Shopping and mall food.

My mother has been taking my daughter shopping for all her school clothes and supplies. Until today I have escaped this outing but since I was home this weekend (and not in North Bay working on the house with my Dad), we decided it would be nice for all of us to go out together. And it was.

It was really nice to spend time with my Mom and to see my little girl bomb around the mall looking at things she likes and expressing her opinion about things she doesn't. She's an independent one that one and she really knows her own mind. *sigh* She's growing up quickly.

We hit some stores, found some stuff and then decided to stop for lunch. Now, I'm not really a fast food person anymore. I used to be - it was easy, quick and cheap - but I've gotten away from putting that stuff into my body. However, when you are in the mall, have just spent 2 hours shopping, are hungry and really just want to sit somewhere for a minute there aren't many choices. So, off we headed to the food court.

Mom went to Feta & Olives and got herself what looked like a really yummy pita - and it was good. She said it was good anyway. I took a look around and spied Tandori - the Indian food place. I love Indian food - the smell, the colours, the taste, even that little zesty kick some of the curry has - all of it appeals to me. I stepped into line and perused the menu. They have a number of appetizing options but the one that caught me had a good price as well. For $5 I got a Tandori Rice Bowl - a good helping of basmati rice and my choice of curry to top it. Sounded like a good deal and the smells coming from behind the counter were teasing me. I ordered the bowl with butter chicken - seemed like a safe bet. I mean it's butter chicken. I've cooked it from scratch at home and know that while time consuming, it's a pretty sure thing. I also added a bottle of water and a samosa (mmmm samosa) for a total of just under $9.

Carrying my yummy prize back to our table, I opened the styrofoam container (tsk, tsk - not very green) and was disappointed immediately. Some of the chicken was so dark it was instantly unappealing. I'm not a dark meat fan but when it's dark enough to see under all the sauce - it's too dark. Dark meat is good for soups, stuffing pasta and even the occasional casserole but I think white meat would have been the better choice in this particular dish. The rice was cooked perfectly - not mushy, not crunchy. But the butter chicken sauce was watery and bland at best. Not what I look for in Indian food. As for the samosa, the thing I was hoping would renew my opinion of this particular restaurant chain was also quite disappointing. It was luke warm and everything inside it was dried out. Ewww. Not even the tamarind sauce could revive it. I probably should have taken it all back and gotten a refund but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Into the garbage it went and we continued on with our shopping.

All in all - Tandori was an extremely disappointing experience and one I will not repeat any time soon. The upside - the lady behind the counter was pleasant and polite - one thing, at least, the Tandori has in its favour.

Best of all, I spent time with two people I love very much.