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What do you order when eating at a restaurant?
Transplants | Last Active: Jan 6, 2022 | Replies (67)Comment receiving replies
I eat the bread and my friends and family let me select my piece first. I am the official bread cutter a well as the permanent designated driver. If there is olive oil or any dipping dish, I ask for a separate dish. Of course I do to with a smile and a 'please' . (It is a wonderful opportunity to mention that I am a transplant recipient and do a bit of promotion for organ donation! I have even extended invites to Mayo Clinic Connect.
I never use any of the condiments on the table, even before Covid. I have even learned that fries without catsup taste good! Sometimes, I ask my husband to put some catsup on my plate when he gets his.
My choice beverage is unsweetened ice tea with no lemon slice.
I do like to use a straw, I always have. But even that can be tricky - wrapped, partial wrap, unwrapped, in a dispenser are all confusing. It is a judgement call based on where I am.
I am selective about ice in my drink. Early after transplant I drank everything at room temperature to avoid ice. I have eased up in my 'older transplant years'.
I do wipe silverware. I don't know that it does much good, but I feel better about it. On rare occasions, I have asked for a replacement.
My husband and I were in Alaska in 2008 and 2010, and all the water was from the well, except for the drinking and cooking water. That is where we found some of the cloudiest silverware and glassware I have ever seen. It was cloudy, but clean - and it accompanied the best salmon imaginable.
@hello1234, Let common sense guide your choices. You will find adjustments cumbersome at first, but it does get easier over time.
Did you dine out much before your kidney transplant? What do you look forward to ordering when you do go out to eat?
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Thank you @rosemarya for sharing all your wonderful tips on how to navigate eating out at restaurants as a new transplant! I hate to admit this to you, but before my transplant and before covid, I ate almost every meal at a restaurant. I always worked long hours full time and one of my favorite treats was getting up super early and stopping for a hot delicious breakfast and coffee at my local diner on the way to work. Lots of early morning regulars having breakfast together. Very social and fun. (Before masks and social distancing!) At noon was lunch with the girls at the office. After work, was dinner out. Nothing fancy, just eating out as entertainment. Yep, almost every meal out!. Of course, now my life is the exact opposite. With covid and my new kidney, every meal has been at home since March 2020 when covid started. (My transplant was July 2020). I keep talking about restaurants and eating out because I look forward to the day when I can meet friends at a restaurant again. Not every meal, like the old days, but a few times a week would be wonderful. I am not sure if my favorite restaurants survived the pandemic. My neighbor ate out at a local restaurant last week and she said the service was terrible because they were terribly short staff, the restaurant floor was dirty, and the food was disappointing. She definitely made me feel better about not eating out during these current circumstances. It didn't sound like a pleasant dining experience at all. So for now, I will continue to enjoy my baked salmon and baked chicken at home and dream about what I will order during my future visit to a well-staffed, clean and yummy restaurant after covid! Thank you again for being so helpful to me and for sharing your tips. (I agree with you that french fries with no catsup sounds heavenly!) ❤