bowlinger qua bowlinger

So, there’s an amazing article you should read in the Michigan Daily. dm’s certainly aware, as are we all, of the pathetic state of Thai food in the Ann Arbor area. I had some masaman curry yesterday that cost close to $15. FIFTEEN DOLLARS  (?!?!) for extremely mediocre curry served in the restaurant portion of a nearly-abandoned hotel out by the highway.

Anyway, maybe part of the difficulty Thai places are having in Washtenaw county is related to issues like these:

Rackham student Sirarat Sarntivijai said she was confused and offended when a restaurant called No Thai! opened on South University Avenue in September 2005. She thought the name suggested that Thai people were not welcome in the restaurant.

Members of the Thai Student Association, including Sarntivijai, its president, said they find the name deeply offensive.

I could go into a lot of the details of the article, but the gist is that the Thai Student Association thinks that the (admittedly stupid) name of a Thai-owned Thai restaurant signals that Thai people are discouraged from eating there. The TSA helpfully suggested some (even more insipid) names for the place, including “No Thai!: by Mr. No”.

As long as we’re suggesting bad names for a crypto-racist Thai restaurant, how about “White Thai” or “Black Thai” (depending on how formal the table service is), or maybe “Colombian Neck Thai” (for the forthcoming Latin-Thai fusion endeavor).

The menu: beef chili, lentil soup with ham, foccaccia, two kinds of tea

 The topic: Civil liability and fast food restaurant chains. Should fast food chains be subject to tort liability when people eat their food and become obese or have diet-related medical issues? Can we liken this kind of suit to those against drug companies, i.e. a “design defect” products liability claim? Can we compare this kind of suit to those against tobacco manufacturers, which 30 years ago might have seemed impossible for plaintiffs to win? Will civil liability not do anything to solve the real problem, and this should be purely a regulatory issue - smaller portion sizes available, healthier options available at the same cost as cheap “bad for you” products, nutrition facts made clear and available, etc. Or, is all this paternalistic and the real problem comes down to human choice and responsibility?

The best part of the evening was OB-S admitting that he actually likes eating at McDonald’s and his favorite are the Chicken McNuggets. He said, “No one eats Chicken Selects. They are just not as tasty.” And he ate the famous 7 oz. burger at Jackson Hole Burgers in NYC.

Next class: packaging and labeling concerns

my dear pastor smackdown fans, it is with a heavy heart that i inform you that my dream of visiting Fiesta Mexicana on Cross Street in Ypsilanti and reporting back to you on it today was dashed by the misfortunate event of the restaurant being closed on mondays.

undaunted, i deftly switched cultures and hemispheres and went to Dalat Vietnamese Cuisine on Michigan and had the beef noodle soup(you may know this soup to be called pho). it was good. not Pho 777 in Chicago good, or Pho Pasteur in Boston good, but for the middle of stinkin’ Michigan, i’d say it hit the spot.

i’d give it better marks if it had come with a better assortment of condiments.

here’s what you get at Dalat: a bowl of noodle soup with sliced beef(you can also order it with meatballs or tendons or tripe), a dish of condiments including a wedge of lemon, bean sprouts, and sliced jalapeños. there are squeeze bottles of hoisin sauce and chili sauce on the table.

i’m partial to having basil in my pho, so i would give Dalat higher marks if my little side dish had included basil.

i also got a vietnamese iced coffee. the total came to $8.70 before tip. god bless ypsilanti.

of course, now i’m tempted to go try Miss Saigon on Stone School road tomorrow for a proper pho smackdown… unless of course popular opinion merits a re-visit to Fiesta Mexicana and a continuation of the pastor smackdown ASAP.

let me know, dear readers. let. me. know.

i shall do your bidding.

update:
Fiesta Mexicana Hours : 4-9 p.m. Mon., 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tue.-Thu., 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat.