At the Mall

As you know, on the day that the cleaning lady comes, I get out of the apartment to let her do her work.  Last week, it was just too hot to take one of my long walks, so I took the Metrobus to one of the shopping malls to kill some time.  I went to Parque Delta, which was opened in 2005 on the site of an old baseball stadium.

It is a typical mall with three levels of shops and restaurants.  There are many stores that you would see north of the border... Old Navy, Gap, H&M... there is even a Radio Shack, which survives down here.  There are other chains that you see in all the Mexican malls such as Zara, Stradivarius, Pull&Bear, which are all clothing stores from Spain, and C&A, a clothing retailer that originated in the Netherlands.  I was surprised to see Prada.  The mall is upscale but not THAT ritzy.  There is "Cuidado con el Perro" (Beware of the Dog), a Mexican youth-oriented clothing store.  And of course, there is the ubiquitous Sanborns, the restaurant / pharmacy / gift shop chain owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and found throughout Mexico from Tijuana to Cancún.  

I walked the entire mall without buying anything, and it was time to have my afternoon dinner.  The reason I came to Parque Delta, rather than one of the other malls found throughout the city, is that I wanted to try the Cheesecake Factory.

Now, some of you may ask, why in the world would I go to a U.S. chain in Mexico City, one of the greatest culinary capitals of the world?  Well, I had only been to a Cheesecake Factory once in Ohio, and I liked it.  So, I wanted to try out this branch, one of only two here in Mexico City.

The menu is very large, and I found it interesting that, although the descriptions of all of the dishes are in Spanish, the names are all in English.

I ordered the Korean Fried Chicken which is served with sliced avocado and rice with mushrooms and cabbage.  It was tasty.

Of course, I had to indulge in cheesecake for dessert.  I ordered the "dulce de leche" cheesecake, and it was decadently deliciously.

The prices are a bit expensive by Mexican standards, but I would definitely come back.  I'm not sure if Alejandro has ever eaten at the Cheesecake Factory.  We will have to have dinner here sometime.