Palace at the Ben is a new Indian Restaurant in Center City on Chestnut Street between 8th and 9th st. I came to know of this restaurant from my colleague who in turn learned about it from her husband. I had been looking for an opportunity to try this restaurant ever since she mentioned that to me.
I am highly critical of Indian restaurant as I find them not to be authentic. I have tried several Indian restaurants in and outside Philadelphia and very few have matched my expectations. The problem I have with Indian restaurants is twofold.
First is the lack of authentic taste. The taste is bland with preference for milder spices to cater to larger audience. The problem I have is that it takes away the authentic Indian cuisine dining experience. The food appears to me like fast food; they mostly have a set of sauces and add the requested pre-cooked meat (chicken, lamb or beef) chunks to them based on the order. This causes the meat to be bland and you are left to enjoy the sauce and meat separately. Cooking the meat in the spices is what makes Indian curries and entrees unique. Indian restaurants rarely meet those standards.
Secondly the cost of the items is outrageous. A typical dinner at an Indian restaurant for 2 would easily cost $40 and this not including tips and drinks which is very very high to me. The so called Indian food take out joints are not any inexpensive either. A buffet could be anyway from $8-13 per head, but I hate buffets at Indian restaurants. The quality of food at the buffets is very poor.
Having said that, my experience at the restaurant in discussion was not that disappointing. We had to stay little longer at work last week. Our Team Lead had the company card and left it to us to decide on the food. He mentioned on previous occasions that he had never tried Indian food and would love to. I used this occasion to try this restaurant.
I visited their website and called them to find out if they deliver. To my surprise I found the answer in the negative but the guy on the phone suggested a third party site diningin could be used to make the orders and have it delivered. So I visited the site and found the menu for their restaurant was more elaborate at the diningin site than at their home page and also the cost of the same items was lower at diningin. I am not complaining and nor will I report it to the restaurant to fix this. The site charged about $5.14 as fees for the service (taking the order and delivering food).
We ordered Chicken Haryali, Butter Chicken and Palak Paneer as the entrees for the three of us. We also ordered Onion Kulcha, Aloo Paratha, Garlic Naan and Plain Naan to go along with the curry entrees we ordered. Every curry entree comes with basmati white rice. The paid about $70 for the food and this includes the $5.14 for the delivery service and does not include the tip.
Chicken Haryali was supposed to be a spicy chicken curry in green chilis, coriander. I found it not to be spicy. The curry base was white and appeared to have been made with yogurt. The Butter Chicken is a staple at most Indian restaurants and I found it to be alright. The quality of the chicken could have been better. The Palak Paneer is Indian Milk Cheese cubes cooked in ground Spinach with mild spices in them.
The food was good partly because I was hungry and partly because of the low expectation I had of this restaurant in lieu of my previous disappointments. I liked Palak Paneer the most among the three. The rice that came with entrees was fine. One can hardly go wrong with cooking Basmati rice. The Naan was average at best and nowhere close to the best Naans I had before. I liked the Garlic Naan better than the rest.
Overall I was not disappointed by this experience. Would I go back to it? Yes, I want to try their Biryani. And if I ever go again, I would go for a sit in instead of having the food delivered. Naans are best enjoyed when they are fresh out of the oven, hot and a little crispy. Having them delivered in an aluminum foil makes them moist which in turn makes them soft. This could have clouded my judgment and hence would give them a benefit of doubt by trying them again.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Penang - Malaysian Cuisine @ 117 N 10th St
Penang is a Malaysian restaurant in the heart of China town. Situated between Arch St and Cherry St. on the 10th street is my favorite restaurant in Philadelphia.
Some memories of my early days in Philadelphia are tied to this Restaurant. A close friend of mine, who was in Philadelphia for a long time, introduced me to this restaurant. He helped me with the menu on my first visit to this great restaurant.
I have recently been to this restaurant and they had renovated the interior. They removed the spiral lights on the top that were to my liking. They have new modern furniture now, renovated their restrooms with wooden floors and all.
The menu is vast and varied both in content and price. I always try Roti Canai and Roti Telur on the appetizer list. Roti Canai is like a crepe like pancake but crispy and not sweet. The dipping sauce that comes with it is like a curry sauce and mildly spicy. It contains either a potato or chicken depending on what you ask. The default is chicken. The Roti Telur is like Roti Canai, but is folded and has an egg and onion stuffed. The same sauce is also served with Roti Telur.
The entrees I tried are Mee Siam, Mee Goreng, Nasi Lemak, Pad Thai, and Boneless Curried Chicken with Rice. Nasi Lemak is my favorite followed by Curried Chicken.
Nasi Lemak is a rice dish with several sides like boiled eggs, spicy cooked vegetables, spicy chicken curry, and cold cooked sardines. The curried chicken comes with a white rice and mildly spicy chicken curry. The waiter always asks if you want it boneless. The boneless is about 50cents more than one with boned chicken.
Mee Siam and Indian Mee Goreng are noodle items. Mee Siam is an angel hair pasta like noodles where as Indian Mee Goreng is a spicy thicker noodles. The last time I went, I had Mee Goreng but the cook had over cooked it. It was mildly bitter due to over cooking and was very greasy despite my request for less oil. Pad Thai is a flat noodle which is mildly sweet and spicy. Pad Thai though could be had at any Thai restaurant.
I have also tried their Lychee and Rambutan juice drink. They are unique to this restaurant and taste good. If you like these juices and don’t know where to find them, you can find them in cans in Chinese grocery stores with the same taste.
All in all I will go again and again to this restaurant without burning my wallet. I spent about 15 for two with tax which is not high for such a great food. I make it a point to take my friends and visitors to this restaurant on our day out in Philadelphia. Having lunch and dinner at this restaurant has become a part of my Philadelphia outing experience. My friends who had been to this restaurant recommended me to try their satays which is one my to-try list next time.
Some memories of my early days in Philadelphia are tied to this Restaurant. A close friend of mine, who was in Philadelphia for a long time, introduced me to this restaurant. He helped me with the menu on my first visit to this great restaurant.
I have recently been to this restaurant and they had renovated the interior. They removed the spiral lights on the top that were to my liking. They have new modern furniture now, renovated their restrooms with wooden floors and all.
The menu is vast and varied both in content and price. I always try Roti Canai and Roti Telur on the appetizer list. Roti Canai is like a crepe like pancake but crispy and not sweet. The dipping sauce that comes with it is like a curry sauce and mildly spicy. It contains either a potato or chicken depending on what you ask. The default is chicken. The Roti Telur is like Roti Canai, but is folded and has an egg and onion stuffed. The same sauce is also served with Roti Telur.
The entrees I tried are Mee Siam, Mee Goreng, Nasi Lemak, Pad Thai, and Boneless Curried Chicken with Rice. Nasi Lemak is my favorite followed by Curried Chicken.
Nasi Lemak is a rice dish with several sides like boiled eggs, spicy cooked vegetables, spicy chicken curry, and cold cooked sardines. The curried chicken comes with a white rice and mildly spicy chicken curry. The waiter always asks if you want it boneless. The boneless is about 50cents more than one with boned chicken.
Mee Siam and Indian Mee Goreng are noodle items. Mee Siam is an angel hair pasta like noodles where as Indian Mee Goreng is a spicy thicker noodles. The last time I went, I had Mee Goreng but the cook had over cooked it. It was mildly bitter due to over cooking and was very greasy despite my request for less oil. Pad Thai is a flat noodle which is mildly sweet and spicy. Pad Thai though could be had at any Thai restaurant.
I have also tried their Lychee and Rambutan juice drink. They are unique to this restaurant and taste good. If you like these juices and don’t know where to find them, you can find them in cans in Chinese grocery stores with the same taste.
All in all I will go again and again to this restaurant without burning my wallet. I spent about 15 for two with tax which is not high for such a great food. I make it a point to take my friends and visitors to this restaurant on our day out in Philadelphia. Having lunch and dinner at this restaurant has become a part of my Philadelphia outing experience. My friends who had been to this restaurant recommended me to try their satays which is one my to-try list next time.
Mantra Philly - Vietnamese @ 122 South 18 Street
I have never been to a Vietnamese restaurant before. I always wanted to try them, but did not do. I was browsing the internet other day and found this fusion Vietnamese restaurant on 18th street couple blocks south of Market close to the Rittenhouse square. I perused their website and found their lunch menu interesting. 
At first I wanted to go out with my work team but was never able to gather a group lately due to scheduling issues. So one Wednesday, I decided to go there myself but luckily two other colleagues agreed to join me.
The waitress was courteous and seated us on a table. The ambiance was great and has an instant appeal. She asked if we needed anything to drink and I said water should be fine. She asked bottled or 'Philadelphia's finest' to which I replied bottled but I was served regular water. I did not complain as I did not care as I was busy looking at the menu shocked. Shocked at the prices that were way off of what was on their menu online.
The lunch menu online has several sandwiches and wraps at $6.50 and to my surprise there was nothing on the menu of what I had seen online. I asked the waitress and she replied that they had changed the menu recently and did not update the website. I had to apologize to my colleagues as we were not ready for what we saw in the menu. I was ready to leave but stayed back as my colleagues were willing to stay.
After feeling cheated with the whole fiasco, I began to look at the menu. I ordered shrimp salad that was $12. My one colleague requested a burger and the other a salad that were $10 and $12. The menu was filled with other items that were high 10s and 20s. I said to myself that I am not coming back here for lunch unless it is paid by someone else.
Having made up my mind as such, I waited for the food nonchalantly. The salad was actually good surprisingly. The shrimp was cooked and breaded but was not greasy. The lettuce was crisp with cranberries. The combination was perfect. I was eased into regular conversation after a surprisingly good food. My colleagues were also happy with their food and that helped ease my guilt.
The check came to $14 per head after taxes and tip. This was equal to 2 or more regular lunches that I am normally used to. But that was fine once in a while and even better if it was not for the non-pleasant surprise.
In all this is not a place if you are looking for quick inexpensive food. This is good for a nice dinner or an office party. The food was great and the ambiance splendid. The people were courteous too. I am going back only for dinner with my date or if it paid by someone else. Expensive but good food.
At first I wanted to go out with my work team but was never able to gather a group lately due to scheduling issues. So one Wednesday, I decided to go there myself but luckily two other colleagues agreed to join me.
The waitress was courteous and seated us on a table. The ambiance was great and has an instant appeal. She asked if we needed anything to drink and I said water should be fine. She asked bottled or 'Philadelphia's finest' to which I replied bottled but I was served regular water. I did not complain as I did not care as I was busy looking at the menu shocked. Shocked at the prices that were way off of what was on their menu online.
The lunch menu online has several sandwiches and wraps at $6.50 and to my surprise there was nothing on the menu of what I had seen online. I asked the waitress and she replied that they had changed the menu recently and did not update the website. I had to apologize to my colleagues as we were not ready for what we saw in the menu. I was ready to leave but stayed back as my colleagues were willing to stay.
After feeling cheated with the whole fiasco, I began to look at the menu. I ordered shrimp salad that was $12. My one colleague requested a burger and the other a salad that were $10 and $12. The menu was filled with other items that were high 10s and 20s. I said to myself that I am not coming back here for lunch unless it is paid by someone else.
Having made up my mind as such, I waited for the food nonchalantly. The salad was actually good surprisingly. The shrimp was cooked and breaded but was not greasy. The lettuce was crisp with cranberries. The combination was perfect. I was eased into regular conversation after a surprisingly good food. My colleagues were also happy with their food and that helped ease my guilt.
The check came to $14 per head after taxes and tip. This was equal to 2 or more regular lunches that I am normally used to. But that was fine once in a while and even better if it was not for the non-pleasant surprise.
In all this is not a place if you are looking for quick inexpensive food. This is good for a nice dinner or an office party. The food was great and the ambiance splendid. The people were courteous too. I am going back only for dinner with my date or if it paid by someone else. Expensive but good food.
Walnut Bridge Cofee House - Cafe @ 2319 Walnut St.
Located at 23rd and Walnut in Center City is a Gem of a Coffee shop. The cafe is situated facing road site of Walnut Street in an old archaic building that could need some cleaning. The sign for the shop is beautiful but is small and is placed quite high up on the building to be noticeable.
Like a lotus in a swamp it is housed in a building that is most likely not noticed unless you are looking for it or told by someone else. The second is what happened to me. I had passed that street several times, by foot and by car, but never ever noticed it. My colleague who visits that shop almost daily recommended it and I set out to test it. It is located a few walks from the Walnut Bridge and hence the name I guess.
I wanted a good coffee at the end of cloudy cold day in early March and I visited the cafe that evening. Unfortunately the cafe closes at 6:30 and I was a few minutes late. Never one to give up, I went there the next morning at 9:00AM and this time with a colleague friend of mine.
It's cozy setting inside with about 4 small tables to the left and the counter on the right. The decor was simple and attractive. They feature a local artist on the left side wall of the cafe. The man behind the counter was courteous and nice to talk to. He mentioned that they close at 6:30PM as they do not have much business after. 
I took a regular small sized (8oz I think) coffee with an almond scone. My colleague had a cafe latte. The coffee is Illy coffee. I liked the coffee at $1.30 in their smallest size and the scone was $2.00. The scone was delicious, soft, crumbly and lightly sweet.
They also have sandwiches and wraps for lunch that I intend to try out sometime in the future. I will surely post that experience here. They also have chocolates, pastries, tea etc and they do catering as well.
To conclude, I recommend this place for a quick bite in the morning or lunch time. The location is what makes it odd. It is neither in the busiest corner nor is it at a scenic location. Or maybe that is the plus to it as they is not much noise out here.
Like a lotus in a swamp it is housed in a building that is most likely not noticed unless you are looking for it or told by someone else. The second is what happened to me. I had passed that street several times, by foot and by car, but never ever noticed it. My colleague who visits that shop almost daily recommended it and I set out to test it. It is located a few walks from the Walnut Bridge and hence the name I guess.
I wanted a good coffee at the end of cloudy cold day in early March and I visited the cafe that evening. Unfortunately the cafe closes at 6:30 and I was a few minutes late. Never one to give up, I went there the next morning at 9:00AM and this time with a colleague friend of mine.
It's cozy setting inside with about 4 small tables to the left and the counter on the right. The decor was simple and attractive. They feature a local artist on the left side wall of the cafe. The man behind the counter was courteous and nice to talk to. He mentioned that they close at 6:30PM as they do not have much business after. 
I took a regular small sized (8oz I think) coffee with an almond scone. My colleague had a cafe latte. The coffee is Illy coffee. I liked the coffee at $1.30 in their smallest size and the scone was $2.00. The scone was delicious, soft, crumbly and lightly sweet.
They also have sandwiches and wraps for lunch that I intend to try out sometime in the future. I will surely post that experience here. They also have chocolates, pastries, tea etc and they do catering as well.
To conclude, I recommend this place for a quick bite in the morning or lunch time. The location is what makes it odd. It is neither in the busiest corner nor is it at a scenic location. Or maybe that is the plus to it as they is not much noise out here.
Note: The following pictures are taken on my next visit to this place with my wife. My wife took 
the croissant and she says she liked the croissant at Dunkin Donuts better. The reason could be that she likes her croissant toasted and they did not have a toaster in house to have her croissant toasted to taste like the way she liked it. To me all croissants taste alike. I took a regular coffee. I liked the white porcelain cups but my wife says that the handle were really small. I kind of agree with her on hindsight. She also had Cafe Latte and liked it. I have more or less become a regular customer to them.
the croissant and she says she liked the croissant at Dunkin Donuts better. The reason could be that she likes her croissant toasted and they did not have a toaster in house to have her croissant toasted to taste like the way she liked it. To me all croissants taste alike. I took a regular coffee. I liked the white porcelain cups but my wife says that the handle were really small. I kind of agree with her on hindsight. She also had Cafe Latte and liked it. I have more or less become a regular customer to them.
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