Zorro and I go to New Hut Place pretty often, at least once a week. Their menu lists a sugar-fried banana dish that we always try to order. At least once a week, we are told that they have no bananas. China residents, insert the embarassed giggle as you see fit, and after a few weeks of this, change it from the usual I’m-sorry giggle to the one that really means we’re losing face and embarassing all concerned by continuing to order from the menu. If this sounds a bit harsh, then I’ll add that they did cook us sugar-fried potatoes to make up for the lack of bananas.
Zorro finally decided that he wanted to bananas enough to make them happen. He claims it was a result of talking with my dad (after I begged my dad to please not talk exclusively about Zorro’s hometown newspaper), but he brought his own bananas and asked the chef to please cook them for us. The staff laughed and teased us about really really wanting that dish, but they did prepare it.
BYOB — it’s not just for beer anymore.
I can’t imagine the health codes an American chef would be breaking by cooking a customer’s ingredients, but then I don’t know how long a US restaurant could stay open without having the dishes on their menu.
The bananas were totally worth it. They were delicious, but maybe it was also the sweet taste of thwarting a mei you.
