The new “Tara Thai” chain at Barracks Road is apparently atrocious. #
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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Archive for Sideblog »
Hey Waldo shouldn’t your post say “somebody and we don’t know who, thinks Tara Thai is atrocious”
My bad, I see we know who they are, but they are but one and it makes the top of your page? It cheapens the tome of your site.
That’s what blogs do—they’re one person writing something that they think about something. :) I like to promote local blogs. There’s no “making the top”—everything appears at the top of the page and, as time goes by, scrolls to the bottom.
I took a moment to comment on S1dd. My wife an I tried Tara Thai on Friday and liked it just fine.
Great!
Yeah, I think “atrocious” exaggerates just getting served cold food. I’ve probably gotten cold food in restaurants and not even noticed.
My issue with most of the local ethnic restaurants is that each seems to use the some distributor to get their ingredients (per ethnicity). That means that no matter what Indian restaurant you eat at, they basically taste all the same. (Either that or all the food from south India to the Himalayas all tastes the same…)Same for chinese, Thai, etc.
When I was a kid this seems to not be the case in Charlottesville. We had Chinese restaurants that I’m pretty sure made everything from scratch, including the fortune cookies (which we’re so much better than the cardboard things wrapped in plastic you get nowadays).
It was once also true for Mexican, but now with La Cocina Del sol, and Aqui Es Mexico, there are a few truely different restaurants. Nonetheless, with those two exceptions, all the mexican food basically tastes the same too.
I appreciate the replies. I have not been to Tara Thai, but like the Lime leaf and Pad Thai. I will give it a try regardless of one persons opinion. I thought Waldo’s Blog was Cville News, so I guess one comment about a bad dining experience counts as news.
Is it news that a local TV station’s feed cut out for a few minutes one night? Or that the paper fudged a graph? Or that UVa is providing free scans of Holsinger photos? Probably not. And that’s exactly why I write about them here.
Spenny: there’s the blog and the “sideblog.” The sideblog is the place where (from my reading) Waldo sticks stuff that’s not worth a full article, that isn’t really so much news but that might be of interest to some and is basically local in nature.
The bar is a lot different than the full on blog complete with article and assertion of newsworthiness.
I appreciate the take on Tara Thai though I honestly didn’t find it very useful, personally. It ultimately came down to “the food was cold” but I didn’t get any sense about why that was so I couldn’t decide whether I thought it was some really systemic problem with the restaurant or some weird hiccup in the writer’s visit. I presume the latter as I’ve had excellent experiences and very good food at a few other Tara Thai locations.
It ultimately came down to “the food was cold” but I didn’t get any sense about why that was so I couldn’t decide whether I thought it was some really systemic problem with the restaurant or some weird hiccup in the writer’s visit.
I think that the restaurant’s idea that it’s okay to serve a customer a microwaved meal @14 or so bucks indicates a general problem — even an “atrocious” one — rather than a mere hiccup.
I’ve probably gotten cold food in restaurants and not even noticed.
And they’ve no doubt taken your money without a peep of complaint!
Bloom, you might want to indicate where you take quotes from previous comments rather than just listing them. It looked like you pulled them from the same place. I had to scour my own comment to see where I’d written something about getting cold food without noticing.
When it comes to reviews and microwaves, I’ve learned that many people believe something to have been microwaved when, in fact, there isn’t even a microwave in the kitchen. I have no idea whether that’s the case with Tara Thai or the review linked to here but it’s something I don’t normally draw conclusions from myself from someone else’s write-up. Beyond which, a microwave is only a tool and, if used properly, not a bad one.
Cold food is bad. In my vocab, “atrocious” means something worse…
I say go try the place out yourself and you will end up going back to your previous favorite Thai place, whatever it may be. Tara Thai costs more and the food is no better if not worse.
My spouse went for lunch a few days ago, she liked it.
Waldo–sadly, you’re right about Tara Thai here in Charlottesville. I have had decent experiences at their Arlington/Ballston location, but I don’t think that it’s translated down here. We ordered tofu pad thai take-out from their vegetarian menu, as we are vegetarians. The dish clearly was completely doused with fish sauce. Because we do not eat fish, we had to throw it away. I complained about this, but was brushed aside as having “miscommunicated” my desire not to have fish sauce in my vegetarian dish! So be aware: vegetarian dishes contain fish sauce unless you explicitly ask for them not to use it. I was excited about a new Thai restaurant closer to the center of town, but am afraid that I cannot go back after this very disappointing experience.