MAKE HIM REGRET
If I say I want spicy – I want to be in visible discomfort and bystanders should be concerned for my safety.
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.
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.
I seem to recall that Thai places have a special spiciness scale, it goes…
Mild
Medium
Spicy
Extra spicy
Thai mild
Thai medium
Thai spicy
Thai extra spicy
Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know, and I plan to never personally find out.
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
