Dive

My favorite dive is the bar at the Chinese restaurant up the street from me. OK, it’s three miles up the street but still, it’s conveniently close-by. It’s tacky – the walls seem to glow with a sheen of grease, the art is mondo cheesy, the barstools and tables all look like they came out of a cut-rate1950s Woolworth’s lunch counter catalogue. ICK, right?

Why do I love it so much? The barkeep is tremendous and a half. Despite the fact that I’m in there, at most, every few weeks, she remembers that I’m deaf and generally unsuccessful at reading her lips. She shows me what she’s talking about (when I ask for the house red, she brings out the bottle for me to thumbs up or down) and writes everything down if display and pantomime don’t work (also too, she has lovely, legible handwriting). She serves cosmos in the cutest little dessert/cocktail glasses and remembers that I’m awfully partial to their vegetable tempura.

Oh yeah AND she warns me if something I’ve ordered has meat. I’m wondering, why is it that Broccoli in Oyster Sauce and other items under the Special Vegetables and Tofu Dishes section of the menu have pork (it’s always pork) in them? It’s not just Imperial Terrace either. All the Chinese places I’ve been to here in Quincy are the same – I have to ask, even if a dish is in the Vegetable section – Is there meat in this. Just FYI to all you carnivores out there – chicken and pigs? They're not plant based. You're welcome.

In any case, she remembers that I’m a vegetarian. I like that in a bartender. AND, just so’s ya know, I was able to get my broccoli sans pork. Nice!

I’m in there a lot more now that The Amazing Bob’s gone. He wasn’t keen on their veggie fried rice (too many onions which gave him nasty heartburn), so we’d order from Bistro Chi. Great food but the joint’s got all the atmosphere of a hospital cafeteria.

You see, I loved going out to pick up our take out din-din. I looked forward to sitting at some dark bar, having just the one indulgent drink-y whilst people watching and scribbling in my ever present sketch pad.  At places like Bistro Chi though, all I want to do is get in, grab the food, pay and get out.

In any case, Joe was over for dinner the other night so I got to treat myself to Imperial Terrace’s  slightly unsavory-but-that’s-part-of-its-charm ambience. I forgot to ask them if they’re open on Christmas though. Drat, this means I’ll need to stop by there again soon. I like to plan ahead, don’cha know. Oh and, as long as I’m there, I suppose I could manage a cosmo and a dish of veggie tempura too.