Sometimes mere mortals are touched by fleeting moments of genius. It happened to us: we cleverly thought to try all the Indian buffets here in West Philly. But we might have overestimated our own Indian consumption capabilities. You just try eating tandoori chicken in quantities that could win the Wing Bowl. What follows is a brief account of our experiences at Sitar India, Tandoor India and New Delhi Indian restaurant.
Cecilia: Sitar reminded me of a giant uterus -- dark, red, warm.
Alex: And the food just kept coming, and you ate it 'cause you had to, not 'cause you wanted to.
C: I think the main thing between Sitar and New Delhi was that with Sitar there were a lot of hits and misses, but New Delhi was very consistent.
A: And then there was Tandoor, which gave me food poisoning.
Sarah: Anyway. I also think the variety was better at New Dehli, like the appetizers weren't just the samosas. Alex, did you have one of the cheese things?
A: Nope.
C: Too bad, they were good. Both had the same type of sauces, and the naan tasted the same. Those staples -- all the same.
A: Yeah, except at Tandoor -- it took them 10 minutes to refill the naan. But damn, I need my naan!
S: I really liked the raisin naan at Sitar, though. They didn't have that at New Delhi. At New Delhi, actually, they had the mango chutney, which was really good.
C: It tasted like dried bootstrap.
S: It may not have been made this morning, but it was definitely not dried bootstrap. I put it on everything that was possibly dippable in any way shape or form. But you know what I don't understand? Why anyone would pay for an actual main dish when you can just get the buffet for less money.
A: Yeah, but at a place like Sitar, where there's no one there, and the stuff definitely sits out at the buffet forever, we made the right choice ordering from the menu.
C: But in their defense, we went to Sitar on a Tuesday, and we went to New Dehli on Sunday for lunch.
A: I'm not saying the food at Sitar was that bad, I'm just saying that it's better to order off the menu.
C: Oh, god, I have indigestion. I hate Indian food. I should have stuck to the vegetarian stuff.
A: Stop whining. After eating at Tandoor, I was popping Pepto-Bismol for hours.
S: You know, we didn't have any soup at New Dehli or Tandoor.
C: Maybe they realized just how bad Indian soups are.
A: Yeah, the soup at Sitar was awful. Definitely the worst part of the meal. The mango ice cream made up for it, though.
C: I loved the mango ice cream..
A: Which one did you love? They didn't even have it at Tandoor, which totally sucked.
C: I thought Sitar and New Dehli's tasted the same.
A: No, Sitar's had real mango.
S: No, no, I've got it! The real reason that Sitar is like a uterus is while you're in there, you think it's fine, but when you get out, you realize there are all these better options.
