Dine Out: Rain Forest Cafe

When I go out of town, I always try to find someplace different to eat. So, while in central Connecticut, I headed out for lunch, looking for something. I ended up at the West Farms Mall, driving around the exterior first for ideas. All the usuals: Olive Garden, Red Robin, Chili's, Ruby Tuesdays... So I went inside the mall, knowing that I could always hit Cafe Nordstrom for something tasty. Perusing the mall directory, I spotted the Rainforest Cafe. I'd never been to one, and figured, what the heck.

It's really an entertainment venue as much as a restaurant. There are all kinds of animatronic animals: an elephant that trumpets, gorillas that dance, a thunder storm that rolls in every 30 minutes. Kind of fun - but you can clearly see that the under 12 set is their target audience. The menu itself is pretty standard for mall places: pricey entrees, sandwiches, appetizers. They do have a lunch menu from 11-3, which I took advantage of. I had a large chopped salad - which helped calm the craving I had for something green - and I had the Planet Earth Pasta (ziti and Italian sausage with marinara sauce). I had to send the pasta back as it was cold. I guess they figure that most parents will have to spend time getting their kids settled into their meals and don't need to worry that their meals are served hot. Even after it was "heated up," it still wasn't exactly hot, more lukewarm.

It would be a fun place to go if you were a kid or were trying to entertain a kid on a long mall trip. For an adult, I think I'd pick something else!