The Anticipation and Expectation: Zooroona

          When first deciding upon a restaurant to review, I looked towards word of mouth for recommendations. I've relied on websites in the past to decide where to eat, which usually gives solid direction to great places, but I've also run into some questionable restaurants because of website recommendations. Don't get me wrong, Yelp and Urbanspoon are pretty good at rating. But I'll never forget the time when I followed a website recommendation and ended up at "Flat Top Grill", a restaurant in downtown Madison with an attention-getting facade -- sure, it looked nice from the outside, but when I was served burnt rice and uncooked fish (which ended up giving me food poisoning) by a rude waiter, I immediately regretted my decision. So usually I try to ask around instead of rely on internet surfers who may or may not have different ideas about what makes food edible.
          I had heard from my roommate that "Rasa Ria", "Zooroona", and "Bangkok Flavor" were close and affordable ethnic restaurants that offered wonderful selections of amazing food. I've had Indonesian and Thai food at restaurants in Madison, but I'm not familiar with Middle Eastern food; after talking to a few more people who verified the cool atmosphere and great food, I decided on Zooroona.
          Before reading Molz's chapter in "Culinary Tourism", I was expecting (or hoping) to have a really authentic experience, a window into another culture through food. Of course, Zooroona advertises its "AUTHENTIC Middle Eastern cuisine". I wanted to experience as much of this authenticity as possible -- and after reading the chapter, I realize that true "authenticity" really doesn't exist. All I am hoping/expecting now is that I have a uniquely different eating experience, and that I do end up crossing some kind of border in entering a "Middle Eastern" restaurant. I know that it may not be "authentic", whatever that means, but I do expect to have an experience that really, really differs from what I'm familiar with. The only experience I've had with Middle Eastern food was when I was about 12 years old; my family and I went to an Ethiopian restaurant, where we were seated on the ground around a long, low table. We shared multiple dishes, dipping bread into each while we passed all of them around. On Zooroona's website, there is no specification as to which region of the Middle East the cuisine is based on, and I don't really remember what the Ethiopian food tasted like; I have no expectations about what the food will taste like, but I want to try as many dishes as possible that are totally strange to me.
          I have a pretty open mind when it comes to food, and I love trying new stuff. I'm excited to try Middle Eastern and see what kind of experience I come away with!