Grrrrr…….

I thought Sydney was a cosmopolitan hub, a glittering and thriving city, a Mecca of style, entertainment, and well…

A place where you could get something to eat after 9pm on a saturday night.

But apparently not.

Mark and I went to see Peter Singer talk about his new book “The Ethics of What We Eat” (note the different title of the US version of the book). After the talk we wandered to the Pitt Street Vegetarian Restaurant, to find that it had closed, so we went on to Wagamama, near Kinokuniya at Town Hall. They were just closing, but directed us to the Circualr Quay outlet. I wasn’t overly keen on the walk (having forgotten to grab a scarf on the way out), but there was nothing else that beckoned, so off we went. We arrived well before 10pm, to be told that they had taken last order 10 minutes earlier, and would we please bugger off.

By this stage, the muttering under the breath became audible, and I apologise to any visitors to our fair city that were offended by my potty mouth.

Still muttering, we made it back to the car in Pitt St (how many Weight Watchers points did I earn in that little excursion I wonder?), and drove to Chinatown. The Purple Lotus Vegetarian was open, so we parked in the closest parking station, and hurried out. Or at least, we hurried around in circles. That place is a nightmare to get out of when your head is spinning with ethical questions, your nose is frozen, you are weak with hunger, and contemplating a move to New York, where even the Apple shops are open 24hours a day.

Finally, we made it over the threshold of the restaurant. Yes, they were open, and allowed us to sit down. They even gave us menus, but they weren’t too sure about giving us tea. The waiter seemed anxious to take our order, to the point of warning us that the chef was keen to go home. Now, normally I would expect a certain amount of hostility from a waiter in a Chinese restaurant – it’s part of the charm, but tonight I was on the verge of a complete sense of humour bypass, and I may have been a teeny, tiny bit resentful.

And then the food arrived. I have certainly eaten worse, but I had been told that this place was good, so the rubbery wontons in the watery and tasteless short soup were a bit of a disappointment. The san choy bow was just ordinary. The insult after the injury came when the cashier broke my change down into gold coins to make it easier for me to leave a tip.