Lunch with a friend

I've got a little group of mom friends that I am now close with. This is not to say that I am not open to making other friends, just that now I have a core group of friends. I've met them thru playgroup meetups, and we all have children ranging from 11 months-4 years.

Of the girls in my core group is Kristen. She and her husband have been to our house for dinner, and we've been to theirs. They have an 11 month old son. Kristen and I decided we needed a lunch out and she picked me up Monday (my kids stayed at home with the Nanny, her son stayed at home her husband) and we headed to Itaewon in search of- what else? Indian food.

We had intentions of going to Petras, the meddeterainian restaurant I had been trying to find when we ended up at Alsaba the Indian/Pakistani restaurant. But, after located Petras, we discovered they were closed on Mondays (as many places here are) and drove around the hilly neighborhoods of Itaewon in search of another middle-eastern restaurant. We headed to the subsection of Itaewon that houses the one and only Mosque in Seoul. We knew there would be middle eastern food there.

This street held several restarants, ranging from Turkish to Indian.

We found a little muslim run restaurant and decided to give it a try.

Funny story. So, Kristen and I had to go to the bathroom. She went first, and the waitress escorted her out of the restaurant, around the corner and to a building two shops down. When she came back, I asked her how the bathroom was, because I needed to go, and she warned me that the toilet was just a hole in the floor. She was not kidding. I contemplated going back to the restaurant to get my camera and take a picture of said "toilet" but thought that might be a little too touristy. Or Rude.

FYI: I did not pee on myself. Very proud of that fact given my choice to wear tights that day.

For an appetizer I ordered a salad.

For the meal, I ordered a Chana Curry ( chickpeas, onions, garlic, curry seasoning) and Kristin ordered some sort of beef kebab.

My chana curry (very similar to the chana daal I had at Alsaba) was so savory and delicious. The chick peas just melted in my mouth. There was a heat to the sauce, but it was just the right strength, strong enough to give it a little kick, but not so intense that I needed multiple glasses of water.

I had so much rice and chana curry and naan (bread) left over I had a full meal the next day for lunch!

After we left the restaurant, we headed to Starbucks for a pick-me-up.

Yes, the Starbucks has valet parking! And yes, we did.

Do you know how delicious latte's are? I did not know before. But I do now. Mmmmmm.

Kristen's husband and son stopped by for a visit...

I think she found it a little odd that I photographed our entire day together.... Oh well.