Hank Mylander’s recent endeavor into the world of Asian cuisine has left me both shocked and appalled. Nothing personal – I have read some of his previous reviews in the past and much like the thousands of other mindful Lantern readers, I digested his words with as much difficulty as he did Korean food. However, his review of the Korean Restaurant brought my indigestion to a whole new plateau.
Time to take off the kiddy gloves: Mylander not only passes judgment upon a simple Columbus-based restaurant, but an entire culture as well. First, since when does a college student have the right to pass judgment on what a culture serves as delicacies?
Is beef intestine served with rice noodles, onions and broth any worse than what millions of Americans eat in the conspicuous form of a hot dog?
While I find his imagery admirably vivid, if the purpose was to disgust me, he has succeeded with flying colors. I am disgusted at his ignorance. Perhaps Mylander felt safe from the Asian community here at Ohio State with his outrageous article. He can now be quite sure that he has my undivided attention.
But, just when I think the pain is over, Mylander has the audacity to deem chopsticks as “inferior,” inferior in that they lack a certain “shoveling potential,” a “steep learning curve.” Apparently, Mylander finds his intelligence lacking in the use of chopsticks and must resort to shoveling food down his trap with fork and knife.
On a side note, chopsticks can do anything a fork can do and more – as Mylander so wittingly detailed, chopsticks can be used as a two-pronged fork.
However, it is not the fact that he is using his public influence to virtually ruin the business of a small privately-owned restaurant here in Columbus that angers me. Nor is it Mylander’s use of his so highly-regarded, so sought-after column to adjudicate the entire Korean cuisine which insults me. It is the simple fact Mylander goes beyond his “culinary expeditions” and affronts an entire culture.
While I personally cannot attest to the quality of the food at the Korean Restaurant, I have had Korean friends who preceded Mylander’s footsteps into the restaurant, speak only praise of the authenticity and quality of the restaurant as a whole.
The simple lack of knowledge of Korean culture and Asian culture at large that Mylander has displayed in his column make me ashamed to call myself both a Buckeye and an American. I am disappointed in the fact that a writer for The Lantern would create such drivel.
However, I find it even more disheartening that The Lantern would even allow such nonsense to be published. It is a dismal thought that even today such ignorance runs through the minds of a university’s elite.
Johaun Chengundecided sophomore[email protected]
