Amazing Thailand
Visited on Saturday, November 15th with Jake, Allison, and Justin
Erin's Review
After a long day being a photo assistant at a wedding with Kate, I was absolutely exhausted. I was originally supposed to go out somewhere in St. Paul with Kate that night, but she ended up having to go work at her "real" job. Ben texted me during the day to ask if I wanted to go out to dinner and we decided on Broders. Unfortunately, the wait was longer than we could handle. Maybe someday we'll get there... Ben then suggested Amazing Thailand which sounded just fine to me. I basically just wanted some noodles in any form.
We got there a little early and had to wait a few minutes for our table to be ready. As soon as we were seated I ordered the Jalapeno Cream Cheese Wontons because I was starving. Half of the table had decided on Pad Thai in some form for the entree. Too bad for us when someone (Allison I think?) asked if it was good and the server flat out said no. Hmmm... we quickly went about changing our order. The server said that the Pad Thai is made in a different style than most people are used to so a lot of people don't like it. Has anyone out there tried the Pad Thai at Amazing Thailand? Is it really that bad?? Since our server was so full of opinions, I asked her what she would recommend and told her I had originally wanted Pad Thai and was just looking for some comfort food. She told me to get the Pad See Iew. So I did. Jake did as well. Allison got the Spicy Noodles and Justin got the largest plate of yellow curry fried rice that I have ever seen.
For real. Who could eat this in one sitting??
The wontons came out soon after we ordered and were quickly devoured. They were excellent, although one that I had didn't actually have jalapenos in it. I was only slightly bitter about that.
My Pad See Iew was exactly what I wanted. A large plate of delicious noodles, veggies, and chicken, and egg. Pretty close to Pad Thai... I think thicker noodles might be the difference. I loved this and will probably order it instead of Pad Thai when I'm in the noodle mood at a Thai place again. Everyone else loved their meals, except for Allison. I think she just was wanting something different though, it wasn't that her meal was prepared badly. She did enjoy her cinnomon cookie martini though, so all was not lost for her.
I really enjoyed Amazing Thailand. It was full and bustling and the decor was interesting. I would go back... but probably won't for awhile due to the abundance of other Thai places on the list.
Ben's Review
After watching the Gophers lose horribly to the Badgers on Saturday we decided to get some dinner with Jake, Allison, and Justin. Jake and Allison live close to Broders so we were going to try to go there but we couldn't get in :( After driving back to Saint Paul to pick up Erin (who was locked out of the house), we settled for hitting up one of the many Thai places we have on the list now, from all the suggestions we got from the poll, Amazing Thailand in uptown.
There was no way in hell I was paying $13.50 to park again (I'll stop bitching about that soon I promise), so I dropped Erin off at the restaurant and drove around the block to find a spot on the street, which I did a block and a half away. Nice. Jake, Allison, and Justin also found a spot on the street not far from me.
As I walked into the restaurant I immediately noticed the cool Thai-looking decor. I don't know if the decorations were ACTUALLY Thai, but it fit the stereotype of Thailand, with gold shrines straight out of an "Indiana Jones" movie. The bar is big and full of people, it looked like a good place to hang out. The bar is square with one side being a wall and then three sides are the actual bar with a big island in the middle where all of the booze is stored.
We got seated (sat?) about five minutes after arriving as we were a little early for our reservation. I was, as usual, stumped about what to get. I recently got on a curry kick, making some Indian curry a couple weeks back and really wanting some Thai curry over rice. With a menu as big as the one at Amazing Thailand though, that seems a little bland. Although, Erin's dad will tell you that you should "get a burger when you're at a burger place", and I figure any Thai place is a "curry place." Luckily the special that night was a pumpkin curry that was served in a little pumpkin with the rice on the side that Erin convinced me to get. As usual, good advice on her part.
The curry was indeed served in a small pumpkin that I thought looked more like a squash. They initially forgot my rice side, so I was confused for a minute about what was going on, but we got it sorted out. The curry was excellent and just what I had been craving - a very runny curry with some chicken and veggies over rice. When you order your dish they ask how spicy you want it on a scale of 1-5. In typical indecisive fashion I went right down the middle with a 3. Our server told us that the numbers were "Minnesota numbers" as opposed to "Thai numbers", saying that the cooks used to make it even more spicy but they got too many complaints. A 3 was a good mix of spice while still having good flavor.
I thought our server was pretty cool, she even did some snooping on a table near us to see what they had ordered because it looked good. However, she steered Allison away from the pad Thai and suggested a different noodle dish instead that Allison didn't really like. Bummer for her :)
One of the best things about Thai restaurants is that you usually have enough to bring home for another meal, which was awesome. All in all, a great meal.
- Service: Our server was great and they kept our water glasses filled.
- Food: Excellent pumpkin curry and huge portions.
- Drinks: Full bar with a decent beer selection. Not sure if they have happy hour specials or not.
- Ambiance: It was busy on the Saturday night that we were there and the place had a good din.
- Price: The prices were decent. Our bill was $50 with tax and tip which included a couple drinks and an appetizer.
- Convenience: This is uptown so parking's a little difficult. Amazing Thailand is across Hennepin from Calhoun Square so if you go south just one block you're in a residential area where you should be able to find a free spot.
By and large, Hua Hin afterdark does not have brassy beer or sexy gogo bars and racy nightlife as on the other side of the Gulf. The superior Huahin and Takiab beaches and Takiap Bay, Suan Son beach and Khao Tao beach, wide open endless stretches of fine powdery white sand, are relatively uncrowded and clean, the pace of life calm and relaxing, an ideal place to travel with the family for their annual holiday. Hua Hin is, actually, the genesis of beach holidays for Thailand. The town used to be the summer capital of Thailand in the days of the monarchy.
Thereafter, the royalties and the cream of Bangkok society followed suite, building stately beach villas in a row down the shoreline. The Southern railway was extended to Hua Hin in 1922. A stately Railway Hotel was built in the style of the grand hotels of Europe, serving afternoon tea, champagne dinner, with regular garden party and ballroom dancing. Then, the Royal State Railway Golf Course, the first and some say the most beautiful in Thailand, was built on a wooded hill estate across the track from Hua Hin Station. The uphill-downhill fairways lead through thickets of 100-year old trees. Glimpses of the blue sea can be seen from several tee offs. After the transition to democratic system in 1932, Hua Hin faided into near oblivion.
It’s been ages since I’ve read Stick. He is perpetually negative on all things Thai. A lot of farang spend all their time bitching. I think it’s because, as we age, life gets worse and worse. In farangland we just blame it on aging, whereas expats often blame it on LOS: “I’d be happier back in Oz, this wouldn’t happen back in Oz, it’s cleaner there etc.”
I find the cinema story a bit odd. Was this guy there all alone? Because otherwise his date would’ve pitched in and probably would’ve sat next to the Thai girl in any event.
I once emailed Stick that I didn’t believe a reader’s email (a negative tale like this one), and pointed out the reasons why, and he responded courteously but didn’t publish my rebuttal email.
What was that stickman reader doing go to see a movie alone, by himself?
Everyone knows that, in Thailand, you always take a girl with you to the movies.
Highly dubious story — sounds to me as well that the guy was a troublemaker to start with.
“Farang are viewed as whales swimming around Thai society waiting to be harpooned“?? NO, many farangs ARE whales swimming around Thai society waiting to be harpooned!
“Approach Thailand and Thai society with some humility, take the time to figure out the rules, learn how things work, and show some respect and everything will be copacetic” – I agree!
to DaffyDuck .. been to movies many many times by myself. Never a problem. You don’t always need to take a girl. That is utter nonsense.
And to anyone else… one of the great things about going to the cinema in BKK is how quiet everybody is. Back in the World I stopped going to the movies because of all the talking and chewing noises. Here, everyone is extremely polite.
Therefore, I find this story dubious or a complete one-off. Ignore.
i dunno about quiet…cellphone usage during the movie seems standard
” NO, many farangs ARE whales swimming around Thai society waiting to be harpooned!”
It’s an anecdotal evidence only, but the extracts of Dr Cunt’s letters I’ve posted in the “GogoGirls are not cheap thread” point indeed in that direction!.
*****
BTW, Kenny Baby, why don’t you answer the questions I’ve asked? Is that I polite way to say to me to get lost?
– Did you or did you not barfined at girl at Slender? If not, where the info you posted about the barfine modus operandi comes from?
– Is the email of my impersonator the same as mine?
– How much is the membership of the “Manee G-Club“?
BBK: Well I hope you don’t accuse me of ripping off your ideas because someone submitted a story about Stickman’s sudden change of heart on the Tilac Bar yesterday on Bangkok Diaries. I’m almost positive the Bangkok Diaries post was prior to this one so . . . maybe you took the Stickman questioning idea from us
Just kidding.
Seriously, I don’t know if it’s a matter of people stealing ideas in some cases. In some instances it’s obvious someone is stealing an idea. Sometimes something you read inspires you to write something even more detailed or from a completely different perspective. And sometimes, events conspire to give different people inspriration to write things along similar lines. For instance, the post on Bangkok Diaries was inspired out of the same Stickman post that inspired your post. Two different people read the same post and found something that they felt they wanted to share with others. Idea stealing or shared inspiration?
I read the theatre letter too and also found it to be highly dubious. Tibeau, while it’s not required by law that you bring a lady to the movies most people do. Though not incriminating in itself it’s one of those things that starts the mind wondering what he was doing at the movies alone by himself. If someone simply stated that he went to the movies by himself and commented that his seat was too uncomfortable then that’s quite normal. But when combined with all of the other questionable things he says happened it puts more pressure on whether or not the story was true.
For instance, here’s the things I think make the story somewhat questionable:
1. He’s going alone to see Coco after Channel . . . not exactly a flick guys go to see by themselves. I guess I’ll call this 1b but the name of the movie is Coca Before Chanel so not only did he misspell Chanel but got the name wrong as well. Or perhaps he meant to say Coco Avant Chanel which is the French title but Avant means Before in French, not after.
2. The submitter then says “I asked them very politely to stop because I couldn’t hear the film. The next time I asked them to shut up after they answered the phone.” Okay, telling someone to “shut up” in Thailand is very rude and if the submitter knows Thai well enough to translate what he claims the Thais were saying later in the letter then he knows he made a major social faux pas yet he doesn’t draw any attention to it by saying something like “Okay, I know that was a bit rude of me but . . .” He acts as if it was totally normal.
3. He never mentions why he simply didn’t move seats. I know that many theatres have reserved seating but you can’t tell me that Coco after Channel was so packed he couldn’t have moved over a few seats or changed rows so he didn’t have to deal with this.
4. He says that the boy swapped places with the girl so she was sitting next to him. That seems rather odd. Most Thai guys wouldn’t put the woman between them. If he said it went the other way that when they initially sat down she was next to him but after his complaint the guy sat next to him I would have no problem believing it but the other way around just seems so odd.
5. As I said in point 1, not a lot of guys go to see this movie alone but on top of that not many people went to go see this movie; period. It’s a niche film. You simply can’t tell me that there were more than 10 people in the theatre. This is Thailand!! The movie is in French with English sub-titles (and I would presume Thai as well). So my previous point about moving seats is well justified. The theatre was probably empty. Why would these Thais specifically choose seats next to someone or why did the submitter pick a seat next to a group of people when the theatre would have been practically empty?
6. If he was fluent enough in Thai to understand that she said he had groped her and all of the ensuing calls for the dirty farang to leave then he could have easily shouted that she’s a liar and that she’s mad because he told her to shut up on her mobile.
We’re all students of body language and how people react to things. If you’ve just been accused of groping a girl in the theatre do you:
a) Protest your innocence
b) Meekly slink out of the theatre
Well, if you’re innocent then Option A is what most normal people would do even in the face of an angry crowd. On the other hand if you did do it then Option B is what most people would do because they feel guilty.
Also, he doesn’t say if the three people sitting next to him were two guys and a girl or two girls and a guy but I find it odd that this lynch mob errupts and the guy(s) the girl is with didn’t respond with any sort of thuggish behavior. As far as I can tell from what the submitter shared the guy(s) just sat there and joined in the chanting. Somehow I don’t buy that one either. If the crowd was going all lynch mob at least one sucker punch would have been thrown by the guy(s).
7. He goes on to say “I could see one farang was terrified as we left.” Really? First off, what are the chances of another farang being there (persumably by himself) who speaks Thai well enough to understand what was going on? And even if he did wouldn’t the natural reaction be to act disgusted? I know if that whole thing had played out in English I would have given the guy a dirty look and called him a fucking perv as he passed me.
8. I can hardly believe the entire audience started chanting “get out you dirty foreigner”. No way. I’m not buying it. Thais don’t do the group chanting thing like that. Now, if he said they gang attacked him and beat the crap out of him I would believe that but I really don’t buy the yelling for him to get out.
9. Again, going back to point 5, exactly how large was this supposed mob? You’re at a movie that didn’t even perform that well in the target markets. In the UK it did a tad over 1 million GBP which was huge for a French language film in the UK but would be considered an absolute failure of any other type of film. So here it is being shown in Thailand and we’re supposed to believe it was a packed theatre? Again, I would be surprised if there were 10 people in the entire theatre. So his claims about a lynch mob when 3 of the 10 people in the audience are sitting next to him and part of the supposed frame job seem very suspicious.
10. He then claims as he left two girls he passed walking up the aisle screamed as if he had touched them. Again, just how many people were there? And if you just got accured of being a perv would you even walk close enough to the girls supposedly sitting in the aisle seats for it even to be reasonable that you were groping them too?
All in all, this is like all the other expat horror stories you hear where the completely innocent person is somehow a victim of a huge conspiracy.