I laughed when you said to step away from the Pad Thai, since I almost always order Pad Thai at Thai restaurants in the UK. I tend to eat Chinese food much more often, so when I do eat Thai, I prefer the different shaped noodles, which have a more lingering and sweet aftertaste.
Interestingly, offhand, I'm quite sure I've seen the larb mincemeat on menus, though not the Som Tum. I do like papaya, and I like mango even better, but rarely ever eat them, as they are exotic luxuries here, really.
I never knew about Isaan as a place, and the economics is eye-opening. It's cool that they celebrate Isaan food outside of Isaan, always a sign of quality and distinctiveness.
I'll try to step away from the Pad Thai next time, but it's difficult for me, as I'm a creature of habit, and when I have a favorite, I tend to rinse and repeat. :)
go with what you like buddy! I have only had som-tum outside of Thailand once as papaya and mango are indeed luxuries outside of the tropical world. They grow friggin everywhere here so perhaps that is why it is so cheap :) Pad Thai is fine, it't highly sought after over here as well although it is consumed in much greater quantities by tourists than actual Thai people :)
Eating Pad Thai in Thailand seems nuts for a tourist, though. To go to the trouble of traveling half way across the world to eat the most common dish in your local restaurant! Surely that is the time to quit Pad Thai and try something else. Even for me lol.
When I visited West Africa as a boy, I climbed a few mango and papaya trees. They don't call papayas that in West Africa, they call them paw paws. But my favorite tree in Africa was called the black tumbler tree. It grew these sweet little orange things, the size of a thumbnail, that were contained in pods, which grew in huge bunches. The trees were hard to climb, with long trunks, but those black tumblers were so delicious, each one melting in your mouth like warm ice cream. :)
Eating Pad Thai in Thailand seems nuts for a tourist, though. To go to the trouble of traveling half way across the world to eat the most common dish in your local restaurant! Surely that is the time to quit Pad Thai and try something else. Even for me lol.
When I visited West Africa as a boy, I climbed a few mango and papaya trees. They don't call papayas that in West Africa, they call them paw paws. But my favorite tree in Africa was called the black tumbler tree. It grew these sweet little orange things, the size of a thumbnail, that were contained in pods, which grew in huge bunches. The trees were hard to climb, with long trunks, but those black tumblers were so delicious, each one melting in your mouth like warm ice cream. :)