I was riding my bike down Grafton Street tonight around sundown, and noticed, to my surprise and delight, that there appears to be a new Thai restaurant on Pownal Street, in the location formerly occupied by the comic shop. The sign on the front says simply “Thai Food.”
If this is true, and the food is good, then I believe Charlottetown will have tipped into a full-fledged North American city.
Comments
We have Thai food here in Hungary too, but it tastes like L
I think I may have lived on Pownal street once, a million years ago. Maybe it was Pownal road.
I think it’s great that an entrepreneur has decided to open a restaurant on PEI, which I think is the focus of your post.
But does it really make Charlottetown truly unique to have a Thai restaurant? Or, if the measure of success is to emulate every megalopolis on this continent, or the planet for that matter, by promoting a cosmopolitan, sophisticated, “yuppish” society, then PEI is fast on the road to obscurity and contempt by those who hold its true charm and small-town feel to heart which certain developments and attitudes seem certain to change it irrepairably.
Does honouring the “true charm and small-town feel” require eating corned beef and cabbage?
Mmmmm…boiled dinner.
corned beef and cabbage
No, (good point!) and I realize that posting really comes across the wrong way since I’m focusing on two different issues — cosmopolitanism vs. urbanism/urbanization.
Anyone who has looked at Charlottetown, and PEI for that matter, since the 80’s has noticed the development and sprawl moving outward. The subdividing of rural land because there isn’t proper zoning or a firm urban growth boundary, increased shoreline development, etc., etc.
I guess these feelings aren’t unique — ask people who might remember how Milton, Ontario or Chateaugay, Quebec or southwestern Connecticut used to look before they took off whether it’s really been worth it. On the one hand you welcome development for the contribution to local society but you certainly lose something equally as important.
I have nothing against a simple non-franchised restaurant — Thai’s great and it does beat some of the local fare hands down, plus contribute to a declining downtown unlike other developments — but I can’t help but feel that Charlottetown is starting to look and feel like any 40,000’ish community in North America.
Isn’t that just because it is like any 40,000ish community in North America? It’s a nice town. So is, say, Owen Sound. Be happy that it is as nice as Owen Sound.
I’d say this place, unique, located downtown, not a franchise, is a shot against the sprawl problem, not a sign of it.
I agree with Al. I would further add that it is, in its rough and ready way, more true to the independent Island spirit than that Ye Olde beer resturants of our friends the Murphies.
Does a bigger menu in Charlottetown mean less charm? Is quaint define by what ain’t? If there is no appetite for Thai food, then sadly (for my tastebuds) it will go by the wayside.
The abundance of Lebanese cuisine in the past has defined the city, reflecting it’s unique culture. If food is culture PEI has been playing catch-up (ketchup?).
I personally hope that PEI culture begins to change in a way that includes more people from away including Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. PEI’s obscure small town feel is a by product of isolation, of being untouched by modernity. PEI is obscure now. No one I have ever met outside of Canada or New England has heard of PEI; I usually say Northeast of Maine, and wonder if they end up thinking I mean Iceland.
Drop the preservation mentality and welcome foreign culture to PEI! Or else we’ll all take to wearing tophats like those creepy confederation players!
PEI has Lebanese food? Wow, I must visit the Island more often. I always thought the best place in Canada for Lebanese was Ottawa.
Getting back to the Thai restaurant on Pownal… I have been there many times. Their food is exceptional and it feel like you are sitting in a small cafe in Bangkok, Koh Samui, or Ayuttaya. The couple who own it are extremely friendly and very welcoming. They just had a baby boy in November and he is the cutest thing you have ever scene… he is also the biggest baby I have ever seen.(25 lbs at 4 months old!)
Anyways, I think bringing more culture into our very uni-cultural community of PEI can only be a good thing.
Here Here to our Thai restaurants, Taiwanese tea houses and all those who will follow in their footsteps!
I had take put from there last night — yummy!!!!!! and very good value. I will be a regular. CJ is right it is more like a road stand than a restaurant.
Charlottetown is a culinary wasteland, and it doesn’t help that reviews sites aren’t kept up to date. I really wish someone would open up a Japanese restaurant for sushi and tuna tataki. Once that opens, in my opinion, it will have then joined the ranks of a good North American city.