*DONE* List Item: ~Thai Food~

This is one of the first List items that PG & I ever had the pleasure of doing.

Thai food is kind of a trendy thing, now a days. However, it’s safe to say that most people don’t really get it. I think that the majority of sub-humans think “Spicy Chinese” when they hear Thai. Wow, it never ceases to amaze me how dumb most people are. The Thai menu is a great combination of tastes: Coconut, Curry, Peanut, Garlic, Basil, the list goes on…

We’ve done Thai a few times now, and I want to briefly touch on all of them.

The first place was in the Clearwater area just off of Gulf to Bay (Dammit, can’t remember the name). It was a tiny little place in a strip mall not too far from The Original Hooters (Yes that is a landmark to me :p). PG suggested we split a spicy Panang, which I’d never had before. I’ll admit that I was skeptical. The recipe called for chicken breast, coconut milk, peanuts, Panang curry paste and an assortment of other strange things. I was still used to ordering the same thing over and over, so change = fear ;) Anyway, it was really frigging good. It was such a bizarre combo of flavors, but meshed together perfectly. PG was telling me that overall it was marginal & that we could have better. I’m def looking forward to it ‘cause if the marginal stuff is that damned good… Need I say more?

The second place we went to was Thai Island in Tampa on the Davis Islands. Thai Island has won several local awards for best restaurant, best Asian food, best Thai, etc. Thai Island is a family operation, with Clay McElmurray and his wife Penn - a native of Sukhothai in Northern Thailand - at the helm. We tried a couple of different things there. Chicken Satay, this crazy basil garlic appetizer that I can’t remember the name of, and a Thai soup that I’d never had before. We shared a spicy chicken dish (I’m pretty sure it was Chicken & Green Curry). It was really good! The place doesn’t look like much, but we had a blast there.

The last place we’ve gone to is in downtown St. Pete. Again I can’t remember the name of it, but it’s right on Central just a stone’s throw away from The State Theater. We were going to see Deicide (RAWK! Actually, PurpleGurl just got done interviewing Glen Benton from Deicide. SCORE!) and decided to stop in this place for a bite. We were both hungry as hell, so we each got a plate. She got the Stir fried Basil Chicken & I the stir fried Garlic Beef. FANTASTIC. In addition to all this, our buddy Jack got a plate of sushi that he was kind enough to share. It was really damned good too. Dammit, there was a really good appetizer that we got as well. They were little rolls with all sorts of cool things in it. We did Sake Bombs at the end of the meal, so my recollection is a little fuzzy.

All this drinking is really screwing up my memory ;)

So, now the plan is to try some good Thai food when we are up in New England. PG is telling me that the Asian food up north is a TOTALLY different experience. I can’t wait to find out!!!