Thai Food Help

pkweier
pkweier Posts: 349 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Going to my first Thai food restaurant on Thursday. I have no idea what I should order. This is a local place so no calories listed. These were some of my choice that I thought might not be so bad. I can add chicken shrimp or pork to any of these if I want to.

1. Pad Broccoli broccoli, bell peppers stir fried light garlic sauce
2. Veggie Delight Mixed fresh veggies sauteed light garlic sauce
3. Pam Preow Pineapple,onion, mushrooms, scallians in sweet and sour sauce.


I am leaning towards number 2 with either chicken or shrimp

Replies

  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    Is there any chain restaurant you can compare options to? That might give you an idea of what comparables would look like. If I had to guess, option 2 is probable the lowest calorie option. So I think your instincts are right. The sweet and sour sauce probably has a lot of sugars in it.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I LOVE Thai food!

    I always recommend Chicken Pad Thai to people new to Thai food.

    If you like spicy food try Red Curry but stick with "American spicy" in the beginning as you probably cannot yet handle "Thai spicy" :lol:

    The least spicy curry that I have tried is Masaman curry.

    At all American Thai restaurants, I can get at least two servings from an entree. In my Thai cookbook, the servings are much smaller.

    My ex lived in Thailand for a few years and lost 40 pounds without even trying.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I LOVE Thai food!

    I always recommend Chicken Pad Thai to people new to Thai food.

    If you like spicy food try Red Curry but stick with "American spicy" in the beginning as you probably cannot yet handle "Thai spicy" :lol:

    The least spicy curry that I have tried is Masaman curry.

    At all American Thai restaurants, I can get at least two servings from an entree. In my Thai cookbook, the servings are much smaller.

    My ex lived in Thailand for a few years and lost 40 pounds without even trying.

    I love me some "thai spicy" food. I usually tell them Thai spicy and then like "no really, actually thai spicy." My spice tolerance has gotten quite high.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    edited March 2019
    I love any Thai food that doesnt have noodles since I am not a noodle fan. I get veggie curries with rice, salad, or my very favorite tom yum soup with shrimp. Thai spicy for me too. Curries are calorie laden due to coconut milk but you dont have to eat all the sauce
  • pkweier
    pkweier Posts: 349 Member
    Thanks everyone for your advice. This will be a adventure as I am not a fan of spicy food.
  • kam26001
    kam26001 Posts: 2,794 Member
    You should try a little mango sticky rice if you can. :yum:
  • Beckenzahler
    Beckenzahler Posts: 26 Member
    Thais tend to use copious amounts of oil in things they fry, so it can be very difficult to correctly estimate the kcal amount, so just do your best, enjoy the experience, and disregard the fact that you might go over kcal limit for a single day, that wont matter one single bit in the long run.

    Tom Yum Gung is a very good, generally low kcal option. You would have to ask if they can make it non-spicy, though.
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 479 Member
    Just be rough with the estimate, use something that sounds reasonable for the same dish in MFPs database.

    If you wanted to be low calorie, noodle soups are usually the way to go. However if it's your first time, order what you want.
  • lilithsrose
    lilithsrose Posts: 752 Member
    Calorie-wise, I would probably go with #2 as well. #3 sounds like it would still have a lot of calories because of that sugary sweet-and-sour sauce.

    I see that you're not a big spice fan. Most thai restaurants that I have ordered from will mark the spicy dishes on their menu. Don't be afraid to branch out and try a massaman or korma curry. They are generally mild, but do contain a bit more calories than you may be willing to allot for this meal. As someone else suggested, mango sticky rice is also delicious. Pad See Ew is also very mild and one of my favorite thai comfort foods.

    Some of my favorite thai restaurants offer a heat level from 1 to 10 on all their dishes. I usually stick with a 5 or 6. Not all restaurants offer the spice levels like this though.
  • joannegustyn1971
    joannegustyn1971 Posts: 50 Member
    Drunken noodles is a good choice. When I was at weight watchers, it was the lowest in points. Not all restaurants have this dish though. One of our local ones has it and it’s a good choice but another one that is near us makes a greasy version of them. It may be worth checking out.
  • funjen1972
    funjen1972 Posts: 949 Member
    edited March 2019
    Larb gai is my go-to for Thai It's basically a ground chicken salad. I get all the Thai flavors with a low calorie investment. I might add a fresh roll and/or Tom Yum soup, too. Delicious!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    pkweier wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for your advice. This will be a adventure as I am not a fan of spicy food.

    You can get Pad Thai not spicy and there should be some indicators on the menu about the food's spiciness :)
  • pkweier
    pkweier Posts: 349 Member
    Update didn't get to Thai place it was closed so did mexican instead
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 479 Member
    pkweier wrote: »
    Update didn't get to Thai place it was closed so did mexican instead

    *Sad tuba sound effect*

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