hey arizonawildcat, anywhere you can recommend in TUS for really hot food? I live near STL but also in TUS for half of each month and I am getting tired of the usual suspects.

My palate runs to the "10" side of hot.......

oh, yes, and count me in as well as those who dream of making the pilgrimage to New Mexico for the Hatch festival.

At home, we grill/roast peppers nearly every day in season......

To the OP: I just dined at Lotus of Siam in Vegas and thought it was fairly spicy, but I was in a big group (mixed Asian and "other") so I think it got toned down a bit for us. Great place to eat

Other utterly authentic Thai places that don't hold back on the Spice level are

Spoon Thai in Chicago - ask for the secret Thai menu where they have hundreds of truly authentic Thai dishes like banana blossom salad, catfish curry custard, pork neck salad, raw shrimp w/ chili peppers & fish sauce. That dish really was incredible, but super super spicy, and I'm Korean and accustomed to spice.

Sripriphai in Queens, NY - pretty well known place amongst food lovers in NYC. They don't hold back on the spice either.

Neither of these hold a candle though to Spicy & Tasty in Flushing Queens which is Chinese Sichuan cooking. YEEEOUCH.

Interesting that nobody has eaten the spiciest Thai food in Thailand.

Some of us may have, but look at the thread title

Sri Lanka Curry House in Uptown/Kenwood. Alas, it is no longer open: http://wcco.com/local/Sri.Lanka.terrorism.2.365659.html

Ordered my "late night gut-rumbler" snack in a Union 76 truckstop in El Paso, TX. Onion Rings and a bowl of chile. My waitress asked if I'd like the cook to stir in a little "salsa cruda" to the chili. I looked puzzled. She said, "wait, I'll bring a taste" Brought back about two teaspoons of uncooked salsa in a little paper cup on a side plate with 6-8 tortilla chips...

I dipped the corner of a tortilla chips in the salsa...and shook it off so only a bit was on the chip.

And when I put it in my mouth, I thought it had exploded!

I gasped out "No" to the waitress who turned and left.

Then cleared the plate of the remaining chips, gulped my drink and my companion's drink trying to put out the fire. No go. I ate the chile and onion rings when they came....and never tasted them, other than the burning sensation in my mouth.

We drove west from there...and I finally regained some ability to taste the food I ate...beyond Tuscon, AZ the next afternoon.

Orochon Ramen in Little Tokyo of Los Angeles, CA.

If you finish their "Special #2" ramen in 30 minutes, they'll put your picture on the wall.

I got halfway through and quit...it burned in my mouth all day... It was actually pretty tasty with the mixture of spices they use but, in the end, the heat just killed me.

I hope the two of you are not suggesting that those of us who like spicy food like our food "overpowered by spice" or that we want "the seasonings [to] become the main flavor." As I am sure you can appreciate, different people have wildly different tolerances for spice. For those of us who love super spicy food, the spice does not overpower, but instead draws out or enhances flavor. There's no reason to spice things up if it overpowers your own individual taste buds, but please don't be judgemental about it.


ECG no longer bottles Inner Beauty, but you can order a side of it at the restaurant. And I assure you that it is not dumbed down from the old days. That said, different batches can have very different spice levels, and I find it reacts very differently to different foods. So, for example, when I add it to their buffalo shrimp, or when it is served on frech fries as part of the hell fries served at their sister restaurant, All Star Sandwich Bar, I find that it barely makes a dent in the spice level, but when I add it to my burnt ends sandwich, it usually ramps up the heat fairly significantly (in an oh-so-good kinda way!).

At the East Coast Grill, in Cambridge MA, they do Hell Night (for 3 nights) each year around Halloween. My friend knew I liked spicy food so insisted I og one year. I had a shrimp appetizer that was so spicy my stomache hurt for 3 days like it had been kicked. I had to stop there and could not even try their pasta from hell.

The best part is hearing someone have to yell out "antedote" and the whistles start blowing and they yell wimp while a creamsicle is brought out to the victim.