For months I’ve heard about the amazing Indian food in Edison, NJ and for months I’ve wanted to go. But a trip to north Jersey for a single meal? The idea sat in the back of my mind never making it to the top of the list of things to do.

Then a few weeks ago, this post appeared on the Toynbee tile myspace page. (Yes the tiles have a myspace page)

there is an ‘original’ style tile located on a u-turn for the menlo park mall. rt. 1 edison nj. i havent seen this on any lists. i have been sleeping on getting a good photo of it. just throwing it out there.

With 2 solid reasons to go to Edison, the trip was on. Armed only with these scant few lines, a google map and the promise of the best Indian food in North America, we set off for New Jersey.

I assumed that the tile was somewhere in one of those left turn from the right lane New Jersey style ramps. At the Menlo Park mall, there were 2 of them. Frustratingly, the first and most obvious ramp was in the middle of a tile destroying repaving project. The first ramp came and went with no tile.

Then the second ramp passed without a sighting. I was disappointed, but my tile sense remained active. At the Molly Pitcher rest area on the Jersey Turnpike I once spotted a tile fragment by sheer will. I had the inexplicable feeling that something was at that rest stop and using this sense, I found it.

With the second turnaround falling behind, a flash of yellow caught my eye at the intersection of Parsonage and Lafayette. There it was! We pulled over and I took some photos.

What we have is a classic original style Toynbee tile in excellent condition. The tile is actually identical to the Molly Pitcher tile in size and coloration and was probably part of the same run. Here are the photos:

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And for comparison, here’s the tile at the Molly Pitcher Rest Area. Notice the identical color pattern. The hand is Justin Duerr’s:

And finally, the Indian food was as good as promised. Did you know that Edison has huge south Asian population? They do and the food is great. Go with someone that can order and/or explain the menu to you and the trip is well worth it. That’s all for now.