Whether you are in the Philadelphia area as a visitor or reside there permanently, most likely you are in search of the best restaurants the city has to offer.
When it comes to Indian cuisine, Philadelphia boasts many popular and many unheard of digs and cafes that will surely satisfy your appetite, whether you are in Center City, Old City or the outer regions of Philly.
Below I’ve compiled a list of my top eight favorite places to get Indian cuisine in Philadelphia. Enjoy!
Located at 236 South Street, Lovash Indian Cuisine is at the perfect location for those looking for ethnic cuisine in Center City.
Lovash is open for lunch from 11:30AM-3PM Sunday through Saturday, while dinner is served Sunday through Friday at 3PM-10PM. The restaurant is open for dinner until 10:30 on Saturdays.
Appetizers on the menu include vegetable pakora and samosa, crab in pastry and Lovash scallops, ranging from $4-$7. Their desserts include kheer, mango malabar and kaju tukda, which range from $4-$5.
Lovash also has a variation of soups, salads and Thali, as well as breads, vegetarian entrees and Tandoor Se, which includes Tandoori lobster, fish tikka and Tandoori shrimp. These meals range from $10-$25.
Lastly, their chef specials include chicken tikka masala, pappas, dhaniya chicken and lamb chettinad, which range from $13-$15.
You can order their food online, and the restaurant provides free delivery for areas in a ten block radius.
According to Lovash’s website, www.lovashindiancuisine.com, “we have come up with a repertoire of dishes from the southern part of India taking into consideration lots of factors that will help us reach and serve all of you, and give a broader variety to choose from and also take you on a gastronomic tour of India that is our motto.”
Located at 4004 Chestnut Street, the New Delhi Indian Restaurant is at a perfect location in University City for those looking for affordable Indian cuisine.
Their menu has a mix of appetizers, from vegetable soup and meat samosa to bhojia and channa poori, which range from $2-$8. Their vegetarian corner consists of vegetables malai kofta, navratan korma, mutter paneer and gobi masala. These dishes cost 8 or 9 bucks.
New Delhi’s non-vegetarian meals include chicken tandoori, seekh kabab, tandoori shrimp, chicken curry and chicken vindaloo, which costs about $9-$15. They also have delicious seafood like shrimp curry and shrimp saag, along with sides, breads and desserts.
Even if you’re looking for something light and tasty, try their famous lassi’s, which are yogurt-like drinks flavored with rose water.
Perhaps the best part of New Delhi is you can get a lot of great food at affordable prices. They have lunch and dinner buffets every day, which include appetizers, a salad bar, dessert, tea or coffee and about 8 different dishes. All of this for as cheap as $7.
New Delhi is open from 11:30AM-10PM Tuesday through Thursday and from 11:30AM-11PM Friday and Saturday. They are closed on Mondays.
3. Karma Restaurant
Located at 114 Chestnut Street, Karma Restaurant is a great place for visitors and residents of the Old City Philadelphia area to go out to eat. Whether you’re eating alone or going out with a bunch of people, Karma is a classy place that is more than willing to accommodate you.
According to the restaurant website, www.karmarestaurant.com, Karma is a traditional Bangladeshi restaurant, “that offers a combination of fine authentic cuisine, simple yet beautiful interior, attentive and friendly staff and a relaxed atmosphere, whether it be for a small family meal or a large group booking.
They are open Saturday through Thursday for lunch from 12PM-2:30PM and 5:30PM-11:30PM for dinner.
Their extensive menu includes appetizers like onion bahaji, somosa, prawn puree and macha bora, which range from $2.75-$6.50. They offer a combination of house and tandoori specialties, from makhani and chilli chicken to dim dall and tandoori chicken. Their main dishes consist of a wide variety of meals, such as madra, bhuna, dopiaza and patia. This cost anywhere from $4 to $12.
Karma has always been a favorite of mine for its atmosphere. When you enter you feel like you are about to engage your appetite in something sublime and superbly ethnic. It’s a nice place to take out a special someone, without being too upscale and expensive.
Karma Restaurant even offers free home delivery, and includes a bottle of wine with every order over $40 and two beers with every order over $30.
4. Passage to India
Located at 1320 Walnut Street, Passage to India is at the perfect location in the heart of the city for tourists and residents alike to dine.
The food is excellent, and they have an overflowing buffet 7 days a week. Notable dishes include chicken tikka masala, papadam and chana masala.
The food tasted authentic and was perfectly spiced in my opinion, compared to other Indian restaurants that tend to overwhelm their food or “Americanize” their dishes to the extreme of losing flavor. The average meal cost less than $10.
Passage to India also has a liquor license; they offer late-night dining and provide excellent vegetarian cuisine for those non-meat eaters.
Officially, the restaurant is open Monday through Thursday 11:30AM-9:30PM, Friday 11:30AM-10:30PM, Saturday 12PM-10:30PM and Sunday 12PM-9:30PM.
Personally, I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of this place. Overall, it felt like you were eating at a fancy Indian diner, while the extra touches like live Indian classical music on Wednesdays and piano music on the weekends makes you feel like you’re surrounded in ethnicity and variety.
5. Tandoor India Restaurant
“We Believe That the Joy of Eating Lies in the Art of Fine Cooking”
Located at 106 S. 40th Street, Tandoor India Restaurant is known for its exotic north and south Indian cuisine.
Unlike many restaurants that serve excellent dishes in person but then provide less-than mediocre take-out, Tandoor is known for provided excellent cuisine on both ends of the spectrum, while even offering catering.
Tandoor offers an extremely diverse menu. Their soups include mulligatawny, shahi murg shorba and rasam, which cost $3. Their appetizers include vegetable samosa, papadum, plain dosa, masala vada and idli, which cost between $1-$8.
Tandoor’s main dishes include tandoor-ka-khazana, biryani and pullao, beef delicacies, bahar-e-murgh, samunder-kakhazana, laziz-e-goshat, bahar-e-sabzi, tandoori breads and desserts. The price ranges from $9-$15, and all meals are served with rice and raita.
Tandoor is open Monday through Sunday 11:30AM-3:30PM, Sunday through Thursday 4PM-10PM and Friday through Saturday 4PM-10:30PM.
The service is excellent and this is definitely a good place to take out someone special. As mentioned previously, Tandoor’s takeout is exceptional, so order out and serve at home for an equally satisfying experience.
6. Sitar India Restaurant
Located at 60 S. 38th Street, Sitar India Restaurant has become famous for its delicious cuisine and reasonable prices, especially for those residents of the University City area.
The restaurant is almost always busy and is a great hang out for college students with all the surrounding colleges and universities in the area. They even offer student discounts on some of their meals.
Their food includes balti, beef delicacies, biryani and pullao, chicken delicacies, goshai, sabzi, seafood, shorbe, snacks and tandoor ka khazana, tandoori breads and mithai bhandar and thanda garam.
Sitar’s filling buffet is always fresh and stocked to the brim. Popular dishes include channa bhathura, spicy palak panoo and their free mango juice is a hit. Overall their food was tasty and never too oily.
Sitar India is open every day from 11:30AM-9:30PM but is closed on Tuesdays.
7. Tiffin
Located at 710 W. Girard Avenue, Tiffin is a great place to go to get healthy and fresh Indian cuisine.
According to the restaurant’s website, www.tiffin.com, the word “tiffin” itself is widely used in India to represent “any hot light meal or snack taken at any time during the day.”
They offer eat-in, take-out, delivery, catering and even pre-paid meal options. In addition, they have daily and monthly specials which save you lots of dough, and you can check out these options on the restaurant’s website. The majority of their food is trans-fat free.
Tiffin is more on the expensive side, however their healthy and tasty meals are well worth it. Meals range from $7.50 to over $25, however the latter includes enough food to stuff at least two grown people. All their meals are served with dal, rice, onion chutney and homemade pickles.
Right now Tiffin serves Old City, Center City and University City, however they plan on expanding to other Philadelphia areas and areas outside of the city as well.
8. Kabobeesh
“An Authentic Name in Barbeque Grill”
Located at 4201 Chestnut Street, Kabobeesh is another great place to go in Center City to get a fix of Indian cuisine.
The restaurant offers eat-in, take-out and catering services. They serve a variety of different meals daily, including weekday, weekend and vegetable specials, along with a kid’s menu.
Their daily meals range from $7.50 to $9.99 but are well worth the price. Such meals include quails, chicken wings, tandoori chicken, lamb kabob, resham kabob, channa, fried fish, chicken kabob, lamb chops and chapli kabob. All orders are served with nan, rice, salad and customer’s choice of vegetables. Students with ID also get a free 12 oz soda with any of these meals.
Kabobeesh’s meals not only taste delicious but they appear delicious as well. While most restaurants just slop their food onto a plate, Kabobeesh takes the time to arrange your plate perfectly, whether you are eating in or ordering take-out.
