The Surprising Reason that There Are So Many Thai Restaurants in America

[JSngry]

 

Quote

I’m not the first to wonder about the ubiquity of Thai restaurants in American cities and suburbs, and most seemingly informed and lay analysts have suggested that it’s simply because Thai food tastes good, or happens to hit the American palate in just the right way.

But as it turns out, there is a much simpler answer: The Thai government paid for it.

 

https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/paxadz/the-surprising-reason-that-there-are-so-many-thai-restaurants-in-america

[Scott Dolan]

Fascinating! I have wondered how our hillbilly infested burg of 40,000 went from 0 to 3 Thai places over the last few years. 

Coincidentally, we ate at one of them yesterday for the first time. It’s now my favorite joint in town. 

Edited April 1, 2018 by Scott Dolan

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I dislike Thai food intensely, but my wife likes it. I sent her that article.

MG

[Scott Dolan]

I love pretty much all Asian cuisine. My favorites being Korean, Vietnamese, and Thai. 

[JSngry]

yep. and slowly but surely, we're getting more and more Korean barbeque places popping up in the metroplex. Those places are dangerously delicious!

[Scott Dolan]

I’ve actually never had Korean BBQ. I’ve heard it’s very good. We have a Mongolian BBQ place a half hour up the road from us. It was neither good nor bad when ate there. 

Oddly enough, we do have a sushi place here in town that would hold its own in any big city. 

[JSngry]

This place: http://www.jinkoreanbbq.com/

All you can eat, grill the meat at your table, eat it up, go get some more, + delicious sides, etc. Under $20/person, hella good eating.

[Scott Dolan]

Mmmmmm...bulgogi. 

My wife makes an ass kicking spicy pork bulgogi. The sushi place I mentioned before also has a limited Korean menu. Their bulgogi and bi bim bop are phenomenal. 

Our sleepy little town used to be the butt of bad food jokes, and lined with crappy chain joints. But in the past two or three years we’ve had a lot of GREAT independents pop up, really changing the culture for the better. 

Edited April 1, 2018 by Scott Dolan

[CJ Shearn]

Korean BBQ is terrific.  Unfortunately a place I went to with friends once mistreats their workers, after learning about this several years ago, I never went back.  http://www.grubstreet.com/2014/06/kum-gang-san-abuse-allegations.html

Edited April 1, 2018 by CJ Shearn

[mjzee]

1 hour ago, JSngry said:

This place: http://www.jinkoreanbbq.com/

All you can eat, grill the meat at your table, eat it up, go get some more, + delicious sides, etc. Under $20/person, hella good eating.

Thanks for the tip.  I now know there's one about 5 miles from me in Houston.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

17 hours ago, JSngry said:

This place: http://www.jinkoreanbbq.com/

All you can eat, grill the meat at your table, eat it up, go get some more, + delicious sides, etc. Under $20/person, hella good eating.

Many years ago, when I ate at Korean BBQ joints in Korea, the cooking surface in the middle of the table was a dome. It allowed the grease to slide off the cooking surface, making for a much healthier meal. It was sorta like a round George Foreman grill with flames inside. Also, the meat was rolled into a lettuce leave that you coated with spicy garlic sauce. Have they Americanized Korean BBQ? This looks nothing like the stuff I ate.

[Brad]

I can’t recall if I ever had Thai food although we do have a place in town.  My wife is Chinese so we eat a lot of Chinese but not the crappy kind. As we don’t live in NYC we’re lucky to have a couple of good places in the area. 

[JSngry]

It's still a grill, and the grease still drips off, there's slots in that grill surface. There are also lettuce leaves available, but I guess you have to coat them yourself. I don't go there to eat lettuce, kimchi is is as close as I get to lettuce.

I've eaten at other, older places that do have the domed grill, though. They're good too, but this place has the best selection of meats and sides.

[Scott Dolan]

If I could survive while eating nothing but kimchi, I'd consider doing it. 

Spicy, though. Not a fan of the regular. 

[Aggie87]

I discovered Korean bbq in 1975 in a little divey place near where I lived in Tokyo.  Went back regularly for the next 4 years, it was fantastic.  Wish there was a good place here in CC.  We tried a shabu-shabu place a couple of weeks ago here, that was interesting.  Boil the food yourself in a bowl over fire on your table.

 

 

On 4/1/2018 at 4:37 PM, Scott Dolan said:

I’ve actually never had Korean BBQ.

 

On 4/1/2018 at 5:17 PM, Scott Dolan said:

Mmmmmm...bulgogi. 

These two statements seem contradictory. 

[Scott Dolan]

OH! I had no idea bulgogi was considered BBQ.