Dinning: Lost in Translation

So the other night we took our Thai friends out for a dinner. This consisted of our Tennis friends Hoi, her husband and their two kids, as well as Piroon, another friend. Since generally we have eaten at Thai places with them we thought we’d try a nice Italian place for a change. The kids love pasta and Syd and I were needed a nice bottle of red. We disguised the event as Barrett’s birthday although it was a few days early. Hoi picked the Italian restaurant as the restaurateur was a tennis acquaintance of hers. He had moved here from Italy ten years ago and married a Thai lady. (A frequent theme around here). His menu, certainly not inexpensive from a Chiang Mai point of view, was by far the most authentic we’ve found here and the atmosphere was very nice. We were excited for a nice meal and occasion.

Syd started by suggesting some red wine. Bad choice. Our friends turned out to be dry and quickly dashed any idea of drinking a nice bottle of red. No matter, the appetizers looked great and I ordered some for the table. The “tar tar” styled beef (can’t remembered what it was called but it was basically raw, acid marinated beef) was a disaster. Turns out our friends don’t eat beef due to their Buddhist religion. Pork, chicken, fish and the others are fine, but no beef. Guess I should have known but I thought that was a Hindu thing. So we were off to a good start. Not! I should note that Piroon did partake in the appetizers. He promptly requested a bottle of Catsup and then preceded to smoother the Kobe beef in it prior to consumption. He nodded in approval.

As I pondered the menu I asked Hoi what she might order. She confided in me that she didn’t like Italian food. I think she used the words; “I hate Italian food” and made a face to make sure I understood. I chucked a little and asked her what kind of foods she did like. She said, “Thai”. Luckily, she knew the owner and was able to order some “custom” dishes. Dishes, not dish (entrée) is the key here. As you might guess at this point, going out for nice dinners wasn’t really something our friends did much. Certainly not Italian.

The Thai style of dinning is really quite different. Somewhat like when you order Chinese, the dish comes to the table, not an individual. Basically, when you order you order with the group in mind. Well this is the concept that they used as they parsed the menu. Before I knew it twice as many entrees were ordered then there were people at the table.

Unlike Chinese, the Thais consider it rude to take more then a spoonful from the communal plate at any one time. However it is not rude to reach in front of someone to help yourself to more. Basically it’s a dinning madhouse.

As the entrees appeared they were quickly passed around and spooned on to the plates. Pasta dishes, Lasagna dishes, seafood pizzas, ect. It was kinda like potluck at a really nice Italian restaurant. Piroon continued with the catsup theme. On his lasagna, on the seafood pizza, complete with mussels, and even the pasta dishes that already had tomato sauce on them. Syd and I had a hard time containing our amusement.

The whole time the kids enjoyed being with teenaged kids, our friends seemed happy if not oblivious, and the night was a great time. The tab, on us, was three times what we’ve paid for any other dinner out. (I think it was a whopping $100.) Regardless, when Syd and I finally made it home, we couldn’t stop laughing as we recounted the evening. Next time we’re going to try to take them to Sushi. We’ll see.