Best restaurant in BKK ?

[Coss]

thrice being obviously rather excessive,

 

Thank you gentlemen.

[Guest]

Hmmm...Well, okay, but I'm not convinced you've said it once.

 

Anyway, MY point, lest it get lost, was that even if you do have authentic food preparers, such as Thais in a Thai restaurant in the U.S., the food still comes out different, because the ingredients are not quite the same as those available here, or whatever other place of origin.

[buffalo_bill]

Siam Siam,

 

I find your discussion interesting. I think what June 11 wants to say is if an American-Thai ( Father Chicago , mother Akka-hilltribe ) cook cooks Thai in Thailand, it is the ingredients from India which heaten up the sandwich. I only say this once, so listen . But that is not my point.

 

My point is that real authentic Thai cooking depends a lot on how it is done and therefore has no specific taste.

 

I hope I could bring the discussion a step forward and that is all I wanted.

 

Bbill

[Brink15]

IMHO,

 

Siam Sam is right, but not entirely for the right reasons.

 

SS this is not a slam BTW.

 

SS is right in that the ingredients found outside Thailand will change the flavor and therefore the authenticity of the food.

 

In the US the problem is more a factor of Thai cooks appealing to American tastes.

 

The only Thai food I've had in any state that tastes remotely like home cooked Thai food is prepared for Thais. In Boston it used to be Siam Square in Chinatown which catered to an almost exclusive Thai clientele. In Tampa it is a few shops on Dale Mabry near McDill AFB, again catering to Thais.

 

Unfortunately Asian cooks in general, look to Chinese restaurants outside of Chinatowns for example, cater to American tastes. Very few Americans venture forth beyond their own comfortable locales and therefore look to a McDonalds version of Asian cuisine, i.e. does it taste like I expect it too.

 

Sad, actually, as the authentic stuff can open the palate to taste sensations missed by the masses.

 

To summarize, Americanized any cuisine sucks.

 

[june11]

Grink15 wrote: "The only Thai food I've had in any state that tastes remotely like home cooked Thai food is prepared for Thais"

 

 

Which is exactly why I would avoid any Thai restaurant where the cook is NOT Thai. That would pretty much (like 99%) guarantee it will NOT be prepared for Thai's. If the cook is Thai, there is a much lower chance that it will NOT be prepared for Thais (like 40%, depending on what country where in).......Or to avoid the double negatives, if the cook is Thai, there is a much greater chance (but not a guarantee) it will be "authentic" than if the cook is non-Thai. Now Siam Sam may have a greater chance of understanding what i said in my past messages.

 

[Brink15]

Gune11,

 

"Which is exactly why I would avoid any Thai restaurant where the cook is NOT Thai."

 

At least as regards Thai restaurants in Maine, Massachusetts, and Florida, having a Thai cook does not guarantee authentic Thai food. The cook will adjust the food to the tastes of the target audience. In the case of most Thai restaurants in the afore-mentioned areas the target audience is Americans, not Thais. Thais make up a very small percentage of the population so there is no economic reason to seek their business.

 

A few Thai restaurants or shops in areas with a heavy Thai population are authentic. Siam Square in Boston's Chinatown was one such place. Thai Kitchen in Tampa is another.

 

My opinion is based on having eaten in literally every Thai restaurant in Maine (there aren't that many), a dozen or so in Massachusetts, and a couple dozen in Florida. This combined with the fact that I worked in a Thai restaurant in Maine upon my return from living in Thailand and that my wife is currently a chef in her third Thai restaurant in Florida.

 

I have a little of an inside track on this subject. The owners of Thai restaurants, unfortunately, often make assumptions based on the equally dreadful state of Chinese food in these areas, that Americans have a certain taste in Asian food. And again I'm not referring to Chinese restaurants targeting the Chinese population as in Boston's Chinatown. The Thai owners look at the strip mall places where everything is too sweet or deep fried. This usually means lots of sweet dishes, food borrowed from Chinese cooking, and a lot of fried things in the Thai food. Also unfortunately, most times they are right as the locals eat this stuff up.

 

A restaurant owned by one of the owners of my wife's restaurant uses ketchup in nem sod. Ketchup? It's disgusting. But to the American palate it's just wonderful.

 

I brought a friend to the Thai Wat in Tampa and had him try some authentic stuff prepared for the local Thai community. It was totally unrecognizable to him. And this is a guy who has eaten at quite a few Thai restaurants.

 

Most Thais when they go out for Thai food will tell the waiter or waitress to make the food "bpep Thai." Or Thai style. They no what the Americans eat and want theirs made more authentically.

 

Bottom line for authentic Thai cuisine you need authentic ingredients and a Thai chef who is cooking for Thais. Just because the chef is Thai doesn't mean the food will be authentic.

 

[june11]

Again, you did not read my post. I said that having a Thai cook does NOT (ok? NOT NOT NOT)...guarantee authentic. But.......... (see the post).

[Brink15]

Gune11,

 

 

'Which is exactly why I would avoid any Thai restaurant where the cook is NOT Thai. That would pretty much (like 99%) guarantee it will NOT be prepared for Thai's. If the cook is Thai, there is a much lower chance that it will NOT be prepared for Thais (like 40%, depending on what country where in)......."

 

You seem to be over emphasizing the ethnicity of the cook over the target audience of the clientele.

 

As an example you might have an amazing Hong Kong Chinese cook who is cooking for mid-American palates. He would have to alter his cuisine to suit the mundane palettes of his customers.

 

Jing mai?

 

[june11]

And what I've been arguing is that: Having a non-Thai (an American, for ex.) as the cook makes it LESS LIKELY that the meal will be "authentic" than having a Thai cook it.

[Brink15]

Your point is that having someone other than a Thai cooking Thai food makes it less authentic.

 

No one is arguing that with you. Probably because, aside from Laotians, I've never encountered non-Thais cooking in a Thai restaurant. Conversely I know of many Thais working as cooks in Japanese or Chinese restaurants. Here in Florida more sushi chefs are Vietnamese, Thai, or Laotian than Japanese. And again like your point about Thai food it makes a difference in the authenticity of the food they cook.

 

The point that Siam Sam was making is that the ingredients play a big part in the authenticity of the taste of Thai food.

 

I agree. Rarely do you find Thai restaurants that use the exact same ingredients as used in Thailand.

 

My point is that the reason for this is that the restaurant owners are trying to appeal to Americans, not Thais.

 

So to summarize:

 

1) Thais make the best Thai food.

 

2) Authentic ingredients make for an authentic taste.

 

3) Thai food prepared at the majority of Thai restaurants in the US is made for American tastes.

 

Which is the root cause of the difference between Thai food eaten in Thailand and in the US?

 

1) Not likely. Very few Thai restaurants would employ non-Thais, aside from Laotians.

 

2) To a great deal. Tom Kar soup for example is not nearly as good without fresh kar.

 

3) Ahhh, but why do Thais exclude ingredients from the recipes? Most things are available these days, with some exceptions. Bai makroot is grown here in Florida. Kar can be obtained frozen. It's because Thais know most Americans wouldn't know the difference. Another thing to keep in mind is that very few Thai chefs are actually chefs by trade. Most had jobs as store owners, teachers, etc. before coming to the US. I've only met two Thais who were chefs in Thailand prior to coming here. Both worked in very upscale Thai restaurants in Boston. And the food they made was very good. Not authentic, but very good. The best Thai food I've had in the US is the food the cooks make for themselves.