Try the Salmon Salad!
It took me ages, but I finally decided on a salmon salad. Which is what I always have for lunch, except this was at a different place. How adventurous of me!
They gave me a number to take to the table with me. Self-service, sit where you want, the usual. The little table number sign looks invisible, but the staff know how to navigate their restaurant. Maybe they have excellent memories and don’t even need the aid? The cook himself brought me my salad. Then, I noticed I’d forgotten to take utensils.
I left everything and went to get a knife and fork (this is Finland, my belongings won’t instantly disappear – though someone did once steal my very worn-out yoga mat). I came back to my spot, and fished around my bag for my glasses, so I could see my meal properly. And then noticed it was literally nothing but salad and salmon!
But where were the other ingredients? I distinctly remembered pickled fennel mentioned in the menu. I remembered that because fennel was the reason I’d eventually narrowed down my choice to this very dish: the vegetable is rarely on offer over here.
I looked under the salad pieces, playing hide-and-seek, hoping some fennel would hop out and say peekaboo! All I found, however, was the typical factory-packed salad you get over here that resembles plastic. Either the fennel was very good at hiding, I needed new glasses, or it was simply missing.
In fact, the salad was supposed to include cabbage and onion, too. After searching, I found a few pieces, maybe four altogether, but definitely no fennel. Shrinkflation, I think it’s called.
I left all my things again and went back to the counter where I’d ordered. The girl working there quickly stated she didn’t actually speak much Finnish and we switched into English.
She smiled and was very pleasant, but had no idea what I was talking about, as the menu had disappeared – I might have been the last lunch customer, since they remove the lunch menu at 2 pm. My German friend is always shocked when I tell her people at my workplace always, always, always have lunch at 11. Breakfast time for her! And too early for me, too.
After some explaining, the girl – waitress, I guess the appropriate term is – dished out a menu, in English, and noted that it said nothing about fennel. I told her I must’ve been reading the Finnish menu. She looked surprised but managed to find it, and together, we noted that the Finnish menu did indeed promise more ingredients than just salad and salmon, fennel being one of them.
The thing is, the cook didn’t speak Finnish either! So it appeared neither of them had known the Finnish menu was different from the English one. The girl was selling the Finnish version, with lots of nice things included, and the cook was preparing the English version, with just the bare minimum!
Whether it was a translation error or a version mix-up, I might have been the first one to ever mention (or notice?) their salad was actually missing several ingredients. Finns, ever modest and obedient, are not big on voicing their complaints, but accept whatever is handed to them.
The waitress said not to worry, and brought me some fennel and egg to add to my salad. My phone, wallet, purse, shopping, cardigan, and other possessions were all still sitting nicely at the table waiting for me.
Next time, I just went back to my usual lunch place.
I’m always interested in different cultures, and so I’m curious: could this story have happened where you live? On the plus side, leaving your things and trusting they won’t get stolen, but on the minus side, the salad being incredibly sparse and rubbery, no one complaining about the food not matching the order, and the staff not speaking the local language?
Entirely unrelated, I leave you with some flower photos I took with my phone while walking by.
