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It was my grandmother’s 71st birthday celebration and my sister Mallory picked the restaurant - The Orchid Thai Fusion Restaurant at 9500 Brimhall Road, Ste. 501 in the Brimhall Square.   So the night before, my mom got out the world map. We found Thailand, which is south of Laos and Burma.  Then, of course, you have to know my mother, we went online to read up on Thai food.  One of the most important things we learned is you don’t eat Thai food with chopsticks.  You eat Thai food with a fork in your left hand and a spoon in your right hand.  You’re supposed to scoop the food with the fork into the spoon.  The other thing I learned was that Thai food is spicy, sour, sweet, salty and bitter and served with steamed rice.

When we got to the Thai Fusion, and after searching the menu for about 10 minutes, my mom asked me what was I going to have.  I had no idea, then my sister Mallory showed up.  She’s been to the Thai Fusion four times and it’s her favorite restaurant.  Mom asked Mallory to suggest something to me.  Mallory suggested the Mango Chicken (her boyfriend Mike had that dish with coconut rice), Seafood Spaghettini or Salmon Filet with Garlic Noodles.  But, I wanted to pick something off the Specialties section of the menu.  Mom pointed to the Trio Flavor Eggplant (she ordered that), but I had my eye on the Roasted Duck in Curry Sauce.  It is slices of roasted duck breast topped with pineapple red curry sauce, served with steamed rice and grilled vegetables.  Everybody at the table warned me that the curry might be too spicy.  But I wanted to try duck.

When my dinner was served, the sauce was spread all over the plate.  The slices of duck, grilled asparagus and squash were piled in the middle of the plate.  I took a bite of duck.  I REALLY LIKE THE DUCK!
The curry was a little bit spicy but it didn’t burn my mouth.  The duck didn’t taste like anything I’ve ever eaten.  The curry had a strong flavor but not too strong to overpower the duck.   I told mom she should make this at home.  Mom asked the server for spoons because the table was only set with forks and knives. 

I did what the internet said and scooped some rice and curry sauce into the spoon and ate it.  I think this curry makes everything better!  This is really really good!  The internet also said to make rice balls, so I did and swiped them through the curry sauce on my plate.   Mom finally reached over and stabbed a chunk of pineapple covered in curry sauce and she especially liked the sweet and spicy flavors.

I shared two slices of duck with my mom and ate the rest.  I could have eaten the vegetables left on my plate but Mallory said the words “ice cream.”  “Let’s go to Daddy O’s it’s right down the sidewalk from here.”  So I stopped eating and noticed the light fixtures.  They were big balls of glass trumpets.  They looked like the rubber balls with suction cups on the end that stick to the window when you throw them.  The fixtures looked like they could start making noise.  Mom told me later that somebody seated behind us was popping champagne.     

Well, this was the first time I tried curry and the first time I tried duck.  It was really good, exaggerate the word “really!” Since I’m trying everything else ---- bring on the scorpions!

I told my mom as we left, if we ever go back there, she should try the Seafood Inferno I saw it on the menu and it sounded good.       

By Frank Gary, 7th grader at Tevis Jr. High and his mother, Theresa Gary.