Can You Help Me?

So after coming back from NYC where you can eat every kind of food POSSIBLE, a friend had an issue with picking a meal at a Thai restaurant. She confessed that she didn’t really enjoy her meal and that she really isn’t good at picking her meals whenever she goes to new restaurants. I decided to write about it…

And share my tips with the world.

Look for what you like. First and foremost, read the menu. Give yourself and the restaurant a chance. At the Thai restaurant last week, they didn’t really have what I wanted so I looked for food I was familiar with. If you’re not familiar with the fried peanut sauce and you don’t even favor peanuts like that anyway: stay away. I’m all about trying new things but base it off of what you like. Completely foreign foods are like playing the lottery…hitting the jackpot is seldom. I ended up ordering the Chinese broccoli with chicken. I’ve had Chinese food before and I like chicken. Go figure. Granted the dish had a little more greens (aside from broccoli) than I anticipated but it was delish!

Ask what’s good. After reading the menu thoroughly you realize that they you don’t see anything you are familiar with or would order. That’s when you starting asking questions. Ask the date you’re with, the friends you came with or your waiter what the popular dish of the day is or what the restaurant is known for. The first night I was in the city, I went to this chic Spanish restaurant and asked what good appetizers they had. Turned out they were known for their grilled corn with chili powder. I was a little apprehensive about it (especially the chili powder) but it turned out to be the most delicious corn I’ve ever tasted. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, you might miss out on good corn.

Smell around. Maybe I’m the greediest human being on earth but when I enter a restaurant I use all five of my senses. But I notice that smell usually will dominate all of the senses and conquer me into ordering whatever that sweet aroma maybe. Fresh bread, baked chicken, fried seafood…all of these have a distinctive smell and make my mouth water. Look around and see what’s on people’s plates (especially the folks sitting right next you) and you may find what you’ve been smelling all along.

Meat and potatoes. Rarely does this ever fail. Everyone has had a burger and fries and it’s a combination that usually leaves their customer satisfied. It’s familiar and a lot of restaurants carry it. Believe me I know. I’ve been eating that combo since I was 3 and just step out of its boundaries when I was 21. Hey, they’ve never let me down so why would steer away from that? (To try something new, duh.) If it’s not a burger and fries, most eateries have steak and mashed potatoes or some kind of traditional meat and potato meal that you grew up on.

Copycat it. If don’t see anything you like, you can’t build up the nerve to ask what’s good, nothing smells good to you and they have the audacity to not have the All-American cheeseburger on their menu, find something familiar on anybody’s plate and tell your server, “I’ll have what they’re having.” Sure, not being original is lame but saying it like that makes you sound like you’re talking about something. Hopefully, you’ll end up liking it and coming back to the restaurant because their chicken and broccoli with peanut sauce and jasmine rice is to die for.

Or make the person you copied pay for the crap and use the money you saved to buy a number three at the nearest McDonalds five minutes later.

It’s a win-win situation.