Caesar Salad

In Las Vegas we were staying in El Cortez Hotel/Casino in Downtown. It was great value for money as we only paid around $30 a night. Besides, we received a voucher book, which included a $5-off voucher for the hotel’s café. Why not use it we thought… Ha, ha, ha… Big mistake.

The next day we went there for lunch. I ordered a caesar salad with grilled chicken. Peter decided to go with the day’s special, which was chicken fried steak and fries. It was an unpleasant surprise when my salad arrived. Now, when I go out to eat I expect my food to be if not delicious at least edible. Is this too much to ask? As far as I can remember, a classic caesar salad includes iceberg lettuce, crispy fried bacon, croutons, hardboiled egg, parmesan cheese and a smooth creamy dressing. In my salad there was no bacon or egg, it was liberally dressed but the dressing was so salty – it was impossible to eat! I thought I might have imagined the saltiness – Peter tried it and also agreed it was very salty. If this was happening to me in the good old Soviet Union I would have probably eaten this salad, swallowing my tears and scared to mention this to the waiter in fear of being verbally abused. But this was happening in a western country so Peter advised me to send the food back. The manager arrived and agreed that the dressing was indeed very salty and that she always has it on the side. She offered to replace my salad with another one and dressing separately. Ok….

Being brought up in the Soviet Union, where customer service practically did not exist, I felt bad about the whole thing like it was me making troubles and bothering the busy people with my silly requests. Anyway, second Caesar Salad arrived in 45min after arriving at the café and after asking the waiter twice. Iceberg lettuce and chicken on the plate and the dressing (same one), croutons and parmesan in individual plastic containers. By that time, Peter had already finished his meal (not fantastic as well, as it turned out but at least edible) and had paid the bill. Good thing is that we had our $5 off voucher and didn’t have to pay the full price. No tips, sorry…

After the worst food experience in America it wouldn’t be fair to not to mention the best one too. Mine, I think, was Brazilian style grilled salmon cooked by my friend’s husband. First, a salmon fillet gets marinated for 20 min in lime juice and sea salt. Then it is grilled on the BBQ on flat cedar wood boards. The heat and the smoke cook the fish. The result is this incredible combination of sweet, salty, citrusy flavours of the fish, which is irresistibly moist and tender… Yum! Peter’s best food experience in America was –surprise! – cook at home $5 pizza from the supermarket. I guess it is really a surprise, when you buy something and expect it to be ordinary turns out to be quite nice and tasty, in fact, better than Domino’s or Pizza Hut.

The end…