Moti Mahal Midnapore (aka Copper Chimney South) - October 10th, 2008 - 240 Midpark Way SE
On Thanksgiving weekend, what better way to celebrate than with a traditional curry? I’m certain that when people first started celebrating crop harvests 500-some years ago, they had a massive feast consisting of samosas and butter chicken. Okay, maybe not. But when I spoke to Ren on the phone and he said he was at nearby Ikea, we had to do a lunch curry. (matt)
Ever since I sat down on one of their display couches and broke right through the frame, I've rarely visited IKEA. But I needed to buy a particular item so there I was. IKEA on a weekday morning isn't so bad. You still have the idiots who go backwards through the entire store. And the screaming children. And the long lines to pay, just there are less of them. So that's a good thing right? I got out of there as quick as I could and headed over to matts place. (ren)
We chose the Copper Chimney South, of the Moti Mahal affiliation. Admittedly, we have not had a lot of success with this highly touted local franchise, but agreed that a lunch buffet might not be horrible. Avoiding McLeod Trail, we drove down 37th Street SW, past the Tsuu T’ina Reserve and through the communities of Evergreen and Shawnessy to arrive at the Midnapore Strip Mall in record time. Unfortunately, the time we saved was negated when the only parking spot available was occupied by two goth-flavoured employees of nearby Value Village on their smoke break. (matt)
I love this city sometimes. I knew where we started, and where we were going. But matty's crazy short-cut was so different than the route I would have taken that I was completely lost for most of the drive. Oh well. It's nice to just sit back and be a passenger sometimes. (ren)
Following a Mexican stare-down and a lecture on nicotine dependence, I was able to park the car and we made our way into the restaurant and sat down. No one came to serve us, so we came to conclusion that buffet was the only option. The buffet consisted of butter chicken, lamb korma, chicken curry soup, dhal, pakoras, pappadums and tandoori chicken. They also had rice and various chutneys. Naan was offered to us at the table by our young Caucasian waiter.
To summarize the quality:
Butter Chicken: Watery. Lamb Korma: Red. Chicken Curry Soup: Thin. Dhal: Colonic. Pakoras: Decent. Pappadums: Crumbly. Tandoori Chicken: Good when fresh. My first piece was stale. Naan: Okay. Rice and Chutneys: Buried on Plate.
(matt)
I really can't add much to matty's summary of the food. We really haven't had any luck with these guys. It's funny. I never hesitate to recommend the moti mahal on 17th ave/ 14th st to people, even though the time we went there for our review, we hated it. I'm not sure how the non-buffet food is here, but if it is the same as the buffet grub I'd suggest staying away. If it's not the same as the buffet grub.....WTF?!?!. Why do restaurants do that. I know you don't want to get completely abused and lose money on a buffet, but if your buffet food is so bad that it scares people away, you might as well be closed in the afternoon. I know I've said I hate it when there is no butter chicken in a buffet, but I hate it even more when it's craptastic butter chicken. Give me something tasty. Heck, load it up with your best chole, and a chicken (carcass) curry. Both are cheap as snot, but don't serve a platter of food in the buffet that you wouldn't serve as a regular entree. Your buffet should be a cheap introduction to your restaurant through your food. (ren)
Really, the best part of this meal was that it was fast. We also like the stemware which the water is served in. Similar to the Moti Mahal on 17th, tin goblets are used. This makes the water taste colder. Genius. Plus, the stannous salts are probably good abrasives for your teeth. Other than that, we didn’t have much good to say about our 30 dollar lunch buffet. We left dejected and had to cheer ourselves up by shopping for Ren’s Halloween costume at Value Village. While Ren tried on countless puke-green and paisley ties, I came to the conclusion that while curry is not a good Thanksgiving alternative, kids might enjoy it more for Halloween. “Hey kids, Uncle Matt’s got a nice ladle of dhal for you!!!” Lentils: The new Tootsie Roll. (matt)
Since they have no stems, I can't refer to the drinking cups as stemware. But they are cool. And the food was inoffensive and the service was quite good, lots of checks to see if we needed more water or naan, and to let us know that new batches of food were coming out. We didn't even bother to take any pics....and I can't think of any good vids....so here's Tim Curry singing a Halloween song. (ren)
