Speaking of Food Choices

You know how, at restaurants and fast food places in the States, you sometimes have to navigate an endless decision tree before your order is finished? Ranch dressing, or Italian? Sprite or Coke? Mashed or fried?

Thai waiters never put me through that maze. Half the time, they don’t even let me finish my sentence. I’ll start to ask for something, and before I know it they have supplied the name of the food they think that I really want. (Or perhaps the food that they have been having trouble getting rid of lately?)

And I am so grateful. I’ve ended up with some delicious meals that were chosen for me. I’ve learned the names for some dishes that I’d happily order again. With Thai food, it’s hard to go wrong, so the risk of getting something inedible is small.

Lately my favorite thing is to approach a dessert counter that is full of 101 different colors and shapes, and to basically say to the people serving, “you decide.” Sometimes the resulting bowl is full of wiggly sweet pasta-like stuff under ice shavings; other times, beans soaked in syrup; once in a while, soft tofu in a ginger sauce. I can’t miss.