The Pittsburgh Curry Page

As a great fan of curries (All true Brits are!), and organiser of the Payday Curry Club International - Pittsburgh Branch, I have visited most of the curry houses in the area, so I thought I would provide a list.

If you know of an Indian restaurant not on this list please let me know at report @ merseypub.com

Restaurant Address and location Comments
Bombay Rama 121 Oakland Avenue, Oakland A drive past seemed to show that this is a restaurant only in the way that McDonalds is a restaurant. More details when I get round to eating there.
Darbar Indian Restaurant 3936 Monroeville Boulevard, Monroeville Not yet visited.
India Canteen 6091 Steubenville Pike, Robinson Not yet visited.
India Garden 328 Atwood Street, Oakland BYOB. They were very keen to chase us out and close promptly at 22.00 when I visited with fourteen friends.
India Garden 3813 William Penn Highway, Monroeville BYOB. The food is pretty spicy (if you want it) and is very good. The lighting in the restaurant was a little dim for my liking.
India Palace Cuisine 4519 Centre Avenue, Bloomfield

At Centre / Dollar

 BYOB. The garlic nans and the onion bhajis were slightly disappointing in an otherwise good meal.
Lil Pakistan Penn Avenue at 16th Street If you're looking for an up market dining experience you're in the wrong place. On the other hand, if you want good value authentic* Pakistani food served by friendly people this is the place to go. Open 07.00 to 19.00.
* The closest I've been to Pakistan is 500 miles away, and that was only a one hour refuelling stop, so my use of the word authentic is just a guess!
Maharaja Days Inn, 1150 Banksville Road This large restaurant in the ground floor of the Days Inn serves very good food, some of the spiciest curries in Pittsburgh. Beer includes bottles of Taj Mahal.
People's Indian 5147 Penn Ave, Bloomfield
At Evaline 		BYOB. The general consensus is that out of all the curry houses I and my colleagues have visited, this is the one with the best food. It is also one of the cheapest.
Prince of India 3614 Fifth Avenue, Oakland Splendid garlic nans. The rest of the food is pretty good too.
Sitar of Pittsburgh Bryant Street, Highland Park
at Bryant / Euclid		 Possibly the spiciest curry I've had in America. Highly recommended, especially the chicken Hyderabadi. They serve Indian beer.
Star of India 412 South Craig Street, Oakland

At Forbes / Craig

 BYOB. This remarkably parsimonious restaurant charged us 30¢ for a glass, and also charged for some additional boiled rice. The food itself was excellent.
Taj Mahal McKnight Road This place has been blacklisted following a food spillage incident! (not to mention the rubber band)
Taste of India 4320 Penn Avenue, Bloomfield Good food in this pleasant restaurant, and they sell bottles of Taj Mahal.
Udipi Cafe 4141 Old William Penn Highway, Monroeville Not yet visited.
Vegetarian I believe.

A Brit's Guide To Pittsburgh Curries

Curry is the same all around the world isn't it? Well, no, not really - there are some differences that a visitor from the UK should be aware of.

Let's start with the traditional "British" curry night out - ten pints of lager followed by an industrial strength vindaloo. I'm afraid you're out of luck on two counts: Firstly, all the curry houses close by 22.30 so rolling up at half past one is not an option! Secondly, all the dishes here are spiced to suit the American taste - i.e. hardly at all! All the restaurants will offer diners a choice of spiciness from one to ten but I think you would need a twenty to match UK strength! It is difficult to describe curry hotness objectively but let me put it like this: I do not like hot curries, and in the UK I would never have a Vindaloo in Bradford because it would be too hot for my taste. Here in Pittsburgh I have had Vindaloo strength ten a number of times and always enjoyed it.

There are other differences as well:

  • Chaat dishes are served cold. This can be a bit of a surprise the first time but I quite like them this way.
  • I haven't seen any lime pickle yet.
  • Biryani comes without any sauce, making it a rather dry dish in my opinion.

Oh, and BYOB means BRING YOUR OWN BEER!

Happy eating!
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