I love me some indian food, but I actually haven’t had it regularly in quite a long time. I used to go to Kajuraho near me all the time, until my last horrific customer service nightmare there, and I haven’t been back since. That was years ago. I can definitely hold a grudge when it comes to bad service. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Tiffin, and when B invited me out to go there, we took a spontaneous trip.

Dining is upstairs. Tiffin’s located on a somewhat shady spot on Girard, but once inside, you wouldn’t know you were surrounded by sketch. It’s a pretty cute spot with brick walls and beautiful photographs of india. We went on a sunday night, and it was pretty empty. I didn’t mind that at all. Mango lassi. Yum. The standard trio of little dipping dishes. Top left was something bizarre that I did not care for. Middle right was some kind of extremely sweet fruit chutney, which was pretty good. The bottom thing was fantastic. I can’t tell you what it is, I did not ask either what was in it, but it had a bit of a kick, tasted a bit cilantro-y, and was just overall terrific. B ordered some veggie samosas. These were pretty simple, filled mainly with beans. These were fairly plain, but still good. Dipped into the mystery green sauce, this was a nice little appetizer.
B got the chicken korma, because he has some sense, and I, like a crazy woman, got the lamb vindaloo. Dude, I can do spicy, but I should have been smart and realized that at Tiffin, it was actually going to be pretty damn spicy. Can you see that bowl of fiery red death? Yeah, it was as spicy as it looked. I didn’t last very long, but for what it was worth, it was good. If I wasn’t such a damn wuss, I would have been actually able to enjoy it more. The korma was quite good though, and much easier to eat, as it didn’t burn my insides. The garlic naan wasn’t quite as good as I wanted them to be, mostly because they didn’t show up piping hot. Naan should be fresh from the oven, no?

Service was good and prices were reasonable. We pretty much closed down the place, and we didn’t feel rushed at all. There was barely anyone dining, and they pretty much left us alone to loiter. Next time, I’m not gonna be a jackass and I’ll order something I can tolerate.

So we went to the Good Dog the other night and did not get the burgers. How was that? Probably a mistake. I mean the non-burger food was still good, but nowhere in the dreamy category as the burgers. I was slightly bummed that we didn’t get to sit in a booth, as it was early, but not early enough to score one. We got stuck all the way in the front of the place in a table, that doesn’t seem to quite be a table. But what are you gonna do?

After agonizing over deciding between the smoked chicken quesadillas and the duck pot pie, J went nuts and made a last minute switcheroo to the mac and cheese. So this mac and cheese was quite good, but I wholeheartedly agree that there should be an option to get mac and cheese as a side. At Good Dog this is not an option, and it really should be. It’s not a very big portion that you get either, and this is an entree. So Good Dog, I implore you, make this a side dish! It’s a light cheese mixture, topped with corn flakes. The corn flakes are a nice touch. It’s served with a blueberry corn muffin. That was good too, but it also seems a bit random.

While I heart their burgers, I also went crazy and did not get one. I went with the pulled pork sandwich. It was ok, but I felt the pulled pork was too shredded (not really pulled or chopped seeming) and it wasn’t quite wet enough for me. The roll was great though, brioche, toasted, with sesame seeds. The fries were heavenly as usual. It also came with apple slaw, which was tangy and strange. Service was ok, as usual. Nothing great, but nothing bad. But next time, I’ll stick with the burgers.

Stopped by Osaka in Chestnut Hill for a little lunch the other day. It’s a cute little place on the main drag. There’s the sushi bar in the front, and then multiple floors of dining. We sat at the bar as R had never sat at a sushi bar before. She got some salmon and king crab sashimi, along with some miso soup and some sprite in a fancy glass. She liked this just fine, but it sure wasn’t cheap.
I went with the agedashi tofu bento box. It came with agedashi tofu (duh), some california roll, a couple of dumplings, salad, and rice. Everything was pretty good, but nothing spectacular. My bento box was pretty cheap though, but it also didn’t have any fish in it, which is probably why it was so affordable. But all in all, quite the bargain for my lunch.
Service was fine. It wasn’t busy at all (it was raining something fierce) so it better have been fine! The only thing annoying was that one of the waitresses was gabbing to one of the sushi chefs the whole time we were eating. It’s fine if they want to talk (it’s not like they had anyone to wait on), but I really didn’t need to hear their intimate conversations. They even spoke in korean a bit, and I couldn’t help understanding.