CHANGE CAN BE A VERY PLEASANT SURPRISE, NOT A LOSS.

As a belated birthday present I took two people to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants to which I had not been for a few months.  When we arrived, a woman was putting up a sign which told us their phone connection was not working so there could be no credit card payments.  Since i was carrying some 'mad' money, it turned out not to be a problem.

Not one familiar face was visible.  There were only a man and a woman working the entire restaurant.  I asked if it had changed hands when the menu was totally different and my favorite dish was not on it.  Indeed, it is under new ownership.  Since the dish I had come for was my very favorite dish of any restaurant and only found there in the past, I cannot describe my disappointment.

Nevertheless, we decided to try new dishes and were greatly pleased.  We all had shrimp tom yum.  It was nothing like we expected though it was delicious.  At $4 a bowl, it had only two, rather than the usual three shrimp but they were large and the tail had been removed (much easier to eat in soup)  It was not hot and sour but had a sweetness to it and some tomato, lime leaves, and fresh mushroom slices with cilantro and who-knows-what other Heavenly seasonings.

When I mentioned it to the waitress-owner, she said it is because it is not an American version but the traditional Thai Tom Yum and was pleased when we said we loved it..I had a basil fish dish and one of my guests had a ginger fish dish.  A third had an eggplant specialty of the house.which he enjoyed.

The moral:  Get over the disappointment fast and try the new.  You might like it as much as we did...whatever it may be.