Udipi Cafe makes up for lack of ambience with vegetarian Indian menu that pleases the palate
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Paper masala dosa is a southern Indian specialty made with lentil and rice batter and filled with cooked potato and onion.
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At a recent event at the James Beard Foundation in New York, acclaimed chef and television personality Jacques Pepin declared, "I think all food critics should be blind so they can get to the heart of the matter. Does it taste good?"
Mr. Pepin likely still believes that presentation matters and that a beautiful restaurant adds pleasure to a meal. But he makes a good point. At one time in our recent culinary history, "foodies" were people who delighted in hole-in-the-wall discoveries, and then raced to Chowhound to share them. They disdained fine dining as predictable and soulless. The whole restaurant scene was energized by their quest to dine outside the usual borders, and today exciting food can be found everywhere from multimillion dollar restaurant projects to food trucks. Still, higher-end restaurants -- where elaborate, refined presentation and ambiance are more common -- attract most of the attention, from both diners and the media.
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4141 Old William Penn Highway
Monroeville
www.udipicafepittsburgh.com
412-373-5581
- Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Basics: Fresh, flavorful vegetarian Indian cuisine with a special focus on dishes from South India.
- Recommended dishes: Vegetable cutlets, paneer pakoras, idly, dal vada, butter masala dosa, coconut or vegetable uthappa, vegetable makhani, channa batura.
- Prices: Appetizers, $3.50-8.50, dosai and uthappa, $5.50-8.50; house specials and curries, $6.5-9; breads, $2-4; desserts, $3-5.50; drinks, $1.50-3.50; thali or udipi express (set meals), $13.
- Summary: Wheelchair accessible; credit cards accepted; reservations accepted on weekdays; limited BYOB (servers do not pour alcohol, bring your own glasses), no corkage.
- Noise level: low to medium loud.
Udipi Cafe in Monroeville, a vegetarian South Indian restaurant owned and managed by Manjunatha Sherigar since 1996, is a good example of a restaurant where the food so far outstrips the ambiance that it can be difficult to evaluate the restaurant's merit. Yet it ought to be evaluated and more widely appreciated.
First Published October 27, 2011 12:00 am
