Great India Place Food Court Not so Great
On Sunday, we decided to take the kids out. The husband didn't want to drive too far and it had to be indoors to avoid the heat so we settled on the Great India Place mall in Noida. Where to eat? We decided on the food court for the kids and I can safely say that it's one of the worst food courts I've ever eaten in. The offerings are the usual chaat, north and south Indian fare, local pizza, local Chinese and more random stuff. The food, uninteresting as it is, is also unappetising. No healthy options there.
Quality standards are negligible to the discerning (guess that's the operative word) palate. How it was so crowded I just can't fathom, though I guess it has something to do with the pricing. It's also not a very comfortable experience as the huge (I think fiberglass) dome is the only thing separating you from the burning sun outside and the air conditioning is too lazy to reach the third floor.
Against my better judgment, we got the kids a McDonalds happy meal and I know my older one wants it for the toy and not for its gastronomic delights. The younger one is too small to care. Well.. the happy meal was far from happy. The aloo tikki burger was too spicy for the younger one and the chicken McGrill too spicy for the older one (though he finished it as he had something to prove). I roamed the whole food court to find an appropriate alternative for the little one and after staring at the limited and crappy options for at least five whole minutes, settled on an idli. After all that, the sambar was too spicy. Argh.
The one good thing that came out of it is that I think the husband has finally accepted that McDonalds is not happening for the kids for a long long time and neither is Great India Place on a Sunday! Yay!
The mall was super crowded as it's sales season. Great India Place as it is, is not bad and as far as malls go there are some good stores there especially for kids like Max and Zoddy House (Noddy House earlier, but am guessing they ran into trademark infringement territory) apart from the usual popular chains. Shoppers Stop, Pantaloons, Lifestyle, Home Centre, Home Town, Big Bazaar are all present. As far as malls go, it's alright but I'm looking forward to the new ones coming up and hoping to get better food, shopping and entertainment options closer to home.
