Return-Path: Received: from cive.ri.cmu.edu by K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU id aa03510; 14 Jan 92 21:46:39 EST Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 21:42:44 EST From: Sanjiv.Singh@CIVE.RI.CMU.EDU To: bovik@CS.CMU.EDU Subject: restaurants and groceries I sent some comments to the Guide to Living in Pgh, and I thought I would send them to you also, in case you could use them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nam Thai, the thai restaurant that you give good reviews to, has really gone downhill. This used to be one of my favorite restaurants except that the owner and chef have changed and now all their food tastes the same. It is not even remotely authentic. The food is not inedible, but it's just not worth it anymore. The biggest dissapointment was their soup "tom yam gung" a shrimp soup which is very very plain compared to what it used to be. Darbar, the Indian restaurant that you reccomend, is a place I will never go to again since I spotted roaches. A collegaue of mine has also stopped going there because he too noticed roaches at another visit. The food was never very good, although their buffet was a good deal for what you got. The telling thing about the mediocrity of their food is that they have a chili oil that they offer to people who want to spice up their food- otherwise the food is bland enough for a Minnesottan. Indian spices are more than just chillies mixed in oil. Vegetarian Delight is absolutely abominable these days. Once again the owners changed and the place is now run by a north indian family who knows absolutely nothing about cooking south indian food. It has to be categorically the worst south indian food I have ever had. Once again, I remember better days when I could go there to satisfy a craving for idlis and dosa. No longer. Kapoors Imports (grocery store) is a wonderful indian grocery. It is in fact the best indian grocery that I have ever come across. The place is clean, well orgainized and the salespeople are wonderful. This is in direct contrast to the Bombay Emporium that is a hell hole (though I'll admit that once in a while I can't find something at Kapoors and it will be at the Bombay Emporium)- it is dirty, a real mess and the parking situation is horrible. I have gotten one too many tickets parking on the side street adjacent to BI. Finally, the irony is that even though you might think that due to the Craig St location, the prices at Bombay Emporium are higher, they are indeed not- the place is cheaper on allmost every count that I have checked. -Sanjiv