All India Authentic Cuisine — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

All India, Some of the Time

The short of it: I'd do All India again as take-out (so: some of the time) but wouldn't dine in again.

The long of it: There are a couple of spots in front of the restaurant for parking, but I'd not plan on parking any oversized vehicles there.

The entrance is not wheelchair accessible, and the steps are steep stone, with a second set of carpeted steps inside.

Before going my partner and I checked the menu to see what was available, and decided on getting entrees instead of getting buffet. We used All India's website directly for information, so it was surprising when we walked in and were told they don't do entrees while they have buffet. The website and menu do not mention this. It felt way too awkward to leave.

We weren't told anything after this so we just sort of figured things out on our own (it's a buffet, so it's not too hard, but it was a little awkward). For instance, we weren't offered drinks (we usually just get tap water) so we ended up grabbing drinks from the cooler. I'm still not sure if they charge for these separately or if they are included.

I approached the one visible employee. I explained that due to a medical condition (a severe case of fibromyalgia that affects my internal organs) I'm not really able to eat much at once, and definitely not $16 worth of food. I asked if I could get one small plate to dine in, and bring that same amount (a small amount) home. Paying $16 for a child's size plate of food (they have small and large plates available to use) felt like a huge bummer, but eating more would cause significant pain. He said no, the buffet was dine-in only. (I accepted this, and my star rating is NOT based on this, as I know it's an awkward accessibility request, but felt it was worth mentioning.)

The buffet did have a nice variety of chutney (5 or 6 kinds), 2 kinds of flavoured rice (one veg pulao, one chicken biryani) as well as steamed rice, a couple veg dishes (eggplant, chickpeas), and a couple of meat dishes (chicken korma among them). They had naan and puri available, and some fresh sliced onions and veg.

The chicken biryani was great, and the chicken in it was tender and moist. The vegetable pulao was also great, and just a little spicy. The chickpea dish was okay. It was a little bland, lacking any sort of tang or memorable spice profile. I really enjoyed the texture of the puri, though some of the pieces had oil clinging to them, and the oil was very, very dark as though it needed to be changed. I avoided those pieces. The gulab jamun was the star of my experience - not too heavy on the rose, nice, sweet, warm, saturated, fresh.

While I was eating I noticed they were doing lots of take-out orders. I was puzzled about how they could do take-out entrees but not do dine-in entrees upon request. It felt like they were intentionally shuffling people toward the buffet even if they didn't want it. This reopened my frustration.

The booth was comfy and not too tight, which was nice. Unfortunately the table top felt sticky. I am not sure if it was dirty, or if it was painted and not sealed and perhaps the high humidity this summer is making it feel sticky. I'm leaning toward the latter, as everything else seemed pretty clean. It was uncomfortable, though, especially as a short person whose arms sort of have no choice but to perpetually touch the table when I'm in a booth.

As for service? There was none. We picked where to sit, we got our own silverware (I somehow missed the napkins). We were not offered drinks. Nobody told us where anything was or if we should grab drinks. Our table was not cleared of dirty dishes, nor was the table across from ours. It was dirty and full of dishes the entire time we were there.

When it was time to pay I walked up to the counter and was not offered a receipt, just a total. When I went to sign I noticed that the drinks were not included, and I'm not sure if I accidentally stole them, or if they were part of the buffet, or if the gentleman felt bad about me not eating much and...

Maybe I went at a bad time. The food looks like it was laying there for a week. Chicken tandoori I ate it million times and I've made it myself what I saw in the buffet was a black and dried up.I guess it was almost black. I took an old piece for the heck of it. One bite and I spit it out because I was afraid of food poisoning. I guess I better add I lived in India so I know about Indian food I cook it I love it I would die without Indian food. Being in one star and five star restaurants that I can tell you this was a one star restaurant. I spotted keer, it tasted like milk with rice it didn't taste like keer at all. There was no cardamom in there,no raisens or almonds at all. It was really bad. Since I was thirsty I drank the milk and left the rice. And trying to get situated as I was leaving on this very hot humid they day, and I had walked over a mile to reach that restaurant. I left my sunglasses and my back brace . They must have fell on the floor during the confusion when getting ready to leave. As I started walking I knew I left my back brace because my back felt funny. I could have turned around but I was so tired. I didn't but I did expect somebody to come out and yell, hey miss you left something behind but nobody came out to tell me that. At that point I just wanted to get home it was a terrible terrible meal $23.00 !!! I was in shock. I was going to put a $10 bill but I put on a 20,when she said $23 or he did,I was about ready to faint. They should be ashamed of their selves. It was rare to see food that bad in India. Even in the one star restaurants food actually was good. And then not to come out and tell me I left my sunglasses and my back brace were left behind was sad they're giving Indians a bad reputation. Also I cringed when I saw a table of women taking their dirty plates up to the buffet and refilling them!!! I'm really super glad that I'm not sick today...

It has been years since I have been to this restaurant. I remember the food being really good, but now the customer service is HORRIFIC. Ordered on seamless was told they don’t have seamless When I arrived. With no interest in solving the issue or addressing where my food was in the moment. This is when I should have left. The woman at the counter was clearly overwhelmed so I stepped back and waited. After 30 mins she asked what my order was. Then I waited another 30-45 mins not knowing what was happening with my food. I tried multiple times to tell the her I needed to leave. She ignored each attempt. I was totally cool with this. I understand what it is like to be understaffed and stressed out. I was just letting it go and on my way to get tacos. 30 minutes after I left (about two hours after placing the order) she called me to tell me it was ready.... I was still not upset at this point even though I probably should have been. I kindly informed her that I was sorry I had to leave because I was waiting for so long. THEN she proceeded to start yelling at me, truly yelling, and trying to lecture me on how it wasn’t her fault. I don’t care who’s fault it is. I had to hang up because she wouldn't stop yelling. Like ma’am I’m not your child. There could have been a resolution offered or just letting it go respectfully and even if she was upset and stressed. This is absolutely not how you handle your restaurant messing up. Needless to say I wil absolutely...