Friday, October 17, 2008

那天﹐下班後﹐約了朋友一起吃晚飯。朋友提議吃中國菜﹐便打算走到PARNELL STREET上面那間香港人開的鋪子去。豈料﹐走到O'CONNELL STREET時﹐雨越下越大﹐我們決定還是到轉角處那一間中國餐館去好了。到PARNELL STREET的那一間鋪﹐可還有十分鐘的路程。我們都不想做隻落湯雞。

那是一間新開的中國餐館﹐叫「巴蜀人家」。跟倫敦那邊那間有點潮的「BARSHU」沒有一點關係。都柏林這間鋪的裝修不過是中國人小餐館的格局。況且﹐蠻奇怪的﹐她的英文名字喚做「M&L」。我想不到「巴蜀人家」跟「M&L」有什麼聯繫。

這間鋪位的上手租客也是經營中國餐館。店名喚作「金滿庭」。(竟然跟香港CONRAD酒店那家著名中菜廳一樣名字。)不過﹐結業已經將近一年。記得去年夏天﹐父母過來探訪。有天﹐他們自行到那間餐館吃中飯。可是﹐他們點什麼﹐侍應都說廚房沒有預備。父親氣得嚷著要走。最後﹐只胡亂點了個炒飯。父母返回香港後幾星期﹐那間店亦已關門大吉。

其實﹐那間店不關門大吉才是不正常的事。無疑﹐O'CONNELL STREET是整個都柏林﹐甚至是整個愛爾蘭裡面最大的一條街。不過﹐那個鋪位卻是在一個暗暗的轉角處。假若不是刻意轉頭從大街望向那個暗角﹐一般人根本不可能留意得到。所以﹐「金滿庭」經常只有一兩檯食客。

不過﹐我對她卻有些少特別的情感。畢竟﹐那是我在愛爾蘭首都吃第一頓飯的餐館。那天我們在黃昏抵達﹐跟母親在酒店安頓好一切後﹐便隨處找些吃的。母親提議到中國餐館去﹐因為她希望喝點中國茶。那才是我首次踏足愛爾蘭﹐人既生路也不熟﹐當然不知道如何的找。手上那本《目擊旅遊》亦沒有介紹什麼中國餐館。在O'CONNELL STREET走得累了﹐正要隨意找間餐廳作罷﹐就竟然眾裡尋她千百度般看到了那一個暗暗的轉角處。

可是﹐話也得說回來。的確﹐「金滿庭」經常整個晚上就只有一兩檯食客﹔「巴蜀人家」倒完全是另外一回事﹐經常高朋滿座。一檯食客走了﹐便有另外的立即替補。侍應老是忙個不停。從前﹐在「金滿庭」還可以靜靜的跟朋友一邊吃飯﹐一邊聊天兒﹔現在﹐同一個鋪位﹐耳邊裡盡是那些嘈吵的中國餐館聲音。既有國語﹐也有英文。曾經﹐亦有粵語。早陣子﹐兩位香港人來到這座城市搞搞都柏林首條地鐵線的投標工作﹐「巴蜀人家」就是他們的飯堂。他們幾乎每個晚上都在這間中國餐館渡過。

我其實不覺得「巴蜀人家」的菜燒得比「金滿庭」出色。不過﹐「巴蜀人家」的菜比較便宜﹐份量也足﹐倒是無可置疑。當然﹐亦得說清楚﹐我這個人除了最好的和最壞的外﹐中間水準的﹐我是沒有辦法分得開。

走到店裡去﹐可能時候還有點早﹐竟然未有滿座。侍應讓我們任意找個位置。四目張望﹐看到了一對朋友也認識的馬來西亞夫婦﹐便選了他們隔鄰的那張二人座位。

互相打過招呼後﹐我發現﹐原來﹐這對馬來西亞人已經差不多吃畢整頓晚飯。我笑著用英語對那個男的道﹕「你竟然還這麼早下班﹖聽說你們公司剛來了第二波的裁員。沒有你的份兒罷﹖W跟我講﹐大裁員後﹐實在忙得不可開支。甚至沒有辦法下班。」W和他都來自馬來西亞﹐同在友公司上班。我早知道W和他都是幸存者之一。

他故作低聲地說﹕「所以﹐拜託你說話不好那麼大聲。我不希望第三波來到的時候﹐累及了我。」接下來﹐當然無可避免地談到當前的經濟狀況。這位馬來西亞人有點試探口氣問道﹕「你們公司可有什麼變動﹖」他竟然也學著奧巴馬巧妙地運用那一個「CHANGE」字。

「上天保祐。老實說﹐假若不是那天在火車上碰到了W,我也不知道外面環境這樣惡劣。至少﹐今年公司還會舉行兩個聖誕派對。......聽說上星期S便來過我們公司面試。」S本來是這位馬來西亞人的同事。在第二波裁員裡給裁掉了。

聽到我的回答﹐他點著頭道﹕「我也不希望你們公司有什麼變動。可知道﹐你們公司是整個市場的橋頭堡。假如你們也出現困難﹐我們是完定的了。」

一時間我也不知道該說些什麼話﹐唯有天真地道﹕「就希望這場惡夢很快完結好了。」

我當然曉得這句話實在幼稚得很。

4 comments:

Snowdrops said...

Actually the major Chinese restaurants in town are all on the south side. The Imperial on Wicklow Street has been here for decades (and recently refurbished), whilst the Good World on South Georges Street is the one that my parents prefer.

I always found it hard to find a decent place to eat in town north of River Liffey. With the exception of a couple of Korean restaurants around the Parnell St. area that is. That said, perhaps out of a misplaced sense of prejudice, I haven't tried any of the Mainland-Chinese owned eateries in the newly-emerging Chinatown in that area.

The Man Who Loves Everton said...

i agree with your parents. i think the best chinese restaurant in dublin is the one on george street. (i always confuse its name with the one opposite to stephen's green shopping mall. in fact that one is not bad.) i think i tried imperial before. but i don't like it. anyway, none can compare to royal china in london which is my favourite.

yes, it is easier to find some decent place to eat on the south bank. but 101 talbot street is good. it is the address and it is the name. recently my fav is the italian near ifi. forget the name at this moment. they do very good italian cuisine.

Snowdrops said...

Oh yes, I forgot about 101 Talbot! Actually I interviewed the owner of this restaurant for one of my first year assignments in university. At the time he was one of the few (in fact the only one in town) who combined support for community arts with his restaurant business.

Yes the New Century (or was it New World?) opposite Stephen's Green isn't too bad either. I'm really not that discerning when it comes to Chinese cuisine - any place that does decent congees and noodles would have my vote.

I think your English inclination is showing when you say the South Bank as opposed to the South Side, which is how we Irish call the area south of River Liffey in Dublin. You may have heard about the snobbery between northsiders and southsiders in Dublin? Despite my dissing of the general availability of quality cuisine on the north side, I'm actually a proud northsider :)

My favourite restaurant in Temple Bar is actually Tante Zoe, which does gorgeous French/Creole dishes, and not far from the IFI either.

The Man Who Loves Everton said...

oh yes, i know he supports theatre.

ha, i was talking to my friend about South Bank of London at that moment. to be exact, BFI. he is going to go to london next week. (actually, so am i.)

oh i like the congee from the one on george street (Good World, right?). sometimes, i'd wonder why my company is not in the city centre (when i think of congee for lunch).

haven't tried that restaurant before. will try later.

p.s. i thought you are not from this side of the river. i'm also a northsider.