Mayuri

Friday night was date night.  We started out at the Memorial City Mall for some shopping.  We had heard there were some good deals at Dillard’s.  Pat had success, but I tend to get so overwhelmed at big department stores.  I did find some good deals on shoes, but they didn’t have any I liked in my size.  My find of the evening was a pair of $10 skinny jeans from Anne Taylor Loft (marked down from $60).  Not bad!

After shopping we didn’t have anything in mind for dinner, so we just drove around until we found something that looked good.  We ended up at Mayuri, an Indian restaurant in the Galleria area.  Neither of us had heard anything about it, but we figured we would try it.

It was a nice atmosphere and I was excited to see that their menu was divided by vegetarian vs. non-vegetarian options.  Pat ordered a lamb curry and I ordered a garbanzo bean curry.  I ordered mine with what they called Thali.  For an extra $5 you got a side of soup, yogurt, lentils, dessert and a few other items.

The soup came out first.  I’m not sure what it was called, but it was like wonton soup, only really spicy.

Then the garbanzo bean curry came out.  It didn’t have any chiles next to it in the menu, which meant it was not supposed to be spicy.  But my lips were numb after only a few bites.  Tasty, but too spicy for me to eat much.

I liked about half of the Thali - the lentils were really good, but even hotter than the garbanzo beans.

Dessert was small, but really good – a small biscuit coated in sugar and butter.  Does it get much better?  Good thing it was such a small serving!

Because the food was so hot, I only ate a little of it and mostly snacked on the naan.  I had a lot of leftovers.

Although the food was fine, the service was awful.  It took forever to get someone to take our order.  Then it took forever each time I wanted more water.  One server actually walked by my empty water cup several times without paying any attention to my attempt to flag him down.  When we finally managed to get our check, they charged us for a beer that Pat ordered, but was never brought out.

There is so much good Indian food in Houston, I don’t think we will be back to this location.  It’s a shame, but I really think that poor service can outweigh decent food.  And on the flip side, if the food is amazing, I might be willing to “put up” with poor service.  What are your thoughts on bad service at restaurants?

Outlet Shopping & The Ugly

Apparently the World Cup is on this weekend?  While the guys headed to a bar to watch the US game, the girls went shopping.  Outlet shopping at the Houston Premium Outlets.  Although it was hot out, it was a successful day of shopping!  Successful = many bags.

One of my goals today was to find black work heels to replace the beat up Kenneth Cole Reaction heels I have been wearing since May 2006.  Yes, I have worn the same black work heels since my first HR internship back in 2006.  It was time to move on.  I bought Nine West Oaks.  At the outlet store they were $50 (+ 25% off).  Had I waited until I got home to check online (or really, pulled out my iPhone), I would have seen that they are on sale on their website for only $30.

Source:  Nine West

I got a few tops at Banana Republic & Ann Taylor Loft, a pair of grey peep-toe flats from Aldo, and my shopping partner’s birthday gift to me – a Coach key chain.  I am a little Coach obsessed.  It’s probably not healthy.

After a long day, we got home around 8pm and decided to order some pizza from Spaghetti Western.  One of our favorite pizzas is “The Ugly” – grilled chicken, red onions, roma tomatoes and spicy chipotle tomatillo sauce.  I called to order it with half chicken / half no chicken.  We have never actually been to Spaghetti Western – we’ve always ordered delivery.

The guy on the phone informed me that their delivery driver had to go home sick tonight.  I was disappointed until he asked if I could be willing to pick it up if they gave me a discount on the pizza.  Well we had to eat – I said of course, without asking how much it would be.  He gave me half off the pizza!!  There really is a lot to be said for good customer service.

I was a little surprised when we got there.  It looked like half restaurant / half dive bar.  The people were really nice there.  The bartender grabbed my pizza and said, “thanks for coming to pick it up darlin’!”  It would be fun to actually go and eat there sometime!

The Ugly is a wonderful pizza.  The tomatillo sauce gives it just enough of a kick, and the veggies are really good.  The crust is thin but the outside dough is thick and buttery.  My only complaint is that the crust is too greasy – it makes my hands feel oily.  But it tastes so good.

So worth the drive to pick it up!

Lazy Sunday

After a lazy morning around the house, Pat agreed to go shopping with me.  We ran some errands and went to the Memorial City Mall.  We mostly just went to walk around.  I ended up buying this skirt at NY & Co:

When we got back home, I got on the treadmill.  I’ve had knee problems for the past year and a half.  My knee had been feeling better for awhile, but it started hurting again 2 weekends ago.  I did a lot of walking in my flip flops that weekend.  I should have learned my lesson by now, that I need to wear proper shoes when I’m going to be on my feet for a long time.  Anyway, I managed to do a full mile straight for the first time in 2 weeks, and that felt like an accomplishment.

After my workout, I made us dinner – yet another Hungry Girl recipe!  I am slowly working my way through her first two books.  I haven’t bought the third yet (HG 1-2-3), but I do have a birthday coming up.  Tonight I made the superb-y herby sauce-exposed pizzas.

I made them on my wheat sandwich thins.  I love Laughing Cow cheese so much, I added a little extra, and topped them with turkey pepperoni.  In my classic klutz-in-the-kitchen ways, I managed to drop one on the floor while serving them up.  I’m two for two this weekend!