt and msg

[cooked]

.. a thought comes to mind... try cooking a dish using ginger instead of chilli. They can't eat it. Too spicey!

Nonsense. Thai people eat plenty of dishes cooked with ginger. Gai Pad Khing, for example. Or Gaeng Hang Lay.

Utter rubbish. They don't eat ginger around here so I get my revenge this way.

[SoiBiker]

.. a thought comes to mind... try cooking a dish using ginger instead of chilli. They can't eat it. Too spicey!

Nonsense. Thai people eat plenty of dishes cooked with ginger. Gai Pad Khing, for example. Or Gaeng Hang Lay.

Utter rubbish. They don't eat ginger around here so I get my revenge this way.

So those dishes I mentioned - they don't exist?

[Strangebrew]

It was you guess you didn't offer to give some baht to help buy some food Huh Cheap Charlie? You see your host may have had limited funds it is polite to offer some baht to off set there costs Just as it is for host to offer some food.

[bangkok2013]

Trues about that green sauce .It's the only one for sea food. I don't think is goes well at all. But for the rest ,no Thai food is not bland .You want Bland food ,go to China. There you will find the king of bland in all it's glory. i never thought it would be that gad really..........what a disappointment .

[slipperylobster]

You are making the same mistake many tourists do. Eating at cheap, roadside stalls is not really going to give any indications of what good food is like here in Thailand. Believe me, there are some fine Thai dining experiences.

Had to laugh at your post. sorry.

For you people who complain (almost daily) about food here... I am providing some good input. Read the link, and learn to broaden your culinary spectrum. It is about trying something other than bland meat and potatoes, that most westerners are addicted to. Kind of silly.

http://tgcmagazine.com/articles/329.shtml

Edited November 12, 2014 by slipperylobster

[cooked]

.. a thought comes to mind... try cooking a dish using ginger instead of chilli. They can't eat it. Too spicey!

Nonsense. Thai people eat plenty of dishes cooked with ginger. Gai Pad Khing, for example. Or Gaeng Hang Lay.

Utter rubbish. They don't eat ginger around here so I get my revenge this way.

So those dishes I mentioned - they don't exist?

I'm suggesting that you don't have a sense of humour and that you shouldn't answer posts starting with the word 'Nonsense'.

[SoiBiker]

I'm suggesting that you don't have a sense of humour and that you shouldn't answer posts starting with the word 'Nonsense'.

If you post obvious nonsense, you can expect to be called on it.

Maybe it's just your cooking that they can't eat?

[Don Aleman]

I've been here 10 years, was aware of all the Thai and foreigner bragging about Thai Cuisine, ( don't know either when it went from food to CUISINE ). and tasted 2 or 3 dishes my first day here. I didn't recognize the vegetables, still don't, refused to eat wood, ( bamboo ), and mile long noodles make it hard to not look like an animal eating. Have not eaten a Thai dish since then and , do not take off my shoes anywhere, ( want me ? shoes stay on0) my shoes are cleaner than your floor ), and I bow to no one !

Actually many of the ass kissing ex pats here make me sick with: sandals, sleeveless undershirts, bending/bowing/chopsticks, ( stabbing food with wood ? ), trying to learn Thai and forgetting they are PAYING guests !