I love restaurants with cheap, tasty food and it’s even better if there is a bit of adventure involved. When you first enter the store, it looks like a regular, neighborhood Indian grocery. But… if you head to the back and push aside the gold curtain, you find yourself in a small, rather basic dining room. There are no waiters – you go to the table at the back of the store, write your order on a scrap of paper, ring the bell (or hand it to one of the ladies working in the kitchen behind the door) and wait. The food (different from your typical Indian food fare – definitely try the home-made, stuffed parathas) comes out on a tray, served in plastic to-go containers (they conveniently provide lids for left overs). You pay the grocery cashier on your way out – after grabbing a few of the $1 samosas from the case on the counter as a snack for later.
Tobey says: kind of weird, but tastes great!
Location: 4211 Chestnut Street, Near the University of Pennsylvania campus
Secrets of Philadelphia 
I love this kind of place too – when people want to go somewhere for a nice meal, I’m never really sure where to suggest, because Marcus and I always eat in delicious little hole-in-the-wall places specialising in various exotic cuisines. Indian food is one of my favourites, and those paratha look fab!
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That’s funny. I feel the same way when anyone asks me for restaurant advice. I feel like most people want mainstream food, friendly staff, a menu written in English, and a sanitized atmosphere (plus, are willing to pay lots more than I am). My priorities focus more on tasty, cheap, and interesting food.
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