Eating at the Mall

Remember when shopping at a mall was a big deal? Times have indeed changed, as have tastes. Nowadays going to the mall ranks with a root canal–it may be necessary, but you don’t pretend to enjoy it. Eating at the mall has also become an unpleasant chore. The food offerings are similar regardless of the location, and usually depressing.

Today Julian wanted to find a new pair of hiking boots. We went to Alderwood Mall. This is one of the new breed of mega-malls that have the usual internal stores plus satellites along outdoor walkways. We had lunch at a “fast casual” Mexican restaurant. I realize that I no longer live in Dallas, but I do have minimum standards for Mexican food regardless of location. Julian ordered pork enchiladas and I ordered beef enchiladas. We couldn’t distinguish between the two fillings. The sauces were distressingly sweet and lacking much in the way of capsaicin. There was way too much cheese in and atop the enchiladas. The preparation line was made to be as foolproof as possible. The enchiladas were put into a foil bowl and run through a large Easy-Bake Oven before beans, rice, lettuce, and pico de gallo were added. For an eco-obsessed area like the Northwest, the use of foil bowls was politically incorrect at best.  Needless to say, we won’t go back there.