My V-Day Lunch @ La Casa

Feb 14, 2010.

I didn't mean to start the blog like it was a war journal. I'm just trying to get the hang of dates in my head. During days when I am extremely busy with work, I hardly have any sense of dates or days. I used to think that it was because I was too busy to bother worrying about such trivial things. The next day was going to be as busy as today and most likely not much different either. Now, I barely have any work at office (I still have to mark my attendance, sigh) and I still have no sense of dates. It's definitely something about me.

When I woke up this morning and had an email from a friend who was taking his wife out to celebrate Valentine's Day, I thought "Oh, it must be February 14th today". I reminded my husband, just in case he wanted to take me out too. Other than the original plan of dropping me off at the hospital, he didn't have much else in mind. The romantic element in that was that he decided to stay with me instead of head home after dropping me off. The husband snored while bro and I watched crap on the telly, I fed him and we talked for a while. In a couple of hours, the sister-in-law arrived and we could leave. 

It was too late to go home for lunch and I was craving chicken. We were too hungry to try out a new place and I decided I wanted lasagne or something on those lines, so we stopped at La Casa. I've been there before and don't exactly have the best of memories. We were seated in a 4-seater table, in a somewhat dark spot, under the stairs. Food was okay. We decided to give it another shot, hoping that maybe things have changed in 2 years.

I was in for a disappointment. The place is still as nondescript as ever. The chairs and tables are not so comfortable. In fact, our table wobbled when leaned upon (the husband constantly did that and I kept waiting for it to slam his forehead and we'd be heading right back to the hospital, to take another bed for him!!). We had to wait a good 5 minutes before somebody noticed us and decided to bring us a menu (only 1). The water glasses were dirty and drinking the lime soda out of one such glass was a risk we decided to take. It was better than trying to eat without a drink (mmm... probably not... we did anyway). All but one of the waiters seemed extremely bored with their jobs and absolutely disinterested in the customers. The one guy who showed us to our table was limping around, taking orders from everyone at the restaurant. Another waiter or two brought dishes for all the tables. The guy who took our order mumbled under his braces and the husband could not hear a word from across the 2 feet table. It didn't help that the music was too loud and jarring. They could use a good set of speakers. The cranky ones in my car sound much better! When we ordered, I almost expected to hear "We don't have that today, sir" on atleast one of the dishes. Fortunately, that did not happen.

The order arrived sooner than we expected. The food was okay. The Gobi Manchurian was a wee over-fried but it tasted fine. For the main course, the husband ordered chicken spaghetti, which tasted very similar to the same from another restaurant. I can't say for sure which, but it might have been 100 Feet Boutique. I ordered Fish Mayonnaise. The husband decided that Fish & Chips was a bad idea because fried food is greasy. Somehow he thought fish and veggies soaked and pouring with mayo wasn't. Men are from Mars... who knows what happens there? The portions were large. While the spaghetti was good, my dish could have been better. The fish was good but the vegetables were not boiled well enough. The beans tasted bitter. I brought a part of my lunch home and gave it to Lucky. She agreed with me. The fish was good. The mayo was good. The carrot was alright. The beans, she spilled all over the floor. The husband is cleaning up, as I write this. 

The sister-in-law had suggested that the sizzlers were good. We did not have enough time to wait for it. I might have visited another time for the sizzlers, had the experience been better. The food was not so great that I would be willing to forego ambience, good service and clean glasses. If you never went there, you have missed nothing. Go there, if you must, for the prices are not sky high. We spent Rs. 600 on a lunch for the two of us, that included 2 fresh lime soda, 1 gobi manchurian, 1 chicken spaghetti and 1 fish mayonnaise. There also give you complimentary bread with the spaghetti as well as the fish mayo but it was roasted too much (it didn't taste burnt but I like my bread to look better. A little ghee or butter would help too. It must smell great).

In short, not the best V-Day lunch. I had my mother-in-law's bisibelebath a couple of hours later and that finally satisfied my senses. Thank God for mothers!