Keeping It Real

I went to the Parkallen Restaurant the other day, a place that serves Lebanese cuisine. For some reason, my parents and I decided to check it out. When we first walked in, I was surprised. I was expecting some dingy dark place, with the smell of exotic food wafting in the air.

Frankly, I was disappointed. There was not one local Middle Eastern person to be seen. The decor was modern and clean, with decorations like a Van Gogh reproduction on the wall. Nowhere was there anything resembling Lebanese culture around. When I go to an ethnic restaurant, I want to experience what a local ethnic person would, you know, something authentic. It's not like I should be fearing any suicide bombers while eating at a Middle Eastern restaurant, but still, a flying body part or two would've added a little more ambience.

Secretly, I always laugh when I hear about somebody eating Chinese food in some surburban strip mall, with no Chinese customers inside. They're not eating real Chinese food. Fools, they wouldn't know Chinese food if it came and bit them in the ass. But now, I felt like the chump, eating moderately overpriced Lebanese food, in an otherwise Western restaurant. Maybe that's the problem of trying to 'keep it real'.