4/9/2010
Arun’s is a Thai restaurant that has no set menu. What you get is a twelve course “tasting menu” designed by the chef each night for a fixed price. All through Lent we dreamed about this meal. When we arrived we took advantage of the valet parking and were pretty much treated like royalty the whole evening.
Once we were seated we realized we had left the baby formula in the car, so I ran out to try to find the valet. He had parked our car just down the street and when he saw me he seemed very concerned that he had done something wrong. I tried to explain that I had forgotten something in the car, but he kept saying things like “Your car is safe. I’ll watch it all night. You don’t have to worry.” I think he had gotten himself so worried when he saw me exit the restaurant that he got himself into a kind of a panic. He wasn’t annoying or anything. He just really wanted me to be happy and he obviously took his job very seriously.
Once I returned everything ran smoothly. All of the food was exquisite. Many of the flavors I couldn’t really identify, so I really felt like I was experiencing something truly exotic. Each course was small, but remember: there were twelve courses. They added up fast. By the end it was perfect. We weren’t hungry, we weren’t stuffed. We were completely satisfied. Apparently, Arun Sampanthavivat is considered as much an artist with food as he is a chef. I think understand that now.
Is it worth $85 a person? Is anything? Yes, it was very expensive, but it was nice knowing exactly how much it was going to cost in advance. There’s nothing worse that eating a restaurant and then getting a surprisingly-high bill. (Story Inn, anyone?) Since this trip had been planned for months I had already budgeted the bill and had gone through my “buyer’s remorse” a long time ago. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Hey, you can’t eat at Wendy’s every night.
I love really spicy food, so I didn't mind ordering my courses with the spicy option. However, my mouth was on fire after the first bite. And I mean it was so hot, I wondered if my tongue was still in existence. After the second spicy course, I finally asked them to tone it down. There was no way I could physically make it through the rest of the courses, let alone enjoy them. Don't get me wrong, the food was really good, but if you can’t taste anything except hot flames, it’s time to throw in the towel. What good is an expensive meal if you can’t taste it, let alone enjoy, any of it? So if you are going to request the spicy courses, be warned. Bring your own fire extinguisher. On a positive note the atmosphere was warm, the service was prompt, and the male waiters were cute.
No comments:
Post a Comment