Almost as soon as we returned to Seattle, we made our way to a Thai restaurant for one of the cuisines we had missed in our Hungarian year. It was a joy to have cold tap water automatically served to us before we even ordered.
In Hungary, and in most countries we visited, water was something ordered and paid for; and while in some countries like Greece or Croatia, you could get big bottles (1 or 1.5 liters) cheaply, water in Hungary usually came in little 200 or 250 milliliter glass bottles. Our kids accustomed themselves to ordering soda instead, pretty much the same price and more fun I guess. Sophie always wanted to see the drink menu but almost always ordered Fanta citrom anyway. As for myself, I soon discovered that for 40 cents more I could order a beer which came in half liter bottles. By volume, beer was cheaper than water, and I like volume.
The price of water seemed compatible with another Hungarian nuisance, pay toilets. I came to appreciate pay toilets because they were another source of jobs: you don't just put a coin in a slot; you pay a pee clerk who sits in a chair with a cash box. So I appreciated their place in the job economy but resented them too. Pee clerks were very exacting. A few times I was desperate but short and was turned away; and they preferred breaking big bills to missing a couple pennies from the amount. But Hungarians -- on trips, on the town, especially on long bus rides -- never seemed to need toilets as often as I did, because, I don't know, maybe the disincentive to drinking and peeing. Perhaps also the large bowls of soup Hungarians eat at lunch make the tiny little bottles sufficiently quenching.
The Thai food was good, sweet, spicy, tender and pretty. We ordered too much because there was much we wanted to taste again. Something that I missed too was spicy food. Many things in Hungary are called spicy, or csípős, but with the exception of actual peppers and one fish soup in Szeged, everything seemed mild to me. So we ordered a few dishes with a two stars spiciness rating, low on the scale to start us off. And it burned! This was eating and blowing noses, drinking glass after glass of water.
About that glass after glass of water: we sit and eat and don't call any attention to ourselves, but when our glasses get low, here comes the waiter with a pitcher to fill them back up. I didn't know that I had missed that! And sometimes the waiter came by just to ask how we were doing, or if there was anything else we needed.
In Hungary, our restaurant routine was like this: We'd sit, be handed two drink and food menus, and then the girls would fight over who would get to read them. The waiter would ask right away if we knew what we wanted to drink. Sophie, Amelia and Maisie always wanted to look at the drink menu first, and so the waiter would go away while they studied and studied and studied and then ordered Fanta orange or Fanta lemon. When the waiter would return with our drinks, she'd ask if we were ready to order our food, and we were never, ever ready. We'd take turns with menus and hopefully we'd know what we wanted after the waiter's second or third pass. All this is to say that the waiters were genuinely attentive, up to this point. Close to the food arriving, we'd be given silverware and napkins on a single plate and sometimes a strange number of place mats. Then, after the food arrived, that'd be it. No more waiter until we approached one ourselves.
How different here in America. I drank maybe eight glasses of water. And I peed all night.
In Hungary, and in most countries we visited, water was something ordered and paid for; and while in some countries like Greece or Croatia, you could get big bottles (1 or 1.5 liters) cheaply, water in Hungary usually came in little 200 or 250 milliliter glass bottles. Our kids accustomed themselves to ordering soda instead, pretty much the same price and more fun I guess. Sophie always wanted to see the drink menu but almost always ordered Fanta citrom anyway. As for myself, I soon discovered that for 40 cents more I could order a beer which came in half liter bottles. By volume, beer was cheaper than water, and I like volume.
The price of water seemed compatible with another Hungarian nuisance, pay toilets. I came to appreciate pay toilets because they were another source of jobs: you don't just put a coin in a slot; you pay a pee clerk who sits in a chair with a cash box. So I appreciated their place in the job economy but resented them too. Pee clerks were very exacting. A few times I was desperate but short and was turned away; and they preferred breaking big bills to missing a couple pennies from the amount. But Hungarians -- on trips, on the town, especially on long bus rides -- never seemed to need toilets as often as I did, because, I don't know, maybe the disincentive to drinking and peeing. Perhaps also the large bowls of soup Hungarians eat at lunch make the tiny little bottles sufficiently quenching.
The Thai food was good, sweet, spicy, tender and pretty. We ordered too much because there was much we wanted to taste again. Something that I missed too was spicy food. Many things in Hungary are called spicy, or csípős, but with the exception of actual peppers and one fish soup in Szeged, everything seemed mild to me. So we ordered a few dishes with a two stars spiciness rating, low on the scale to start us off. And it burned! This was eating and blowing noses, drinking glass after glass of water.
About that glass after glass of water: we sit and eat and don't call any attention to ourselves, but when our glasses get low, here comes the waiter with a pitcher to fill them back up. I didn't know that I had missed that! And sometimes the waiter came by just to ask how we were doing, or if there was anything else we needed.
In Hungary, our restaurant routine was like this: We'd sit, be handed two drink and food menus, and then the girls would fight over who would get to read them. The waiter would ask right away if we knew what we wanted to drink. Sophie, Amelia and Maisie always wanted to look at the drink menu first, and so the waiter would go away while they studied and studied and studied and then ordered Fanta orange or Fanta lemon. When the waiter would return with our drinks, she'd ask if we were ready to order our food, and we were never, ever ready. We'd take turns with menus and hopefully we'd know what we wanted after the waiter's second or third pass. All this is to say that the waiters were genuinely attentive, up to this point. Close to the food arriving, we'd be given silverware and napkins on a single plate and sometimes a strange number of place mats. Then, after the food arrived, that'd be it. No more waiter until we approached one ourselves.
How different here in America. I drank maybe eight glasses of water. And I peed all night.
Yeah, I can understand your feelings about Hungarian restaurants and the service. But it is all changing now (for the good). We just went to a Restaurant in Kaposvár the other day and (apart from the water business)something you described happened. Anyway, about the tap water there was some talk on this on the radio and according to that they should really provide you with a jug of tap water free of charge here as well. I don't know somehow they just don't seem to do it. Sorry for that!!
ReplyDeleteKata Papai-Horvath :-)
Oh, anyway, I was really glad to hear you are back in the USA safe and sound! We already miss you a lot!!
ReplyDeleteKata
It was funny how you called the bathroom attendant a "pee clerk."
ReplyDeleteAmelia