Tasty Thai’s American fried rice mixes up Bangkok and baseball

The staple dishes on most Asian buffets are, traditionally, more American in spirit than they are reflective of the foods of China (or Thailand, Vietnam, Korea). Certain such popular options — including General Tso’s chicken, chop suey and pepper steak — have long served as introductions to “Asian” cuisine for U.S. diners. It didn’t matter that lemon chicken and sweet-and-sour pork were relatively unknown in China; that’s what people want in Topeka and Grandview.

But a restaurant in the Northland, Tasty Thai, at 7104 Northwest Prairie View Road, has taken the Americanization of traditional Thai cuisine to a new level. Big, obnoxious yellow signs on the exterior of the storefront — they evoke those “Going Out of Business” placards — offer a touch of P.T. Barnum to an otherwise charming dining room. Monday nights, according to one sign, feature “Curry Fury.” Buy one curry dish at the regular price and get a second curry dish for a buck.

But the latest creation at the restaurant may take things too far: a sticky concoction of fried rice, chopped carrots, green peas and … sliced hot dogs.

It sounds awful and, having tasted it last night, I’d say it more than lives up to its reputation. I have nothing against hot dogs, mind you, but there are certain cross-cultural creations that are better left to the imagination. Maybe if it were served on a bun…