We celebrated Mom’s birthday dinner a little early this year at the restaurant of her choice, Lao Sze Chuan. I guess the lychee doesn’t fall far from the tree because when I first moved here I asked Adam to take me to this same restaurant for my birthday!

Sze Chuan is one of my favorite cuisines and I’d all but forgotten about this little gem of a restaurant.

We ordered all my favorite dishes as well! Yu Shang Qi Zi (Fragrant Fish Eggplant), Ma Pa To Fu (Spicy Tofu), Black Bean Clams and a Tea Smoked Duck.

It was soooo good. And soooo spicy. We were ALL snotting in our napkins within 10 minutes. If you can handle it, you should definitely check it out!

Afterwards Lara and Mom had a big fight about the bill which ended in Lara grabbing Mom’s credit card away from the giggling waitress and telling them it was her birthday and pushing her own card on them. That waitress said in a very thick accent, “So sorry.” Then grinned wide at Mom and said, “Happy Birthday!”

Later they dimmed the entire restaurant to bring us this typical Asian dessert with a candle in it…

They sang in English and Chinese then Mom pushed her luck by asking one of the waitresses how old she thought Mom was. The woman said without blinking, “Eighty.”

Mom is seventy-six. But at least she still has a good sense of humor about these things.