Restaurants

Theo and I had a "date lunch" today since our visitor was in Brisbane visiting friends. Well at least that seemed like a good enough excuse anyway. See, it's been quite an adjustment for me to be home so much, cooking all 3 of my daily meals at home, then doing dishes at least 3 times a day. It can be quite maddening some days, actually. So any excuse to escape the hum-drum is highly prized for me!

I've found that eating at restaurants here is a little different from the States. First, the prices are pretty high. This may just be because we're in the Gold Coast, a very touristy part of Oz, I don't know for sure yet. But here, an "entree" (called here a "main," the word "entree" is used in the strict French sense) at a mid-scale restaurant is usually $15 to $25, which is above average for me, especially since I normally used 2for1 coupons when I dined back home. It took a while, but I have found these type of coupons here as well, usually on the back of cash register receipts. They're usually for local surf club restaurants. Surf Lifesaving Clubs (SLSC) are located at each suburb, where you can join for a small fee, which gives you access to surf lifesaving classes, sometimes a gym, food and drink specials, pokie machines, and probably a lot more. The clubs provide volunteer life guards during the weekends for the nearby beach, which is nice. It doesn't sound like it would be an ideal place to eat, but their restaurants are surprisingly good! The first time I dined at a SLSC was at Greenmount (since the suburbs are very small, there are at least 3 or 4 SLSCs within walking distance). I had an awesome seafood ravioli. Today I had a grilled salmon (probably from the Tasman Sea) at the Kirra SLSC. It was delicious! The clubs are always either right on the beach or right across the street, so the views are always nice, too!

Another thing I noticed about restaurants is the service level. I haven't been to any of the more upscale restaurants, but so far, at most of them you either order and pay at the register, or you order at the table and pay at the register before you leave, which results a gaping hole with regard to table service. You're pretty much on your own. They bring the food and that's about it. Most of the time, you're not even offered water with your meal (we normally have to ask for it), and you may even have to get your own silverware. But the positive side of this coin is that you don't leave tips, which is an annoyance I don't mind forgetting.

Overall, I don't think that eating out is as popular as in the States. (It's almost a sport to me!) I think Kansas City must have more restaurants than people (okay...exaggeration), so I'm used to having more than enough access to cheap yummy food. But at least now I've probably gained a greater appreciation when we do finally get to go out these days. And it has probably saved me a few pounds as well.