At the Restaurant When the check arrived for Carlos, Henriques' roommate, he kept all the money in a wallet which he put in his back pants' pocket. That day in the bus, his wallet disappeared, and even though he had the luck that they returned it to him, he got a good fright. In order to celebrate it, Carlos invited Remedios, Mercedes, and Henrique to have supper at the "Casa Toxilde" a kind of two star restaurant. The four sat down at a table and the waiter arrived right away with the menu. Carlos read it aloud. APPETIZERS-SOUP MEATS-EGGS-FISH MEATS-EGGS-FISH Soup roast chicken loin steak Galician soup roasted meat veal steak egg consomm� Asparagus omelet ribs Serving of clams ham omelet tongue with tomato Serving of mussels omelet with peas kidneys in Sherry cold cuts scrambled eggs Special house soup shrimp in garlic fried hake serving of ears asparagus in Mayonnaise stewed hake serving of liver fried squid hake in Galician style fried pig skins squid cooked in its ink baby hake tripe Lettuce salad Sole Meunier octopus with garlic fried Sole fillets peppers Salad Asturian bean stew DESSERTS pineapple peaches cheese custard fruit of the season ice cream bread white Ribeiro wine red Ribeiro wine Special Ribeiro wine Claret wine The waiter, in the meantime, was setting the plates, the knives, the knives for fish, the silverware, the spoons, the glasses and the napkins for them. "If you want stew or soup, I will bring you a soup dish, if not, the two plates you have will be enough for you." "What is the Galician soup made of?" , asked Mercedes. "Of many things- fat, pigs feet, a little headcheese, some cows foot- this is to give it flavor. And then it has turnip greens, fava beans, potatoes- like home made soup." "Then I want a soup and a loin steak ", said Mercedes. "I would, too ," said Carlos. "For me, bring an egg consomm� and a special house soup," asked Henrique, who gets as hungry as a wolf in the pension." "I prefer a soup for first course and some baby hake for second," said Remedios. "And for dessert?" "For dessert, bring all of us a custard with creme," said Henrique, serving as official speaker. "Any wine?" "White Ribeiro." "For me, red wine, because I like it," said Mercedes. "Well a day is a day- bring two bottles of white wine and two of red, and a nice loaf of Santiago bread." The food did not take long, so the four of them quickly became very happy (from the wine) and contented (from being full). They agreed to have coffee in one of the caf�s of the Ensanche, and there the youths ended the party drinking some brandy. "Since there are four of us, why don't we do to a discotheque?" Carlos said suddenly, as if it weren't one of the things that he and Henrique had planned at home. "Of course, it's logical," said Henrique. And there we have them at the "Tebras", dancing like tops, after the boys ordered some whiskeys and the girls "gin with orange juice". But, in the end, the party didn't finish so well for Henrique as the boys thought, because, even though Carlos and Remedios enjoyed themselves together, Mercedes didn't get enthused because she wanted to remember her boyfriend, Xos� Mar�a. |