How spicy can you take it…?
I have been visiting Kanomwan restaurant since the early 90s and even then have been reading all the reviews of how the owner is rude and never smiles (I believe some even call him the Thai Nazi). I think it is quite hilarious as part of the fun in going to this great Thai restaurant is to see what kind of antics he will perform on you this time around. (I secretly think he acts this way to see how people will react…)
My brother Abid and I went there for lunch the other day. The location they are at now is probably the third location of theirs that I have been to (they seem to just keep moving further down Telephone Road). When the owner, who I shall henceforth label as Mr. K since I have no clue what his name is, comes to our table and barks out “You ready?” and just as I open my mouth to give him the order, he kind of waves his hand at me and walks away to another table to take their order. Abid and I just crack up laughing because we were just waiting for such a stunt to be pulled. He returned a few minutes later and proceeds to take our order. When Abid asks for extra hot sauce, he asks him which dish is his and he will make it extra hot. This is where I pipe in and tell him to make it “Extra Thai hot to make him cry hot”. This is where I see an upwards motion of his lips in a semblance of a smile as he writes down this request.
We start off with a Tom Yum Goong which was amazingly tart and tasty. As Mr. K comes around to refill my iced tea, he hears me go “ooooohhhh” and proceeds to stop pouring my iced tea and gives me a look to which I reply “That’s a good oooooohhh, nice and tart, I like it”. That is when I get a full frontal smile before he walks away. At this point I say to myself, “Yes, I already got two smiles out of this guy!”. Our entrees arrive in which I had a green curry chicken and Abid had a beef and vegetable curry. Mine was rated at two spicyness levels and I was already sweating up a storm. I like spicy, but I know I don’t have a very high tolerance for it. Halfway through the entree, Mr. K comes up to me and says “No crying!” and I’m like “You made the wrong person cry!” and he laughs and walks away. I did make it through the meal, which I thought was great all the way around – still one of my favorite Thai places in Houston. As we go to the counter to pay, I say “See you next time” and Mr. K with an evil grin on his face states “Next time I make it hotter..”.
So here’s the thing folks, the food is great and you need to have a sense of humor towards Mr. K. This is not a high-class establishment where I would be expecting high caliber service (and even some of those types of restaurants don’t). If you get offended because he doesn’t smile or is “nice” to you, get over it. The food is great. Period. End of story.
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