Wake the Lakes “Weird and Wacky Wednesday” 7-26-23

Woman Sues Restaurant Over Spicy Food

(Los Gatos, CA)  — Everyone has different preferences for spicy food. But one San Francisco Bay Area restaurant’s “Dragon Balls” dish is so spicy that a diner filed a lawsuit after eating the food.  Harjasleen Walia filed a civil lawsuit accusing the restaurant, Coup De Thai in Los Gatos, as well as the restaurant’s cook, waitressing staff, and owner, of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.  Coup De Thai’s website describes its cuisine as “a true revolution of your senses. Fireworks light up your mouth from our traditional menu that puts the true ‘Thai’ back in command of Thai food.”  According to the lawsuit filed July 3 in Santa Clara County Superior Court, the“Dragon Balls” were so spicy that Walia suffered burns on her vocal cords, esophagus, and nose.  The lawsuit writes:   “Harjasleen Walia was poisoned, made ill and burned necessitating medical care. Her throat and voice has been damaged. She incurred permanent injuries and will forever be damaged to her body. These consequences are the direct result of defendants serving her foods unfit for human consumption,”  Walia is demanding compensation for medical expenses and loss of income earnings. Walia dined at the restaurant with a friend in the summer of 2021. The friends decided to order “Dragon Balls” as an appetizer.  The lawsuit states, “The dish was advertised as spicy, so Ms. Walia asked her server to have it made with less spice as she does not tolerate spicy foods. The dish arrived and the plaintiff began to eat. Almost immediately the plaintiff felt her entire mouth, the roof of her mouth, her tongue, her throat and her nose burn like fire. She began coughing. They told the waitress right away that yogurt or something like that (some other milk product) was needed because the dish was too spicy. However, the server said, ‘we don’t have yogurt.’”  The waitress failed to provide any dairy products to cool down Walia’s mouth, according to the suit.  “Spicy foods contain a substance from chilies called capsaicin. Capsaicin stings taste buds, and milk binds with the hot capsaicin oils to disperse them. Cold water is not effective to mitigate spiciness. Given no alternative, the plaintiff drank an entire glass of coconut water and more water, but the burning did not subside. As a direct and proximate result of eating this food, the plaintiff began to lose her voice,” attorney Mark Zanobini wrote in the lawsuit.  Coup de Thai’s menu still includes “Dragon Balls” as an appetizer. The dish is spicy chicken fried with mint, shallot, green onion, cilantro, and kaffir lime, according to the menu.  A Coup de Thai supervisor told Bay Area News Group, “We do not use too much chili spice in Dragon Balls.” The dish is labeled as very spicy on the menu, and it’s not possible to make it less spicy depending on customers’ heat preferences, the supervisor said.  The lawsuit asks the court to grant a jury trial, and the case is scheduled to be heard in Santa Clara County court on December 5.