A disgusting rainy Sunday sent our buddy on a museum tour without us. We stayed home all day, after having enjoyed one of our traditional German breakfasts 
Oh, how I miss them back home!
Our pal had requested Thai for his final meal in Berlin, so we took the subway up to our former hood where our favorite Thai restaurant is located. It’s a major shlep from where we are now, but totally worth it.
Another friend, a semi-retired history prof from UTA, who travels thru Europe with student groups most every summer also happened to be in town briefly, and joined us for dinner.
I was ready to order apps for our table when we received the Very Bad News that they were out of one of my favorites, the muh grob, and a couple of other pork belly dishes. Oh, well.
I got fried chicken skins,
the unusual & always incredible Miang Kham (pepper leaf wraps with ginger, peanut, lime, chili, coconut & tamarind sauce),
the fish patties,
som tam,
and laab muh.
Everything besides the skins and the Miang Kham shooters was pretty spicy, and our TX buddy was very appreciative of finally getting a kick in the tastebuds after 2 weeks of bland Austrian and French food 
The Helles on draft came in mighty handy, as did the sticky rice I quickly ordered to appease our tortured tongues.
I happily could’ve stopped right then and there, but I’d already ordered 3 mains. Our buddy wanted gaeng kua makeua, a red curry with grilled eggplant, lychee, peppers & Thai basil,
and I thought the plah thod (fried sea bass with spicy tamarind sauce, cilantro & Thai basil) sounded great.
The star for me, however, was the pad phed sikrong: pork ribs in a mildly spicy curry sauce with long beans, lime leaves, and Thai basil. The sauce was deeply complex and rich. I’d never have thought of ordering pork ribs at a Thai place. Now I know better 
None of the mains were nearly as fiercely fiery as the apps, thankfully 
To top off our buddy’s final night, we took him to our favorite ice cream purveyor just around the corner, and he chose Sicilian pistachio & Earl Grey with lemon curd and financier.
My boo got the French chocolate & Tahiti vanilla with Amarena cherries and brownies,
and I got the incredible vegan chocolate hazelnut & the marzipan blood peach.
What a fun weekend we had! May has really been flying by with all our visitors!
Looking forward to a few days of quiet & home-cooked meals 
