Carl has been fascinated with Pad Thai ever since his Nationwide days. Near his office, in the Short North, was a market. An old, Asian man ran a small take out eatery specializing in Pad Thai. Carl didn't eat out often for lunch, but when he did, this was one of his favorite places to go.
For the last five years, we had a favorite Thai restaurant that served a delicious Pad Thai- chicken for Carl; seafood for me. We went often enough that the owner knew us and knew exactly what we wanted to order. For several years, this blissful relationship thrived.
Until one day...
We walked in and the owner sadly told us that he could no longer obtain one of the ingredients that made his Pad Thai so delicious. He went on to explain he was moving his business to an area he thought would provide more customers- a popular night market located next to a large university. He was changing the menu to accommodate the younger crowd.
That was such a sad day for us! It was the equivalent of the dreaded "Dear John" letter ending yet another delicious relationship.
But, never fear! Abbi helped us find another place that serves delicious Pad Thai, but it was different than our prior favorite. That got us to thinking about all the other places that serve Pad Thai. How many different kinds could there be? Which was the best?
Thus, the quest to find the best Pad Thai in Taichung began.
Our first stop was at Grandma's Thai.
I liked this place for its atmosphere and decor. Sadly, while somewhat delicious, its Pad Thai didn't measure up to our first love.
Carl did the research, found another Thai place, and expertly drove us through Friday evening traffic. Basically, I am just along for the ride!
I usually just hang on and enjoy the ride, but for some reason I decided to take out my phone and record our drive. It was an ongoing game of scooter versus bus. Watch here to see who won!
After arriving at the restaurant, we were seated and handed an all Chinese menu.
With the help of our trusty Google translate, we soon realize that this is not the place we were seeking. The proprietress came to get our order, but did not understand our questions. So she went and got another employee who spoke a little bit more English, but still could not understand. Finally, a third person, a young woman, was brought to our table.
"No, this is not a Thai restaurant. Traditional Chinese food is served here. The place you want is down the street. I will walk you there."
Could you imagine one restaurant employee in America walking a customer to another restaurant? Not here in Taiwan. There are so many restaurants and so many customers that everybody doesn't mind sharing!
The place we wanted was down one block and across the street. While crossing through the intersection my forward progress was stopped suddenly. From out of what seemed no where, a woman grabbed me. Tightly hugging me, she spoke excitedly to Carl and I in rapid Chinese.
May I remind you, I don't speak Chinese. In addition, it was now after 7pm so it was quite dark on the poorly lit street. For the life of me, I couldn't make out the face of the friendly woman. I just stood there dumbfounded as she excitedly repeated her words over and over.
Fortunately, Carl who has better eyesight and Chinese realized this was the mother of one of Ben's classmates. It all began to make sense. Their church was located nearby and as she and her son were driving down the road, they saw us. He pulled over so she could come greet us.
Meanwhile the lady from the Chinese restaurant waited. "Were we Morrison teachers," she asked. Upon our yes, she excitedly shared how her brother often goes to our Taipei campus. Ends up, we know some of the same people.
These chance meetings wouldn't be quite as unusual if we lived in a smaller city or were in the district in which we live, but we were 20 minutes away from the school in a city of at least 3 million people. I began to wonder who else we were going to run into!
By this point, I was starving. The dinner hour had come and passed us by.
The Thai place fortunately had both Chinese and English menus and to our delight listed on both was Pad Thai.
We also ordered a lemon chicken dish and a green papaya salad.
Was the food delicious?
Yes! Strangely enough, the chicken was my favorite. Odd since I barely ever eat meat at a restaurant.
Was the Pad Thai the best in Taichung?
Sadly, no.
Our quest will continue.
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