It’s also in SF, and in a hotel. Hotel restaurant prices are always inflated.
Because if you look at median incomes, they do not support regular visits of a restaurant with a single vegetable dish priced at $49.
That doesn’t mean other people can’t afford that, though. There are lots of people with money who choose to spend it on high end restaurants. The average person was never the target audience.
Expensive restaurants are not kept afloat by expense accounts.
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This isn’t just a vegetable side dish but a full entree (and not even a small one). There are many, many places in SF which have entrees in the same price level (and much higher) even without a Michelin star. Not sure why people pick on this restaurant but most likely because the expectation is that Thai food must be cheap(er)
I wouldn’t call our Thai restaurants around here (central NJ) cheap, but they’re certainly reasonable, especially at lunch–our favorite is under $15 for most main courses, which come with a small salad.
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The prices at our favorite Thai restaurant in Berlin are on par with other cuisines.
Their most expensive dish is 32 € for sea bass red curry. I don’t find that unreasonable at all.
I don’t know the quality of your local Thai restaurants but Nari is one of the best Thai restaurants in the US which uses high quality ingredients/meat/produce - that’s a bit as comparing your local Americanized-Italian restaurants with some high-end Italian in Manhattan - I would expect also very different prices in both places
I didn’t say it was a side dish – at $49 it seemed obvious that it was a main.
There is frequently an anti-expensive restaurant bias around these parts, which always seems odd to me for a food board (and one where there are plenty of Michelin and other higher-end restaurant posts ).
I think the point that was being made was about what is considered “reasonable” for a European dine-in restaurant vs Asian.
For eg, the price of a plate of ravioli vs a plate of dumplings – arguably the same labor and ingredients.
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Ethnic restaurants have always had been subject to the idea/stigma that they should be cheap and inexpensive. Given rents, labor and raw ingredients aren’t that much different, at least in the Bay Area, prices will rise. Also Thai cuisine is extremely labor intensive. There’s no shortcuts for many dishes and some dishes are only finished by tasting and adjusting before serving.
I’m even held to this stigma. In 2021 during the pandemic went to a local Chinese place (New Gold Medal). Three dishes, pea shoots, beef and something stir fried dish an a whole fish was $101, before tip. I was shocked but once considering new minimum wage laws and rising food costs and supply chain issues, it added up. The whole fish was the killer but still, not unexpected. Dining out is now expensive.
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Actually, they kind of are.
Well, to be more precise, expense accounts and an ABC license.
Careful using the term “ethnic” here.
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Why or how so? My both sides of my family ran “ethnic” restaurants. I’m using it in the usual sense, meaning not “western” or Euro-centric.
what exactly is “western” cuisine?
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You must’ve missed this, then.
It is now deemed offensive by many, including HOs 
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I actually read and posted to that thread. I understand the usage pretty well and used “ethnic” in quotations for a reason. IIRC, wasn’t that thread shut down? I posted something about micro aggressions and someone tagged my response because I called out some hypocrisies. So I understand the usage. Thank for your concern.
Your use of the word is not the “usual sense” of the word for many people.
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Would love to see data on this.
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“Mainstream” for the “west” ie Euro-centric.
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I stock up on these type of items when they go on sale. Both items pictured here were on sale for 99 cents. A little water from the electric kettle, a manual can opener and dinner is served. Its actually quite good, a hot travel meal under $2.00, and it doesn’t upset my stomach like some fast food does.
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You want to bring this up again, or do you want links to the locked threads?
LOL
