at taste of thai, a huge helping

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This delicious steamed flounder in three flavors sauce set us back a whopping $19.95

Today I’d like to share with you an example of how the hubby and I have been going through reverse culture shock ever since we moved back to the U.S. While we were living overseas, the whole online coupon trend happened. We heard about these online coupons from friends, Facebook, and even the news. I couldn’t wait to jump on the bargain bandwagon, and as soon as we moved back, I discovered a coupon website that had to be a haven for eating aficionados like myself, and within minutes, I’d purchased a coupon for $75 worth of Thai food at our favorite little neighborhood haunt for $30. What a deal, right?

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Clockwise, from top left: crab wontons, shrimp and pork dumplings, larb gai and shrimp and papaya salad

I should’ve known that there was fine print involved. As it turns out, we had to order a minimum of 150 dollars in food before we could use the coupon. For those of you who have a favorite little Thai haunt, one of those that’s close to your home and perfect for a quick weeknight dinner, you know that Thai food of this sort isn’t pricey. So we’ve been sitting on this coupon for months, since even with the Gravy Baby’s ravenous appetite there’s no way just the three of us could even eat close to 50 dollars’ worth of Thai food.

Over the holidays, with lots of family in tow, we decided to use everyone’s hungry bellies to help us meet our goal, and so we set off. And boy, did we ever have a feast at Taste of Thai. Our favorites were the incredibly fresh shrimp and papaya salad, the larb gai (minced chicken salad), and the masaman curry, which was richly creamy and full of peanut flavor.

Clockwise, from top left: beef green curry, chicken masaman curry, stir-fried pork with spicy basil sauce, and pad thai

I have to say that even though initially I regretted having bought my coupon and committed us to this enormous Thai banquet, in the end it was thrilling to go all out and order all of our favorites in one sitting. Between the hubby, the Gravy Baby and me, we usually just order our 2-3 staples and call it a night. With the excuse of our coupon, we got to have everything — and I mean everything — our appetites could ever have wanted. (It helps that Taste of Thai has excellent food, too.)