Dude, I love the taste of your Weenie

But for having dropped off Mrs. Monster at work on north 13, the Monster would not have noticed this small brick hutch--formerly the home of Dimension X computers, which has since disappeared into its eponymous realm--hidden behind the canoe and kayak racks of Survival Products. It's on Naylor and 13, kitty-corner from Ponzetti's, which has no place in the Monster's food universe except as a sniff-navigation point for Mister Fluffymonster, Mrs. Monster's Shih-tzu, to tell him Mrs. Monster's workplace is approaching.

Sorry, forgot to mention: the name of the place is Weenies.

Offering 10" Sabrett's beef dogs on a large bun as their "sub dog", Weenie's has a specialty that adheres to the business adage "do one thing and do it well". They offer a number of dog varieties like chili cheese dogs, but are happy to do customs as well. Just don't go asking for a hamburger.

The sub dogs are cheap and tasty.

Curry Fury

It is a sign of a metropolis's progress when someone opens a restaurant called Curry in a Hurry. Sadly, Salisbury's recent specimen is a deeply disappointing place, and the only thing sure to "hurry" is its demise.

The ad on NPR heralded a lunch buffet from 11-3. The Monster, it must be made clear, is an absolute fiend for buffets. The Monster made arrangements in his busy, busy schedule to visit Curry in a Hurry on its third day of business.

Through halting communication with the proprietor, I learned that yes, the restaurant was open; yes, it was lunchtime; yes, the restaurant, being open at lunchtime, was serving lunch; and that no, there was no buffet any longer. This bold two-day experiment apparently failed to bring in the masses, and was subsequently shut down on orders of the proprietor's husband.

This is the point at which I should have walked out.

Instead, like a meek monster, I sat amid the smell of leaking propane from the disused buffet table and ordered the chicken makhani, a samosa and naan. The curry was quite good but not stellar; the samosa was not the glory my first samosa in seven years should have been; and the naan wasn't free. It's free at Shalimar.

And thus the meal and my mood were clouded by curry fury: the deep-set grumpiness that settles in when one settles for second-best. I knew curry fury could last for hours, casting a shadow over the entire day, unless drastic action were taken.

I went to Shalimar.

Thai Style Restaurant.

"Thai Style Restaurant." That's the name of the place; pretty imaginative, huh? Mind you, the Monster's first exposure to Thai food was at "Nit's Thai Food." Maybe it's just restaurateurs (-teuses?) named Nitaya who have that flair for simplicity.

Makes sense, as the comfort-food simplicity is common to both places. Thai Style Restaurant manages flavorful stuff, but there's some kind of... excitement missing. Could the Monster be more vague, perhaps? Well, at Nit's and other places, the exoticism comes not from silver accoutrements and photos of women with pagodas on their heads, but from the joy of the Thai menu with its diversity and its synergy of flavors. Everything seems matter-of-fact with Thai Style's menu: bang, bang--there's this and there's this. That carries over to a kind of perfunctory preparation of many of the entrees. (By the same token, there are no stated options for spiciness; my panang was set to "default white guy" heat, more than manageable.)

Still, it's a Thai food restaurant on the Shore. A bad meal there is better than a good meal most other places around here.

Thai Style Restaurant averages $9 for entrees; refills on the humongous cups of soda are free. The restaurant is just shy of the WBOC Dover office on Rt. 13 (DuPont Highway?); look for the tall microwave tower, and be prepared to stop in the tiny driveway-sized parking lot.

Rar.

All of Salisbury and much of the surrounding area has quaked beneath my belleh. It is here that I shall tell others of my exploits.