# Restaurants that make the food as spicy as THEY think it should be **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505 "2006-03-30T04:22:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/1 "2006-03-30T04:22:07Z")
Mrs. Mercotan and I just got back from Ottawa where we visited the **elfbabe** and her SO. While there we did many happy things, including indulging ourselves in lots of varied cuisines. We hit a Thai food restaurant (not an uncommon occurance for us), where I noted something rather new to me on the menu: The dishes were labelled by the usual seafood/noodle/curry/rice/etc designations, but also by the designation as to the level of spiciness that it would be served at. From zero peppers (no added heat) to 5 peppers (hang on tight!) No negotiating, no nothing. These were the heat levels that the restaurant chef felt the dish merited. The “right” level of spiciness to properly enhance the ingredients. I’d never seen this before, and wondered if other dopers had. Frankly, it was a nice change from the usual “How hot do you want it?” sort of queries. (BTW, I got the stir-fried thai beef and vegetable dish which was offered up as the hottest thing on the menu. Ye gods it was good!!! Or as I said to **elfbabe** “The food! It’s full of stars!” ) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/2 "2006-03-30T04:29:58Z")
I’ve seen that on menus around SoCal before. I automatically discount 2 peppers from the stated heat, because most customers are pussies. But it helps to judge what the kitchen is at least attempting to do. 😃 **silenus** , who gargles with Tabasco. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/3 "2006-03-30T04:38:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I’ve seen that on menus around SoCal before. I automatically discount 2 peppers from the stated heat, because most customers are pussies. But it helps to judge what the kitchen is at least attempting to do. 😃 > > **silenus** , who gargles with Tabasco. Well, the maximum heat challenged me, but I relished it. I’m no masochist, I’m not in it just for the macho burning, but this was a **hot** pepper dish that lived up to my expectations, and the heat accentuated and enhanced the flavor, rather than overpowering it. BTW, I got to bring a case of Olde Tyme Jamaican Ginger Beer back with me on the plane! ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/4 "2006-03-30T04:41:21Z")
That’s the way I prefer it. Some Thai, Vietnamese, Sichuan, Hunanese and Korean food is supposed to be hot. I don’t want it rendered as bland goop. And if I don’t want hot food, I’ll order something else. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/5 "2006-03-30T04:43:53Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > BTW, I got to bring a case of Olde Tyme Jamaican Ginger Beer back with me on the plane! Lucky dog! I’m still searching for the ultimate ginger beer. _Olde Tyme_ is good, but the search for great continues. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/6 "2006-03-30T04:44:58Z")
> [@hawthorne](#): > > That’s the way I prefer it. Some Thai, Vietnamese, Sichuan, Hunanese and Korean food is supposed to be hot. I don’t want it rendered as bland goop. And if I don’t want hot food, I’ll order something else. Exactly! I am tired of being asked how hot I want my pad thai. It’s not supposed to be hot!!! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/7 "2006-03-30T04:46:14Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Lucky dog! I’m still searching for the ultimate ginger beer. _Olde Tyme_ is good, but the search for great continues. Reeds extra-ginger ginger brew is still my personal favorite, but that’s a topic for a whole 'nuther thread! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/8 "2006-03-30T04:54:10Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > The dishes were labelled by the usual seafood/noodle/curry/rice/etc designations, but also by the designation as to the level of spiciness that it would be served at. From zero peppers (no added heat) to 5 peppers (hang on tight!) > > No negotiating, no nothing. These were the heat levels that the restaurant chef felt the dish merited. The “right” level of spiciness to properly enhance the ingredients. > > I’d never seen this before, and wondered if other dopers had. Frankly, it was a nice change from the usual “How hot do you want it?” sort of queries. That’s virtually universal here in Australia. When in the US and asked this question (as one inevitably is) I always answer “as the chef/cook thinks appropriate”. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/9 "2006-03-30T05:04:01Z")
I don’t know why you think that it’s typical to be asked how hot you want the food. In the restaurants I usually go to, there’s no choice for the customer in how hot the food is. Also, the business of marking the heat (i.e., spiceness) of the item by the number of peppers put next to the item in the menu seems to be reasonably common, especially in Thai restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/10 "2006-03-30T05:09:40Z")
I too have seen this a lot. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/11 "2006-03-30T05:17:06Z")
Unless I’m mistaken, in most restaurants you DO have a choice, even if it’s not listed or explicitly offered. we have peppers on the menu to indicate spicy dishes and people ask us all the time to make it extra spicy or not too spicy or whatever. And we do it. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/12 "2006-03-30T05:38:07Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Thai restaurant that didn’t ask, when I ordered a dish marked as “hot”, if I wanted it “mild, medium, hot, or Thai hot”… ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/13 "2006-03-30T05:51:32Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > That’s virtually universal here in Australia. When in the US and asked this question (as one inevitably is) I always answer “as the chef/cook thinks appropriate”. Quite right you are never asked how hot you want something here. Most places just mention how hot a dish is on the menu - mild, medium, hot, very hot. The only time I can recall discussing the heat of a dish was many years ago when Indian restaurants were very rare and most of their customers where Indians. I ordered a Vindaloo and the waiter informed me that it was very hot. I said that was fine and he actually asked me how often I had eaten curry before. I had to assure him that I knew what I was ordering before he would let me have it. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/14 "2006-03-30T06:09:44Z")
I’ve only ever been to one place that asked you how hot you wanted your food, everywhere else has the rating of heat, or other places just denote the spicier stuff by red bold writing instead of black. [sub]\*For the record, we got the lowest/no heat. I like some, as does some of my family but others can’t even handle very mild stuff and anything I know will be too hot for me, I just don’t order.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/15 "2006-03-30T06:42:24Z")
There’sa little Thai place run by a family of Laotians that I go to. Very simple, very delicious. They indicate the heat with the little pepper scale. I always ask for it extrahot regardless of the standard. They never disappoint. If you want real heat you have to go off the menu and ask for it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/16 "2006-03-30T07:04:34Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Mrs. Mercotan and I just got back from Ottawa… No negotiating, no nothing. These were the heat levels that the restaurant chef felt the dish merited. The “right” level of spiciness to properly enhance the ingredients… I’d never seen this before, and wondered if other dopers had. That’s pretty standard in Canada, at least in my experience as a spicy food lover. I don’t think I’ve ever been given a choice, really–it’s always been up to the chef as to how hot the dish is. I suppose one could ask for Dish X to be hotter or milder, but with so many dishes on the menu, there’s probably one with the wanted ingredients and at the heat level desired. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/17 "2006-03-30T07:13:22Z")
Keep in mind, the cooks do not always work seven days a week. I’ve asked for “hotter than normal” thai fried rice twice at the same place. One time it was as hot as I wanted it, the other time it was two steps above tepid. I find that you can make a decent case to the wait staff. You can say “do your worst” or you can say “I’m not your average American milquetoast, I can take crushed red peppers”. Places that are not willing to vary heat, are doomed to failure, or at least, I don’t like them. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/18 "2006-03-30T07:22:03Z")
Common in the UK, too. Most places are willing to modify the food if requested, but they don’t ask every bloody customer whether they know better than the chefs. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/19 "2006-03-30T10:34:54Z")
That seems pretty standard around here, especially at Chinese, Korean and Thai places. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505/20 "2006-03-30T10:45:46Z")
Yup, I’ve never seen a restaurant that would modify spice to fit your preference- if you don’t want spicy food, you tell the waiter and they suggest one of the milder dishes. I mean, it’s not like you can go to an Indian restaurant and ask for a vindaloo “but easy on the spice”, or a ask for a green curry that isn’t spicy in a Thai restauarant- the reason it’s green is because it uses green chillies! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-that-make-the-food-as-spicy-as-they-think-it-should-be/350505.md?page=2)