a lesson in finding pizza in thailand.

the other day we decided we wanted pizza. now in the area we are currently living in, they are sort of geared specifically to tourists, so even though all of the restaurants serve thai, many of them also serve "european food." this means different things depending on the place, but for some, this includes pizza. of course, after a week or so of thai food for every meal, we were ready for a little taste from home, so meghan and i ventured to one of the better looking restaurants to have a go at it.

the place we walked into was called "dragon" and the woman working there had large dragon tattoos everywhere on her body. she was pretty good at speaking english, unlike many of the restaurant workers around here, and was actually even very funny. we got our drinks and ordered our pizzas. to do so, we filled out a check list with the toppings we wanted on it, which was in english, thai and german (they are one of the most common groups of foreigners around this area and apparently in thailand in general).

though it was pretty hot inside, since the inside is more like an enclosed porch anyway, we were enjoying ourselves and made small talk with the thai girl. she played us some of her favorite english music and told us about the area. finally, about 40 min, she emerges from the kitchen and tells us that there is no more tomato sauce. but she does not just say that there is no tomato sauce, she asks us if we want lasagna, which she has in her hand. since neither of us eat the meat that was in it, we declined, and she proceeded to offer us thai food, spaghetti, or anything else that she had available.

after having our minds and stomachs set on pizza, we decided we would just pay for what we had drank and leave. thats when she went back into the kitchen, and when meghan was sure she heard her ask if there was ketchup available. rather than stick around to see what would come out of the kitchen, we tried to pay for our drinks again but she told us not to worry about it if we promised to come back another time. since she was so sweet and funny, we agreed.

luckily, we went back a few days later and had a delicious meal. pizza included, and the pizza sauce was definitely worth waiting a few days for.

i should have learned my lesson about ordering western food from thai restaurants. tonight a group came asking if we wanted to go for pizza. i thought we were going back to the same place, as it is just a short walk down the road. turned out we went to another place, still not too far away though. the majority of their menu was actually western style food, and so i figured that ordering a pizza would be fine. most of my table ordered burgers or pizza as well.

we went in a rather large group, about 17 total, but split up when we sat down at tables. this in itself is a problem, as most places here only have 1 or 2 chefs in the kitchen. when we go out in groups, there is always someone who ends up getting left out or getting their food way after everyone else is already finished and many have left. this time it was taking quite a while for us to get our food, but we were the last table to order, so we went with it.

after an hour, even the second table was still waiting for their food, and half of our table decided they couldnt wait any longer, paid for their drinks, and left. the three of us who remained had ordered a cheeseburger and two pizzas. what came out was first two burgers. we were then told that they only had enough to make one pizza.

in the end, i did get my pizza. but it was not worth the two hours wait it took to get it. it was more like a crispy tortilla with some cheese melted over top of tomatoes and onions. im sticking to thai food until i get to bangkok, and will then reassess the eating western food situation.