A Hibachi Dinner

Last night my best friend and I went to eat at a new hibachi restaurant by my house. There was not a soul in the place! I almost felt bad for a moment, having the chef come out and perform just for the two of us. As we watched our dinner being prepared, my friend started urgently whispering to me "do we tip this guy?" I said no, you just leave the tip at the end like every other restaurant. During the course of the meal he asked me THREE more times if he should slip the chef a few bucks. At this point I started thinking some things.

1. I actually never considered tipping the chef.

2. Didn't I ever take my friend to a hibachi before? I thought I did but he was acting like it was his first time.

3. If the tip gets left to the waiter (who only brought the drinks, hardly any work at all) then he should split it with the chef.

4. Finally, maybe the chef gets paid well and doesn't need the tip.

After some more frantic whispering I convinced my friend to leave the tip at the end of the meal like he would normally do.

The food was delicious, by the way. As we were finishing up our meal a large party came in and was seated by us. Then a couple came in and was seated at a different table. I would have ignored their arrival except for the fact that she called the waiter over and asked for "Diet Coke, in a kid's cup." Lo and behold, their child was up in the front of the restaurant with her hands in the koi pond trying to catch the fish. That caused me to think some more:

1. Why is that kid drinking DIET Coke? That is wrong on so many levels.

2. Can somebody please yell at her to stop harassing the fish? Where is the discipline?

At that point we were getting ready to leave, and as I passed the poor koi in their disturbed sanctuary, I gave the kid a hard stare. She ignored it.

Who would have thought that a simple dinner would result in a blog post? I never knew my meals were so interesting.