tutsiwarrior Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Now is the opportunity to register your true feelings regarding Thai food. Yeah...it tastes good in a restaurant in a 4 star hotel...nicely sanitised and OK for falang palates. But what about the stuff that the locals eat? Do you like it other than it is cheap? I maintain that most unpretentious Thai food offerings from food stalls and the like are not suitable for human consumption. I am bound and blindfolded and await either canonization or death... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britmaveric Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Eat with TG infact she feeds it to me. We eat food from local restaurants, vendors whatever. Never been ill and it tastes lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Yeah...it tastes good in a restaurant in a 4 star hotel...nicely sanitised and OK for falang palates. the 4 star hotels don't have kitchens, they just run out the back and grab food from the carts and put it on clean plates for you tutsiwarrior. actually i've been poisoned only twice, a fresh squeezed orange juice stand in bangkok, and a chicken cart on walking street. each put me in the hospital with an IV and heavy duty pain killers for a couple of days. the doctors say it takes farangs a couple of years to get used to the bacteria out here. now i can basically eat out of a dog dish without getting sick. rumour says they are trying to ban the carts off the streets which is a shame as i like issan food, but i'm sure there will always be some on certain sois. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tutsiwarrior Posted March 22, 2004 Author Share Posted March 22, 2004 huski...don't get me wrong...I do not blanketly dismiss Thai food...I just hate the hypocricy of falangs doing summersaults and going on about how wonderful it is. I quite like the little isaan sausages when I can find them...but that is rare compared with the garbage on offer from the odd food cart by the bus station. With regard to gastritis (sounds like you had it) it can happen to anyone...my Thai wife came out to the UAE and came down with it on the second week...hospital for 3 days...there is bacteria and there is bacteria...I've been pretty much immune, except for an episode in Mexico City (absolutely the best tasting street food anywhere on the planet) with vomiting that interrupted an otherwise exquisite blow job... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackandwhite Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Myself I have never had a problem so far, we eat all types of Thai food. Oh there was one time I did get an upset tummy, I ate those little deep fried crabs in Hua Hin serves me right. I just would like to say yes the hygine standards are low in general in LOS and street vendors are even worse. But and it is a big but here in England the standards are little better. The food is not as fresh, I think the high demand for the street food keeps the poisoning cases low, you know it hasnt got time to go off. Ask me and I dont care where I eat thai food, so long as it is in Thailand. Street food is as good as any other hotel I have eaten in. You could always miss the Thai food and eat in Mac Donalds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tutsiwarrior Posted March 22, 2004 Author Share Posted March 22, 2004 simon...not talking about unsanitary offerings...how does it taste? Everyone likes som tam but I don't, mouth on fire followed by an aftertaste of nam plaa...give it to the pigs... chicken wings, pig lungs and the rest...dose liberally with chiles and nam plaa and everyone is happy???...not me...give me a Big Mac anyday... c'mon you sissies, call a spade a spade and take the retort like a man... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britmaveric Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Half of it dunno what I am eating all I know its good. TG always seem to order Yam Seafood Salad - squid,shrimp, scallops, and those yummy red chillis. Always get too hot for Ferang-but always eat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rinrada Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 After eating a snack of cockroaches,beetles or crickets I always find their little legs very good for cleaning your teeth afterwards. Lot better than having to buy those un-hygenic stick or plastic things,but suppose can always half inch them from any local friendly ran-ahan. Now about flossing......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
britmaveric Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Bag of Ghekkos! *yummy* Chocco Scorpions are rather tasty dessert too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zendesigner Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Got sick twice in 9 months but sorry to say it was both times from small farang runned snack shops like sandwiches and restaurant. They probalby are more worried about trowing bad or almost bad food away then the thais. A food cart always has a daily turnover most of the time. they buy their vegtables and a litlle piece of meat which is finisched by the end of the day. But indeed for a farang that is used to inox kitchens and vacuum protected meat. The Thai market is like walking through a Pig shack. If my wife wants to eat smelly food up to her, but trained her to go sit on the balcony Like the half rotten bamboo dish i don't know how they get it in their mouths.... Your body normally rejects stuf just on the smell so don't ask me how they do it? b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rinrada Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 YES ..in-deeeeead especially deep fried in ice cream "a la baked Alaska" style-Luv-lay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tutsiwarrior Posted March 22, 2004 Author Share Posted March 22, 2004 zen...you have been unfortunate to discover the fetid smell of gang soom...pickled bamboo shoots with naam plaa and other disgusting ingredients... but...this is authentic thai cuisine...why aren't our friends on the forum waxing poetic about the virtues thereof? because it smells like human excrement and no one can admit that anything anywhere could be so disgusting... wake up and smell the gang soom... and the rest of youse...it ain't about getting sick, it's about what would you like to eat...gang soom is an extreme example I have to admit but there ain't nothing wrong with the old country cuisine...and you should not feel inadequate if that is what you prefer to something that has the aroma of <deleted>... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 Well, im sure glad i can cook my own Thai cuisine without going to a nice Thai resturants here in the States. But i would love to try the vendor carts on the streets of Thailand one day. Especially, som tham, if it doesnt turn out as good as the way i make it, i might have to go behind the cart and start "thamming" away...LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chonabot Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 The last time I was "Jep-tong" in Los was after eating a Mangda , I thought I would impress my new Thai friends , after several gallons of 11 tigers , I ripped the head off first and chewed through the pain/vomit barrier , only to be told by a few concerned Thais that to eat the head was "Mai dee Mahk".....I can still taste it I swear..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tutsiwarrior Posted March 22, 2004 Author Share Posted March 22, 2004 sandy...som tam is a wicked attempt by locals to ingraciate falangs and the local food. It sounds peaceful enogh...green papaya and a bit of this and that but beware if you get it on the streets of BKK...mouth full of fire chased with horrible naam plaa rotten pussy flavour...send you back howling to LAX and Big Macs. But...I have an open mind and encourge everyone to eat as much local food as possible so that one could truely say "it tastes like <deleted>...make no mistake" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 tutsi: I guess....!?! whatever u say buddy. The som tham isn't wicked enough if you don't use "bah lah" instead of "nam blah". Now that is want u call wicked. Plus all of the peppers u can handle...boy...good s@!t So, I certainly don't know where u are eating them, oops i forgot. But my farang friends here never complained of the way i make it. And trust me, its straight up "isan" style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_Pat_Pong Posted March 22, 2004 Share Posted March 22, 2004 sandy...som tam is a wicked attempt by locals to ingraciate falangs and the local food. It sounds peaceful enogh...green papaya and a bit of this and that but beware if you get it on the streets of BKK...mouth full of fire chased with horrible naam plaa rotten pussy flavour...send you back howling to LAX and Big Macs.But...I have an open mind and encourge everyone to eat as much local food as possible so that one could truely say "it tastes like <deleted>...make no mistake" I'll partially agree Tutsi ... some of the delights would kill a soi dog IN DOG WE TRUST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IT Manager Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 We cook at home a fair bit, Thai and foreign food, depends who is in what mood. Alternatively there are 3 or 4 restaurants locally we go to regularly, which have been discussed in the Nong Hoi thread. We tend to like different types of food (rice or noodles) at different times, depends on weather and other factors. I don't get into the stinking stuff (apart from Durian), but number 1 son tends to add mouth burning amounts of dried chillis to most of what he eats. I tend to use some. My wife using almost none. I think the stall type restaurants are the best on a daily basis, but for special occasions we go to other more upmarket places just as a treat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boon Mee Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Som Tom is just fine for the gringo if it does not have too much garlic & those little green peppers mixed in. I don't eat it off the street unless a Thai I can trust says this pussy-falang can handle it. As far as the rest of the Thai cuisine goes - bring it on! W/exception of entrails. Gimme a big bowl or two, or three if I'm hungry, of Hoy Mang Poo! I can sit down and eat Meean Kam ALL afternoon. A nice broiled Plaa Jella Maa or Jella Met gives me a blue-veiner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxexile Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 lots of good stuff out there, if you are too afraid to eat from the carts then go into one of the tin table places where they cook by the door.(they are just as unhygienic but look cleaner and more appetising to the more squeamish eater) as well as the ready made stuff they have on show most will also cook to order, choose your ingredients,and your level of spiciness and away you go. dont be intimidated by the cook, they are usually busy and can be rude if you dont know exactly what you want. nothing wrong with the carts,i think some of the best food to be had is at the night food markets where you get dozens of carts selling. the thais are very fussy about what and how they eat,and a poorly run or dirty cart would not stay in business long. go for a busy cart and you wont get sick or be disappointed. som tam is one of the finest dishes on the planet,especially suitable for this hot weather, get them to hold back on all but one of the chillies,no shrimps,msg, crabs or pla raa and you get a lovely cool sweet salad that is a delight to eat, even more so when accompanied by a stick of french bread (which you have to buy at a supermarket beforehand!!). there is a lot more out there than pigs <deleted> and cows guts, takes time and a food loving wife to get the full knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mig15 Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 I love it. You don’t like it – don’t eat it! What’s the big deal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spee Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Earlier in this thread Tutsi waxed poetically ..... "c'mon you sissies, call a spade a spade and take the retort like a man..." Can't say that I'm wildly crazy for all ahaan-Thai culinary delights, but I do really like a lot of them. Fruit, vegetable and meat dishes prepared by my Thai friends are almost all really good. I especially like some of the cold "salad" dishes where these things are all mixed together with some herbs and spices. I've had several kinds of Thai sausages and they are all good so far. Some of the stuff is just too <deleted>' hot. I like the flavor of the hot peppers but can't eat them because they light me up for 15-20 minutes. Same thing happens occasionally when a pepper seed gets hidden in a piece of food and I smash into it while chewing. Ooooohh, that's hot!! I was taken aback the first time my ThaiGF brought out a heaping plate of fried grubworms and crickets. Not wanting to embarrass her, I dug in and ate my share. I can't say as I would go out of my way to eat them all the time. But at the same time, they weren't bad and I wouldn't refuse them if offered again. As I get older, I seem to be a little more food friendly and will often try and like new dishes. Not so in my younger days when I wouldn't even approach non-Yank food, and only even ate a few varieties of that. Does all that make me a sissy Toots ?? Spee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbk Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Don't think much of Isaan food, I don't like som tam and am not a big fan of sticky rice. I also don't like Gaeng Som. That said, I do love the hot coconut curries of southern Thailand (bring on the heart disease!), the crispy fried fresh mullet, and garlic & pepper pork with the crispy garlic is fabulous. To each their own, everyone likes something different . There is no requirement that everyone must have the same tastes. How boring it would be because if everyone liked the same thing, all the food would be the same! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownsugar Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Thai food is pretty cool. I'm actually looking foward to eating from the street stalls when I visit Thailand soon. I'm looking foward to the grubs and other exotic stuff , my stomach can handle it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
organic Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Eat with the other staff, ordinary Thai food, and I've no idea what some of the stuff is, but for the most part it tastes excellent. If I ever have to return to the UK to live, it's gonna be very hard to re-adjust to the cuisine (and loads of other things). Only bad stomach upset I've ever had here was off oysters, so I just avoid shellfish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sickbuffalo Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 I haven’t been back to Thailand for about 3 years , so while living in Sydney, my wife (Thai) and I, have to pay exorbitant prices at “Thai” restaurants, where you lucky people can eat the same meal for a 10th of the price – the grass is always greener I suppose. I and many travelers to Thailand, actually miss those smells in local markets and although I agree with you all regarding the cleanliness, I have only been sick a few times, but that could also come down to brushing my teeth with the local water. Andy Sydney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuky Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 I think the stall type restaurants are the best on a daily basis, but for special occasions we go to other more upmarket places just as a treat. Your talking about my driveway aren't you mate? What feed I have there each night, and it generally goes on into the wee small hours of the morning. aroi! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davethailand Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Eat with TG infact she feeds it to me. We eat food from local restaurants, vendors whatever. Never been ill and it tastes lovely. same here. although normally we eat thai food at home, i don't like the farang thai food that you get in alot of farang restaurants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tutsiwarrior Posted March 23, 2004 Author Share Posted March 23, 2004 spee...you baaaad, mate...I'd take you on as a pardner in a street fight against som tam aficionados anytime... but this thread is getting out of line...we're supposed to be talking about what we don't like...I suspect that the forces of evil (golfers, Nazis and CIA operatives to name a few) on this forum are subverting all of tutsi's good intentions...what is this jive about 'wonderful local fruits...'??? Watermelon helped to perpetuate slavery and negative images of black people in the US and now we are to believe that the fruit is a paradigm of local cuisine? Madness!!! Think about what you hate to eat in Thailand, pleasze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boon Mee Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Well, I got really sick once after chugging down a couple big bottles of Singha and eating a Durian at the same time. Does that count? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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