CHOPSTICK DIPLOMACY
If it is true that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, than I propose that it is the same when dealing with different cultures. A pizza pie brought down the formidable walls of Guido prejudice when we had to go into an Italian neighborhood for our perfect pie fix. We opened our hearts to the Irish after our first encounter with their hearty satisfying Irish stew, and the English and their pints…what’s not to love?
So what is with Asian food in and near Gulfport. I am at a disadvantage because I spend months in an Asian food cornucopia: Seattle. Trust me. It is breath taking, the Grand Canyon for your taste buds. So I have tasted Asian Nirvana. But I want to get more satisfaction from the Asian cuisine served in Pinellas.
But I do try, and I try, various Asian restaurants in the Gulfport area, but have been disappointed. Sometimes the food is good, even great, but not consistently. In fact, the dish can be entirely different than you had the week before…not better, but different, in a nasty-tasting sense. The veggies can be mushy. The salt so over powering to the point you don’t know what kind of soup you are slurping. The egg rolls can be cold and rubbery. The meat, if you can find it, isn’t recognizable, as if a new animal has been genetically produced, just for Asian restaurants.
For example, I gave Ratchada Thai Restaurant & Sushi Bar in Downtown St. Petersburg a second chance. And they lived up to their previous let down.
It is a lovely decorated place with comfortable seating in a great location, but this is the second time I have had poor service and questionable food and drinks. My friend and I interrupted the server’s own dining experience around 5:30 pm on a slow Wednesday evening, so that may be why he paid little attention to our order.
We ordered gin and tonics that came in martini glasses…very unusual presentation or the bartender didn’t know how to serve that mixed drink.
Our chicken satay appetizer was disappointing because the peanut sauce had little peanut taste and there was no coconut flavor as suggested in the menu description. One of the female servers did bring out a bowl of coconut cream which helped, but one expects these flavors to be bold and cooked or marinated in the dish ordered. I should not have to put it on myself. Is cold coconut cream just plopped on the grilled chicken after it is taken from the grill?
Then our shrimp dinner (#7) came out as a chicken dinner and there were no straw mushrooms in the dish as stated in the menu. It had little flavor…just a bowl of salty steamed veggies and noodles. I could not say what was the Thai flavor in this dish. It could could have been English (if you know what I mean). And service had to be flagged down if we saw them at all.
If I was dining alone I would have mentioned all the problems, but when I’m out with others it makes the dining experience very unpleasant, so we just put up with it if we can and just don’t return to be mistreated by a poorly managed staff again. Twice is enough. I do write the owners for my own mental health, trying to keep the emotional indigestion to a manageable level. Like a lot of folks, I am on a fixed income or reduced, so it is not so easy to just forget the $50 I just threw away! Next bad-food day, I am going to challege the cook to a round of dueling chopsticks to decide if I pay the bill or not!
Searching for Gulfport’s Asian Nirvana…
Foodie Adventurer