Tiny Thai: The Odd Adventure

    I have decided to step out of my Mexican/American comfort zone and try something exotic. Rather than using major media sources for spicy food, I decided to trust Yelp, for once in my life, and I came across a Thai inspired restaurant called Tiny Thai in Long Beach.
    Thai food is definitely not my expertise but I know some dishes have curry paste and coconut. That's pretty much all I know the cuisine.
    I expected to find a very exotic restaurant filled with red and black decorations. Yep, that's how clueless I am about the Thai culture. However, when I arrived at Tiny Thai I was surprised that it was not decked out in exotic colors and ornaments. Instead I found a, dare I say, tiny restaurant tucked away and hidden from the congestion from Lakewood Blvd.
    The restaurant is very cozy and welcoming, but there were only two other guests besides us, which gave a sense of isolation that is both comforting and awkward. Another downer was the fact that guests must pass through the kitchen to use the restroom; that was a bit gross to me since I was being invaded with the flu virus and I couldn't help but wonder if bacteria from the restroom would reach my plate. Regardless I decided to give Tiny Thai a try.
    I told the waitress (she was the only server in sight by the way) that I demand to try the spiciest, preferably vegetarian, dish in the house! She apparently didn't take me seriously because she suggested meals that were mild in her opinion. "For me it's mild but I don't know how it is for you," the waitress said.
   Oh heck no! I felt a sense of insecurity, after my failure to handle Alondra's Atomic Sauce I have questioned my ability to handle heat. But how could she have known? In my head I told the waitress "You don't know me. You don't know my life. How dare you!" But in reality I accepted her challenge and went with the Paht-Kra-Pow Pak, which was basically stir fried veggies with basil and chili sauce. What kind of chili sauce? The waitress refused to reveal the main ingredient. My taste buds, however, told me that there was a substantial amount of garlic to my dismay.

   When my plate arrived I immediately dove into it, right infront of the waitress. It was, as she said, mild. There was the sweet burning sensation on my tongue but my ears were not blowing steam. I ate that Paht-Kra-Pow-Pack like a champion. I dominated and tamed that beast! But I found something odd. There was a thing string-ish thing, but I thought it was just  one of those stringy things from bean sprouts so I just tossed it off my plate.
   I've thought about that stringy thing on my plate and, after discarding all the possibilities, I came to the conclusion that it was a hair. Well... there is nothing else I could do since I thought about this hours after I had left the restaurant and my food was more than likely nearly digested.
   One of my regrets is that I didn't catch this in time to demand not to be charged for my meal. Damn. My second regret is that I didn't get the Hot and Sour Soup. Another guest got that and the pot it was in was literally bursting with flames. But if you think about it a hair on a stir-fry plate isn't as bad as a hair cooked in food.
   My recommendation is don't go to Tiny Thai in search of real heat (or at least with the Paht-Kra-Pow-Pack) and CHECK YOUR FOOD FOR HAIR!