Kabob and Grill

107 E. County Line Road
Ardmore, PA 19003
(484) 417-6672
Website

Indian food, in addition to being difficult to photograph, generally falls into two categories: good and great. I rarely have great Indian, but Kabob and Grill is up there. It's located right by Hymie's, and has a small bright storefront.

While it is BYOB, they offer a complimentary beer (Kingfisher) if you feel like it. I had both my Ballast Point Sculpin IPA AND a Kingfisher. When in Rome.

It is a bit more expensive than my usual targeted food spots, no matter the time of day, but for lunch they offer several killer deals around $10. I decided to try the Lamb Kadai (left) and the Chicken Tikka Masala (right).

The lamb is actually a Pakistani dish and came highly recommended by the server. The polite enthusiasm was fantastic, and it was just the right level of attention. Kadai, per the menu, features tender lamb cubes cooked with fresh onion,tomato and chief (chef) special spices. It came out like a lamb stew, and was delicious. Deep, rich flavor from the tomato and spice blend kept me coming back for more.

I mean, who's kidding, why would I put 3 only chunks on my plate? I like to start light. The lamb chunks truly were tender, and melted with each bite.

The Tikka Masala was another winner, with tender chicken in a creamy, spicy yogurt sauce. It boasted the standard orange tint, and the portion was spot on.

Look at this tender chicken. Delicious, flavorful and very clean.

An order of garlic naan came glistening with ghee and was crispy yet pliable. Exactly as it should be.

Look at the layers of flaky dough.

I also sampled the raita, a yogurt based sauce that I generally dip my naan in and can help cool down anything that brought too much heat. Luckily the mains here were well balanced with just enough heat to get the sweat started, but not enough to burn you. At lunch it is a steal, for dinner you will not be disappointed.

Imli Indian Kitchen

769 E Passyunk Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(267) 858-4277
Website

A recent invite to Imli on Passyunk meant a dinner out with some local food writers, and a chance to eat somewhere I haven't been. The result was some of the best Indian food I have eaten in the city, and putting some faces to names of the Philly food scene.

Imli greets you with a waft of delicious Indian aromas, and the bright interior is quite inviting. As a bonus, they are BYOB, so you can match some big wines with big flavors.

We were brought out the samosas first, these were large, deeply fried and packed with flavorful curried potato, peas, and served with mint tamarind sauce.

The butter naan was another crowd-pleaser. Nicely browned, and the perfect vessel to scoop up the remnants of the various sauces.

The rashmi kebab presented charred chunks of chicken with sugar threads on top for effect. Served on romaine with red onion, this dish was visually appealing, and interesting, but it was lacking any discernible flavor profile.

The chicken Seekah kebab packed more memorable flavors, including I believe coriander, and garam masla. The textures were nice on this minced tandoori dish, with tender meat and crunchy specks for contrast. It was a sort of chicken sausage, but not really.

Kalmi kebabs were yet another tandoori favorite, with tender chicken thighs.

The baingan bhurta, an eggplant dish stewed with tomatoes, offered a rich repository for wayward naan.

My favorite dish of the bunch was probably the shrimp aachri, cooked in  rich spices and loaded with snappy acidity.

Lamb korma was right up there, though it did not photograph quite as well. If it isn't apparent by now, I got to taste just about all of it. Pure sensory overload.

Let's be honest, there isn't much Indian food that photographs well; it's too bad most dishes look like a thick, monochrome soupy blob. However, looks can be deceiving and the flavors here at Imli really surprised me.

Chicken tikka masala had the smooth consistency that makes it an intro to Indian food winner. The rich gravy perfectly suited the tender chicken morsels.

Basically, you will be hard pressed to not have a good time at this place, no matter what some of the finicky reviewers may say. I really loved the food, and would put it above Tiffin based on my experiences that night. As always, your mileage may vary.

Bombay Local Pizza

1120 White Horse Rd #132
Voorhees Township, NJ 08043
(856) 375-2246

I recently got an invite to check out an Indian pizza place in Voorhees, and since I LOVE Indian pizza, and free food, I could not possibly turn it down.

Located in a typical NJ shopping center, Bombay Local has been open for about a year. The interior is sparse, but what this place lacks in ambiance, it crushes with fresh ingredients and the best damn marinara I can remember tasting.

Below are owners-brothers: Parig & Sam from Chatanooga, TN. The duo worked in finance for a few years in New York and then decided to open a restaurant closer to Philadelphia, in New Jersey. They base their creative menu on some family recipes mixed with new ideas, focusing on the freshest ingredients.

They recommend I start with the Desi bread served with a side of original tomato sauce. My god this was incredible garlic bread. It was simple, buttery, and packed with fresh flavors. The side of aforementioned marinara was just unreal. They take a traditional tomato sauce and add in a few extra Indian flavors. It's subtle, smoky sweet and positively addicting.

The bread itself had chopped peppers, garlic, and onions on it. It would make a fantastic sandwich wrapper.

They were kind enough to bring out two pizzas, each quarter boasting a different pizza style. So basically it was like getting to taste eight pizzas in one. Perfect.

Baingan bharta below. Probably one of my favorite Indian specialties off of a pizza, it was definitely also a winner on the pizza. "Bharta" refers to dishes in which the ingredients are roughly mashed either before or after the dish is prepared, so here we have a smoky, roasted eggplant mash that's full of garlicy garam masala flavor.

Bombay masala below, my second favorite of the day. The Indian BBQ sauce was sweet and spicy – so robust!

Chili potato below. Nothing too exciting there, but still pretty good.

Four alarm below, with habanero, jalapeno and small Indian chile peppers littering the melted cheese. This one was hot. With a really slow, creeper kind of kick that is also slow to dissipate.

After my mouth recovered from the four alarm, the next pie came out.

Spicy paneer below - it was bit like the bombay masala, but with less sauce and double the cheese.

Chutney paneer was probably the best of the 'paneer' selections. I mean, cheese chunks on top of melted cheese is certainly a no brainer for me, but this one had the fresh tang of mint-coriander chutney to cut the dairy. It's always nice to finish with some acidity...

Paneer tikka below, another take on the Indian-style BBQ sauce, a bit milder than the masala version.

Samosa below. It was like unwrapping a samosa and eating it flat. The flavors were spot on and the potatoes and curry seasoning took me right to the best Indian buffets of my memories.

If you are familiar with Indian food, you will know what each of these variations consist of. Each had their own unique flavors, and I have to say, the quality and freshness of the ingredients was evident in every slice. If I was in Jersey, this would undoubtedly be on my regular rotation. I didn't get a chance to try the Indian hoagies, but I certainly will next time.