Well, you guys really seem to suck more now (LONG).

[Fudgethatkay]

So I started working at a Thai/Laotian restaurant (Gooodd foodddd mmmmmmmm)

Third week, customers are pretty nice, any complaints minimal, not a big deal

Until recently. My boss got her daughter's hair done at a local salon (One I avoid for a GOOD reason. That's at the end of the story)

She mentioned the restaurant, and the owner of the salon came with friends last week and ordered SPICY beef larb (minced beef and tripe in herbs and cilantro and spices)
We brought it out, she complained it was TOO spicy. (I do warn customers when they order Hot or Medium spice, that the cook don't play. She means it.)
Ohkay, we apologize, offered to remake it, she said no.


Today, her daughters and coworkers came to order a pick up to go. What they ordered was

Kow-Boon, two orders (A red curry based soup. Can be slightly spicy as is, but is usually creamy cause its made with coconut milk)
Pad Thai (Thai pan fried noodles with special sauce)
Lad Naa (another pan friend noodle with its own sauce and flavoring)
Beef Larb, medium spice. (less spicy than the week before)

The order is rung up, they take it to go, all seems well

Until they call 30 minutes later and complain about EVERYTHING.
Kow Boon was too spicy (it only comes as one flavor and I never heard of this complaint anywhere that serves it)
The pad thai was overcooked (Boss lady C took care of that one. Who knows. Her sister S is usually the main cook but she helps out)
Lad Naa was too salty (S swears up and down it wasn't, I tend to believe her....considering her food doesn't use much salt anyways)
And the Larb was too spicy. (This annoyed me. They keep saying they want it medium to really spicy, then complain)

S took the call, offered to remake it ALL and deliver it free of charge. They kept telling HER no, but also demanded for Bosslady's C's personal number. They keep namedropping her and acting like they were close friends, so S was pissed off the rest of the day after that phone call.

Now these customers, are kind of crooks. Or cheats. However you want to refer them. See, in 2010 I was their customer for a hair salon. I was getting highlights with my friend.

Just highlights. They offered a "free" haircut....and when I told my friend how I'd need to straighten my hair afterwards at home, without me asking them or anything they started styling my hair and didn't stop...


then I see they added 50 dollars for the charge...so yeah..........including the supposed free haircut.

I never went back, and my hair was messed up after that place so i left a negative review on yelp to which they harassed me with rude messages.

And now, 4 years later, (ALMOST TO THE DAY) they didn't recognize me as their waitress. Huh. So for them to call and complain after every time they make and order and dare tell S that "She needs to actually cater to her customer's taste"....yeah....okay guys.


By the way, 5 more ordered Kow Boon today. And only compliments. :P

[EvilEmpryss]

OMG, I love Thai food! I can't get anyone in my family to eat at this one place with me because -- as you said -- they don't mess around when they say "spicy". I tried their hottest level once and was warned, repeatedly, that it would be VERY spicy, but I'm ballsy so I went for it... and promptly ordered a different dish of a level down from that! That food was kind of hot.

They tried to give me the new dish for free but I wouldn't let them: I ignored their warning and ordered it that way and I paid the consequences. I wouldn't know my limits if I didn't try, though. It wasn't their fault. These twatwaffles were way out of line, especially for ordering the same dishes twice and still complaining.

[MoonCat]

Sounds like those people think they can order whatever they want and custom-order the level of spicing beyond the standard mild, medium, suicidal or whatever terms are used. Some places may do that, but if they don't tell you that right on the menu or have the server tell you, then you get the cook's version of spicy, not something that only exists in your own head.

[TimmyHate]

All I know is right now my mouth is watering.

Our usual Thai Place (who we LOVE) have our order down perfect

1x Chicken Satay entree
2x Steamed Rice
1x Chicken Mi Goorang (Hot)
1x Chicken Drunken Noodle (Medium).

My wife - who as a mexican loves her spice - tried her's 'Thai Hot' once....and paid the price. Didn't complain - she was warned!

[jedimaster91]

The Thai places around here have a scale of either 0-5 or 1-5, with 5 being sucking on a ghost pepper hot. There also seems to be a big jump from 2 to 3. I usually order mine at a 1 because while I don't mind a little kick, I don't like things hot just to be hot. One place in particular has pineapple fried rice that comes in an actual pineapple. Dangit, now I'm craving Thai.

[Teysa]

I vote that Kay buys us all lunch. Your restaurant ships, right?

[Jester]

For some odd reason, this tiny island has THREE Thai restaurants. Go figure.

Anyway, from experience with Thai and Indian food, despite my love of spicy food, I don't fuck around with their version of spicy. I'll work my way up the spice meter, not down, thank you very much.

My current favorite item is Drunken Noodles from the Thai place right by my work. After ordering it without specifying spice level a couple of times, I noticed on the menu that they gave you an option of 1-5. I opted for 2.

It was good. It was SPICY, but good. I could probably do 3. 4 or 5 would almost certainly kill me.

My translation of the spice levels offered at Asian restaurants:

0: No real spice element, just some seasoning. Too spicy for my mom.
1: Well-seasoned, with some spice. I could eat this all day. This would kill my mother.
2: A healthy kick. Goes great with beer. My mother would explode from inhaling the fumes.
3: Now we're cooking with fire! Probably the limit if my abilities. My mother wouldn't be able to talk to me on the phone from across the country after I'd eaten this.
4: You're a crazy American trying to impress the staff or your date. You will fail at both.
5: This is what Thais call "a bit spicy" and what Americans call YYEEEOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!! Often used for fraternity hazing. If you're an American eating this, you clearly have no nerve endings or taste buds still active in your mouth. That or you're fulfilling a bar bet or a date, and if so, had better have plans to spend some quality time in the restroom.
6: This is what I imagine the Thais eat when they want something spicy. And if you're wondering why you've never seen it on the menu, it's because they don't offer it to Americans due to likely lawsuits. That, or they don't have all their hazmat licenses up to date.

[fireheart]

There's a restaurant chain in Aussieland that allows customers to choose how spicy they want their chicken. They can choose "plain...ish", churasco BBQ, lemon and herb, mild, medium, hot, suicidal. (The last one is not their actual label). I made the mistake of trying their churasco BBQ with medium hot sauce. They were not kidding about the spice.

[dawnfire]

There's a restaurant chain in Aussieland that allows customers to choose how spicy they want their chicken. They can choose "plain...ish", churasco BBQ, lemon and herb, mild, medium, hot, suicidal. (The last one is not their actual label). I made the mistake of trying their churasco BBQ with medium hot sauce. They were not kidding about the spice.

my eldest finds their extra spicy too mild. me on the other hand i'm a chilli wimp

[Argus]

6: This is what I imagine the Thais eat when they want something spicy.

This reminded me of one webcomic in which the main character ordered a "Thai 5" level of spice.

[registerrodeo]

The first time my ex had Thai food, I tried warning him but would he listen? No, no he would not. It was entertaining to watch him realize spicy has 2 completely different meanings for Thai and American. Did he complain to the restaurant? Nope, because he realized he had been warned and his failure to listen was all his fault.

[Fudgethatkay]

I vote that Kay buys us all lunch. Your restaurant ships, right?

Sure, has to be at least 20 dollars per order ;]

[EricKei]

Argus - ya beat me to it. The fly bursting into flames by proximity on the next page was a nice touch. Scoville, indeed.

[otakuneko]

5: This is what Thais call "a bit spicy" and what Americans call YYEEEOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!! Often used for fraternity hazing. If you're an American eating this, you clearly have no nerve endings or taste buds still active in your mouth. That or you're fulfilling a bar bet or a date, and if so, had better have plans to spend some quality time in the restroom.
6: This is what I imagine the Thais eat when they want something spicy. And if you're wondering why you've never seen it on the menu, it's because they don't offer it to Americans due to likely lawsuits. That, or they don't have all their hazmat licenses up to date.

I know some crazy dudes at work. One of them told a story about being dissatisfied with the level of spice, and asking the staff to bring him something "brown people spicy." (dude's white) I wonder if it was a 6.

He claims to have eaten it, albeit at much pain and sweat.

[Fudgethatkay]

Funnily enough, I brought home medium spicy (white people torture spicy) larb and I was eating it with only a few sniffles.

Mom wouldn't touch it cause of the smell alone

Japanese bestie tasted it and started coughing. And he only had a nibble