Going out for Thai food with Erik is always a treat because of his extensive depth of knowledge of Thai culture in general. He's combed through Thai Town and seems to have at a moment's notice a myriad of suggestions for various representations of the cuisine. Add to that the fact that he orders in fluent Thai, and the restaurant staff (and lunch companions) realize that this guy isn't just some fa rang, but rather someone with a deep enthusiasm for Thai food.
Lunch at Ganda started off as a simple affair that quickly spiraled out of control. They've got their wares on display for the lunch buffet, but we were able to cull some other gems off the printed menu. Their papaya salad is probably the tastiest (and spiciest) I'd had since the days of the Wat Thai food court.
The cool and creamy texture worked well with the rest of the salad, and this notion of contrast and balance would resonate throughout the rest of the meal.
We moved onto the khanõm jiin kaeng khiaw-wãan lûuk chin plaa, a fishball curry served with rice vermicelli. The noodles are akin to the Vietnamese bun noodles, and similar to bun bo Hue, here the slippery noodle is used to soak up the flavor in the green curry.
My contribution to the meal was to order the Ganda special fish, two fried fish halves served with a pair of sauces. One was a sweet chili sauce, and the other was a wonderful minced garlic. Both worked really well, and of course I'm a big fan of crispy fish skin, especially when paired with the green curry!
To help temper the heat, Erik made a point to also order a purposefully neutral tasting soup. The kaeng jeut tao hu muu sap features a clean broth to go with pork sausage. While the meal didn't quite offer a firestorm of heat (I mean, other than the papaya salad), the soup certainly brought a sense of sanity to the table. Looking out over the wreckage of the table and the copious leftovers, I could see the tangible result of sharing someone's love of a cuisine.
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