Quote:
Originally Posted by xkeowner
Totally agree! After living in Thailand several years ago I think we have a pretty good feel for good Thai food. We tried to like Thai Ruby three times when we first moved here and that was four too many times.
We like Royal Orchid in Ocala better than Ayuttaya but haven't been there since last Friday evening. We also meet our family from Melbourne for dinner at Thai Thani in Orlando frequently.
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Totally agree. Thai Ruby benefits from the fact that, as Thai restaurants go, they're the only game in town. Not hard to succeed if there is no standard of comparison.
That is not to say Thai Ruby is bad. It isn't. But it is popular because the cuisine is basically "Americanized". My wife is Thai (and loves to cook) and like the OP I've spent significant time in Thailand. Real Thai cuisine is powerful, pungent and hearty, and often contains items and seasonings that just aren't available here or, if they are, are expensive: kaffir lime leaves and galangal, to list just two. It is also as a rule far heavier on things like lime juice, fish sauce, dried shrimp and thai chilies than what is available here. You learn early on, if you're eating the real thing, to never put the napkin that you've just wiped your hands and mouth with, anywhere near your eyes. That, I know from experience. Not fun! Plus, there are dishes you can get there that you'll never find in America, not even in an Americanized version: fermented raw crab salad, for example, which is popular in the Isaan (north and northeast Thailand), or Saikrog (sp?) which is a sausage of pork, rice and garlic stuffed into natural skins and then left out in the sun for a day or three to ferment before it is eaten. Delicious. But, an acquired taste.
Again, nothing wrong with Americanized Thai food. But what is generally served in America is at best a second cousin to the real thing.