flavor bombs

My favorite thing about going out for Thai food is that the flavors are just so intense and punchy. Nothing is subtle, and I don't want them to be. I want a jar of every sauce I put in my mouth at Fish Cheeks.

Notes to self: eat more crisp raw veg with super savory spicy pasty dipping sauces, crunchy herb salads on everything, 

Grilled pork cheeks - marinated in fish sauce, jeaw sauce.

Nam Prik Goong Siap - spicy shrimp relish with garlic, shallot, chili, lime, fish sauce, palm sugar an and fresh veggies including these tiny little radishes *face holding back tears emoji*

Crispy rice salad & pork - crushed coconut crispy rice tossed with sour pork, mint, chili, saw leaves, lime, ginger, peanuts. Feel like I've had crispier rice salad though.

Fried fish with garden herb salad - whole fish, culantro, cashews, chili, pineapple, ginger, pickled garlic dressing. We love a varied textural experience.

Coconut crab curry - Southern style, house-made curry paste, betel leaf makrut lime. Almost punishingly spicy, but did that stop me? No.

Best crispy bites had at Wenwen.

Seriously, I didn't know I could like tofu this much. And it's not like I dislike tofu. So shatteringly crispy.

Crispy fried tofu with garlic soy paste - Szedaddy, Taiwan Dust, pickled cabbage.

San Bei GG - sesame oil cachaca, ginger, wintermelon, thai basil, lacitc acid, dark soy sauce.

Okay truly this drink was so wild, I started with a twist on the old fashioned and NEEDED to get my own san bei cocktail after trying Megan's. Then at the end of the night I asked the bartender how he did it and he basically said it's all about the rum infusion.

Beef noodle soup - braised beef shank, 16-hr oxtail broth, pickled mustard greens. Not a beef noodle connoisseur, I just care that the meat is tender and the broth is deeeeep. But honestly we probably just needed plain white rice to go with the... 

BDSM fried chicken - yellow fat chicken including the feeeeet, furu, soy milk, green and yellow chive slaw.

The piece de resistance that there are only five of a night. Good thing I got there right at opening at 5p (after I realized I made our initial reservation for the wrong night - I always have to make a time-based mistake at least once per trip apparently). More crunchy shattering bites, and it's deboned so there's nothing stopping you. Except the breast meat, I stopped at the breast meat.

Apparently I will wait in line for cocktail menus like the one in the back room at Double Chicken Please. To be fair, I was fourth in line before it opened, and I just borrowed Attached to read.

Notes to self: make salted egg yolk sauce... and then make fried chicken?

Cold Pizza - don fulano blanco, parmigiano reggiano, burnt toast, tomato, basil, honey, egg white

Salted egg yolk chicken sammich with dried shrimp on brioche.

Red Eye Gravy - teeling irish whiskey, coffee butter, corn, walnut, wild mushroom, microwaved coppa. My favorite of the evening. All my favorite savory complex flavors with my favorite liquor type + bonus textural component with the meat chip garnish. UGH.

Japanese Cold Noodle in the back - bacardi superior, pineapple, cucumber, coconut, lime, sesame oil.