When you are in Falmouth, you should have an early dinner.

Falmouth is a small city in Cornwall, UK. In case you wind up in this city, there is one thing you should know. All the restaurants close by 10 pm. The city center is a blink-and-miss. The city hosts a harbor, and you can find a variety of boats anchored in the harbor. Consequently, you let your believe there is a certain kind of life associated with this city. If you tread in the line of thought, you will be fooled easily.

This weekend, I was in the city trying to find a place to have dinner. The first place featured Pizza and seafood. I ignored the first and focused on the second. Unfortunately, the lady at the counter apologized saying there are closing the kitchen and those seated remain the last ones to be served. In a way, this behavior reminded me of restaurants in Montmartre which refuse to take any more clientele after a certain time. There is a difference. In Montmartre, they neither want people to wait indefinitely nor want to hurry the existing customers. Here, they want to close the shop. And the time is only 9 pm.

I decided to walk through the city center. After rejecting the little choices I had, I came across a Thai restaurant. They had one reservation and if they showed up there would not be able to entertain us. At this point, I was curious. I asked the person at the counter. "Do restaurants close early around here?". The person nonchalantly replied. "Yes, unless it is an Indian restaurant. They are open until midnight or even until one a.m.". At this point, I choked. Until now, I wasn't able to figure out if it was a veiled insult or innocent remark. 

A group seated at the table right next to the host overheard my request for a table. As they had finished their dinner, they decided to take an early leave so that the restaurant could accommodate my family. The food was good. I soon forgot about the bitter taste. I trust it was an innocent remark. To be frank, the only restaurant that was open till one a.m. was a pizza shop. Probably, it is run by Indians!

Tags: Musings, Falmouth, Dinner