Grub Club: 2017

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Carsellula

November 2017
40 W North Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15212
https://www.casellulapgh.com/

I really enjoyed Carsellula. It is a unique atmosphere with the restaurant area attached to a library. We were seated in the lower level which would be great for a private party. There was a live jazz band that started playing on the upper level while we were there and the music was piped down to where we were. The entire upper level was packed when we left!

The service started out slow but once we ordered food it was fast. We ordered just about all of the plates/snacks that were shareable and it worked out great! One of my favorites was the spread made out of buccala...it was unique but delicious. The list of cheeses was overwhelming to us so we had the wait staff create a plate for us which was great! The price point was not that bad...we ordered at least 12 small plates, 2 bottles of wine and several cocktails and our bill came to $80 each for a party of 7. I am definitely going to keep this place in mind the next time they have live music or if we need somewhere for a medium-sized private party.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Chengdu Gourmet

September 2017
5840 Forward Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15217
http://www.chengdugourmetpittsburgh.com/

I did not attend in September - so I do not have any comments/pictures.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Superior Motors

August 2017
1211 Braddock Ave, Braddock, PA 15104
https://superiormotors15104.com/

Superior Motors is an old car dealership that has been completely renovated. The interior has a lot of detail to it and is industrial. There are not a lot of tables/seating available so reservations are highly recommended...and make them well in advance! The drink menu had some pretty unique concoctions that were good, however, the bartender would not swap out the liquor in any of the drinks (someone in our party asked to have vodka vs gin which one would think would be easy to do!). We shared quite a few appetizers which were very good...I would say that the favorite of the group was the grilled octopus and beef tartar. The menu changes often which is appealing! I would say that they need to re-think their dessert options. We had 3 of them and nobody really liked any - which is a first! They all were bland and had a weird consistency. We will chalk that up to growing pains since they are a newer restaurant.

Istanbul Sofra

July 2017
7600 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15221
https://istanbulsofra.com/

No picture from this restaurant and I did not attend. Comments from a friend:
"Istanbul Sofra is a great local restaurant with authentic Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. We started off with the large cold appetizer plate which was a mix of 7 different apps. We added an order of grape leaves so everyone got a sample plus the hot appetizer plate. The baba ghanoush and the hummus were the favorites. Most in our group for a version of the lamb dishes—the shish kebab and Iskender kebab we excellent and the portion size was generous. I had the salmon kebab and the salmon was cooked perfectly and I loved the lemon dressing on the side. After the appetizers and dinners no one had room for dessert.

Enjoyed the outdoor seating and the BYOB. Overall we had an excellent outdoor dining experience."

Thursday, July 13, 2017

Spice Affair

June 2017
8 Brilliant Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15215
http://www.spiceaffairindiancuisine.com/

Spice Affair is definitely a place that I will be back to. The server was really friendly, but I wish he would have been a little more helpful with the menu. We opted to get a bunch of smaller plates to share but ended up with way too much food. We all had leftovers for the next day. Also - a few of our selections were very similar...it would have been nice to sample other dishes. Other than that - the food was excellent. All of the dishes had just the right amount of spice but did not take over the taste of the rest of the ingredients. Another perk of Spice Affair is that it is BYOB!

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Senti

May 2017
3473 Butler St, Pittsburgh PA 15201
http://www.sentirestaurant.com/

Senti's atmosphere was really nice and was on the smaller side, but the food and price left a lot to be desired. Our table shared 2 bottles of wine, 3 appetizers, 7 entrees and a couple dessert drinks and our bill came to over $500. The portions for the entrees were very small. I had the grouper (pictured on the left) and it was pretty bland. The menu had some interesting appetizer combinations such as squid stuffed with spicy sausage or pork belly served with seared octopus (which were both pretty good!), but again - the portions were small. We ordered mussels, which usually come with a heaping dish to share amongst the group, but I think we all got 2 mussels each.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Conado Tacos

April 2017
971 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15222
http://www.condadotacos.com/

I was sad to see that Tonic closed, but Conado Tacos was a good replacement. It reminded me a lot of a Burgatory where you fill out a "worksheet" to make ordering a breeze since every taco is customized to your liking. They have a lengthy list of options for toppings, sauces, meets, etc and you can really get adventurous with your combinations. The specialty drinks were great! This would be a great place to grab something to eat before a show or event at the convention center.