pulque, we were a large party and we were all sharing and it was all delicious. The restaraunt is owned and run by a native Thai and she is renowned for her cooking skills. I don't doubt that she makes her dishes as homemade as possible. I tend to be acutely sensitive to any herb, but not necessarily in a bad way - I can feel any influence at all but without having a hissy about it. Next time I'll pay more attention and see if I can figure out where it's coming from.... so that means I need to go back soon, right?!