I ate at Sitar, the new Indian place on Bardstown, earlier this week. The dosa was huge, the service and food very good. I just had one dissapointment, and it's one I'm unfortunately very familiar with: my lamb vindaloo wasn't hot enough.
When asked how spicy I wanted it, I said "oh, very very spicy". I got a doubtful look in exchange; I assured my server that I knew what I was asking for, that I ate extremely hot Indian food all the time, and please, please, extra extra hot. "You can't possibly make it so hot I will complain," I said.
When it came I could tell just looking at it that it wasn't going to be spicy enough. It tasted very good, and had a generous helping of lamb and potatoes. The problem was, on a heat scale of 1 to 10, it was a 2. Maybe.
I've had this problem at other Indian restaurants, and Thai and Chinese, too. Getting yourself known to the servers is often the only way past it. Asking for "Thai spicy" is often a shortcut to that understanding; the very first time I ate at Sala Thai the heat level almost knocked my head clean off.
Is there an equivalent thing to ask for at an Indian place? I'd love to return to Sitar, but unless I can get my hot-food buzz, I'll probably just go to Kashmir instead, where they're beginning to believe me when I ask for stuff extra-hot... after two years.