Hi everyone. Happy new week to you, and Happy first T day over at Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog for August also.
A few Sundays ago my husband and I were up at the lake where my Mother-In-Law's house is. One of my husband's sisters was there, along with her husband, one of her daughters, and that daughter's new fiance. The couple got engaged back over the 4th of July weekend, which was exciting but also one of those engagements where the couple hadn't been dating all that long (at least as far as the family standards go) so many of us hadn't gotten to know him (the fiance) very well.
Around 4 PM the niece says she's going to try to get reservations at a restaurant in town called East of Suez. Do my husband and I want to join the rest of them? I love the food at this place, but my husband, not so much. (There's more to that story coming up later in the post.) My hubby is a sweetie and says he'll go for me, so the niece gets the only available reservation which is at 5:15. That means swimming time is just about over as we need to get ourselves together and get going.
Here we are at the restaurant before dinner.
This restaurant doesn't serve alcohol, but you can bring your own. Since we hadn't expected to be going out to dinner, my husband had only brought 2 beers with him up to the lake in the cooler. That was so we could each have one in the afternoon, which we did. We didn't have time to run to the store, so my mother-in-law's liquor cabinet was raided. All of the liquors were old, which we could tell by the ridiculously inexpensive prices still on the bottles. 😏 My MIL is now in a memory care assisted living, and since she won't miss the alcohol, doing this means it is one less thing that needs to be cleaned out in the process of getting her house ready to be a summer rental for hopefully next year.
There was a partially filled bottle of rum, and the restaurant served a tropical fruit juice blend, and the two made the perfect warm summer evening mix which my husband and I each had.
Ha-ha. The hubby liked his.
East of Suez is only open from late May until early September. Back in the 1960's when the restaurant originally opened, you could only go on summer weekends, as the owners drove up from New York City with their weekend food supplies. Then it became so successful that it went to be open more days for the summer. I believe the original owners have now passed, but since the building isn't winterized and is still just an old fashioned camp, the season isn't very long.
I haven't been there in probably close to 10 years, and the base menu hadn't changed at all. There are 5 things on it, all foods from various Asian countries. They do have a supplemental menu that does change depending on what is available. I knew what I wanted for dinner before I even got to the restaurant., because I wanted something on the original menu.
All meals start with a small not so exciting green salad. However, the peanut dressing was amazing.
And my dinner choice was Thai red curry with shrimp, which was huge (I had left overs ❤) and really as delicious as I remembered it being last time I was there.
My husband had some kind of ribs, which were also yummy. In fact, he devoured them and said it was one of the best meals he's had in a long time. He even ate the garlic rice, and strangely my husband won't eat rice.
We all had to tease him because the last time we went, he had fabulous lamb chops. So good we had to go back again that summer while they were still on the menu. Funny how he never wants to eat there but yet 2 of his most memorable meals out were there. Grin. Let's see if he suggests we go back sometime before they close in another month. 😏
And back to the niece and her new fiance. We all had some good laughs, and we got to know him a little bit. He seems like a nice guy, and I hope they will be happy together. But her mom still insists the wedding needs to wait for at least a year. 😏
Now that you might be hungry (because I am and want another bowl of my Thai red curry ha ha) have a great T day and week ahead!
...the food looks great!
ReplyDeleteYour restaurant story is great. The owners (past and present) seem to have a lot of imagination about what to put on the menu, and it sounds like a cross between home cooking and restaurant cuisine. What fun!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to the new fiancés… mae at maefood.blogspot.com
YES, now I am very hungry. That Thai shrimp curry looks wonderful. I LOVE all Thai food. The ribs, not so much (grin). Nice you got to meet the young man who will soon be part of your family. I actually like rum and your drinks look really refreshing. Thanks for sharing this impromptu dinner with us, as well as your drinks for T this week, dear Erika.
ReplyDeleteBTW, the only time I got to sew on that treadle machine was after my grandmother died and I took it to my new home.
Fun times! Hopefully they will wait that is good advice. -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteohoo all that yummy food.....I really miss going out to eat, or having someone else cook...and not have to do the washing up! You all seemed to have a fabulous time! Happy T Day....((Lyn))
ReplyDeleteThai curry is my favourite and the ribs look so GOOD!
ReplyDeleteThose dinner dishes look sooo good. I remember back when we were younger we had to bring our own liquor too. we brought the liquor bottles we had to the lake house-and we still have them-agree huge price difference now. I haven't made me a margarita in a long time I should do that soon-smiles-perfect for these hot days Hugs Kathy
ReplyDeleteYou sure made me laugh about the alcohol!
ReplyDeleteOur parents had a shop and when also our Mom´d sadly passed, Bro and I had to clear the house. Customers´d brought sparkling wine for Easter, Christmas - who knows what, our parents didn´t like it and Bro and I found bottle after bottle...
I started early (60km drive), so each time we shared a bottle (I was 100% sober for the trip back home).
Thank you for the memory and what a great pic of you all!
Yum-drink, better than mine for sure!
What a great post!
When I was 14 years old I ordered a "Ten without Ham" (hence the blog´s title) at Da Nico, a pizza (I didn´t like warm ham back then).
When I was in my 40´s, living in Braunschweig, whenever Mom or Bro visited they came with a Ten without ham that wasn´t even on the menu anymore.
Nico´s wife: "Can get cold, goes to Braunschweig, right?" Sadly they retired and the pizza-place is closed...
Your hubby is funny! And yes. I am hungry. Have a great T-Day, hugs and thank you for all the sweet memories!
That restaurant sounds yummy, such beautiful food! Strange that you can bring your own alcohol,and you evidently made the most of it, it all looks great, and you are evidently enjoying yourselves! It's good to get out occasionally and experience something else! Have a great week, take care, hugs!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a wonderful time with your family, so nice of them to invite you ☺️. The food looks amazing - so yummy! That was a good call on the drinks, the tropical fruit punch works perfectly with the rum - cheers, and I'm glad that your hubby enjoyed it in the end too ...lol ❤️. Happy T Day wishes! Hugs, Jo x
ReplyDeletethat looks like a fun evening out. Did you feel like teens raiding his mother's liquor cabinet? The cocktail you made sounds really good especially for this hot weather. Raining today and cooler weather coming. Stay dry and cool. Happy T Day
ReplyDeleteI have some of those old liqueurs taking up space in the cupboard. Not quite as old as your mother-in-law’s mind you. I bought them in Cuba on my first couple of visits there because they cost next to nothing, but other than Sambuca, Ouzo or Grand Marnier I wouldn’t care if I ever saw a liqueur again! Why did I buy them? I have no idea! Down the sink they go! All the best - David
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun story. The drink work-around looks perfect, and that food has me wanting to go to that restaurant. I imagine the plan to make the place a vacation rental will be a huge success!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun time and story, glad you got to go. That shrimp dish does look amazing and really rich! Hope you don't get too much rain this weekend from Debby. xoxo
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great -- love shrimp and that sounds delicious. I laughed because there's a place I (and friends) like that Rick doesn't. Whenever he goes out of town I call them and we go!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely photo of you all. And a great story about the restaurant.Sounds like the sort of place I'd like to go. And I love hai red curry with shrimps.
ReplyDeleteNo to the ribs but a big Yes to the curry, it looks delicious and I love sea food. Wrong side of lunch as I write this so I could eat that straight away.
ReplyDeleteLovely photo of the family and the restaurant sounds good. Old fashioned but good.
Hugs, Neet xx