We simply can’t eat everywhere we’d like to, and reviews like these illustrate why that is. Take this first one, about Tong’s Thai Cuisine in southwest Missouri:

Tong’s differs from Ozarks Asian cuisine

It’s not authentic Thai, but rather Thai-style. We like the phrase in the review which says,

Chef and owner Tong Trithara says that Thai food is often misunderstood. While there are always spicy options, the basis of Thai cuisine lies in the herbs, not in the heat, he explains.

The other review talks about the Szechuan Chef restaurant from Seattle, WA. Of particular interest is the “hot pot” which offers

platters bearing thin-sliced raw meat (beef, pork, chicken and lamb) and uncooked seafood (shellfish, finfish and fish balls). These arrive alongside platters filled with lacy white beef tripe, cubes of coagulated beef blood, slender bamboo shoots, cellophane noodles and sliced tofu. Each ingredient adds flavor (the blood is livery) and texture (the tripe chewy) to the simmering broth that sits center stage on a portable burner.

In all honesty, it sorta sounds like a form of Asian fondue. Also attention-grabbing is this about the menu selections,

Note the abundance of chile-pepper icons that dot the menu. Then ignore those useless heat indicators. I’ve sampled no-pepper dishes that drove my heat-sensors wild, like the glorious hand-shaven “dan dan noodles” swimming with ground pork in a heat-stoked broth. And three-pepper items that were decidedly mild — including the delicate, pork-filled, dry-style Szechuan wontons, and the whole fish in hot black-bean sauce (a plump tilapia in a rich brown sauce scattered with cilantro and scallions).

Nice to know that the spicy options can be had early and often. This place puts to shame our local Mongolian grill, but we know that beggars can’t be choosers. Sounds like a great place to eat, though. Anyone who might have eaten here please give us a shout and let us know what you thought of it.