Initial restaurant reviews of K in Lautern mall, Kaiserslautern

Today, some colleagues and I joined the insanity that was the grand opening of the K in Lautern mall in Kaiserslautern. It was jam-packed with people, to the point that it was difficult to use the escalators since people would disembark and then just stand there, letting the people behind tumble into them.

As we jostled our way to the food court, we split up and made different culinary decisions. I'll give a basic review of the four places where we purchased food. Spoiler alert: none of them were good.

Mexican Cabana
I opted to eat here. I should have known better. I ordered a plate of what turned out to be lethargic enchiladas, beans, and rice, served with a side of tortilla chips and salsa for 10 euros. I added a virgin strawberry frozen daiquiri for an additional 3,25 euros.

The presentation of the food was unappetizing, slopped onto the plate, and I found that the food itself was unappetizing too. The beans and rice had hardly any taste at all, other than tasting vaguely salty. The enchiladas were covered in what tasted like pizza sauce, not enchilada sauce or even salsa; it was somewhat sweet and I swear that I detected a hint of oregano. The enchiladas were barely warmed and were not appealing.

The daiquiri was drinkable but reminded me of a more expensive version of a 7-11 Slurpee. With the addition of the drink, my meal was more than 13 euros and not worth it, especially considering that it's a food court take-away place. I would much rather spend the same amount of money (if not less) and visit one of the sit-down Mexican restaurants around Kaiserslautern for unauthentic Mexican food that at least tastes decent enough and is presented in a more appealing way.

Manju Indian Express
J ordered daal and rice and only ate a small amount of it; he didn't find it to be good. I tried a bite of it and proclaimed that it tasted like "salty nothingness."

El Chico Taqueria
E ordered three tacos, two of which were in hard shells and one which was in a soft shell. He received what looked like a salad thrown on top of some tacos. He said that there was hardly any meat in the tacos and even after eating all of them, he was left unsatisfied and hungry.

Ciao Bella Italian Food
Since E was still hungry after the disappointing tacos, he bought two slices of pizza and was astounded at how expensive they were; he paid 4,80 for them. He admitted that he wasn't sure if he was overcharged or not. When I asked him what he thought of the pizza, he said "it's better than Anthony's Pizza" on base. I wouldn't take that as a vote of confidence, though, as I've eaten Anthony's pizza once and will not do so again.

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None of us were impressed by what we ordered. We went to the food court without high expectations; after all, it's a food court with offerings that are not indigenous to the area. However, we didn't expect that some of the things that we ordered would be unappetizing enough that we wouldn't even finish them. I'm not writing off the food court overall, until I've tried some of the other offerings, but I can say that I will not be in a hurry to return to any of the restaurants that we sampled today.