I went to the lone Pizza hut here in Sana’a today. I just couldn’t live without pizza… On the whole, it was pizza hut pizza, just a little worse. They were really light in the sauce, and they did not put any of the “all beef” pepperoni on my pizza like they were supposed to. But it was pizza. As my friend Jim Deladorie once said, “Sometimes it’s better to have two mediocre pizzas than just one good pizza.” I agree wholeheartedly, and using that logic, one mediocre pizza is MUCH better than no pizza at all. I have actually had better pizza here. There is an “italian” restaurant here in Sana’a that is pretty good, they have a brick oven and everything. If I remember, they were also a little cheaper, but they were not open for lunch… To put things in perspective, I paid 200 Riyals for my kabob dinner yesterday. That got me 5 mini kabobs, fresh bread, and a (super) small salad. In comparison, I spent over 1700 Riyals for my pizza and 7-up today. Add the taxi costs and I paid 10 times today what I paid yesterday…
Even if the food was so so, the people watching was fascinating. Like most restaurants on Hadda street, most of the women removed their veils when eating. That isn’t all that surprising, after all, how would you eat with a veil on? What was kind of surprising is that they were doing this while not sitting in the “family” section. Most restaurants here have their main section and the family section. The family section is where women can sit. I sat in the regular section since I was by myself, I was afraid that people would think that I was scoping out the chicks if I hung out in the family section by myself. Well, this place was a veritable western values hotbed in sunny Sana’a. I saw some kids that looked like they were on a date! There was no holding of hands or anything that risque, but still! I also saw a young woman being dropped off in front of the place. After the car pulled away, she whipped off her balto and flagged down a taxi. She was up to something that her parents wouldn’t approve of I’m sure:-) So an interesting, if expensive day.
Isaac