Terrible Dining

As you know from this blog, I consider Mexico, and Mexico City in particular, to be one of the greatest places in the world to enjoy great food.  In Mexico City you will find not only all the regional dishes of Mexico, but also restaurants representing a wide range of international cuisines.

Not too far from the apartment there is a place called Dhaka Biriyani that specializes in Bangladeshi and Indian food.  I went there once several years ago and ordered a Bangladeshi dish.  The service was good and the I liked the food, except that it was very spicy, even for me.  Last Saturday, I was trying to decide where we should go for dinner.  I was looking online at the menu for the Bangladeshi restaurant and saw that they had "rogan josh".  "Rogan josh" is one of my favorite Indian curry sauces.  Back in Ohio, I would often buy a jar of it at the supermarket, and serve it with chicken, rice and vegetables.  Unfortunately, the very good Indian restaurant near the apartment does not serve "rogan josh".  So, Alejandro and I decided to go to Dhaka Biriyani.

The place is very small.  The last time I was there, I ate at a table outside.  But since it was a chilly evening, we went inside.  The first thing that we noticed was that all the tablecloths were stained.  An older man, that we assumed was the owner, waited on us.  A couple of younger guys (his sons?) were sitting around glued to their cell phones.  Our server was extremely sullen and unwelcoming.  It was as if he really didn't want us there.

For an appetizer we ordered "pakora", vegetable fritters.  They were pretty good.

  

For our main course, we had the "rogan josh" chicken, along with "naan", typical South Asian bread.

The "rogan josh" tasted as if they had opened a can of Campbell's tomato soup and threw in a few spices. (And, in spite of its red color, tomatoes are not even an ingredient.)  The "rogan josh" that I used to make from a jar was far better.  Even though we ordered garlic "naan", the bread was tasteless.  Between the grumpy waiter and the lack-luster food, it was one of the worst dining experiences that we have had in Mexico.  We will most definitely not return!