Scavenger Hunt, pt. 2

Tonight was another unexpected dinner adventure. I met up with Laura, Allison, and their new roommate Ruth at Go Sushi, a fast-food style sushi place with cheap prices and decent sushi. I ordered a roll to hold me over, but saved my stomach for my second attempt at Mary's Fish Camp and their lobster roll, which I had been denied last night. I headed back to Mary's, put my name down and was told "45 minutes, maybe an hour" which I was ready to accept. Kim, Natty, and I headed down the street to a bar to kill the time. The good thing about some of these places up here is that you can leave your cell phone number and they'll call you when your table is ready. Sure beats the lame Ruby Tuesday's buzzers with limited range, huh?

As an unexpected treat, we discovered a new favorite neighborhood bar: Absolutely 4th. The decor was a little cheesy, with leopard print walls and some other borderline-gaudy treatments, but this ultimately added to the appeal. They played fun and catchy music (Britney, Boyz II Men, Howie Day, Usher), and they served what I would consider my ideal appetizer menu: bagel dogs, fried wontons, mac & cheese bites, and pizza rolls, just to name a few. In retrospect, we should have just stayed there and sampled the menu instead of dealing with the craziness of Mary's.

After taking advantage of the happy hour buy-one-get-one martini special (highlights were Kim's Key Lime Pie martini w/ graham cracker crust rim, and my mango martini w/ marshmallow), we headed back to Mary's. Despite the fact that we'd already waited our assigned 45 minutes or so, we stuck around and waited for the chit-chatty dining parties to vacate their tables for us. I mean, after 45 minutes, what's another 10, 20... right?

Around 9:30 or so (nearly an hour and a half wait), after Natty and I had just ordered ourselves pints of Brooklyn Pilsners to pass the time, we were finally seated. As soon as our waitress got to us, she said "Hey guys, thanks for waiting. Oh, by the way, we're out the Lobster knuckles & the Lobster Rolls..."

That was all we needed to hear, really! I wasn't about to drop a pretty penny on some other mediocre seafood dish when all I really wanted was the lobster roll! Other diners who were seated shortly after us were equally dismayed upon hearing the woman's announcement. Kim, Natty, and I didn't waste any time. We backed up out of our chairs, paid for the beers, told the waitresses we were done, then we bailed. We were kinda pissed at that point, thinking that the folks there should have warned us or at least mentioned in advance that they'd run out of what I imagine to be their most popular item. Either that or at least offer an apology as we walked out of the restaurant, but we got nothing, not even a simple goodbye.

We considered heading to Gray's Papaya for what's always a satisfying hot dog, but decided instead to head back to the apartment to feast on a buffet of leftovers. This turned out to be a good idea, despite the lingering disappointment of the 0-for-2 lobster roll attempt. We sliced up some leftover steak with a delicious homemade mayonnaise sauce, which, when paired with my garlic bread from the other night made for an amazing combination, definitely worth repeating.

The exciting find of the night was a box of Pizza Rolls in the freezer, which made me forget that I was ever craving a fancy lobster roll in the first place. After all was said and done, we discovered a new, fun bar, saved some cash on dinner, and cleaned out the fridge.

For now, the Lobster Roll will have to wait, cause I sure as heck am not waiting for it again... at least not 'til my next trip up ;)

And somehow, for the second day in a row, I've managed to turn my dinner into an adventure and an essay. Thanks for reading.