Bindi - Indian Cuisine @ 105 S 13th St.

Located on the 13th st between Sansom and Chestnut Street is this Indian BYOB restaurant called Bindi. I have read good reviews about this restaurant on several occasions including, Best of Philly, Zagat and Yelp. I wanted to try it out but on reviewing the website, I was kind of apprehensive of the authenticity of it. The chef was American and I was not sure how authentic the Indian food would be. Ethnic restaurants should be authentic unless they state they are fusion which is fine, as long as I know what I am getting into. I did not want to go this restaurant expecting Indian food and find myself eating chicken tikka masala with no masala in it.

The second factor that weighed in against this restaurant is the cost factor. The menu clearly shows that this restaurant caters to the upscale audience and the high price defeats the purpose of this blog. An occasion like a Birthday, anniversary etc could be used to go this restaurant where price is not a factor. On one such occasion I pulled my experimental side out and set forward to experience a culinary pleasure that was to happen.

We were four and were seated at the corner close to an emergency exit towards the glass wall. The interior was dimly lit as is a norm in restaurants in the evening. The ambiance is well suited for a date where you might want to impress your date with your experimental nature without actually getting burnt eating the spicy Indian food. Or that is what was my first impression on entering the restaurant was and that remained through the end of my dinner. There were about 6-8 tables on the main floor for seating differnt sized parties. It looked like they had an extended section in the basement as they were stairs leading downstairs. I have checked out the basement section and hence cannot confirm it. It might as well lead to a kitchen.

We skipped the appetizers and ordered the main course directly. We ordered, the 4 types of breads(roti) hat the menu contained and 3 entress namely Prawn and Pumpkin curry, Ghost(Lamb) curry and spicy Tomato Cauliflower vegetable curry. The Prawn curry came with Lemon Rice and Lamb curry came with Pulav. Pulav is a boiled rice with vegetables and onions cooked alongside with the rice and sometimes containing raisins and nuts. But it is different from Biryani in the sense that it does not contain any spices and is mostly vegetarian.

The breads were a revelation. They were one of the best Indian breads I have had in any restaurant in Philadelphia. The lentil bread though small was more like an appetizer than a bread. It should have been included in the appetizer section. It was tasty and so were the other breads. The curries were not typical Indian stuff that you expect at Indian restaurants. All the curries we ordered had some kind of yogurt base which is not what a typical Indian curry contains. Having said that, they were prepared with good care and appropriate spices(though very moderate to my taste).

The lamb curry though was a complete detour from what I am used to. The lamb curry had no spices, it had a huge lamb shank boiled really soft in different kinds of beans. It was something that I would have expected in a Mexican or a Middle eastern restaurant and not definitely at an Indian Restaurant. That aside the whole experience was wonderful.

As they say the climax of the movie comes at the end. All the good beginning we had was kind of tamed when the waiter said that they accepted only cash. Put together we had only about $40 cash and was not enough to meet the check payment. In their defense, their website cleared stated that they only accepted cash. There must have been a note at the entrance somewhere but was not prominent in the darkness and we did not look for any such signs. So one of us had to go out, after such a wonderful dinner, in search of an ATM machine(of course pay the 2+2 surcharge by the ATM bank and the Debit Card bank) and get the cash to pay of the dinner.

An average entree on the menu is about $22. The breads were $4 each and the appetizers about $8. All in all we had to dish out $84 for 4 including tips meaning each dinner was about $21. That to me is expensive unless it is hosted by someone else or if it is a special event.

My recommendation is stay away from this, but make sure you try it on some special occasion. Everyone deserves a good spoiling once in a while and the food at Bindi will surely delight your culinary senses.

Ashoka Palace - Indian fast food @ 38 S. 19th St.

I was walking home one day from the Rittenhouse square and saw a sign 'Grand Opening' to this place called Ashoka Palace. From the name of it, I instantly recognized it to be Indian. The same week my wife wanted some Indian biryani and so I decided to get some food to take home from this restaurant.

I went there when it was about 1:00 PM on a sunny Thursday. The bad part was, instead of walking I was driving. It was very difficult to finding a parking on this block. I had to drive around for about 30 minutes before I could find a parking. If only I could see this as an omen for how the food would be.

I went inside and found the restaurant to be quite busy for 1:30PM. I really hoped the food was good. The interior was not well designed. I expected a little more from a newly opened restaurant. From the looks of it, one can clearly make that it is place for quick and cheap Indian food. The color of the walls was pink and ceiling was sky blue - Horrible combination. No wall paintings or any other decorations. The sofa next to the food counter was torn already. There were a lot of tables though. It is a self service kind of place or an Indian fast food joint if you prefer to call it.

I waited in line for about 15 Min's before I could order. As I said before there was quite a number of people inside. I ordered vegetable Biryani, Chicken Curry, one Kulcha and Masala Chai. As I mentioned earlier I had ordered these to take home with me. The people behind the counter were courteous and smiling. There were 2 ladies behind the counter, the older one for taking the order and younger lady was cashier or vice versa. There was a little confusion between them in getting a handle of taking the order, delivering food and taking the money. It looked like a story of Marie and Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond and cook in the kitchen must have been Ray hiding.

I took Masala Chai for my drive home. I was expecting Masala chai to have some spices like cinnamon in it. I guess for a $1.30 I should not complain as much.

Biryani sucked big time as they mostly do with Indian restaurants. The problem with Biryani at Indian restaurants is that they are not biryani but a concoction of vegetable curry and white rice. I think they should take biryani out of their menu and say curried rice as they say in Malaysian and Thai restaurants. But the fact is this tasted just like the $15 biryani that I had from other expensive Indian restaurants. The biryani here was only $7 and the same taste as a $15. Well for some that would be a bargain but that surely does make it only compromise of a Biryani to me.

After that shock called Biryani, I had horror waiting for me by the name of Kulcha. What I found on unwrapping the aluminum foil which was supposed to contain Kulcha was nothing but toasted peta bread. The peta bread called Kulcha was $1. I could buy a whole 5 pack of peta breads from nearby Trader Joes for under $2. After this I said I am not going back to this place again.

Chicken curry was acceptable though. It was not spicy but the chicken was well cooled and the gravy was tasty. The chicken curry was a saving grace to this place that was really cheap at $7 also.

The only positive is that the prices of items are really low. But the taste and ambiance has a lot to improve upon. It truly is caters to the typical American who wants an occasional bite of Indian food and not get burnt by the spices. But to me an ethnic place has to have some authenticity to them in the food and taste and not just in their names.

They had some snacks that looked great while others were ordering like the potato Samosa and Chana chat. To conclude I would not recommended this place at all except for the price for Indian stuff which is about half the regular Indian restaurant costs. You give something and get a lot less for what you give with this restaurant.