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Okay onto the eating. Firstly, please let me make clear that the presence of the toddler seriously affects where you dine. Here’s a hint, if there are crayons and a placemat. You’re not in a fine dining establishment I would insert a joke about the south and going to Applebee’s for special events but that wouldn’t be fair. One could easily level the same criticism at people in Scottsdale, visiting the cheesecake factory, oops I just did:)

It’s behind a cut since it’s pretty DRY sorry , just too tired

First up is the Star of India in the gas lamp district. One of the worst things about moving to America was the quality of Indian food not been remotely close to that I had become accustomed to, within the UK. I got over that, eventually finding good Indian food with America. Sadly, never within traveling distance for lunch, dinner or within a three hour radius by car. Such was the case with the Star of India while not 100% traditional, they claim to make healthful recipes which to be honest is not the forte of Indian food to begin with, the service and food were excellent. My chicken vindaloo actually had some life to it while Erin’s healthful tikka masala still had depth and texture. Unusually, we decided to sit on the street. So I’m not going to complain about how cramped that choice was but as I said. Toddlers do affect your choice of dining location and a pissed off baby on the street annoys far less people. ( sadly no one is that considerate of us when eating) while the entrées themselves were fair value the pakora and naan bread headed off in the other direction.While it’s certainly worth going back to there are many more eateries of an Indian persuasion within walking distance that could make a while till we return. The staff were pretty attentive and amused Dobhran (or vice versa)

A lesser dining experiences was had at the Elephant and Castle which is a British themed pub overlooking the sea front in San Diego underneath the Holiday inn . Oddly enough about good luck with British food, a bold statement indeed, when eaten within view of the Pacific ocean my favorite bar being such a place overlooking Monterey Harbor threw this one into sharp relief.

Firstly, we had to send the calamari back which is a shame because they made a really good job of the batter and the seasonings and then totally fucked it up by leaving it in so long that had we required a plate of lemon tinged O-rings have been 100% happy.

The entres were better, thankfully, with Erin’s fish and chips being very well executed. Sadly, the meal I wanted was no longer on the menu and my backup choice while acceptable wasn’t exactly worth writing home about, and trust me, if there is any country that needs letters sent home to tell them how to fucking cook it’s the United Kingdom. And what of dessert? Well let’s just say that the pastry chef in the patio area smoking put us off. I shit you not chef’s whites in a chair within the patio dining area smoking. Didn’t bother to bring it up that it can happen is a pretty good indication they don’t give a flying fuck how they appear.

Always said that if there was Indian fast food or a mall. I’d happily eat it, that it would not need to be perfect but just relatively close in taste , texture and smell them well I got my chance to try this out. On the whole, the food was average any specialness having been absorbed into the sheer fact of the location. i.e in the middle of the food court amongst the usual crap with sticks,dogs and cinnamon.The sad thing is that most lunch buffets in Phoenix fare no better and end up costing more. One surprise was the absence of pakora which is so suited to being fast food, for Christ’s sake is fried, made from really cheap ingredients and has a variety of sauces that take forever to make and are often unique to the place you’re eating.. One day I’ll start a Pakora hut… just you watch:)