Just ask for Thai level of normal spicy and your asshole will burn for a week. When you ask for spicy and you are a non-thai they just skip spicy all together. If you feel spiciness that’s from previous meal and it survived washing the plate.
“Like you would make it for your grandma” usually works for me. But not if it’s the whole order, only if I am trying to get one item really spicy.
Once at an Indian buffet, the owner had okra out & I was so happy, love okra but he kept warning me off it - “no, no, it’s spicy” and I was like “Great!” and he would say “no, no, I mean it’s spicy” he really was worried.
Nope. It was not. Like, some perceptible heat, sure. But nothing anyone would consider too spicy. Like medium taco bell packet of hot sauce spicy. I was so disappointed after all the warnings!
From the restaurant’s perspective I can kind of understand. They don’t want to serve you a meal that they suspect you won’t be able to eat because it’s a bad look for their business. And if you complain, being too spicy is also way harder to rectify than being not spicy enough so they play it safe initially. Though it obviously sucks if you’re specifically looking for spicy food.
This is why I advocate for chili oil, white pepper, and other condiments at the table or provided on request at Chinese restaurants. As a Chinese person who likes to fine tune the spice level of my food or change the spice level part way through. It also basically means the kitchen doesn’t really have to worry about if something is too mild in the same way they don’t have to worry if it’s not salty enough.
Pro tip: don’t ever tell a Thai cook their food isn’t spicy enough. They take their spice seriously, they take pride in it, and they like to dig it in a little if you ask for it spicier.
Based on my experience you can ask for Thai spicy. It also works in Indian restaurants if you ask for Indian spicy. So far I have gotten what I asked for.
My latest experience in my local Indian restaurant resulted in the waiter to double check if we understood what we asked for. Once we got our food he was eyeing us the whole time to see if we would survive haha
There was a place on Venice beach called Rose’s Thai Window which had the best pad Thai. You could get it mild, medium, spicy, or ‘Rose spicy’, which is how she made it for herself. Whenever we tried to order it Rose spicy, she would flat out tell us no. On the last day the place was open, before she moved back to Thailand, she finally made it for us. I lasted literally 2 bites before I couldn’t taste anything anymore, except pain.
I went to an Indian place once and asked the waiter to make my food spicy. It was kinda medium-spicy, and when the waiter asked if it was spicy enough, I–stupid white boy I am–said no. He took the dish back to the kitchen. He returned a little later with the chef. They both watched me take a bite and regret my decision. Through the tears, I told them the Spice was just right. They laughed.
I went to an Indian restaurant a long time ago with two coworkers on lunch. The waiter asked me how hot I wanted to which I responded, “just medium I have to go back to work.” It was chicken vindaloo and it was the hottest shit I’d ever eaten and enjoyed. I was sweating really bad but it was so good. I barely made it back to the office before I had to start shitting.
I go back on a Friday after work. I tell the same guy, make it as hot as you can. It wasn’t nearly as hot as it was that day. I was mad disappointed. Still really good but I wanted it to melt my face like the end of Indiana Jones. Still burned my asshole that way. Defifinite 5/7. Would recommend.
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