Reader discretion advised, this post contain disgusting materials.
It was casual school day when my brother and I were taking a walk downtown and noticed this small local restaurant that serves Uyghur food in the corner of a busy commercial street. The restaurant had a rusty small unnoticeable blue signs says ”halal food”. My brother and I decided to go in. As we stepped into the restaurant through a barely fitting small door, a handsome Uyghur man with beautiful piercing green eyes welcomed us and showed us a table for 2. Restaurant had simple cheap wooden tables and chairs that weren’t that comfortable. We put down our heavy school backbags and waved Hi to our Colombian friend who was sitting in the next table.
Even though the restaurant did not look very classy yet the food was astonishingly delicious. There was something about the taste that makes it unique. Unlike any other Uyghur restaurants we went to, this restaurant’s food was exceptional. Was it their perfectly cooked silky noodles? Or the fresh earthy vegetables they use?
We became regular customers of that Uyghur restaurant till day we found out about their dirty little secret.
That day my brother and I were having lunch there, we both ordered a tudou mian; which is basically noodles topped with potatoes, green pepper and carrots.
As I was about to eat I looked down at my plate and noticed part of a transparent wing showing from underneath the thinly sliced carrots. I picked up the carrots with my chopsticks to look what’s underneath and saw toilet flies!!!!
I went to the restaurant manger/owner and I showed him my plate. He took it from my hands and loudly said to the chief ”Make another tudou mian”.
I went back and sat in my chair.” What’s the matter?” my brother asked. I replied ” nothing. It was just a mosquito”.
I did not want to say I found hairy short legged toilet flies laying dead in my plate. That would have been sounded a little too graphic for my brother who was still eating at that time.
Few minutes later, the waiter came with unusual amount of vegetables and noodles. It was twice the normal portion. I thought to myself maybe he is trying to apologize about the toilet flies and wanted to make it up by doubling the portion of the food.
He handed me the chopsticks and just before I even start eating a poor cockroach was trying to escape from the hot noodles! And was trying to climb up my chopsticks!!
I panicked and I jumped out of my chair. The waiter took my chopsticks immediately flipped them upside down, picked up the cockroach by MY CHOPSITCKS, killed that poor creature and gave me back my chopsticks and said to me problem solved.
My brother saw who was eating at that time could not swallow down the food that was already in his mouth. He was about to throw up. He was putting one hand over his mouth and I can tell from his body language that he was trying to tell us to stop talking about the toilet flies and cockroaches because he was about to throw up.
Instead of apologizing about what happened, the manger tried to convince me to eat that meal since they killed the cockroach and that the cockroach was not a big deal!
I was not shocked how the manger dealt with this matter. After all, many Chinese people eat insects. We left without paying for the 2 meals of toilet flies and cockroaches that they served me. But we paid for my brother’s meal because unfortunately he ate most of it.
I cannot go back to school. I am not feeling well, I want to go back home I said to my brother. I had a severe unbearable stomach ache, I could hardly stand straight. I got into the bus and I unbuttoned my shirt because I could not breathe easily, I was nauseated and I felt like I was going to throw up at anytime!
I was sick for 3 days and I stopped eating noodles for a while after that horrible incident. I never went to the hospital because it was all psychological. I knew there was no way I could get a food posing because I did not eat a single bite. I saw the toilet flies and the cockroach before I started eating. But just seeing those insects in my plate made me really ill for couple of days!
Later that day my brother told me I knew you were lying when you said it was just a mosquito. I could tell from your facial expressions that you have seen a more disgusting and filthier insect.
Omaima Al Najjar 