Dining in Asia (it was like this in Jakarta too) is very different. There is definitely a higher level of personal attention and service on the part of the staff. There is always a host or hostess waiting to greet you at the door and show you to your table. All the staff are very welcoming and will greet you when you walk in. Once seated, someone will often place your napkin in your lap for you. When you are given your menu, a waiter will wait to the side until you are ready to order, rather than in the US when they’ll go away for a while and come back later to take your order. Drinks are also served differently here. They will bring a glass of ice and the can or bottle of soda, water, or alcohol and pour it in front of you at the table. They sit the can off to the side and will refill your glass if they see it get low. When you are brought your check, they stand there while you put your card or cash into the booklet, and also stand right there when you sign the receipt.
Something I’ve noticed while over here is that dining is very slow-paced here. Food takes a very long time to come out to you, and every time I’ve eaten out we’ve had to ask for the check because we kept waiting and waiting for someone to bring it to us, but they wouldn’t until we asked for it.
One thing I like about Asian dining is the slower pace. For those of you who have eaten out with me, you know that I love to just hang out and chat for two hours each time I go out to eat with a friend. I often feel rushed when eating, and I feel bad when I linger for too long after paying the bill (the restaurant industry calls those people “campers”). However, I do NOT like how people seem to hover over you in Asia. For one, it makes me nervous having someone stare at me while I’m looking at the menu, or paying the bill, and I also feel bad making the server wait while I’m trying to decide what I want. :P
Grocery shopping here is also very different. It’s an experience trying to find food labels in English, or any Western food at all for that matter. I’ll be eating a lot of fruit here (and PB&Js), and I’ll try my best to make American dishes with what I have. I had an interesting time trying to find ingredients for homemade mac n’ cheese today. Cindy’s birthday is also next week, and I wanted to bake her cupcakes, but finding all the ingredients I need might be an issue. We’ll see.
Because Maria, Hannah, and I couldn’t figure out the gas stove, they used the water heater pitcher-thing to boil water for their noodles. I decided to go out to eat, since I couldn’t use the stove, and we have no microwave or oven. I now know my way to the local McDonald’s, but at the last minute I saw a local, upscale restaurant across the street. In Asia they display their menus outside, so you can decide if you want to eat there before you walk in. Their menu had English translations, so I decided at the last minute to be adventurous and eat local.
I wanted it to go, but I couldn’t really communicate that to anyone and found myself sitting down to eat. I ordered King Prawn shrimp, which was pretty tasty, and even more amazing was that I managed to eat them with chopsticks! I dropped it in my lap at one point, but besides that I managed pretty well. The Udon noodles were a little different. I had a large, flat spoon to eat them with, but the noodles were slippery and kept sliding off the spoon. It was an entertaining dining experience. I also drank all my tea, even though I usually hate tea.
I’m glad I ate my meal, but I think this drastic change in my diet is messing with my stomach. I get slight nausea every once in a while, but it passes and comes back off and on. If I come back to the US all anorexic-skinny, it’s not my fault!
Cheers!
Kati
Here's a picture of what the menu looks like at Blue Frog, an upscale, Western-style restaurant at the Venetian.
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