I just downloaded an excerpt to check it out later. 
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Tangential suggestion but knowing your penchant for bedtime reading I highly recommend you get âCooking South of the Cloudsâ another beautiful cookbook about Yunnan cuisine. Yunnan has a strong Northern Thai influence.
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iâve talked about this with the owner; sheâs worried about scaring people off and will tone down dishes depending on the perceived palate of the patrons, but people in general need to understand that there is no âone size fits allâ when it comes to balance of flavorings in thai cuisine. jonathan gold touched on this and it went completely over everyoneâs heads in his review of pok pok phat thai. the food came out under-seasoned so each eater could add their own choice/ratio of seasonings.
âItâs a little like cooking through a recipe that instructs you to salt to taste. It will always taste better the third time around.â
my best friend from high school has lived in thailand since the mid 90âs and itâs common for patrons to request various seasonings if theyâre not already on the table and they routinely add different blends and balances of seasonings to make a dish palatable to their own sensibilities. one person may add red pepper, fish sauce and sugar, enough to gag a maggot while another might add a drop or two of vinegar to their bowl of noodles. itâs not like chinese culture as depicted in joy luck club when the ugly white american drenched the matriarchâs signature dish with soy sauce. as i think about it, i remember no one else understanding when i and a couple of other chinese in the otherwise completely midwestern caucasian audience starting laughing and howling at that scene. but itâs ok to act that way with thai cuisine. the thai certainly do - and are not offended by it.
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I love the following scene when she told future husband that her mother would rather get rectal cancer than see them married.
Good point. I was thinking the same thing at Badmaash the other day. That the people complaining about the spices being muted should look no further than the side sauces they offer - one has 5 peppers including ghost pepper. 
You guys do know when you order spicy at a Thai place, itâs usually like thisâŚ
1 spoonful of chile flakes/chiles: Medium
2 spoonfuls: Spicy
3 or more, look at this dumb farang asking for itâŚ
Since NTFC is a Lanna specialistâŚyou should be looking more for fermented, savory, herby, and sour notes in general, not spicy. âwarmâ is not the same as spicy, like in the unique Northern style curries. Unless you are a wuss.
If itâs noodles it is completely up to you to season it. Stop complaining about the Khao Soi when you should be adding spoonfuls of nam prik pao into it
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To clarify, not touching or even going near the âall thai food needs to be spicy!!â quagmire. More a general observation that all flavors here (sour, savory, herbs, etc) feel muted, dull, reheated, overly steam-tabled, not fresh, vibrant as of late.
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Thanks for the update @caleb. We havenât been back in months and heard the reports here on FTC of possible downhill. Might try to swing by and see how itâs doing these days, but good to know.
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I feel like NTFC can be very hit or miss and has been since the beginning⌠I wouldnât necessarily say downhill.
Iâd say 50% of the time itâs great and 50% its a little offâŚ
Iâve been a 3-4 times in the last few months and this has been the case.
Still a fan none the less, especially at the price point.
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Thanks for the update and clarification.
I am impressed with your use of the word âquagmireâ never heard that use outside of the family guy character gigigty
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