There were two disappointments and two happy discoveries with the hostibule’s room service. That said, they were every bit as solid as they had been last year. These are the only two “problems” I had when I was there, and they deserve a raise. Their food and excellent customer service helped make a nasty situation a bit better.
Disappointment One: they had taken the teriyaki chicken stir-fry I’d liked so much last year off the menu (forcing me to have a bacon cheeseburger instead)
Disappointment Two: the next morning I discovered I was on a reduced salt diet. No surprise there considering my BP at admission was 211/107 and refused to drop below about 175/90 until the next day. Thanks to the reduced salt diet I couldn’t have ham on my omelette. So instead of the ham, mushroom and Swiss omelette I’d anticipated, I wound up having a mushroom and Swiss omelette. Then for lunch I ordered another bacon cheeseburger, which they approved despite, you know, bacon. Which struck me as weird. And Wednesday morning they let me have bacon in my omelette instead of ham. Apparently despite being salt-soaked, bacon has less salt than ham. Who knew?
Happy Discovery One: Because they couldn’t give me salt, I got some weird but tasty salt-free seasoning mix packets. I made sure to save one so I can have Stacie but a jug of it when she gets a chance.
Happy Discovery Two: the tomato, basil, and cheese flatbread. Since I’d decided against a third cheeseburger, I went with the tomato and lentil Masala soup and said flatbread. The soup wasn’t bad, and the flatbread was delicious and something I’m pretty sure I can copy and tweak pretty easily. As far as I could tell, it’s just thick flatbread like a pita or naan rather than what you’d use for a sandwich wrap, some kind of cheese, thin slices of onion, and the aforementioned basil sprinkled over the top, with the whole thing thrown under the broiler to melt the cheese and partially cook the tomato. The cheese was mottled white and yellow, so I’m guessing a mixture of mozzarella and mild cheddar. And since the only real carbs in it was the flatbread it came in really low in carbs. Like less than the two cans of V8 I drink for breakfast every morning at work.
So you know once I’m allowed back in the kitchen I’ll be making my own version. Thinking of using my bruschetta instead of the tomato slices though. My only real concern is using it for lunch at work because I can’t cook it at work and have no idea how well it will nuke up. That said, there are far worse things for lunch than cold cheesy tomato flatbread. Worst case, I’ll make cheesy garlic flatbread, bring a little container of bruschetta, and assemble it on the spot.
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