Hacker News Reader

Comment by Canada | Hacker News Reader

The dish is foreign in Thailand too. It's always available where westerners might be expected to ask for it but I've never, ever, ever seen anyone Thai order it. (Where westerners are not expected it's not on the menu) I can completely understand why as it's never even half as good as a cheap place outside Thailand would serve. It's always kinda dry and bland. You can even massively overpay for it at the best hotels in Bangkok and still it sucks. It's like trying to get proper American Chinese in China... good luck with that.

View on HN

I suspect you have a very warped view of Thailand -- and of course Thai people are not going to order vastly overpriced pad Thai at the best hotels in Bangkok, because they know where to get better versions for a tenth the price.

I used to work at the HSBC tower on Sathorn, in the heart of Bangkok's financial district. There was a simple open-air shack just outside that served (IMHO) the best pad Thai I've ever had at 25 baht a plate, and the place was packed every day with everybody from suited bankers and lawyers to tuk-tuk drivers. I don't think I ever saw another farang on there though.

Also, proper pad Thai is not spicy, like all noodle dishes in Thailand it's supposed to be served with condiments (chili flakes, phrik kii nuu in fish sauce, sugar, ground peanuts) so you can tweak the flavors to your liking.

> The dish is foreign in Thailand too. It's always available where westerners might be expected to ask for it but I've never, ever, ever seen anyone Thai order it.

I'm sorry but what on Earth are you talking about? I can only assume you have simply never visited Thailand? This is just so inaccurate I don't know what to say.

I live in Southeast Asia and have been to Thailand many times. Pad Thai is well known to every Thai person but it is not seen all that often on their plates (or in their plastic bags, where takeaway food is conveyed). And indeed a lot of Thai restaurant menus do not list Pad Thai, or if they do it's far down the list, like "chicken fingers" in an American restaurant.

In tourist hotspots (which abound in Thailand) you'll tend to see picture menus and Pad Thai will be on them. But there are much, much better dishes to be had outside these areas. One issue is they don't all have consistent names, e.g. when I asked for a recommendation and was given an absolutely amazing dry curry crab noodle dish with egg, I asked for its name in Thai and translated it was "curry crab" which would never get you a similar dish in another restaurant. Even the venerable Pad Kee Mao, which I think is always a noodle dish in America, is sometimes a totally different rice dish in Thailand.

I’ve lived in Thailand over a decade, Pad Thai is hugely popular amongst Thai people.

Thais do order and eat it.

I bet McDonalds sells 50,000 burgers for each time that happens. In my experience most would choose a warmed sausage pack from the convenience store over what is sold as "pad thai" in Bangkok. Like okay, you absolutely need to eat something. They both taste the same but at least the sausage pack only cost 20 baht.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com