9.21.2005

chicken chicken chicken ham, and you gonna like

So, this evening The Girl and I went to Thai Cuisine, where I hadn't been in quite a while, despite its proximity to home. I'm usually really into it, more so than Thai Gourmet down the street, which is also pretty good. I had a little bit of anxiety about it after I ate there once last fall with the roommates and Charissa and ended up, through no fault of the food, vomiting up and down Millvale Avenue a few hours later. It was a stomach flu, but poorly timed.

I've been back since then, though, and tonight we went only for me to find that the Pad Thai has changed. Not a lot, but it has changed. There is now broccoli, which is okay since I like broccoli, and there is a little bok choy, which is not okay since I despise bok choy. And the carrots, which used to be grated, are now chopped into little stars and stuff, which is cute, but not the way I like my carrots.

So, I was a little disappointed. Then I began to poke around for my vegetarian chicken ham. And I didn't see it. And I poked more. And I found one little piece, sort of a heel of chicken ham, kind of like the end of a sausage link. I ended up finding one more piece. I was peeved.

Then The Girl saved my dinner by bumping her water glass over, causing it to shatter across the table.

Since it was possible that shards may have gotten into my meal, I was made another dish. And this one had the right amount of chicken ham. And despite the bok choy and other aesthetic changes, it was pretty good. And the service, as always, was excellent (I'm usually stressed by restaurants because the servers give me more attention than I want, but not so here!) And, as usual, it was pretty quiet even though there were a fair number of people there.

So, a good grade for you, Thai Cuisine, once again. You nearly lost it this time, but you (and I) got lucky.


(By way of a quick PS -- I was always endeared to Lou Pappan, of the now-defunct Pappan's Family Restaurants of the Pittsburgh area in the '80s and early '90s, whose tag line I steal for this post title. However, I learn now that Lou and his family were responsible for the launch of the career of "Disco Bob" O'Connor, city council a-hole and heir apparent to the rough scene known as the mayor's office. Lou is no longer endearing to me in the least. Your whimsical sloganeering does not outweigh the grave offense for which you are responsible, Old Man Pappan.)