Last Wednesday night was one of those situations all couples keep their antennae up for, a spontaneous date night. Yes! What a treat.
We hadn’t had Indian food in awhile and decided we’d sneak away to Mayuri, right in Thrasher’s Corner in Bothell. When we moved here last year, we heard so much about this place, we had to try it. We were glad we did. Amazing, exotic aromas tease your senses when you walk in the door-chicken and curry and spices I never smelled before.
As we walked in, I spied the sign on the door. It said they closed at 9:30. It was 9pm on the nose. We both had our hearts set on Indian food. Could we eat it in a half hour and still make it a great date? We were determined. The host seated us and we ordered quickly. We were famished, and we didn’t want to keep the place open later than their closing time. Restaurant owners need their sleep too!
I hate to say it, but we were predictable and boring this time – and ordered the same thing we did last time. Only because we knew it was delicious and because of the time factor. Hubby ordered Chicken Tikka Masala; and I ordered Tandoori Chicken. We thought $2 was an amazing deal for Naan bread, so we ordered that too. And….since we’d never tried an Indian dessert, we went for that too.
Being that it was a Wednesday night, and they were about to close, I was struck by how many families were also eating there. Word of mouth must travel fast. It’s hard to hide a best kept secret when it’s right next door.
By the time our food arrived, we were like attack dogs. You know the feeling -beyond hungry. It was a great buy at only$10.99 for the Tikka Masala, and the same price for the Tandoori Chicken. Way more food than we could possibly eat, but we sure tried. I stole a few (Okay, a lot) of helpings of Hubby’s Tikka Masala sauce with white basmati rice. I love the creaminess and the mix of the spices. The Tandoori Chicken was as good as last time and very tasty.
The dessert, Gulab Jamun, was fascinating to us. We had never seen anything like it before. A dish with two neatly rolled balls in a honey sauce, topped with sliced almonds. It reminded me of Greek pastries I grew up on, due to the honey and sweet dough-like taste. Not bad.
These are the kinds of adventures I really enjoy. Eating food that we know is good in a nice, romantic atmosphere. I’m excited about trying some new Indian dishes here in the future when we have a little more time to peruse the menu. It’s always good to take risks and try something new.
When the waiter brought the bill, we realized we miscalculated and oops…didn’t make our $20 budget. We were close at $22.60 (including the tip) with the Entertainment Card discount though. Again, the time crunch was the reason we busted the budget this time.
We ended up nixing our walk through Mill Creek Town Center when we saw that there was ice on peoples’ cars in the parking lot. So, instead, we strolled through Central Market, which is situated at the first entrance to the Town Center on the South side. This grocery store has it all, and it’s always fun to see the unique imported things they sell. We enjoyed looking at their huge selection of beers (Hubby’s idea) and then teas (guess who’s idea?).
All in all, it was a pretty good last minute date. If I could change anything, I would have liked it if we could have had more time at Mayuri.
Here’s the tally:
Atmosphere (romantic appeal): 4
Budget Friendly: 5 (even though we went over budget-they are very generous with portions and prices are good.)
Fun and Unique: 5 (it’s not every day you get Indian food like this. It was fun trying the dessert with Hubby.)
Memorable: 4. Trying a new main dish would have made it a little more memorable, but still it was fun.
Next date night sneak peak:
Hubby’s choice! It will probably involve a local brewery or target shooting. I’m sure he will throw in some chocolate to bait me.
