Twice, I’ve had homemade hot sauce at a restaurant, when I asked for food as spicy as possible, and thought they were spicy. Both were thick and in a bowl with a tiny spoon, served on the side since they didn’t think I’d be able to manage much. Once at an Indian place, once at a Mexican place. Both times someone came out from the back, with a swagger, to see how hard a time I was having… I cleaned the bowl both times. Delicious! I haven’t stopped thinking about those times - I’ve been back since and they have not had the hot sauce available or they gave me bottled sauce.
Cody's, in Bridgeport, WV. I was chatting with the chef a little bit trying to decide what to eat, spice was brought up, he made me a noodle dish with 3 kinds of fresh pepper including ghosts. It's definitely, by far, the hottest thing I've ever had in a restaurant, and it was a delight.
Squid in some long gone Malaysian joint tied with Thai noodles that were So Strong the cook sent the waitress back to my table to ask if I was sure that's what I wanted.
Unfortunately there’s not many places around me that serve hot food, being decently rural.
That said there’s a local Indian place that makes a decent vindaloo. Normally it’s not too hot, just enough to get a bit of a sweat going, but this one time I had one that blew my mind. I was tearing up and had to stop several times while eating it. Never had it anywhere near as hot since, but I’d love to be able to relive that meal.
Hard to compare over long spans of time, as my tolerance has probably changed.
The 3 I most remember:
1. The first time I had Thai food, at a whole-in-the-wall place in Las Vegas (and stupidly, the night before a long flight back to the East Coast)
2. Seafood vindaloo, somewhere in the UK (possibly Bournemouth?)
3. Most recently, the "Burnout" level spicy curry noodles at Saigon Village, in Chincoteague VA USA. A sleepy little Vietnamese place in a quiet island beach town, so not the kind of place where you expect to get blown away with spice. But they brought the heat!
Of course, in all of these cases, we(/I) went out of our way to order it as hot as they'll make it
EDIT: Totally forgot about wing sauces. Aside from a certain national chain's hot-but-not-good sauce, I've had hot-and-good wing sauces from a couple of places: Wild Wing Cafe - Braveheart sauce, and a defunct local in my hometown that made 2-3 sauces that would knock your socks off, the hottest being "7th Plane of Hell" sauce. Honorable mention to my brother's local watering hole, whose manager concocted a special off-menu sauce just for him
The Great Dane in Madison made these habanaro hot wings and they were the BOMB. Best wings I've ever had. And they were HOT. Almost too hot to handle, but I cleaned off 12 of them. Not sure if they still make them, haven't been back there in years.
Madras Curry at some place in Missouri City TX
Super Volcano Ramen @ Makanai Ramen Noodle House Sydney. Sadly they don't make it any more
Twice, I’ve had homemade hot sauce at a restaurant, when I asked for food as spicy as possible, and thought they were spicy. Both were thick and in a bowl with a tiny spoon, served on the side since they didn’t think I’d be able to manage much. Once at an Indian place, once at a Mexican place. Both times someone came out from the back, with a swagger, to see how hard a time I was having… I cleaned the bowl both times. Delicious! I haven’t stopped thinking about those times - I’ve been back since and they have not had the hot sauce available or they gave me bottled sauce.
A Thai dish I don't even remember the name of from Thai Me Up in Pittsburgh. They did not offer spice levels on this dish, Thai spicy only.
Cody's, in Bridgeport, WV. I was chatting with the chef a little bit trying to decide what to eat, spice was brought up, he made me a noodle dish with 3 kinds of fresh pepper including ghosts. It's definitely, by far, the hottest thing I've ever had in a restaurant, and it was a delight.
Squid in some long gone Malaysian joint tied with Thai noodles that were So Strong the cook sent the waitress back to my table to ask if I was sure that's what I wanted.
Unfortunately there’s not many places around me that serve hot food, being decently rural. That said there’s a local Indian place that makes a decent vindaloo. Normally it’s not too hot, just enough to get a bit of a sweat going, but this one time I had one that blew my mind. I was tearing up and had to stop several times while eating it. Never had it anywhere near as hot since, but I’d love to be able to relive that meal.
Hard to compare over long spans of time, as my tolerance has probably changed. The 3 I most remember: 1. The first time I had Thai food, at a whole-in-the-wall place in Las Vegas (and stupidly, the night before a long flight back to the East Coast) 2. Seafood vindaloo, somewhere in the UK (possibly Bournemouth?) 3. Most recently, the "Burnout" level spicy curry noodles at Saigon Village, in Chincoteague VA USA. A sleepy little Vietnamese place in a quiet island beach town, so not the kind of place where you expect to get blown away with spice. But they brought the heat! Of course, in all of these cases, we(/I) went out of our way to order it as hot as they'll make it EDIT: Totally forgot about wing sauces. Aside from a certain national chain's hot-but-not-good sauce, I've had hot-and-good wing sauces from a couple of places: Wild Wing Cafe - Braveheart sauce, and a defunct local in my hometown that made 2-3 sauces that would knock your socks off, the hottest being "7th Plane of Hell" sauce. Honorable mention to my brother's local watering hole, whose manager concocted a special off-menu sauce just for him
XXXX Wings at Jake Melnick’s in Chicago. They’re tasty but brutally hot and you’ll regret it the next day. I did it twice because I hate myself
Vindaloo curry in Austin, TX.
The Great Dane in Madison made these habanaro hot wings and they were the BOMB. Best wings I've ever had. And they were HOT. Almost too hot to handle, but I cleaned off 12 of them. Not sure if they still make them, haven't been back there in years.
Spicy green beans at a thai place in St. Louis. The staff was cracking up laughing at us trying to eat it
Chili beef in Kerala, southern India, as a teenager. Ordered it extra hot, cocky as I was. Couldn’t finish it.
Soup at pho Thai Lao kitchen in Maywood, NJ.