Beware of pickpockets, loose women and Chinese food

Happy Mardi Gras, kids!

King cake season in New Orleans lasts between Joan of Arc's birthday and Ash Wednesday.  Everyone who lives here knows both dates by heart.  Joan of Arc was born on the feast day of the Epiphany.  That's January 6, if you didn't know.

A new Chinese restaurant opened a few months ago on St. Bernard Avenue, where it intersects with North Miro Street.  It's in the old Love's Seafood building.  Before it was Love's, it was another Chinese restaurant.  It's right next to the Rally's on St. Bernard.  Rally's is a drive through hamburger chain, though you can walk up for take out if you don't have a car.  

Rally's is only called Rally's in some places, like in New Orleans, for instance.  In other places, it's called Checkers.  Maybe you have a Checkers near you.  One or the other is in 28 states according to Wikipedia.  The two brand's websites look interchangeable for as long as I bothered to look at either of them.

The other day, the new Chinese restaurant left a menu in our mailbox that boasted that they make the "best Chinese food in town."  I don't even remember the name of the place even though I went there after reading the flyer.  Let's say it's Hunan Wok, which it probably is.  Even if it isn't Hunan Wok, it is something equally bland and generic that certainly won't get your tastebuds excited thinking about it.  The same is true of the interior.

Most Chinese joints look the same.  It's no strike against them.  They're all pretty much the same, so the look, like the difference between Rally's and Checkers, is just part of their identity.  The food at Hunan Wok was pretty good, though.  I ordered a Number 32 and that's what I got.  I also got a fortune cookie.

Frau Schmitt opened the cookie and read me my fortune: "Be on the lookout for any unexpectedly easy companionship from new-found female friends."  That's the same instructions the Republican National Committee handed out to delegates at the convention where Barry Goldwater was nominated for president.  

The fortune cookie's message was also remarkably similar to what the old signs in bar rooms and train stations used to say in New Orleans.  The signs were put up by the New Orleans Police Department.  You can buy replicas of them in the French Market:

NOPD's got your back

I doubt you're coming to visit to New Orleans to eat Chinese food from a nondescript takeout joint on St. Bernard Avenue.  That's not why I'm telling you this story.  It's like some of the old Creole ladies say at the Seahorse Saloon on Gentilly Blvd, "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."  Ain't it the truth, though?

We'll be seeing you at the French Market.  While you're here, I won't say you have to be on your guard, but you should use common sense.  If you need any other advice, just ask.  We've got you covered.

Here's an extra tip: Never eat at a Chinese restaurant called "Yummy Yummy."  That's a sign it probably won't agree with your tummy.

À votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.