benchmark dishes

[KJS]

For Thai I recommend Tom Yum soup. You can tell quite a bit just by what mushrooms they put it. Crappy canned button mushrooms: boo hoo. It is a simple dish that any Thai chef should have mastered. If it sucks, most everything probably will.

Second: Phad Krapao, which is the fried meat with basil dish. This is the signature wok dish for Thai cooking. It is also very simple and should be made with a minimum of ingredients besides the meat and basil (in Thailand, it is just that plus peppers). If it is good, most things will be, IMO.

I always order these to test the goodness of a Thai place. I also check what veggies they use in general. Places that use a lot of bell peppers and green beans don't do much for me. These ingredients are not used in Thailand and their flavors are not a good match, IMO. Of course, everyone changes their cuisine for the American ingredients and palate but I feel like Thai cooking is so simple and delicious as is that I am very judgmental when a Thai cook chooses to make substitutions or additions of veggies that don't match the sauces they use.

KJS

[KJS]

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have you been to Pasta Freska on Westlake? Went there one time with a friend of the chef, and it is right up there with any Italian that I've had anywhere, including Italy. The chef picks the food and wine for you. Prices more than reasonable. Give it a try if you haven't.
Pasta Freska

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This is about 3/4 mile from me. I really got to go there; heard only great things.

KJS

[ThaSaltCracka]

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have you been to Pasta Freska on Westlake? Went there one time with a friend of the chef, and it is right up there with any Italian that I've had anywhere, including Italy. The chef picks the food and wine for you. Prices more than reasonable. Give it a try if you haven't.
Pasta Freska

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This is about 3/4 mile from me. I really got to go there; heard only great things.

KJS

[/ QUOTE ]I have driven by this place dozens of times and never thought anything of it. Interesting....

[By-Tor]

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For mexican restaurants: steak fajitas.

Also the salsa that you get at the beginning of the meal. If it tastes extra good you're in pretty good shape. It shows the restaurant has good attention to detail.

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Ouch, I realize Fajitas are fairly common these days, but I don't believe this is a 'Mexican Dish'.

I think Chile Verde would be a better choice.

I've had the Chile Verde from just about every mexican place in the south bay and I think the little hole-in-the-wall at MoonLight Shopping center, right in the corner next to Radio-Shack, is the best I have had.

The name I think is Acapulcos (not the chain).

[Dids]

Pad Thai works because their choice of sauce says a lot about the place.

Some places you're basically getting ketchup or BBQ sauce, and some places an actual tamarind has been near the sauce.

I also use Swimming Rama as a benchline, because I'm a gringo and order that a lot.

Bright,

Tulio's used to be a good Italian, place, or it was years ago when my grandparents took me there.

[offTopic]

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For mexican restaurants: chicken mole/mole poblano

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Order with corn tortillas, not flour. Flavor should be slightly spicy (not too hot) with a touch of sweet (due to the chocolate). I've only seen this at sit-down Mexican restaurants, and not all of them serve it.

[M2d]

Agree that mole done well is wonderful stuff, but i think it's so intricate that a decent restaurant that i'd return to could concievably make poor mole. otoh, a place that serves good mole is a keeper.

generally (and i'm nowhere near an expert as far as mexican food), i judge by the freshness of the salsa (my rationale is that if the salsa is fresh that means they have to keep on making it to keep up with demand which means that they are pretty busy, and, since i'm no expert here, i can usually defer to others' judgement). my other test is odd because i don't even like/eat this dish. my wife loves al pastor burritos and if we find a place that serves passable al pastor, i usually find that the foods i order (carnitas, chile rellenos, etc) are pretty good as well.

[GuyOnTilt]

El D,

Fair enough. I have a hard time agreeing with you, but it's probably because, despite my undying love of Thai food, I find Pad Thai to be one of my least favourite things on the menu [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[NhlNut]

For french, initial dish is French Onion Soup.
It covers 3 basics of french cooking: stock, bread, cheese. It's not hard to do correctly, with correct ingredients.

[Analyst]

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Italian: I'm thinking gnocchi.

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This is a good benchmark that sadly very few resataurants will pass.