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Last night we went out for Indian food. We normally would head straight to 6th street between 1st & 2nd aves ("Indian Food Row") but on our way there we got distracted by all the places that had outdoor seating. We knew none of the usual haunts had that, and it would be a shame to sit inside a restaurant with the beautiful "summer" night about. We came across one place that was Indian food with outdoor seating. They had one table for two left. As we were debating, a waiter came up and did his high-pressure sales pitch which ended up with us sitting at that last table.

He asked if I wanted sparkling water, which I did because I always get it - not because I'm a snob (ok, a little because I'm a snob) but mostly because the bubbles make my tummy not hurt and I don't really like soda. So I would have gotten it anyway if he hadn't asked. But he brought out this giant (2 liters?) bottle of Pelligrino which I didn't even drink half of. But of course before I could object, he'd opened it and poured it. Ok, that's like 6 bucks I didn't need to spend.

Craig and I both got our normal Indian meals, Aloo Motor Gobi for me and Saag Panir for him, but the food was disappointing. His food is supposed to me comprised mainly of spinach (saag) and cheese (panir) but there were an awful lot of onion "fillers" and not a lot of cheese. My food is supposed to have potatoes (aloo) but it was mostly potatoes. And they were flavorless. We also ordered a side of nan bread. Turns out for $4 you get one piece. One piece of bread? When we ate that one we ordered another, and it didn't come until we had finished the rest of our meals. Then they brought us two at the same time, because we had asked someone where our bread was. They didn't give us both, though they prob would if we'd wanted to spend another $4.

Craig ordered a beer, and since I don't like beer I thought I'd try the drink they had described as "an intoxicated drink of love." when I asked the waiter what it was comprised of, he said it was rum, brandy, and champagne. OK, I'll try it. When he brings it out, he said "Oh I made a mistake. It's actually tequila, rum, and" something else that I forgot because I heard the word tequila. I don't like tequila. I didn't want a tequila drink. But he set it down anyway and made me taste it. "How is it?" "I'm not a big fan of tequila, so I don't really like it." "Yeah but it'll get you where you want to go!" That's very true. If I wanted to get drunk, I could certainly drink tequila. But there is also the point that I don't want to go there, as evidenced by the fact that I'm at a restaurant at 7pm on a Wednesday night and not at a bar buying tequila shots. I drank the drink because I knew we were already paying for it and they wouldn't bring me another even though they made a mistake.

The outdoor seating did allow for some good people watching though, as one couple was lured in by the Zagat sign on the window. They guy actually walked by and said "Ooh, Zagat!" as it caught his eye, and was serious. For non- New Yorkers (or other big city people), the Zagat guide is there to review restaurants. But everything is Zagat rated. Seriously. The challenge is to find something that does not have the Zagat sticker on the window. So that's why it was utterly hilarious that the guy was so excited about eating in a Zagat-rated restaurant.

When our bill came, of course it was a little more than we wanted to spend, but we learned our lesson not to ever go there again. We did have outdoor seating, but we didn't have good food or good service that was worth the high price.



ps- don't freak when I don't post anything for a few days, because remember, I'll be in DC til Sunday.

And remember, Dollar Rent a Car sucks.