Taj Mahal

If you’re looking for some of the best authentic Indian food in the Pittsburgh area, then Taj Mahal in the North Hills is the place for you.

What I’m going to write in this post is going to come mainly from personal experience, because my family and I frequent this restaurant often whenever I’m home from college. It’s really close to my dad’s house. I’m actually 50% Indian on my dad’s side, so I’m used to eating a lot of Indian food (I’m mostly used to eating my grandmother’s, and she makes DELICIOUS Indian food.)

Taj Mahal has a menu consisting of several traditional Indian dishes, like samosas, naan, chicken curry, mango chutney, etc. However, in addition to their regular menu, they have a buffet which is open during both lunch and dinner hours. It has a variety of dishes that you can get on the main menu. I think most people get the buffet when they go to Taj Mahal, because it’s quicker and more efficient. Not to mention, it provides more of a variety, which is great if you only like certain types of Indian food (I’m definitely that way, in fact I didn’t really like Indian food at all until I was about 12 or so.) In all the times my family has gone to Taj Mahal, we’ve always gotten our food from the buffet and never ordered from the main menu. But whether you order from the main menu or get the buffet, you’re sure to get authentic, delicious Indian food. 

You don’t have to dine in at Taj Mahal to enjoy what it has to offer. It also has takeout, which is available by calling the restaurant or visiting their website (hyperlinked above.) However, the more popular option is catering. If you call several weeks in advance, Taj Mahal will cater your event, providing many of the same dishes available on their buffet. Either they can come to your venue and set up their buffet-style meal for you, or you can pick the food up at the restaurant yourself. It’s a great option for a party or other event consisting of people who love Indian food. Our family ordered catering from Taj Mahal a few months ago for a family event, and it worked out really well; it saved my grandmother from having to cook, not to mention everyone loved it. You can enjoy all the same things that dining in at Taj Mahal has to offer, by ordering takeout or catering from them.

For a taste of India in Pittsburgh, you absolutely must check out Taj Mahal. 

“Spice” Up Your Day at Spice Island Tea House

Tired of ordering in Chinese food every weekend? Or going to the same Japanese steakhouse and watching the Hibachi chef do the same thing every time? If you’re looking to expand your Asian palette, how about trying a bit of Southeast Asia? There’s no better place to do that than at Spice Island Tea House in Oakland. 

Since I interned in Oakland over the summer, I can tell you that it’s home to several international eateries. And Spice Island Tea House is no exception. While the owners, the Lee family, are from Burma, Spice Island Tea House’s menu is a unique blend of Burmese, Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Singaporean cuisines.

As its name implies, Spice Island Tea House is known for its wide tea selection from all across Asia. The teas are mainly made in-house.

Spice Island Tea House also has an extensive variety of cocktails. Many of these cocktails are made with homemade ginger beer. And yes, you read that correctly, Spice Island Tea House makes its own ginger beer.

The food consists of several traditional Southeast Asian appetizers, side dishes, salads, soups, and 
entrees. These include everything from fried rice, to spring rolls, to curries, to wok-fry.

Spice Island Tea House’s most popular dish is its Java Fried Rice. This fried rice is mixed with shrimp, chicken, onion, bell pepper, and sweet soy sauce. A reviewer on TripAdvisor stated that the Java Fried Rice was “exactly what they wanted and perfectly spiced.” The restaurant is also well-known for its pad Thai. A reviewer on Yelp said that the pad Thai was “the most amazing they’d ever eaten.”

Check out the video below for more information on Spice Island Tea House. Once again, I’m plugging WQED’s “Pittsburgh Eats” series with this restaurant. Also, check out Spice Island Tea House’s website (hyperlinked above) for their lunch and dinner menus, tea menu, cocktail/drink menu, or to order delivery. 

If you’re looking for some homemade Asian tea, a cocktail made with homemade ginger beer, or an eclectic variety of Asian cuisine, Spice Island Tea House is the place for you.

You’re Gonna Be Lovin’ Vic’s Oven

Tired of eating the same old types of pizza all the time? Want something more exciting than just pepperoni, veggies, and sausage? Then Vic’s Oven is the place for you.

Vic’s Oven is a pizzeria located in Bridgewater, a suburb of Pittsburgh. It was opened in 2016 by Vic Stahl, a native of neighboring town Beaver.

Vic’s makes its pizzas from scratch, and makes sure to use only the freshest ingredients. It specializes not only in traditional round pizza but also Sicilian-style square pizza, the latter of which is made on homemade focaccia bread. A reviewer on TripAdvisor said that this crust is “lighter and spongier than the round.”

The thing that Vic’s is perhaps best known for is its specialty pizzas. These pizzas are unique because the toppings on them are toppings you probably wouldn’t expect to find on a pizza, and probably won’t find on a pizza anywhere else. For example, there’s the Gyro, which is a white pizza topped with gyro meat, tzatziki sauce, lettuce, and tomato. And when I say “topped,” I literally mean “topped”; the toppings on this pizza are actually put on after the pizza has already been cooked, to make it more like eating an open-face sandwich. There’s also the Hunky Alley, which is a white pizza with caramelized onions, kielbasa, fried potatoes, and cheddar cheese (that’s basically a Pittsburgh-style breakfast right there.) There’s the Mexican, which is a white pizza with Mexican spices and ingredients such as jalapenos and chorizo. But perhaps one of their most popular specialty pizzas is the Italian Stallion. It is a white pizza with several Italian meats, and topped with lettuce, tomato, and Italian dressing after it’s been cooked. It’s basically an open-face Italian sub. A reviewer on Yelp said that the Italian Stallion is “perfectly cooked and very filling.” Below, you can see a video showcasing Vic’s. 

If you visit Vic’s website (hyperlinked above), you can check out their menu to see what other items they have. You can also order pizza online through the website.

Now, I’d just like to mention something before leaving; for the next several posts, I am going to be heavily plugging WQED, the company I interned at this past summer. They do a series called “Pittsburgh Eats,” where they make videos highlighting different restaurants in the Pittsburgh area and post them on their website and YouTube channel. Since the Pittsburgh Eats series is basically a free playlist full of Pittsburgh restaurants, I’m probably going to come up with topics based on the restaurants mentioned in the videos, and include the videos in these posts. The video above is from that series, and it’s where I got the idea for this post. At this point, I’m running out of places to get information from that’s not complicated, so this is all I’ve got for a while.

If you want to have some of the most imaginative pizza on the block, Vic’s Oven is the place for you.