Koshary on a Dollary

Our first real excursion into Doha was for a bite of lunch, still on our day zero in Qatar. We had originally written this day off, as we thought we’d be jetlagged to hell but it turns out we were in pretty good shape. Whatever the crazy timing of the flights had been, we had been left feeling somewhat normal.

Corey drove us to Petra, technically a fast food chain that was far from the typical fast food that we’re used to. It’s middle-eastern food made quick. The dishes we had were Koshary (an egyptian pasta, rice, lentil, chickpea concoction, carbs FTW!), pocket falafel sandwiches and assorted pickles and sauces. Total bill for three was somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 and we took half of the Koshary home, uneaten (but long-since eaten now).

The ordering was simple in the end, but I think you’d be excused for being a bit confused the first time. You pay first at one station and then present two separate receipts over at two different kitchen stations.  This is typical of ordering anything most places aside from the USA; a solid separation between money handling and the food. The only catch this time was that we had no idea which receipt went where so the cook behind counter gave a bit of chuckle and redirected us but took our other receipt.

Qatari currency is beautiful, but has been confusing because there are familiar Arabic numerals (actually Hindu-Arabic Numerals) on only one side, with the other side having the Eastern Arabic Numerals that are more common in the middle-east. Obligatory wikipedia link.

So when I paid, I just handed over a wad of cash, two 50 riyal bills for what was a bit over 30 riyal. The cashier was kind and politely reflected one of the 50’s back at me.

There was a table minder at the restaurant, a guy who was sort of cleaning up and delivering some food items that came up late. We were looking for a place to sit, but there weren’t any obvious spots for the three of us. He noticed this, said “there’s a guy over here who’s done!” and went over to some random dude eating and basically told him to pack it up and leave. He very obviously wasn’t done at all and we later realized that this was, quite possible, our first time participating in the Qatari social hierarchy. That will stick with us and color many of our interactions here.

Anyway, food was top notch; would eat again. Afterwards we walked around and explored a few shops. Most things were closed until 4pm, so it was a fairly passive affair. Then we headed back home to catch up with Jennie up after her teaching day.