Good Dinner vs. Bad Dinner

Sunday night we went over to Tom and Tina's to make some dinner and introduce the T's to the joys of "Shaun of the Dead." (I know - they hadn't seen it! Nor have they seen "Evil Dead." Yet.)

Oh, and to visit the pups:

Abby


Grendel


We made veggie enchiladas. Well, by "we" I mean Tom and Josh. I let them do the veggie chopping. I can't be trusted with knives. My contribution was purchasing a few ingredients and making sure the dogs were adequately snuggled.

Tom was mortified at the aesthetics of the meal, claiming it was well below his standard. Whatever. They were tasty as all get out:



And then Tina just decided she needed chocolate and whipped up some brownies just like that. Delicious, gooey, molten center brownies:



It truly was a lovely dining experience, and a sweet evening overall.

And then...tonight happened.

Josh had been stuck in the house all day as I had to work, so I promised him an evening out. We figured dinner out would be a safe bet, since we both have to work tomorrow. I let him choose the restaurant. I promise I won't hold this against him.

(I am not going to name this restaurant here, since I believe all restaurants are entitled to off nights. But if you ask me in person, I will tell you. You may also be able to guess.)

Pulling in to the parking lot, we were a bit worried, since it was filled with cars. We feared a long wait. We had no idea....

We were actually seated very quickly. It took a while for someone to come take our order, but it took a long time for us to decide, so I wasn't too worried. As we placed our order, another family was being seated nearby.

When they brought the little crunchy things with the duck sauce, I had my first warning sign: the duck sauce was bland. It was like dipping my crunchies in water. Bleah.

We placed our order: Hot and sour soup and vegetarian beef in garlic sauce for me, veggie spring roll and shrimp in garlic sauce for Josh.

And then....nothing happened for a long, long time. Well, that's not QUITE true: a very harried waitress occasionally came by to tell me she'd be right back with my soup, and then fail to return.

When my soup - which I had been craving, by the way, because I have had a cold this week, and I adore a good sinus-opening hot and sour soup - finally arrived, it was neither hot OR sour. I thought maybe the blandness had something to do with my sickness, but honestly, I'm almost over it. I have been able to taste other things just fine. I had Josh test it, to see if the problem was me or the soup. The problem was definitely not me.

At this point I should mention that when my soup showed up, Josh's spring roll did not. In fact, the waitress thought that she had failed to bring him something he had not ordered: "You seafood hot and sour soup?" "Uh, no. Veggie spring roll." "No soup?" "No."

The other thing they didn't bring Josh? A fork. His little silverware bundle, which he had opened in order to test my soup, contained three spoons. "Are they tripping back there?"

They brought our entrees, and I asked for a fork for Josh. I wasn't holding out much hope, though, as they neglected to bring us plates on which to eat the entrees. We had to eat off of the serving platters. At least they brought Josh his vegetarian spring roll with his meal, which he started eating with his spoon. Have you ever tried eating broccoli with a spoon?

Meanwhile, the family that they had seated after us got up to leave. They never even placed an order. The mom had basically had her water glass filled about a quarter full before her brood was completely abandoned.

Again, my dish lacked a little 'oomph,' but it wasn't terrible. Josh was obviously very annoyed at having to eat with a spoon. I overheard a couple seated nearby being told by the waiter that something he had brought them was "no charge," in that apologetic tone of voice.

And then, the final straw: as I was chewing, I felt a hair. Normally this isn't cause for immediate concern, as I have a lot of hair and it tends to find its way into my mouth when I eat. However, this was not my hair.

I couldn't take it anymore. I spit the offending mouthful back into my napkin. "I'm done," I told Josh.

"Can I use your fork?" he replied.

Right after that, the couple seated nearby who had been treated to something no charge asked to see their waiter. Apparently the woman's favorite part of whatever dish she had ordered had been left out. I tried to stifle my giggles.

The waitress came by to ask if we needed anything. "The check," I responded. She pointed to the large amount of uneaten food on my platter. "You want to take home?"

"No."

"No?!"

"No. Well, he'll take his, I guess."

I told Josh to be ready to go once we got the check. I wasn't going to wait for our waitress - I'd take it up to pay myself. When the check arrived, I ate a fortune cookie and a couple of slices of orange. Best part of the meal. My fortune? "Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the paycheck lighter." It should have gone to the waitstaff.

While waiting for the cashier to return, I tried to warn a woman who had just come in with her daughter: "Run. Run while you can." Too late; she had called in an order. "Good luck," I told her.

When I came back, Josh told me the couple near us had to call their waiter back AGAIN for another problem with the meal.

We couldn't get out of there fast enough. Josh suggested we get some ice cream to try and salvage the evening. Thank you Herrell's, and your chocolate buttercream ice cream, for salvaging my night out.