After a short debate, he finally relented and agreed to order from a family owned Chinese place we have been meaning to check out, but have never gotten around to actually visiting. We just happened to have a menu in the stack of never used delivery menus and coupons. So he called and ordered a few of our family’s preferred dishes to be brought to our door.
Less than a half an hour later, our doorbell rang, announcing the food had arrived. My husband immediately jumped up and alerted the delivery person we were coming using the video doorbell system. Then he asked for me to give him a hand. I looked at him quizzically, but followed to help get everything from the door to the dining table.
Behind the door was a delivery person holding a large metal box, called an okamochi. I’ve seen these boxes many times over the years, typically hanging on the back of a motorcycle with a stabilization system so the food doesn't shift. I knew they were used for food delivery. But I’ve never had one bring me any food. They slid the door to the box up, revealing the food inside, and began handing four plates to my husband.
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| My son has a miniature okamochi in his play food set. |
As my husband passed the first two plates over to me, I exclaimed “These are REAL dishes!”
My husband turned and looked at me like I was an idiot. As eloquently as he could muster, he replied “Duh.”
“But what do we do with the dishes?” was my next question.
“We leave them by the door and someone comes to pick them up later.”
Talk about service!!! I have never, ever, heard of such a thing!
I continued to fuss as he paid for our food (cash, of course) and thanked the delivery person for his service. Once settled at the table, he told me that getting delivery served on dishes was totally normal for him. When he was growing up, all restaurants delivered food on actual dishes. Only recently, specifically with Covid and the introduction of companies like UberEats, have take-out containers become more typical. But, for many small restaurants that have their own delivery people, delivery on real dishes is still the norm.
Dinner was absolutely delicious. We are so excited to find more yummy food in our neighborhood. And, hopefully, my husband will relent to my requests for delivery a bit more knowing this restaurant checks so many boxes for us.
After we ate, I rinsed the plates and put them outside our front door and they were gone before noon the next day - just like room service in a hotel.
Despite the fact that I constantly complain about the wastefulness in this country, there is a small league of traditionalists that don’t leave you with a pile of garbage after a meal - just four small pieces of plastic wrap that covered each plate. These people (and their businesses) have my full support, especially since it means that I’ll be supporting a second type of business that I like to give my money to - family owned, small businesses.
