b Papa Dog's Blog: Dinner at One of Those Indian-Irish Places

Papa Dog's Blog

A Thing Wherein I Infrequently Write Some Stuff

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Dinner at One of Those Indian-Irish Places

Mama Dog wanted a meal out tonight, so we tried the new Oakland location of Khana Peena. It’s rather a strange spot for a restaurant, a Flatiron-type wedge in a spot that was for as long as I can recollect occupied by a liquor store. Mama Dog checked to see whether or not the place was baby friendly, and it was. They said there was already a baby there and we could sit next to it. We ended up at the narrow end of a wedge chatting with a lesbian couple and their five-month-old boy, who flirted ostentatiously with Baby Dog. Both babies were in good moods, so there really wasn’t much of a litmus test, but it did seem fairly baby-friendly. Best of all, the high chairs were brand new and not yet suffering from every conceivable shortcoming, as has been the case in most places we’ve tried. We ate, Mama Dog sharing her lamb curry with Baby Dog, and me ducking about with my back to the narrow path between tables. I recommend the cashew raisin golden naan.

The staff is an odd mixture. The head waiter was Indian, but all the waitresses seemed to be Irish, judging by their accents. After I was done eating, I shifted over to Mama Dog’s side of the table, the better to pacify Baby Dog, who was finally starting to head toward fussiness. I looked across the street and saw a group of layabouts out on the porch of their house, apparently staring in at the restaurant. One guy had his shirt off and was drumming on his stomach. Two other guys were shading their eyes, looking our way. It struck me that they looked Irish, too. Perhaps there’s some huge Irish family in the employ of this Indian restaurant chain, and they all live in this one big house off College Avenue?

While we were waiting for the cheque, Baby Dog really started to fuss, so I picked her up and walked her about outside. As we stepped out of the restaurant, I noticed that one of the waitresses was across the street at the layabout house, chatting animatedly with one of the layabouts. Then she seemed to realise she was supposed to be still working; she dashed across the street, almost getting hit by a car in the process. I heard her exclaim “Jaysus!” at the close call.

When she got to our side of the street, the waitress stopped short when she saw Baby Dog. She came over and asked how old, what’s her name, etc., etc., the usual questions. She opined that Baby Dog would be tall, given her height already at 14 months. “I’d take her on a date if I could,” she said in a thoroughly charming brogue. This was the first time Baby Dog had ever lived up to her alleged status as a chick magnet for me. But then she had to go and yell “Mama!” as Mama Dog was getting up from the table, so I didn’t have the chance to continue doing nothing whatsoever untoward.

1 Comments:

Blogger Judy said...

Kids will keep you honest! Hee hee!

5:37 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home