Okay, so I am required to attend a dinner at a local steak and seafood place Friday evening and I'm still on a soft food diet. I'd hoped to find a basic grilled fish on the menu. No such luck, of course. The choices I'm considering are as follows:

1 - crab cake appetizer (I'm guessing not the wisest choice, due mostly to the breadcrumbs that are sure to be crispy, though it might be okay if I choose really well.)

2 - clam chowder - sometimes has fairly tough clams, and I don't want to spend 1/2 the night spitting out the bits that don't chew down well enough. Also, I'd end up with more potato, cream, and flour than Protein...

3 - Broiled prawns - should be tender enough to be well enough chewed to be okay, but they're basted and served with melted butter (although, I'll probably only get through a prawn or two, if I'm lucky...)

4 - Fish n chips - I'd plan to only eat the fish inside the breading.

5 - Shrimp and avocado sandwich - I'd plan to eat only the bay shrimp, swiss, and avocado inside the sandwich.

It actually looks like there are several possible options, but what do you all think is the smartest choice? I think I'm leaning toward the shrimp and avocado sandwich or the fish n chips (at least the sandwich has 3 flavors instead of one, and I might get a little tomato too.).

-The broiled prawns are the best choice. Soft, lean Protein, goes down really well. But if I were you, I'd simply ask them to GRILL the shrimp, not broil it in butter. It's a steak place, that's an easy request.

-The sandwich would be nice & soft too (just the innards, no bread) but if its like any seafood salad I've ever seen, it'll be dripping with mayonnaise.

-Definitely not the deep-fried fish. My NUT's instructions say absolutely not--taking off the batter doesn't count, the food is still filled with grease.

Remember, just try to enjoy yourself, and focus on the people. You'll be devoting more time to them than this negligible amount of food anyway!

I would go with the shrimp & avocado sandwich too. Like you said there's 3 things in there that we can eat and it's usually easy to discard the bread.

If it were me I would plan to eat only the fish inside the breading of the fish & chips but would possibly break down and eat some breading and a chip or two.

I've only eaten out once, 4 days ago and I was so scared I would eat too fast or too much or get the foamies. We took our little Granddaughters out for Mexican food and they don't know about my surgery because I think they are too young. I knew if I had to run to the bathroom to spit they would come with me. Everything was OK but a bit nerve racking.

Thanks both! I'm glad I took the time to look at the menu and make some initial decisions beforehand instead of having to figure it out there.

Yw! Yes, very smart to strategize on menus beforehand if you can! We all may have good general ideas, but every restaurant is different, and they may just throw you a curveball.