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I like hot food. I grow red savina habaneros and love them. I've grown bhut jolokias, but I don't like their taste -- it's not just about the heat.

Restaurants tend to be hot-adverse. I've ordered Thai all over, specifying extreme heat, and have always been disappointed.

Except at Little Serow -- their hottest dish is genuinely hot -- not as hot as I'd like (no tears; it's not really hot if you're not crying), but certainly hotter than my companions have been able to tolerate (actually convenient for me, since I get to finish their leftovers...).

So, my question is: is there any place in the local DC Metro-accessible area that will prepare actually hot food? I'd especially love to find hot Mexican, but anything would be great!

And, has anyone asked Little Serow to really let the heat out? I'm pondering doing that next time....

Thanks!

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I din't find Little Serow exceptionally spicy the couple of times I've been there. Pretty serious, but not memorably so. I'm sure that changes day-to-day and dish-to-dish.

Next time you're in Thai restaurant with actual Thai servers, order a three-pepper dish or two and tell them you want it "ped mock," which is apparently Thai for "hot as Hell." The phrase itself will usually get the server to do a double take, and the fact that it's Thai seems to indicate a little more seriousness of purpose than just saying "spicy, please." No gurantees, but try it at Ruan Thai or Nava Thai (the Market Soup) in Wheaton and you'll likely be pleased with the results.

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If you go to Ghana Cafe on 14th and ask for something very spicy, they will deliver. I can't handle their top end and I lick my plate at Little Serow. Try a very spicy stewed goat, and be sure to get their wonderful hot sauce on the side.

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I seem to recall Adam Richman talking about this exact issue when doing a retrospective type piece from the Man vs. Food series. His remedy was to eat bananas before chowing down on the insanely spicy stuff. Something about enzymes from the bananas coating your stomach/colon.

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If you go to Ghana Cafe on 14th and ask for something very spicy, they will deliver. I can't handle their top end and I lick my plate at Little Serow. Try a very spicy stewed goat, and be sure to get their wonderful hot sauce on the side.

Yes, that hot sauce is fiery and yummy. I have to get back there soon.
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I don't know if they've toned it down since I visited but the Spicy Miso ramen at Sakuramen, when you ask for it spicy, is pretty intense. As someone who regularly goes to Korean/Szechuan places I couldn't finish it.

Was just going to post about this. When I was there, I was asked how spicy I wanted it: 1 to 5. Thinking that this is Korean, so what do they know about spicy, I went with 4. Bad move. Fortunately, the spicy part was in a lump, so I could eat around it. Too bad, but the bowl started tasting boring and one-note long before I finished. They have more interesting, although not spicy, types of noodle bowls than that one.

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And the Curry Goat at Caribbean Feast, also in Rockville.

Is Island Pride what used to be Caribbean Feast in Rockville? I can't find anything for a current CF in R'ville, and at least some folks on yelp think IP used to be CP -- and there are many raves about the curry goat....

Thanks everyone for the replies -- since I live in Rockville and work in Ballston, I'll be trying those first!

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Porcupine,

Sheba is in the same plaza as Amina Thai on the corner of Nicholson and Nebel Streets, near White Flint Mall. The lunch menu offered vegetable and meat samplers as well as other entrees, most if not all for under $10. Despite being mentioned in the Washington Post in the Wednesday Food Section, the place was not too busy last Friday afternoon. I am not an expert on Ethiopian, but found the food quite enjoyable as did my wife who had the veg sampler. It tasted "authentic" given the heat level. The injera was only part teff, but you can pay extra for 100% teff injera. Service was extremely nice with water refills and extral injera. A very amiable lady, who maybe the owner, asked how we enjoyed our meal. I look forward to going in the evening with the kids, who will get a kick eating with their hands.

Ignacio

http://shebarockville.com/

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I ordered some takeout gai pad kaprow at ThaiBox last week, when asked how I would like it, on a scale from 1-10, I opted for 6 (mindful of the last meal I had there). I can't figure out how it is so incredibly spicy-lots of rice on the side (thank goodness), small portion of minced chicken, hints of Thai chiles, a little bit of red & green bell peppers (not my favorite), but incredibly incendiary, almost too much for me, & I love spicy food...

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I ordered some takeout gai pad kaprow at ThaiBox last week, when asked how I would like it, on a scale from 1-10, I opted for 6 (mindful of the last meal I had there). I can't figure out how it is so incredibly spicy-lots of rice on the side (thank goodness), small portion of minced chicken, hints of Thai chiles, a little bit of red & green bell peppers (not my favorite), but incredibly incendiary, almost too much for me, & I love spicy food...

Thai is merciless because there's just no dairy to cut it with.

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Any new contenders for especially spicy dishes?

As Ericablueboy says up above, if you ask Chef Seng for authentically "Lao hot" at Bangkok Golden (I've never done so), she guarantees it will make "Thai spicy" seem like congee (well, that's my translation, of sorts, but you get the idea).

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