Thai restuarant...what should I eat??

I just got back from a vacation in Thailand. There are tons of dishes that aren't curries, I would try and aim for them because they seem to be lower in sodium and cals. Just natural ingredients like basil, veggies, meats, etc. Also, watch out for the amount of rice you eat. You will probably get a huge bowl to share, just don't go overboard .

But more importantly, enjoy it! Thai food is delicious

Whatever on the menu looks the most loaded with veggies, watch your intake of rice or noodles, and then splurge for a Thai tea as dessert. Not everything is curry or seafood. They will likely have soups (some can be high in salt though, so you might want to be salt-light for your other meals that day), noodle dishes, rice dishes, beef, chicken, pork, and tofu as well. Most Thai restaurants I've been too also have a wide selection of vegetarian dishes that are pretty tasty even if you are usually a meat eater.

I usually take half of my thai dinner home for lunch the next day, and that's with my SO nibbling off my plate in addition to his own (I steal some of his too, so it's all fair). Most people kill the heat of a spicy dish with a bit of rice, so they end up eating a lot of rice, but I just sip on a lovely glass of Thai tea and each sweet sip kills the heat when it gets to be too much for me. Thai tea is a pretty orange color but isn't very healthy... online estimates look like it runs about 200 cal per 8oz serving (dark tea, sugar and cream or sweet condensed milk. Some places you can order it without the cream.), and it's usually served in a pint sized glassed that's packed with ice that melts and dilutes it down a bit.

For example, if you don't want to be very adventurous, the Thai place near me has some very simple menu items that aren't even spicy, just lemon, ginger, garlic, or basil flavored, including a dish that's just pork chops and steamed veggies. I typically go for the spicier foods, but I ordered the pork chops once when I was a bit under the weather and just wanted something simple but didn't want a soup (which are pricier at that place near us, but cheap at the place I worked in college). The dish came with 2 pork chops, a pile of steamed broccoli, carrots, etc. you'd have to guesstimate the portion size and maybe doggy bag the second pork chop, but it's not that bad for you calorie wise, and would leave room for a splurge on Thai tea. (I got addicted to the tea and thai iced coffee in college. Thai iced tea with lime and no cream, Thai tea with lime and no cream, Thai iced coffee with cream... I usually had at 2 per shift and I could get away with it because I was a college kid. Now, it's a treat when we go for Thai.)

The summer "spring" rolls are yummy as well, but often contain shrimp (which you mentioned not liking) and too much peanut dipping sauce can add up. I'd say the calorie busters to watch for in the menu descriptions would be coconut milk, peanuts, rice, noodles and the fried stuff (fried tofu is tasty, but not healthy...) .

If you go to a really authentic Thai joint, the food may be served family style. So you can all order a variety of dishes, and when it come to the table you can take what you want, like a bite to try something yummy but high in calories, but a bigger helping of something with a lot of veggies. In other words, you could have a cup of soup, a pile of mixed veggies, and a bit of a rice or noodle dish. You don't see a lot of fat people in Thailand, so there is bound to be healthy options on the menu if you know what to look for. At the place I worked at in college the Thai owners and cooks would always lament the fact that most Americans each order their own item and don't share anything but the rice (which came in a big bowl for the whole table) even though the food was served with extra empty plates to eat off of. Wait staft usually did try to tell customers that we served family style, but most people didn't eat that way, a few would, often if they had been to Thailand or had eaten family style at other restaurants. After hours, the whole staff would sit down for a family style meal the way it ought to be. Two curries (one mild and one very spicy) or a soup and a curry, a noodle dish, a few off menu veggie combinations--usually one on the sweet side but the others very plain--and a big order of rice (sometimes fried) would feed the entire staff, with some sort of fruit for desert.