Last night we dropped Sawyer with Bibi and Babu (Swahili for Grandma and Grandpa) and went out for a little date together. For dinner we hit up a local Indian restaurant in Southern Ohio, and we were momentarily transported back to East Africa... That is, until we ordered food and it came out in minutes rather than hours. Amar India's menu was almost exactly like the menus we saw in the heavily Indian-influenced areas of East Africa where we lived for a couple years (major difference being the quality of English in the descriptions!). We ordered a meal that mirrored one of our favorite dinners out in Tanzania: Beef Samosas for an appetizer and entrees of Chicken Tikka Masala, Dal Makhani, and steamed vegetable rice, along with a couple sides of Nan. Mmmmmm-mmmm good! The Samosas had a different wrapping and used peas instead of onions, but otherwise, our meal was exactly what we ate in Africa (with better chicken). Even the little oval shaped metal dishes that the food came out in were the same! Thank you Amar India for a great meal that made us feel at home!
Then we went to a movie at the Dollar Saver theater, which was kind of like our Tanzanian theater, but less crowded and without all the local commercials and giant rats on the walls.
After the movie, we spent a little bit of time in a bookstore, then heard some live music coming from Starbucks, so we stopped in for a cup of chai (not coffee drinkers). The incredibly expensive chai latte was not all that good, but we did enjoy some music and some great people watching late into the night!
It's always good to have time alone together and to reflect, relax, and feel like we're at home... which in our case is always relative.
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3 comments:
You forgot to mention that--even with multiple pages on the menu--you could choose anything and they would actually have it! Rats on the walls? For real? Was this Dar or were you just exaggerating for effect?
Emily's comment reminded me of the time we went in a restaurant with a rather extensive menu (for eastern Africa). They were out of everything we tried to order. Finally we asked what they did have. Eggs an toast. OK. Bring us all eggs and toast… but why not save us the trouble of going through the entire menu when that's all you have?
I didn't know you could get samosas here in the states. I made some not long ago with egg roll wrappers. Next time I'll make them from scratch. I LOVE samosas!!!
You're right Emily and Barbara! We forgot to mention the menu difference. In East Africa menus have no purpose whatsoever, you walk in and ask what's available, if there's 3 choices you're lucky.
Totally serious Emily. In Dar, hit the right room on the right night and watch near the wall light fixtures as they run up and down. One night a huge one was rummaging around, the young European couple next to us was about to lose their dinner!
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