A Night on the Town

Went to a Moroccan restaurant last evening for a friend's birthday. I had high hopes having been to a great Moroccan restaurant in San Francisco many years before. Not that this one was bad … it just didn't compare. Enough with the excuses.

There were 14 of us, which was nice, cozily crowded around a few tables. The waitress poured scented water over our eating hand and we dried ourselves on the white, coarse towels provided. The first foods to come out were soup and "salad." Salad meant several dips including hummus I think, but it was so dark I couldn't make it out. The bread had just left the oven and was tasty. I took off my glasses to avoid the reflection of the one light filtering through a veil and a ceiling fan from further distracting me.

Because I'm not, well, financially comfortable in my life yet, I ordered the cheapest items on the menu which added up to about $25 + tip and tax. For the vegetable plate (mostly rice, a couple kalamata olives, carrots, a squash item, all covered in sesame seeds) and a non-refillable diet coke. The BF only spent a few dollars more for a spicy chicken kebab. I could have chosen not to eat, but then the restaurant automatically charges the guest $15 just to sit there and that doesn't work for me. There were other "courses" brought to the table that everybody shared and they were all right - a meat pastry with powdered sugar on it, and the dessert was a honey cookie, fruit, nuts, with a glass of tea (the tea was also tasty). So yes, the prices weren't exactly reasonable. Perhaps if I'd been paying for dinner and a show, like more than one performance by the belly dancer, it would be all right. But in our three hours at the restaurant, there was only one dance. And not enough food (in retrospect). Or at least, the quality of the food wasn't worth the price when half of what you're eating ends up being rice and carrots.

But then I'm used to splurging by not ordering off the 99 cent menu at a fast food restaurant. Good times are had when I get a $5 combo meal.

Here is a generic observation which bothers me, not about anyone in particular: why is it so hard to figure out how much you owe when it's time to pay the check? Did you forget you're paying for the birthday boy, that only some of you drank the wine you ordered? Now I'm bordering on the petty, so I'll stop, but gratuity was included. Don't worry about it people. Throw down your money and let's scram. It shouldn't take a half hour to settle.

But besides being a tightwad, the evening was nice to spend with so many friends and people I haven't seen for years.