4th eGullet Dinner - Thai

[pbrodsky2]

I am still planning to come.

[Rosie]

...I promise to sing

hehe.

mark, et al, for the record, i can't go, as i've been told we'll be having people over that day.  however, if it rains, that will be called off, and we'll attempt to make our way down there.

Oh Good. Tommy isn't coming and I can have the Turley all to myself!

[=Mark]

mark, et al, for the record, i can't go, as i've been told we'll be having people over that day.  however, if it rains, that will be called off, and we'll attempt to make our way down there.

Fine.  I'll make sure I check the Weather Channel before finalizing the reservations...  :confused:

[=Mark]

Well, looks like we're off to a good start so far.  About 15 folks give or take a few mystery guests...  

[=Mark]

So, so far we have recent confirmations from

Jason & Rachel

Rosie and Lowell

Rail Paul & Dee

Me and a Guest

Nina

Alan and Sandy

KimWB and Guest?

Paul Brodsky (pbrodsky) and Michael Folan

Lets do it!

[La Niña]

I may bring a guest, too.  Will know for sure in a few days.

[Rosie]

Looking forward to meeting you Nina.

[La Niña]

Thanks!   Me too!

[=Mark]

Sampled and discussed appetizers with Rich, one of the owners who helped me make decisions on the appetizers that will be served. Came up with these, which will be served family style as in previous eGullet Dinners:

Satay - Skewared slices of meat with a peanut dipping sauce Choice of chicken, pork or beef. Choose one or one of each?

Hoy Joa - Golden fried crab sausages wrapped in Rice Paper served with Sweet & Sour Plum Sauce

Goong Tod - Fried Shrimp flavored with herbs and wrapped in rice paper and served with Plum Sauce

Fried Dumplings stuffed with Ground Pork and vegetables served with spicy ginger sauce

Hoy Kra Prow - Steamed New Zealand Mussels in a Thai basil and chili sauce. This is the only appetizer where heat is an issue, should we do this one mild or medium?

[Rachel Perlow]

Mussels - one of each (hot & mild)?

Satay - I like pork best, but everything else is pork or shellfish. Does anyone have anything against pork? If so, go with chicken.

[=Mark]

Mussels - one of each (hot & mild)?

Satay - I like pork best, but everything else is pork or shellfish. Does anyone have anything against pork? If so, go with chicken.

Actually, as at this point we have about 15 people attending, I was planning on 3 servings of each of the 5 appetizers. This way everyone gets to sample all the choices (Don't miss those mussels!) For the Satay, I'm gonna ask for a separate dipping sauce that I can dump about a Tbsp of red pepper flakes into...

Also, Rich was wondering if we wanted to be seated at one long table or 2 shorter tables side by side. I'd be tempted to go with the 2 tables where we will essentially take over one corner of the dining room. Other events I've attended where there was just one table made it hard to get to talk to alll the participants.

[helenas]

Mark, you have more people coming: Alex and myself.

[=Mark]

Updated list:

Jason & Rachel

Rosie and Lowell

Rail Paul & Dee

Me and a Guest

Nina and guest?

Alan and Sandy

KimWB and Guest?

Paul Brodsky (pbrodsky) and Michael Folan

Carol and Bill Z

Jon Lurie

Up to about 18 give or take a few stragglers... Looks like we may need to add another appetizer or up the quantities of the current selections.

[LaNiña]

My vote would be for "Thai Medium" level of heat. But I'll eat anything, as long as there are some breaks from the hottest of the hot.

I like the two table idea - one long one does guarantee that we won't all talk to each other...

[=Mark]

My vote would be for "Thai Medium" level of heat.  But I'll eat anything, as long as there are some breaks from the hottest of the hot.

I like the two table idea - one long one does guarantee that we won't all talk to each other...

The appetizers are the only item being pre-ordered, and the mussels are the only one of them that can be made hot, so I'll ask for them to be done medium. If someone really can't take any heat, and really wants to try the mussels (I think they are the best appetizer) we can order one of the servings be made mild.

Soups and Entrees will be ordered off the menu, so folks can order any level of heat you want, just keep in mind there will likely be sharing of entree also as they also come out on separate platters. Order Thai Hot if you want Rosie to leave your food alone.

Again, the Mie Thai Menu can be viewed by clicking here.*

PS - In recent weeks there's been an off menu Soft Shell Crab dish with either a Garlic or Basil sauce that looked pretty good. How was it, Rachel?

*I'll let the managment know about the busted HTML

[Rosie]

Sorry =Mark I can have the food mild, medium or spicy so I will not be leaving any or the food alone!

Two long tables.

You might want to consider pre-ordering the entrees as there will be 18 people. What does everyone think about that. If one person orders one dish and everyone wants to taste it then there won't be enough for me!

[=Mark]

I don't know that I'd be comfortable doing that. I felt OK ordering the appetizers for 2 reasons: The apps really don't have any heat issues other than the mussels, and I had tried all the apps so was familiar with them (Actually went there last week and did a "Tasting" of appetizers). Frankly, there is about 90% of the entree menu items that I've not tried, so I felt uneasy trying to sort them out. I figured the family style apps and entrees ordered from the menu worked well at Bella Rosa, so figured trying it with this meal.

[FoodSnob]

Please add 2 more to the list for dinner at Mie Thai - Carol and Bill Z. I really like Rosie's idea about doing main dishes family style as well. I've only been to Mie Thai once (we went based on postings that I read here) and was frustrated that I couldn't order and taste more things on the menu. If we do end up ordering entrees on our own, I'll be very willing to give out small tastes.

[=Mark]

Mie Thai serves their entrees in separate platters with serving spoons, so it's pretty much family style already. It is up to the individual as to whether they want to share it (I'm Game, we do it all the time anyway).

Also, this is a BYO establishment, so those who want to imbibe will have to bring their own beer or wine.

Updated list:

Jason & Rachel

Rosie and Lowell

Rail Paul & Dee

Me and a Guest

Nina and guest?

Alan and Sandy

KimWB

Paul Brodsky and Michael Folan

Carol and Bill Z

Jon Lurie

[Rosie]

Mark --How are you handling the money? Are we prepaying or dividing the bill? I still like the idea of ordering 3 of 6 or 7 dishes or 4 servings of 8 dishes! If you figure that one dish will give 4 to 6 people a taste then this would work. We can order 3 of the same dish--one mild, one medium and one hot.

[=Mark]

We worked it out with the management at the restaurant similarly to the last few NJ Dinners:

$30 per person covers as many appetizers as we have guests, served "Family Style"

Soups ordered individually off the menu. These would be hard to share...

Entrees orderd from menu, but served on separate serving platters. We can decide here or at the restaurant how to arrange sharing. This is what Jason, Rachel and I did, though it did flame her out of some of the hotter dishes.

A selection of sorbets at the end to cool us down. The owner says this should be no problem as long as the whole party does not simultaneously order Pineapple Sorbet...

Remember, Mie Thai is BYO...

Soft Drinks are included

[Rachel Perlow]

How about all the people who like their food HOT sit at one table, and all the people who like it mild-medium at the other? Or would that mean I'd be sitting alone?

Seriously, Mark you've done a great job. The only dish I wouldn't recommend was their Pad Thai (or was it the Pad Mie Thai), it was too sweet. Perhaps we can ask that they garnish the really hot dishes with a red pepper on top or something?

[Rosie]

Does $30 include tax and tip? Rachel--I will sit with you .

[LaNiña]

I wanna play musical chairs!

About the heat - I can take it really hot as long as I have breaks of non-hot stuff. Oy, the price I'll pay the next day.

[Rachel Perlow]

Mark - I sent you an email about this, but when we were planning on having everyone order off the menu, there were also only about 10 people coming. Now that we're closer to 20, I think it may be wise to order ahead.

I was trying to work out a menu of 5 dishes per table, then I saw Mark's dilemma - they have sooo many choices, it would be a shame to limit it to 1 noodle, one chicken curry, one beef curry, one fish, one duck. What about seafood, vegetarian, non-curry chicken or pork?

Why doesn't everyone look at the menu, click here, and post what they are planning on ordering? That way we can see if there will be too much repetition? You are not obligating yourself to order that dish that night. Also, I think we should give the restaurant the leeway to bring dishes out as they are ready, rather than all at once. 20 orders is a lot for a kitchen to handle all at once.

I personally will either order duck or fish, perhaps PED MA KAHM (Boneless crispy roast duck with tamarind sauce) or PLA JEAN (Crispy fried whole fish topped with ground pork, ginger, mushrooms and pepper in bean sauce). Jason usually gets a chicken or beef curry, HOT.

While we're at it, say if you're in the Hot-cha-cha Camp (Mark is Captain, Jason is Co-Captain) or the Wimpy Thai for Dummies Camp (Me & Rosie I guess ). And if you won't commit to one or the other, say which side of the border of medium you are on.