Saturday evening we decided to go on a little date. I had a restaurant all picked out because, as I might have mentioned at some point Obi doesn't function so great without a plan. He doesn't like to wing it, and sometimes the pressure of making simple choices can get too much for both of us and we end up going home and being snippy with ourselves.
So off we go...
Only to find that the place we'd chosen has not only been shut down, but the whole building is gutted on the inside. We were enjoying just walking around and joking together and took that in our stride. We changed plans and went to this Greek place we'd considered once before. They've won a bunch of awards, and the place was quiet-but-not-empty and warm. So, we sat down and ordered and as the waiter left the table we realised something - I'd left my handbag at home expecting Obi to pay, and he'd left his wallet in his tracky dacks (because there was no way we were going out for dinner and me allowing him to wear them haha). We didn't have $5 to rub between us. So off he trots, hurrying back home for the wallet.
Now, I'd ordered two appies instead of a main, and he ordered a main - and we asked for them to come together. Well, I guess the waiter didn't understand that request, but the two appies were there at the speed of light. So I'm trying to decide if I should be polite and wait for Obi, or if I should just eat. It so happened that I thought I was ordering something different... I thought the dish with the octopus was a hot dish - and it would have baby octopus in it, but instead all it was was a big purple octopus in a vinaigrette and nothing else except the garnish. Interesting, and a tad intimidating. So I saved that one and started working on the other -slowly!- as it was hot.
About two minutes before Obi jogs back, a two-man Greek band shows up with traditional instruments, an amp and a synthesizer and they were LOUD in the tiny restaurant. But they were good, so that made it alright. Obi had managed to get a bus on the way back, so was there at the speed of light. We had a laugh and then let it go - shouting back and forth over the table. The service was what Obi would call poor and I'd call "refreshingly minimalist" - I don't want someone pouring the water for me or asking how I'm going. I'm not going to tip, so take my order and go away
lol (I'm always polite of course I'd never actually say this!)Anyway, so we do some people watching, and there's a 15 person group across the room - and they are sitting in exact order of age, from youngest to oldest. This tickled our fancy. There's a group of regulars at the table next to us, and they had been there ages and no one had even given them a menu. Then, the waiter runs through the room alarmed and I'm like "He must have forgotten to give that table something."
Obi goes, "no that's not it, I think they gave him the wrong food."
Sure enough, they had. It was Obi's dish.
The other guest had cut some of his meat for him. Obi and I just laughed and let it go - it takes a lot for me to complain and ruin someone's day. The waiter was in such a hurry he didn't bother to take the plate back to the kitchen first as some might - he just took it straight from the other table to us, and he didn't apologize either. 
The food was really great, and I thought I didn't like Greek food!
So we're eating and people watching and having a laugh... until...I discover something underneath the sea of tentacles on my plate. Holy shit.. It's a head! 
I didn't realise there'd be a head attached to this octopus, I was taken completely by surprise and unprepared, and I kinda freaked out a little bit. Quickly I put my hand above the plate so I couldn't see it, and I'm signaling to Obi trying to get help. Of course the music is so loud (and there's random Greeks clapping along too) he can't hear me so with my other hand I'd pointing first at the plate and then at my head yelling "There's a head!!" 
Now I'd probably have eaten it if it had already been cut up, it didn't look like a head or there was something (like mash potatoes) to hide it under... But I had nothing. Laughing, Obi took it from my plate and hid it.
He's always telling me that my face has more expressions than any other face he's ever seen. He's just delighted by my face, which sometimes makes me really uncomfortable and shy but, for the most part I know it's a compliment. Anyway, he loves it when random shit like this happens - because he just wants to watch my face.
We get through the rest of our mains without any other surprises. And then we're waiting. And waiting. At the point where the band takes a break and starts talking with almost every other table I realise that we're the only Caucasian people here... and Obi's an immigrant. It was good though, the whole place felt really Greek - or so I imagine having never been over there.
After a while I notice Obi's getting squrrely and I figure out he's feeling impatient with the complete lack of service, so I hail down a waiter and ask for a desert menu. He gets us one, but then just doesn't return. Twenty minutes later even patient Miriam is a bit over it, so we go and pay. Not to have our night end on a down-point, we stop in at a different restaurant on the way home and we order only desert. I guess normal people don't do that, because the waiter gave us a face. He was funny, we were asking about this baked custard, trying to determine if it's hot or cold and what's with it. So we ask "Is this dish served hot or cold?"
He says "Yes! and then goes on to tell us about the dish. He names it in Italian and goes "you already know what that is" (Uhm, evidently we don't mate) and it comes with ice cream and something-I-don't-remember-now. Obi's face is priceless while he tries to work out if this guy answered his question, because he doesn't want to repeat himself and sound like an idiot if the waiter had answered. So I ask "Is this a warm dish?" and he goes "Yes, it's served cold." Ok then, thanks for that.
It was just one of those nights. We had a lot of fun though, so I wanted to write about it to relive it!
