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| - I visited this restaurant with a friend for lunch a week ago. We were having an informal lunch meeting to talk about some business, so I suggested this place and a couple of others that were convenient for both of us. She chose Prince of India, so we both met up here around noon.
Technically, I'd been once before, but I hadn't actually eaten anything here because I'd already had dinner, so I count this as being my first time. The food is your typical Indian buffet fare, including chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken, saag, pita bread, navratan korma, and rice on the hot bar, and several vegetables and sauces on the cold bar. I picked up some of all of the aforementioned dishes, plus some cucumber yogurt sauce from the cold bar. I found the food pretty average in quality for Indian buffet food--not great, but not horrible, either. Because I wasn't terribly impressed, I stuck with one plate, and didn't go for seconds.
At the time of our visit, the dining room was pretty quiet, so it was a good place to have a business lunch. (Indeed, I spotted one of my supervisors in the row of tables on the other side talking to a colleague...) The decor is pretty nondescript for an Indian restaurant, with one TV playing Bollywood music videos in the back.
If you study or work at Pitt or UPMC, be sure to bring your ID to take advantage of the $1 discount. The lunch buffet price is $9, which is pretty average for the area. Given the average food, average decor, average prices, and even average service, the main thing this place has going for it is convenience for those who work in Oakland. If you're able to do so, I'd recommend walking down Atwood or over to Craig to check out the superior Indian offerings there. However, if you need a quiet, uncrowded place for lunch and don't want to walk any further than Fifth Ave., Prince of India will do just fine.
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