Peter D.
Yelp
People, we need a universal spice scale. There are just too many different entities offering food using entirely different barometers for what constitutes "mild," medium," and "hot."
There's the American Scale, by which I mean Taco Bell and how it offers packets of sauce at Hot, Fire, and Diablo...none of which are particularly spicy at all.
There's the Thai Scale, on which medium can mean inedible for my wife, and "brutally spicy" can mean they know I stole a t-shirt when I worked at that retail store when I was 14, and they are just now bringing the wrath of the gods down upon me as punishment.*
There's the Clown Scale, by which I mean the woman in front of me at BK Jani who was returning her fries because they had black pepper on them because she asked for "no spice" and she's the only person that thinks black pepper is spicy.
(BK Jani Staff, you guys are heroes for dealing with her so nicely.)
And there's the actual BK Jani scale, where the hanger steak roll that is "medium" spicy is actually hot as hell, but in the most delicious of ways.
I don't actually have a solution to this problem, but if you made it all the way down here I think you should go check BK Jani out. The hanger steak is a perfect medium rare (if you ask for it that way), and the wrap (not really wrapped) is filled with spicy deliciousness. I wish it was a bit easier to eat, but you can't have everything in life.
I can't wait to eat the lamb chops I keep hearing about.
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*See Ugly Baby.