Would You Eat Khao Pad at ‘Thai Foon’?
Travel Blog • Joanna Kakissis • 06.19.08 | 2:43 PM ET
Sounds like Sydney has practically devoted itself to laugh-tracking Southeast Asia’s most exquisite cuisine, with restaurant names like Thai Me Up, Thai Dye, Bow Thai and (my personal favorite) Thai Tanic. But the love of puns in eatery names is limited to neither Thai food (try Ewe ‘n’ Me and Planet of the Crepes) nor Australia’s largest city, writes The Sydney Morning Herald’s Samantha Selinger-Morris.
She may have gotten her inspiration for this topic from chowhound.com, where, a few weeks ago, foodies rekindled the age-old debate over corny/weird/befuddling restaurant names and offered gems like Hung Far Low (a Chinese greasy spoon in Portland), the Earwax Cafe (Chicago), and Phoenix’s own Aunt Chilada’s.
As coffeehouses and ethnic restaurants increase around the world, so does the number of pun-filled names for “exotic” eateries. Syriandipity serves falafel in Toronto while Grillers in the Mist is both a fish restaurant in Katoomba, New South Wales and a pub in South Africa.
But the United States may be hogging the market on questionable restaurant names. Aside from Lettuce Entertain You, the Grill from Ipanema and Bubbalou’s Bodacious Bar-B-Que, there’s this unforgettable name of a fancy place in Houston.
Got any favorites in your neck of the woods?
Related on World Hum:
* Cross-Cultural Theme Restaurants on the Rise in Los Angeles
* Food Odysseys: Overstuffed?
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Eva Holland 06.19.08 | 2:55 PM ET
Cool post!
My local Chinese food delivery joint is called Ho-Lee Chow…
Lola 06.19.08 | 3:04 PM ET
One of my favorite Thai restaurants is called “Duangrat”
Michael Yessis 06.19.08 | 3:09 PM ET
A shout out for Nacho Mama off 101 in Northern California…