after dinner sneeze

t says: A couple of fellow associates at work and I had the opportunity to take a work-related dinner on the boss’s tab.  While the nature of the work cannot be discussed here, the nature of the meal can!  We originally planned to go to Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian “steakhouse” chain famed for unlimited quantities of delicious meat for a flat price.  Having never been (despite being urged by my friends), it sounded like a great [free] adventure!  Unfortunately, we had some vegetarians with us (what?  I hear Fogo has a great salad bar!), so we had to make a last minute change – one person had suggested Cafe Spice.  So off we went to 2nd street …

3/2010, Monday 6pm, Party of 5.  The place was nice but empty.  It wasn’t particularly fancy, but perhaps it was trying too hard to with the colors and boxes and things.  The place had a lot of space – this wasn’t your super-tiny Philly BYO (it also had a bar – duh!).  I ordered a 10Cane Mojito which was actually quite delicious – it was the highlight of the evening.  Unfortunately, the food I had was only “ok” (I sampled the chicken samosa, ragada patties, and chicken korma).  I’m going to spare you the individual descriptions because I really can’t think of anything that stuck out as being exceptionally good or bad.  In my mind, it was “meh”.  The samosa and korma tasted exactly as I expected these dishes to taste if delivered from an average Indian take-out place.  The nan was pretty good – nice and thin with just a bit of charred crisp.  The ragada patties were more interesting (as I’ve never had them before), combining patties of potato with sweet tamarind and chickpeas, but the end result was still only “meh”.  Maybe my tastebuds for Indian food aren’t refined enough?  Personally, I think it’s because I’ve become used to Ekta and Tiffin delivery, both of which use such bright and vivid flavors in their cooking.

In the end, I think that there is definitely better Indian to be had out there, although Cafe Spice is particularly close to Old City, so maybe there is some convenience in that.  Of course, Ekta and Tiffin both deliver, so who can beat the convenience of sitting in your own home?  Sorry Cafe Spice – I’m only going if friends really want to go … or if it’s free …