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| - My wife and I are visiting Pittsburgh from the Indian food wasteland that is South Carolina, and craving our favorite food we consulted Yelp, which resulted in a trip to Cafe Delhi in Carnegie.
I will start with criticism and then will move on to praise (of which I wish to heap a great deal). The ambiance of Cafe Delhi is not very nice, reminiscent of a cheap takeaway restaurant in London in which the food is considered important but the act of dining is a mere afterthought. The tables are not very nice, the walls fairly plain, and you order at a counter rather than a waiter visiting your table. There is no alcohol served but BYOB is acceptable, and they do provide a bottle opener and wine glasses should you bring a nice vino. The menus are a single laminated sheet of paper, and are honestly a bit on the grungy side. If your goal is to eat fine Indian food, then do not let these observations alarm you. If you are properly armed with these expectations, Cafe Delhi will be a very good experience.
Our visit was on a snowy Pittsburgh evening. We parked in the public parking lot nearly behind the building, which is free after 6pm. A very brief walk delivered us to the threshold of Cafe Delhi. Upon entering, we were handed our menus and instructed to order at the counter once we'd made our decision. They immediately noticed our bottle of wine and brought us wine glasses and a bottle opener.
We seated ourselves at a table of our choosing in a corner, and my wife and I both decided on the Butter Chicken. I often try this on a first visit to an Indian restaurant to gauge the quality of the food, and even if it is not the most complex in flavour, if done well will still deliver a delightful taste and texture. We were asked how hot we would like our dishes, to which end my wife had mild and I medium. I initially said 'hot' but was warned that 'hot' was a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. We were asked if we wanted naan or rice, which was a little unexpected as in my experience this isn't usually an either/or proposition, but I opted to pay a bit more and had both. We also ordered vegetable samosas as an appetizer, which we did not regret. I requested mango chutney but was told they only carried tamarind and mint chutneys, which was quite acceptable.
After a wait of about 10 to 15 minutes our samosas arrived. I had actually asked for "two samosas" but this was evidently received as "two orders", in which there are two per order. No matter, as this allowed us to have a bit more the next day. The samosas were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, just as they should be. The taste was excellent, and rivaled that of fine Indian restaurants I've eaten at in other cities. Both chutneys tasted very good; the tamarind was a bit on the sweet side and the mint had a nice spice and bite to it.
Our entrees arrived about two minutes later which was a bit too soon, but again, no matter. With one samosa dispatched apiece, we moved on to our Butter Chicken. We were not disappointed. The sauce was smooth and creamy, with a nice silkiness. The taste was exquisite, and we savoured every bite. The individual spices are discernible, and you can tell that they do not merely rely on fat to make a good flavour.
The naan was also very hot and tasty, and provided just enough crispness to delight the senses.
If you eat slowly and savour each bite, whatever shortcomings Cafe Delhi may have can be easily overlooked. C'est bon!
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