EDIT: As always, Conflict Kitchen continues update the menu for different countries. Rumor has it it’s currently Iranian, but likely won’t be for long.

With the advent of improved relations between the US and Cuba, Conflict Kitchen (which I wrote about back here) decided to switch from Palestinian food over to food representing that land mass 90 miles from Florida. They had done this once before, but they probably figured they wouldn’t have the opportunity again.

I opted for the Lechon Asado, which is a slow roasted pork marinated in mojo sauce. Unbeknownst to me it also came with some sort of terrible Cuban salad concoction. This wasn’t pleasing, but at least the Lechon Asado tasted delicious. Well, I should say it was delicious from where I was in Pittsburgh, a long way from Cuba. This is compared to Florida, where I had such flavorful Cuban food that I may be spoiled forever.

I also had some tostones which are smashed, fried savory plantains. They came with some mojo sauce for dipping, which was really tasty garlic sauce. For dessert I had myself a guava and cheese empanada. I only did this to see if it could come close to the guava and cheese strudel served up at Porto’s in LA. Sadly, it was covered in sugar, which totally masked what is typically a delicious mixture of already sweet guava and cheese.

So, while Conflict Kitchen didn’t fail me on its Cuban rendition, it also didn’t impress me as much as its Palestinian cuisine. But as relations normalize between our two countries, I can only hope Pittsburgh gets an influx of Cuban immigrants looking to provide some amazing food.

Situated in what appears to be a former home in Oakland is an Indian restaurant that goes by the name of Tamarind. For a long time I had heard that this was a good as far as Indian food in Pittsburgh goes, so I finally got the chance to try it and found it didn’t exactly follow the classic pattern of Indian restaurants. For one, the menu had a wide variety of dosas.

Dosas, by the way, are a South Indian specialty that I had experienced before at Mayura in LA, but was looking forward to trying again. In this case, we tried out the Cilantro Dosa, which arrived as little more than the crepe itself while I was expecting it to be stuffed with potatoes and other goodies. It tasted great, yet I can’t help but say that I finished it hoping for more.

For my main course I went with the Chicken Vindaloo and it arrived with a look more along the lines of spaghetti sauce than a curry. Nonetheless, it tasted nothing like spaghetti sauce and was actually a really well-flavored spicy dish. It came with a side that looked something like succotash as well as rice, which were both not mentioned on the menu and probably meant to buffer the heat. All of it was great, as was the garlic naan that we ordered to go with it.

I also got the chance to try the wife’s Chicken Tikka Masala, which was especially delicious and tasted very different from the tikka masalas I’ve had in the past…in a good way.

From a guy that can’t necessarily vouch for authenticity, I really enjoyed Tamarind. Sure, I could have gone without the dosa, but everything else was quite tasty and packed a whole lot of the flavor that I’ve come to know and love about Indian food.

Straddling the campuses of Carnegie Mellon and Pitt, Craig Street is where ambitious students can often be found eating lunch or dinner between classes. On that street is a little Middle Eastern restaurant called Ali Baba, which I found myself eating at based on a high recommendation. The recommendation was mostly based on something that have called Kibbee Nayyee, which is a raw lamb dish that is apparently pretty hard to find.

Hard to find or not, I think you have to be in a pretty special mood to crave raw lamb, so I ignored the recommendation and went with hummus as an appetizer and a Chicken Pita Pocket. This pocket comes filled with spiced chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and their special yogurt sauce. I ordered mine without the lettuce and tomatoes and was eager to see what I would get.

But first came the hummus, which was pretty tasty. It was thick and creamy, with just the right amount of paprika and oil.

Then came the Chicken Pita Pocket, which somewhat resembled schwarma, but wasn’t quite there. I was definitely a fan of the chicken seasoning, but the chicken itself was kind of weirdly soggy. Then there was the yogurt sauce, which tasted pretty good, but the pita could have used more of it.

Without having eaten their Kibbee Nayyee, Ali Baba seemed to me just an ordinary Middle Eastern restaurant. It’s not bad by any means, but also not a place I would rush to return to either.

Shortly after moving to Pittsburgh, my friend and site designer alerted me to the existence of a hot dog place called The Original Hot Dog Shop in Oakland that had been around since 1960, which may not be old for Pittsburgh, but is damn old having come from LA. I like hot dogs and originals, but unbeknownst to me until showing up for lunch was that The Original Hot Dog Shop (also known as the Dirty O) is more of a late-night haunt than a lunch stop. Nonetheless, I wanted a good hot dog and was happy to eat it in a dingy spot with great late-night character in the middle of the day.

I ordered up a Jalapeno Cheddar dog, which has those classic flavors stuffed into the dog itself, then I topped it with chili and cheese. There were a bunch of toppings offered for free, but they were mainly veggies and I prefer to judge hot dogs with chili and cheese on them. I also ordered a side of their fries, which are possibly more famous than their dogs.

The dog itself turned out to be, well, not really anything more interesting than it sounds. The jalapeno gave it a nice kick, the skin had a solid snap and the cheese on top was melty and tasty. The chili, though, was not exactly my style. Mostly beans, it could have handled a nice infusion of meat instead.

Alas, the fries did their best to make up for the disappointment of the chili. Truth be told, I didn’t realize the fries were so famous until after my visit, but without even knowing of their fame I felt they were some of the best basic fries I had ever eaten. At times they hugged the line of oversaltedness, but otherwise were cooked to a perfect crisp in some sort of presumably blessed oil.

As much as I like fries, I am not really the type of guy to seek out a place because of them. And since the hot dog itself was nothing special, I’m not sure that the Dirty O quite lived up to its reputation. Perhaps it is necessary to experience the place in the middle of the night to truly appreciate what they have to offer, but the bonus of eating there for lunch is the much lower probability of an old-fashioned mugging. I suppose life is all about tradeoffs.