Friday, March 27, 2009

Date Night- Martinis and Dangerous Fried Rice

The Hubs and I went to dinner last night at our new favorite Chinese restaurant in Woolloomooloo. Woolloomooloo is a suburb near us and I like to go there just so I can say the word Woolloomooloo repeatedly. Whatever.

So for a city with such a large Asian population you'd think there would be an insane number of Chinese restaurants, and there are a ton of Thai joints-- I'm not sure what the deal is with Chinese restaurants, but I'll move on...

I get this lychee martini drink, it's pretty good, not nearly as delicious as the Australian Watermelon Bacardi Breezer we had had the night before which tasted exactly like a drink we used to make (back in the day) by dissolving Watermelon Jolly Ranchers in Absolute Vodka. Omigod, it's 1989 all over again, yeah dawg.

So we order these awesome Peking Duck-ish-like appetizer, and btw, in Australia they call "appetizers" entrees... it's all very confusing.

The food at this place is seriously amazing, and we ordered way too much-- including an order of prawn fried rice (all shrimp in Australia are referred to as "prawns" whilst in the U.S. "prawns" is usually reserved for the "big ass shrimp" Our dining strategy was to have leftover fried rice school lunchboxes tomorrow.

After dinner we ask our waitress for a "take away box", that's Australian for doggy bag (and I think if you asked for a "doggy bag" in Australia someone may actually slap you). Then we ask for the "bill" because they don't say "check" down under. The waitress looks at us all quizzical and disappointed, and asks with a sad face, "Was everything okay? You should make sure you eat the fried rice as soon as possible." So my Hubs and I look at each other like, what the hell is she talking about? And she's all, "Well, it's got seafood in it, and once cooked, seafood goes bad very quickly. I would recommend you eat it by lunch tomorrow." Um, is she serious? We're not sure.

A couple minutes later the cool breeze hostess brings with the bill and we decide to to ask her about the ticking time bomb (our shrimp fried rice). She, almost verbatim, confirms that we must eat it by tomorrow.

Am I just an absolute daredevil having eaten two day old seafood in my sorted past?

I just sent my husband an email:

Subject: Fried Rice

Hi honey,

Wanted to let you know, I'm eating the fried rice for breakfast. If you don't hear from me this afternoon you probably should be worried.

Love,
Me

I wonder what my Wii Fit trainer will have to say about the two pounds I just gained chowing down the bacteria-laden fried rice? I have a feeling she's not going to be happy.



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35 comments:

Stephen Moore said...

I wouldn't be worried about the dire warnings of impending doom to one's health imparted by staff at the restaurant. I reckon they're just covering their arses if on the rather rare chance that someone could get food poisoning from eating day old seafood does get food poisoning.

Marvin said...

No, see, you can use this deadly concoction to your advantage. Save your fried rice until this weekend. Then eat it, then lose weight faster by puking everything up and spending the rest of the weekend in bed.

Try it. You will thank me. Really. ;-)

Anonymous said...

FL Girl, God, you are funny! I loved this post. Yeah, in the South, we all know shrimp is shrimp, and only "big ass shrimp" are prawns, like Tiger Prawns at $19.99 a pound, which you can get for $9.99 a pound at Costco, another f-ing BRILLIANT American invention. Anyway, I regularly "eat on the edge," meaning sushi, sashimi, oysters off anyone's dock, four-day-old fried rice with shrimp, that rotisserie chickenthat's been in the fridge five days. I'm still alive, baby!

And seriously, nothing I love better than cold fried rice, for breakfast. Enjoy it, sugar. Hubs and the kids will be grateful that you not only weren't wasteful, but were TOTALLY putting them all before you by consuming said potentially lethal seafood fried rice. Bon appetit!

Jan said...

As an Aussie, I say 'doggie bag' and wouldn't use the 'to go box' or 'take-away box' terms in OZ. We buy take-away, not take-out, but the use of the term 'box' isn't common.

I'm actually surprised that they allowed you to leave with it, it's strongly discouraged in most Australian States due to the reason Stephen said.

I love reading your blog posts about the terms. Naturally we're doing the opposite and using your terms...'shrimps'...'to go'...etc. Makes me smile. :)

Bea said...

i'm with Aussie in the USA. i've never heard of this 'box' business. i call it a doggy bag, but i am surprised they let you take it, not many places do.
love the Gnu

Family Oz Blog said...

Interesting post. When we first arrived Don's co worker told him that under no circumstances should we ask to take leftovers home. For months we watched our plates swept away with perfectly good food that would have made a tasty breakfast. But about two months later at a restaurant our waitress asked us if wanted a box to pack the rest to go. We were gobsmacked (my favorite new word). Now we always ask for one, and we haven't been refused yet. Of course I'll be mortified the first time it occurs, and going by Murphys Law, it will probably happen the very next time we eat out. PS - Leftover fried rice rocks.

Laura said...

Stephen- Totally agree.

Marvin- Yeah, no.

V- Yeehaw girlfriend! Totally-- on all of that!

Aussie in the US- Are you serious?? I guess I've never been out with Aussies and heard them say that- how could I have missed that? Aussies say doggie bag? Wow. Yes- we've swapped languages-- it's very funny.

Gnu- Huh, not let me take it with me? Wat chu talking about Willis?

Ana- Omigod are you serious? This is just like when I found out that Australians think wearing UGGs outside of your house is trashy or dorky or ugly-- I'm still not sure, but I do know that I wore them everywhere for months and never noticed I was the only one.

Are you saying Australians don't take home leftovers? I'm so confused-- they toss it?

suzinoz said...

My experience here has been no doggie bags ever. I vaguely remember my inlaws (who work in hospitality) explaining that there are health codes here which prevent such things. Also, the serves are smaller here than in the USA and so I don't see the need for it as frequently. I'm so out of "doggy bag" practice that it actually weirds me out when we go back to the USA and my sister and sister-in-law get their meals and their kid's meals packed up to take home. Ah, yes I've been here far too long.

Laura said...

Suz- Really? I seriously get a doggie bag almost all the time. I'm completely lost why it would be a health hazard- I really must need more info on this.

GRIT AND GLAMOUR said...

Hmmm. This is starting to make sense to me now. I never could figure out why when I was in Oz: 1. No one ever offered me a box to take food away, and 2. My husband was mortified at the thought. Like, what's the big deal? I remember one time we went out for breakfast and we had sausage left over and I wanted to take it to the dog (that's where most of my U.S. take home leftovers go anyway...my Dobie looooves some IHOP!). I happened to have a little zip-loc bag in my purse, so I used it and took it home. But my husband looked at me like I was nuts. Sorry, but if I paid for a meal, I should be able to do whatever the hell I want with the leftovers. That's just silly. Like not being able to drink on the dance floor, or do shots after 10:30pm...it's over-legislation. The whole population shouldn't be punished for issues that really only pertain to a few people. While I see the point, it's pretty hard for American expats to adjust to all the rules down there. We have more freedom in the U.S. in many regards. No one would ever think twice about asking to take their leftovers home instead of wasting them.

buffalodick said...

Raw seafood, yes.. cooked seafood not so much..

Mark said...

Isn't that funny! Wonder if she had a bad experience once. Sounds like you had a fun night out.

Laura said...

V- I am at a complete loss over the whole -you don't take your leftovers with you, we throw them away thing-- what is going on here????

buffalodick- exactly.

Mark- It seemed the whole staff was sure the shrimp fried rice was gonna detonate. weird.

Angel said...

I remember the first time I was ever hit with not being allowed to take home leftovers, it weirded me out. It was here in the U.S.A. A reception at a fancy dining place followed those rules about food spoiling, blah blah blah. We were allowed to take the cake out, so we just used the little boxes they gave us for that and broke unimaginable amounts of rules by sneaking out the rest of the food.

I dated an Aussie once who made me giggle when he called the hood of my car "the bonnet", and I hated him when he made me try vegimite. But if every man in the world could kiss like him, it would be such a better place to be a woman. I've often wondered if they all kiss like that down there. I'd relocate immediately.

Bea said...

hey
i linked to you on my blog today.
swing by when you can to check it out!
love The Gnu

JD at I Do Things said...

I lived in Ireland for a few years, and it's interesting to me how similar expressions are between the 2 countries. Except they called "appetizers" "starters" (By the way, if "appetizers" are "entrees," what do they call "entrees"?) Same thing with prawns, bill, take away. Hmm.

I'll be checking back every day to make sure you're okay.

A Free Man said...

It took me a while to get my head around that whole entree thing myself!

Anonymous said...

LOL...that's funny!! I wonder if the staff themselves have been sick from eating the food when it's a couple of days old??? HUM...the must know something they don't want to share, other than saying eat it tomorrow, or else...

South Beach Mom said...

I had flashbacks when I read about "Jolly Ranchers Vodka"! B-52's anyone?

Anonymous said...

Interesting what you say about Chinese restaurants - they do seem to have migrated out of the city and been supplanted by Thai. Of course there's awesome Chinese in Chinatown but you have to go suburban a lot of the time. Try Ashfield for some incredibly authentic Chinese. Oh, and Australia used to have some weird objection to doggie bags but they're pretty common now. I think your restaurant might have been paranoid after that guy died on the North Shore from dodgy re-heated asparagus.

Laura said...

Angel- Thanks for the 411 on Aussie men... maybe I need to import some of my single girlfriends to Australia?

Gnu- That's so nice- thanks!

JD- I survived!

Freeman- Now it just sounds normal to me-- you too I'm assuming.

Raelynn- Yeah, maybe they just want to take it back to the kitchen and bag it up for themselves!

South Beach Girl- Oh yeah, the good old days! I cannot believe you finally left me a comment! I love it. Miss you. xoxo.

Anonymous- Death from asparagus--? holy crap.

Anonymous said...

oh the "prawns" and "take away" that is Australia :) Anywho, FL Girl, loving your posts. I imagine we would laugh at the same jokes and make fun of the same type of things....1989 or whenever...lychee martinis or pbr... ;)

HeatherPride said...

Huh. Well you know, sometimes food poisoning comes with the delightful side effect of losing weight, so at least there's that?

A Free Man said...

I love some of these Aussie names. My favorite is Yankalilla. I also love the Asian food and thank god for it because if I had to live on Aussie food - oy.

Laura said...

jpck- Yeah we definitely should meet us in one of these hemispheres!

Heatherpride- I've had food poisoning and hoping to avoid it again in the future, no matter what the benefits may be!

Free Man- Yeah we're not really into the whole modern Australian cuisine thing-- when we see prawn foam or other very over the top modern stuff-- it's like way too much for us to comprehend. And what is Yankalilla?

Anonymous said...

I love this! I can only hope our blog is this much fun to read :) We are doing it in a he said/she said style - should be fun! (BTW I have the same trainer - she can be a real b*&%$) :)

Jenny said...

Fl Girl- thanks for the tip about UGG boots- good to know before the cold weather gets here.
As for the doggie bag, we ask for and get them all the time. Hmmmm . . . .

Bea said...

I hope your wearing your ugg boots now! now that it's Autumn you have to get a short skirt, single top, long cardi and some ugg boots and your all set! when winter rolls around you can add stockings and a scarf. lol, thats the fashion where i am and on a recent trip to Sydney i saw it coming out!

Laura said...

Anonymous- I'll assume you're actually my wandering friend? Yeah, she's hardcore!

Jenny- You may want to ask around before just taking my word for it on the UGGs, but I'm almost positive it's a real fashion faux pas.

Gnu- Can you tell us the real deal on UGGs?? Fashionably acceptable, or completely not okay??

Arizaphale said...

OK as an older Aussie I can assure you that doggy bags were completely normal for years and then someone died and someone sued someone else and someone legislated about it. I wonder from the comments however, whether it varies from state to state.
Also, as an old girl I am bemused by this recent trend for girls (other than those from Sydney's west)wearing ugg boots as if they were fashion items! Which they clearly are not, no matter how much braid you sew on them and what ridiculuous price tag they slap on them! Remember you slappers, they are slippers!!!!

Bea said...

wow, this is like my fourth comment on this post, you need to write another one!
i did a post about Uggs. i researched and everything so it would be correct! i even referenced you. so come on over

Laura said...

Arizaphale- When I moved here I was so excited for cold weather and to wear my UGG boots everywhere-- they are so comfortable-- especially since I was supposed to have foot surgery which I bailed on at the last minute. In the U.S. a couple of years ago UGGs were THE shoes to wear-- even in South Florida where it rarely gets chilly. I had no idea that Australians don't wear them in public. The other moms at my preschool probably thought I was an idiot.

Gnu- Going now.

Hit 40 said...

Wow I will have to try the jolly rancher trick. Never heard that one!

Anonymous said...

I told my guy about this and we laughed really hard. 4 days later he's throwing away the shrimp fried rice we had gotten because it made him wonder and err on the side of caution. lol

Corrina said...

Dude I keep friend rice for, like, a week before I eat it. LOL - How am I not dead yet?