Monday, January 9, 2012.
Tigers? Something's Different At Thai Chili.
A lot of offices are closed because it's the governor's inauguration day. That's what they say, anyway. I think the real reason a lot of people didn't show up for work is that the college national championship game is tonight in the Superdome, starring the undefeated LSU team. This game is drawing almost as much rabid attention as the Saint did when they were in the Super Bowl.
There simply is no other topic today. Getting a radio show off the ground was impossible. This is one of the few problems in being such a specialist as I am.
The Marys were in the thick of the game, of course. They returned to Vitascope at the Hyatt Regency to watch the expected LSU win. I don't even want to think about the scene there.
My dinner was at Thai Chili, which had no televisions. My goal was to put one final nail in the coffin of my current cold, which seems to be ending. I started with tom yum soup with shrimp, and finished with jungle curry. The server--who I didn't recognize from past visits--asked whether I really wanted that, since it was very peppery. I said yes, but she persisted. "Some people get it and say oooo--that's too spicy!" This is a common fear among Asian restaurateurs who serve peppery dishes. Their profit margin is so low that they're very wary of the risk of having a dish sent back. I assured her that I would not reject it.
But I almost did. The meal here today was not only less good than the dozens I've had at Thai Chili in the past, but the style was different. The jungle curry had far smaller a vegetable component than usual. And it was indeed very hot, with sprigs of unripe black peppercorns (an authentic but little-seen ingredient) spiking the heat right up to my pain threshold.
Everything was so different from what I was used to here that I wondered whether the management had changed. I will assume this is just a one-day aberration, and come back in a month or so to see how things are.
Thai Chili. Covington: 1102 N US 190. 985-809-0180.
