Atmospheric food

2008-03-21

I just got back from a dim sum place called Hong Kong Saigon harbor seafood restaurant. I was in a hurry to get back so didn’t order the Hong Kong style spicy crab, instead got the seafood chow mein. I ate it with vinegar which a waitress recommended. She said it was number 1. I went there because it is right 

next to my favorite barber shop and I noticed a lot of Chinese going in. It is always a good indicator of quality food. When I entered the place it was like I was in a 20’s harbor side cafe in Hong Kong with a bunch of sailors and women of disrepute hungrily chomping on the delicious food. Hurrying with the food because it is good and to make the most of their shore leave. The clerks in their tailored suits walking by counting the goods coming off ships and the crooked customs officers looking for their next free meal. Just like Tin Tin comics. Coming back to the food. It was decent. There was a huge pot full of tea enough for 4 people and I finished it all greedily. The waitress even asked me if I needed a refill and I pointed to my belly not wanting

to hurt her feelings by just saying no. The people next to me got dim sum and I enjoyed watching them eat it. It was like being witness to a very private ancient ritual of eating food cooked only for you from the region where you belong. Like watching ancient royalty eat. I am going back here and this time with friends so I can add to the noise and feel like I belong. Yesterday was the first day of spring and also Navroz (Persian New Year), summer is fast approaching and with it comes an urge to leave. Hong Kong this time? To eat Cantonese food. Follow the footsteps of Michael Palin and eat a shredded cobra? Go around the world on an eating expedition. Next on my list is a Malian restaurant in Berkley. So many cuisines and so little time!’