Lunch

I had an interesting experience at lunch today.
I took Dawn's advice and decided to check out a Chinese place.
I knew there was one near the hotel the conference is being held at, as I had passed them both on my meandering on my way to Stanley Park the other day.
After finding the Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant I wandered on in.
Not knowing totally what to expect.
One thing I've learned in Vancouver is the restaurant is never what you expect.
So just don't.
Expect that is.
You of course have to eat!
I requested a table for one and after doing a quick run down of her tables she replied,
"I squeeze you in. Tiny table. Good for just one."
I swear that is just how she said it.
So I follow her around the room to a ... TINY table.
It's pressed into the corner beside some folding screens and crowded by three bigger tables.
Enough room for one.
Kinda.
No big deal.
Right?
Wrong.
This may have been true if I understood anything about anything that was going on.
But I didn't.
I was a Dim Sum virgin.First of all, I failed to read the ticket she placed on the table.
I just figured it was a regular ticket that the waiter came and filled out when I placed my order.
No.
Not so much
Not so much at all.
It turns out if you want to see the menu, you turn over the ticket.
Then the waiter brings you the menu, you choose if you'd rather order or ...
Take your chances with the food a procession of wait staff bring around including not being offered a beverage but bring bought the traditional herbal tea Yum Cha.If you like to chew your tea, this stuff if for you.
I
kid
you
not.
After the guy poured me the first cup I opened up the top of the pot and found what can only be described as a plant floating in the water.
Oh.
Yum.
The wait staff circulates with loads of different dishes and hard to understand accents.
If you take what they are offering they make a mark on your ticket.
When you are done, the marks are added up according to the category the food fell into and you pay that amount.
Never quite knowing what that is until the check returns to your table.
Very tricky.

I took two dishes.
Neither of which was that tasty.
After I had passed over one dish two of the lady wait staff offered me they refused to make their way back to my table.
I felt slighted and ... seated at a VERY TINY TABLE.

Paid $2.50 for the tea I didn't order and had to chew.

Left hungry.
And $20 lighter.

Failure.

Tomorrow I'm going to get a Smokie from the street vendor on Robson and Granville.
End of story.
Forget the sit down restaurants. Apparently I suck at finding good ones.

At least if the Smokie sucks I'll only have spent $4.