Evan Ho goes out to dinner, and while his portion disappoints, the bigger picture is much more satisfying.
The other night I went out with a family for a birthday dinner at a nice restaurant. I ordered a salmon-something on a bed of something — I can’t remember. What I do remember was the size of the salmon fillet that landed in front of me. It couldn’t have been more than around three inches long and two inches wide. I stared at it momentarily, kind of shocked at how small it was. For $29 I don’t think it was unreasonable to expect a larger piece. I know paltry portions of such menu items have had a history of raising diners’ eyebrows, but you should have seen this meager offering.
A few minutes later when our server came back to ask us if everything was okay, I was tempted to register a complaint about the size of my dish. But considering the occasion and an imagined fear of an adverse event to my dish if I sent it back to the kitchen, I just nodded my head without looking up.
After sharing a piece with my partner I had the equivalent of about four bites, which I proceeded to ration over the course of the next 15 minutes. During that time I contemplated the state of the restaurant industry in the San Fran area and the struggles, at times extreme, that it has continuously endured since 2020.
I looked around in the dining room and at the open kitchen area and saw the various staff in motion — the servers, runners and cooks, all with families to support and all comporting a sense of dignity in their work. Soon that discontent about my portion flaked away like the flesh of the delicious, juicy, perfectly cooked and seasoned salmon I was eating. When the server returned to take my finished plate away she asked me how I enjoyed my meal. “Very much,” I said with a smile.