Spicy

Adam invited me to try a new Thai restaurant downtown with him last night. He mentioned the owners also run another Thai restaurant in Tempe, near ASU. I didn't care for the place in Tempe, but I was pleasantly surprised at this new place.

We started out with the calamari, which was breaded and cooked to perfection and served with a sweet and sour sauce. We would have preferred something a little more spicy for the sauce, but we ended up getting our fill of spicy later.

Adam and I both have a penchant for spicy food. Usually we go for Indian food and while we always tell them to make it spicy, sometimes they see Mr. Oklahama (Adam) and they decide that we really didn't mean it. That was not the case here. The food was tasty and almost made Adam weep, it was so hot. It was one of the few occasions where I probably would have enjoyed it a little more if it hadn't been quite so spicy. But overall, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to going back.

The original plan was to finish dinner and then walk over to a small theatre where one of his co-workers was having a performance. The theatre ended up being further away than we had thought and Adam didn't want to go in late. We ended up walking around gawking at some of the new construction downtown.

Aside from some of the highrises that are going up, there are some smaller projects that are slowly changing the character of the area. Adam described one particular condo project as "The Farmhouse Building." The pointed roofs do seem a little out of place, but overall I enjoy having spaces that don't feel like a suburban condo complex. Downtown Phoenix is coming along -- with ASU moving more students downtown and more housing being available, as well as the light rail nearing completion, I get the sense that downtown will be a much more vibrant place before long.