I ordered the steak and shrimp with an iced tea, while she had the Hawaiian pizza and coffee.
The salad that came at first, was awesome. Dressing made in-house, a nice assortment of fresh vegetables and greens. Then the garlic toast.. (smacks lip) superb! I can never figure out how to make a proper garlic toast.
The big ol' baked potato tray came by with a stupid amount of bacon bits, butter, green onions, sour cream and the steak was perfectly cooked to medium-rare as requested. My mother and I radiated an aura of contentment as we chowed down on this feast.
This was so going to be our new favourite place to eat. We discussed it as much, heaping praise onto every single item that crossed our palates.
As I'm happily sipping away on my iced tea, tonguing out pieces of steak from nooks and crannies in my mouth; I looked at the lemon wedge and noticed a fruit fly.
No big deal, but then there was another one on my glass. I made to flick it off, but noticed it was on the INSIDE.
Peering down into the bottom and swimming among the ice cubes, were two or three more of these little bitches.
UGH. Worst part of it was that my iced tea was almost finished. Who knows how many fruit flies I've ingested? Probably half a pound.
The waitress came by and my mother pointed this out, "Houston, we have a problem" much to the waitress's morbid expression. As she hastily apologized, I snuck in the suggestion that we get a discount for this. Because really, was the kitchen just swarming with these things? Total health code violation right there, I'd say.
The bill came in and we ended up getting seven bucks off our meal. Not too bad. But still.. this amazing culinary experience took a nosedive once I started putting things up to scrutiny.
It's just interesting to acknowledge that no matter where we dine out, that there are no assurances insects or improper food handling was involved. You could have the most amazing five-star meal and not have any idea that someone wiped their ass moments before preparing it and forgot to wash their hands. Or, you may have failed to noticed a dead maggot somewhere in your rice pudding.
Meh. Ultimately I wasn't too put off by all this, but it did impress on me how prevalent perception is versus what reality actually is. You can have the illusion of something well-made and crafted with care, but the truth may be that nobody really gives a shit about cleanliness when they aren't the ones using/eating it.
Think about that next time you order out. Who knows what might be lurking under that unturned piece of lettuce on your plate.
It could be Cthulhu.
