But I dug into the crunchy pig tails and invitingly tender pork tongue beside it on the plate, a constant special, dipping them into a dark and intense sauce called jaew, made from soy, dried chilies and toasted ground rice.
Then visit the condiment bar for a little soy, vinegar, chile oil and sesame paste — an impromptu special dipping sauce.
Of course, the fun in making these yourself is that you can freestyle with fresh herbs, drizzles of flavoured oil, scatterings of nuts and seeds, harissa, caramelised onions and the like, all at a fraction of the cost of the primped-up shop-bought versions (Ocado's range of special dips all hover between 70p-£1.50 per 100g).
Some of the appetizer specials dip into the antipasto as well -- the white bean salad, a mix of cannellini beans, tomato, basil and red onions dressed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar -- was a satisfying foundation to fat, tender stems of grilled asparagus on one night and creamy broiled scallops on another.
And they especially liked the house-special crab, dipped in a gauzy batter, deep-fried and showered with sliced chiles, chopped scallions and crunchy handfuls of golden fried garlic.
The Kindle Keyboard with Special Offers has dipped from its usual price down to $99, while the spiffy 3G version is currently selling for $139.
Using a special stick, she dipped a small glass bottle into the reservoir; it disappeared with a tiny glug, then emerged full of clear water.
In my opinion, crowdfunding was the most economically important part of the bill, so it's no surprise that the special interests have dipped their fingers in the mix.
There was no consensus on any revenue measures, from raising taxes to privatizing the state lottery to dipping into special funds.
Provide special sweet and savory dipping sauces to kick the sweetness factor up a notch.
I even dipped into "Special X". "If nobody likes it, you'll probably hear it here," is that channel's cheerful promise.
