jay: (Default)
[personal profile] jay
Yesterday, [profile] patgreene and [personal profile] tenacious_snail and I drove to San Leandro and joined a group for dim sum, organized by [profile] serenejourrnal in honor of visiting friends [personal profile] elissaann and J.

This was a new experience for me... sort of like Chinese tapas, it seemed, lots of small dishes shared. But it was awkward for me. I didn't know what things were, and (given a mushroom-allergy incident the day before with some airline food) I was cautious.

And... I didn't want to infringe on what might be someone else's favorite dish, so when I something arrived that I thought looked good, I waited until after it had been passed around... at which point most of them were gone. At the same time, given that the costs were pooled and divided equally, I was reluctant to impose my food preferences on others -- what if I was the only person who liked a given dish I'd ordered? Then my fellow diners would be effectively buying it just for me, and I felt uncomfortable doing that. So I didn't order anything. I just waited and hoped that something edible would show up, and not be all gone by the time it got around to me.

So... I didn't eat much. An hour into the meal, I still hadn't gotten anything yet. Finally, [personal profile] tenacious_snail noticed that my napkin was still on my plate, and poked me until I finally indicated some things I'd like, which she then sent out with others' orders. (This dim sum establishment did not have pushcarts, which are apparently used elsewhere.) So these arrived, I got some of them first-off, and thence got a few bites in. However, by then everyone else was finishing up, and we all left 15 minutes later, so I left the table a bit frustrated and still hungry. And I paid a full share of the divided cost, if only for "seat rental" and to be a good sport.

So... I think I like tapas better. At least there we explicitly take turns, there's more structure and I don't have to choose between being direct and grabby, or being hungry...

Date: 2006-06-15 03:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] trinker.livejournal.com
Sorry to hear that your intro to dimsum was so stressful.

It's one of my favorite things, and I'll join the chorus of people willing to have you along for a repeat try.

May 2009

S M T W T F S
     12
3 456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31      

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 10th, 2025 02:34 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios