Eat It And Love It is written by 6 friends in Pittsburgh, PA - we have 2 vegetarians, 2 vegans, and 2 omnivores in our group. We don't make any money from the site and do the reviews for fun and to aid others when searching for the perfect spot to eat!
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I came across this post on the 'Evil Mad Scientist" blog and thought it'd be useful to anyone interested in a South Indian Eatery. Enjoy.
Posted by Nate at 11:22 AM | Comments (1)
Udipi is a nice change of pace from many of Pittsburgh's dimly lit, cluttered Indian restaurants. It is very bright and minimally decorated. In fact, I thnk the whole style of the restaurant can be described as "minimal," in a good way of course. Plastic forks, spoons, and knives along with napkins sit in a bin at your table. The waiters leave pitchers of water on the table also so that you can serve yourself.
As Nate mentioned, we did not recognize over half of the items on the menu. I was advised that the appetizer sampler platter was the way to go if you wanted to try a bunch of new things, so that's exactly what I ordered. I can't even tell you what was on it - there were various fried things, the lentil doughnut that Jess mentioned in her review, a plain, white pancakey item, and a couple of other things, served with various sauces. I greatly enjoyed my whole platter. Next time, I'll have to ask what each item is, so I will know in case I want to order something I like specifically.
Everyone's dishes looked fantastic - I was so stuffed from my appetizer that I could barely touch my dish, but it made for great leftovers the next day. The staff was very accommodating, especially considering they were wililng to split the check about 7 ways.
I love Udipi! The only negative is the very hard to find location, but other than that, this is a great find.
Posted by Julie at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)
Julie and I were invited by Tiffany and Mike to the Udipi Café for a meal with several other vegan people. It was highly enjoyable to not be the only ones at the table asking if there was dairy in the food we were ordering.
The Udipi Café is an all vegetarian Indian restaurant, located off the beaten path in Monroeville. I don’t think I would ever have come across the place if I wasn’t looking for it. Julie and I actually thought about turning around just before we reached the location, we thought we missed it.
I became very aware of the fact that I have never had SOUTHERN Indian food before. I didn’t realize there was so significant a difference, but when I recognized nothing but Curry on the menu, I knew this was some new food to me. Julie and I shared a colossal appetizer plate along with a curry for her and a Vegetable Uthum-something or other. It was like a big Indian pizza.
The meals were very affordable priced, the décor is nothing to write home about, but it isn’t bad, just unremarkable. One comment that came up during our meal was that the majority of the people eating at the Udipi Café were Indian. That seems to be very promising for the authenticity and quality of their food.
For my Indian food needs, I will return to the Udipi Café. I think the may represent the finest Indian food I have had to date.
Udipi Café
4141 Old William Penn Hwy
Monroeville, PA 15146
(412) 373-5581
Mapquest | Google Maps
Posted by Nate at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)
Udipi definitely has its own style. It is aptly named a cafe because it is set up like an American diner and is decorated sparcely with unmatted, unframed Indian artwork. The floor is a black and white checked tile similar to one you would likely find in a classic diner. The utensils are plastic and are supplied in abundance in small cups next to a stack of napkins. I also LOVE that they give you a pitcher full of water to refill your own cup at your leisure--very simple and logical.
I also found the menu to be somewhat unique. We ordered dishes we are familiar with from other restaurants as a means to compare quality, but as we waited for our meals, we noticed the interesting dishes being served to the other patrons. One in particular looked like a basketball sized and shaped hollow bread served with a small portion of vegetable curry. The bread is meant to be torn apart and used to eat the curried vegetables. Mike scolded me several times for staring at people eating this dish. I couldn't help it! It was so different from anything else I've ever seen. I will write another review when we return to try the ball of dipping bread. I can't wait!
I won't go any further than to say the food was good. As I consistently say, Taste of India is still the best. The prices at Udipi were somewhat inexpensive when compared to other Indian restaurants in the area; the average entree cost about $6.99. I thought this cost reduction was appropriate since you're not really paying for any real panache.
I look forward to going back the next time we're in the Monroeville area. I am intrigued by the unique dishes I mentioned.
Udipi Cafe - MAP
4141 Old William Penn Hwy
Monroeville, PA 15146
(412) 373-5581
indianfoodsco.com.
Posted by Corinne at 07:44 PM | Comments (2)
My experience with eating Indian food has been limited to the buffet at India Garden and some samosas from the Indian guy who runs the convenient store by my apartment, so I'll just try to provide information rather than voice my opinion too much, since people like to post anonymous mean comments on my poor reviews.
Udipi Cafe is a small vegetarian Indian restaurant in Monroeville. It is a really simple place with a few booths and a few tables, and there is really not much decor. Food comes on plates and there is plasticware on the tables. Despite this, there is a lot on the menu. The menu consisted of several appetizers, dosai, curries, and pancakes. I learned that dosai is a thin rice cake with filling inside. There were probably a dozen different kinds of dosai on the menu, most of them offering a filling with potato, onion, and some type of Indian spices. There were also about a dozen different curries on the menu which were made with different Indian spices, sauces, and vegetables, and served on rice. There were also pancakes on the menu. I am not exactly sure what they were, but I was guessing that they were similar to dosai except that the filling was served on a fluffy pancake.
We got the appetizer sampler plate which had a sampling of many of the appetizers on the menu. Our sampler included onion rings, a lentil donut, a rice patty, a vegetable samosa, breaded jalapeno peppers, and something that was really crunchy like gravel. I did not care for the last thing and I'm not sure what it was. I also did not try the jalapeno peppers or the lentil donut, but I did like what I ate, except for the crunchy thing. And the vegetable samosa only seemed to be filled with peas which was ok, but I've had ones before with more vegetables that I liked better. The appetizer sampler also comes with four different dipping sauces: green chili sauce, coconut sauce, sweet sauce, and vegetable sauce. I have to admit that I wasn't feeling good vibes from most of the sauces, so I only tried out the vegetable sauce which was very good. My friend really liked the green chili sauce and the coconut sauce, but it just didn't look appetizing to me. Again, I don't eat Indian food often, so maybe I had some reservations about the sauces. If it isn't marinara sauce or ketchup, I usually don't go for it, and spicy food tends to make me sick so I just stuck to the basics.
For my entree, I ordered Aloo Matar which is potatoes and peas cooked in a tomato sauce with spices and served on rice. I did enjoy the meal a lot but I got full very quickly and had to take most of it home with me. I ate the rest of it later that evening, so I guess I liked it pretty well. I think if I go back I would like to try a dosai.
The service was fine. Like I said, it was a small place and the waiter pretty much left us alone but if we had needed something he would have been right there. It was a pretty inexpensive restaurant, and most of the entrees were under $7. Our bill came to $22 for two entrees and our appetizer, so I was happy with that. I might go back again, but if you know me, you know that I'd probably pick Eat 'n Park or Applebee's for my first choice next time. I'd recommend trying it if you like Indian food though, the portions were filling and there is a lot to choose from.
Udipi Cafe
4141 Wiliam Penn Highway
Monroeville, PA
412-373-5581
Posted by Jess at 09:35 PM | Comments (4)