The King and I ...

Are you wondering if I'm reminiscing about that classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner? You know, the one where the English widow accepts a position as the live-in governess for the children of the King of Siam (Siam is the former name of Thailand, right?)

Well, I'm not. I'm not even sure that I've ever seen the whole movie. And if I were to watch it now, I'd probably opt to watch "Anna and the King" because I'm a Jodie Foster fan. But it's not about that either!

Actually, "The King and I" is a Thai restaurant on East Henrietta Road. Dave and I met Dan and Marilyn Lansberry there last night for dinner.

What a nice place! And a totally different experience for us. Dan and Marilyn had been there before (thankfully!) and were able to help us maneuver through the menu and make what we hoped were good choices.

While I couldn't begin to pronounce any of the dishes (well, except for Dave's choice -- the Evil Jungle Prince Shrimp -- which he probably chose because his middle name is Elvis and Elvis had the "Jungle Room" at Graceland ... yada yada yada) the menu luckily provided a description of the dishes and seasonings used in them. Very helpful to Thai cuisine newbies like us.

And I learned a few things too -- I've heard of curry spice, although I'm not sure that I've ever tasted it and I'm a little afraid to venture into trying different spices while out at a restaurant and the enjoyment of my entire meal depends on it. But I digress. My point is that according to the description on the menu, there are at least three different kinds of curry -- red, yellow, and green! I have absolutely no idea what the differences are but I thought it was interesting to note curry comes in a variety of colors (and perhaps intensity?)!

I had Chicken Phat Prigkhin -- delicious! I picked this dish because it comes with a spicy chili ginger sauce which I was rather certain I would like. And it also has green beans, basil and ginger, all of which I like.

I think Marilyn had Panang Chicken and Dan had Masamaun Shrimp ... everyone seemed to enjoy their meals. Of course the best part was having a chance to sit down and chat with good friends and catch up on what our families have been doing and all that fun stuff.

We're thinking about trying an Indian restaurant next... I'll have to try making something with curry between now and then and see what I think. And I'll check with Josh because I know he's gone to the "India House" with friends who apparently know what's safe to order if you've grown up eating American cuisine.

Above is a picture of everyone (well, except me ... I was taking the picture) as we were leaving. You can see a little bit of the restaurant decor in the background. I just wish I'd thought to take a picture of the beautiful tiger painting they had on display. You can see it in the background if you look very carefully. It was very striking!