OK, I need to write this entry as a reminder to myself, because apparently I keep repeating old patterns (which, umm, was the theme of the LAST entry, hehe)

So, tonight I went to a friend’s birthday dinner. I was apprehensive about it, because the last time I went there, I recall it being very rich and creamy, so I even called in advance to ask about vegan stuff and was told they had many vegan things on the menu that night, but that the risotto could also be made vegan.

While on their website, I got a sense of the cost of the meal, and hit the ATM on the way to the party to make sure I had enough cash.

There ended up being 11 people for dinner, I believe, and it didn’t take me long to decide what I would be ordering, as I had already talked with the restaurant earlier in the day and looked over the menu even before entering. Eyeballing the menu, I figured I could get out of the door for $40, $45 tops.

Now, the big issue here is the vegan one. When I go to places that have a mixed menu (read: not a vegan place), the stuff that is vegetarian or vegan is more slanted to people getting that in addition to their salmon, lamb, or whatever. Said another way, it tends to be pretty, presented side dishes.

For example, tonight I ordered a vegan tartare, soup, and corn on the cob. All were from the appetizers portion of the menu. The risotto could also be made vegan, but I’m really not into eating non-brown rice, especially if it the bulk of the meal. But here is what arrived:

The vegan tartare ($11) had a significant number of ingredients, but ended up being three endives, and enough diced "other stuff" whereby you could have filled each endive up fully and the plate would have been empty.

The soup ($10) had hen of the woods mushrooms, wild rice, and broth. Now, I’m a mushroom fan, and don’t recall having a dish with hen of the woods in it before. At the other side of the experience, I can’t say I have any further insight into this particular fungus. The soup was served in a wide, low bowl and what had to have been three-quarters of a cup of broth, a small handful of the rice, and a quarter cup of mushroom.

The corn on the cob ($4) was one ear, cut in half, prepared well, but I honestly can’t say what was going on with it besides it being corn on the cob.

While I ate my vegan tartare, the rest of the table had appetizers like Tilapia ceviche, lobster crepes, and one wheat-puffed thing filled with sprouted vegetables that you pour firewater on and eat, and that was vegan and I did have that.

For some reason, though, I totally blanked as to what was around the bend. Which is, of course, that we were all going to be splitting the $750 check, ten ways (minus one for the birthday girl).

Now, I need to be clear here. I am writing this not to bitch about this restaurant or the party I was at, or the people I love who invited me. I had already gone to this restaurant once before and thought it was overpriced, and that was when I was employed and overpaid.

This is being written to hopefully make me realize this situation in advance next time, as this is not the first time it has happened. The last two times, though, I locked onto the situation earlier and took action. At one similar dinner, I slipped the person who threw the party for my friend/his girlfriend $30 (for my $20 of food) and said I had another engagement to run to. Another recent party like this, I spoke up earlier, and subtracted my dinner first, and THEN they divided the total evenly. And at another birthday party, at a place where the skewers full of roasted meat are served until-you-tell-them-to-stop, there was no vegetarian option of only eating the salad bar and the only veggie skewer option (roasted pineapple), so there it costs everyone the same to sit down, so not much to complain about.

Actually, in a perverse turn of events, I had a birthday dinner recently and decided to invite a few people to join me at my favorite restaurant, Millennium. I did steer the dinner past my actual birthday by a day to take advantage of a 25 percent off promotion they run every second Wednesday. But, I had actually brought a Millennium gift certificate with me to pay for my dinner, and was told it was my birthday, so I shouldn’t have to pay. So, with the wine for the table, and my costs divided out, everyone ended up kicking in $55 for that (although Millennium tends to cost me around $40 when I go, so between the promotion and the division, not too far from cost). But it did bother me that I ended up doing such an expensive dinner, whereas if I had taken everyone to my favorite noodle joint, we all still could have shared each other’s company, and even if they refused to let me pay, it would have only been $20 or so.

So, I’m not writing this to bemoan the $75, because I did have a good night. I just can’t believe nights like this don’t appear to be in flashing neon telling me to stay home. And, next year, if I have any sort of birthday event, it will definitely be far more low-key.

Assuming I learn my lesson this time. Wish me luck.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 21st, 2005 at 1:42 am and is filed under diary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.