A Lovely Moonlight Dinner
In response to Dancing Elephants Press weekly prompt 27/52
A few weeks of stress demanded an unwind and we decided to go out for a dinner. But, my son changed the whole story of it. He said, “It’s my celebration for 25 goals in my football career in FC Kovai Football Club, Coimbatore, India,” which he has only joined lately.😉
“So, where do you want to go?” Asked my husband.
I left it to his choice and our son joined the conversation again. Soon, they short-listed three restaurants with different types of cuisine and we picked one finally for its ambiance. It’s a rooftop restaurant with a decent buffet.
We reached there with much enthusiasm, but to our dismay, there was no buffet. That was not quite a problem and said we’d go for à la carte and moved toward the open terrace.
Our faces blossomed with the gentle touch of the cool breeze, brighter than the beautiful blossoms of the adenium placed along the glass railing.
Soon came the waiter, said that the terrace is open only for buffet and we had to go back in.
The whole purpose of the dinner seemed to have been ruined. But, we were very determined to enjoy the evening and nothing could stop us.
We made up our minds and as we were looking for a better place to settle in, my husband once again tried to confirm with the waiter whether or not it was possible to make some arrangements.
Another gentleman watching all these from a distance came to us (I guess he was able to read from our faces how desperate we were) and he called another waiter and instructed them to pull out the table and chairs to the center and closer to the glass railing. How wonderful!
We thanked him and made ourselves comfortable.
Ahh!! Perfect! We looked up and there was the moon perfectly aligned with us.
“The Moon inside of a little cloud heart!” Can you see that?
And, enchantingly beautiful! Yes! What would I do next?
Shk! I clicked!
🍱
The kind gentleman came to us and helped us with the order;
Soup — Tom Yum
Hot and sour Thai soup with lemongrass
Starters
- Satay Chicken — Indonesian skewers served with peanut sauce.
- Sambal prawn — Prawns grilled with spicy sambal paste.
- Kung Pao Chicken — Chicken tossed in soy sauce and mild spices.
He made us feel so comfortable.
🍱
Then, surprisingly, my husband put his phone on silent (he could never) and he insisted I do the same. We placed our phones on a corner, but even then he had to attend to the calls twice 😉
We couldn’t resist looking up.
“Why don’t we take a selfie with the moon?” Said, my husband.
I said, “Why a selfie? You both stand and I’ll take a picture.”
How’s my click?
Suddenly, my husband said, “Aren’t you going to write about this dinner?”
Then, I thought, “Yes, I should definitely write!”
And yes, it’s a photo session again! Obviously, wouldn’t I need them for my story?
Our food was already served and half-finished, so I quickly grabbed my phone and “shk!”
Clicked!
My son gave me a perfect pose!
Annnddd, click!
He said, “This is how it should be Mom like I’m eating.”
There you go. Perfect click!
My son liked the place very much, especially the table. He referred to it as “exotic” and he used that term for everything around and the food.
Again, with a selfie with the moon, click, click, and click!
A selfie with the city from above 👇🏻
When they were done with their soup and the starters, I was left out alone as I got busy with clicking but got a nice shot of mine. 😊 Me alone pics are very rare you know!
Here, my story is getting more interesting!
As we looked through the menu, we noticed the name “Anjali Bakes” on one of the menu cards. That took us back to two decades when we used to work for a USA-based MNC, the first of its kind, in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. We relished the most delicious pastries and confectioneries in our posh cafeteria and they were the suppliers.
We couldn’t find one of such quality ever since it was closed a few years later, not until today. We used to visit their food joint as well, which used to be a great place to hang out with friends.
Ahh! Miss those days.
Now, approached the humble gentleman to help with our next order. I politely asked him if it was okay to mention him in my story and wanted to know his name.
I explained a bit about how and where I write, to make him comfortable. He said it was quite okay and when I tried to understand his position there, expecting him to say “the senior manager,” to our surprise, he said he owns the place!
Awe! Mr. Devaraj! An amazing, humble person!
In India, we could only rarely find places that are customer-centric. The customer experience is always at its best when there’s the active involvement of the business owner.
He was so delighted when we shared our memories and experience we had with his bakery. It was a wonderful conversation after that about the good old days and friends of those days…
Ahh! Again, miss those days.
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Coming back to our current story, we placed the order for the main course; butter naan and roti (Indian bread made with all-purpose flour or wheat flour) and chicken gravy as per our son’s choice.
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This fried ice cream came as a compliment for our son.
It was amazingly delicious!
Thank you for the wonderful time sir (Mr. Devaraj).
It would have been incomplete without this picture with him.
We decided to end our photo session with this one.
But, I couldn’t resist when I looked at this beautiful floor lamp, so I clicked one more.
Just while stepping out, accidentally turned back and this one on the wall captured me and my lens captured it with one final click!
We headed back to “home sweet home!”
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