Fun Friday: Lorelai-ing Thai Food

To me, "The Lorelais' First Day at Yale" is one of the best Gilmore Girls episodes. I always enjoy "first day of school" storylines, but this "first day of college" plot is especially adorable because it features Lorelai trying to help Rory make friends at Yale. And, being Gilmores, this means using a lot of food to do so - Lorelai goes to town ordering take-out from every place around! Not only does having tons of food bring in all of Rory's neighbors, but it also helps the girls figure out which places are worth their time and money in the future. If you haven't seen the episode, here's a clip that picks up mid-way through the situation:

Ever since originally seeing the episode, I've been wanting to do something similar, though on a much smaller scale. So, when my husband went out of town, I decided it was time to give it a try with some Thai food, a cuisine I enjoy but is not his favorite so he wouldn't be missing out. I chose two restaurants near our place that we've just never made it to in the almost-four years we've been in this area. Now, I did judge them on different characteristics than the Gilmores did (for instance, I ordered to-go, so no delivery boys to rate), but it was still a fun experience and one I'd try again with another type of food.

Some quick background: I chose to order Chicken Pad Thai, No Peanuts from both places so I was judging the same, simple meal. I ordered at about 4:45pm so neither restaurant was very busy. One is across the street from our local grocery store (technically in Santa Clara), the other in the plaza next door to the gym (in Sunnyvale).

	Pad Thai ($10.82)	Thai Chili ($9.73)
Ordering	Quick! Average friendliness.	Asked spiciness preference (medium); very friendly.
Pick-Up	Simple. restaurant was warm.	Friendly, greeted by name.
Presentation	leftovers-sized plastic dish with clear lid. fork included, not chopsticks. carrots partially covered entree.	full-size Styrofoam box, labeled "no peanuts." utensils offered, no chopsticks included. Side items under corner of foil (see inset).
Appearance
Aroma	Citrusy.	Spicy.
Flavor	Spicy. Dry chicken.	Sweet, eggy. Dry chicken.
Consistency	Noodles pulled apart easily.	Noodles very congealed and sticky.
Ingredients	Chicken, tofu, cilantro, carrots, cabbage, noodles, green onion, egg, lime.	Chicken, cabbage, noodles, green onion, egg, lime (dried out), orange.
Upon Reheat	Bland.	Oily & spicy.
Overall	It's less food for a higher price, but I liked the additional flavors the tofu and cilantro added, plus it was easy to eat.	Portion was huge and I liked the sweetness, but everything was horribly stuck together and the leftovers were kinda gross.

Honestly, I don't plan to visit either of these establishments again, as convenient as they may be. The dry meat in both was a turn-off, and neither truly satisfied what I was looking for. The search continues!

Have you ever ordered from two or more places in a single night to compare them? Would you?