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.

Desi Chaat House

501 S. 42nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
(215) 386-1999
Website

I drove past the Desi Chaat House a couple of weeks ago, and I new I had to try it. When I found myself in West Philly again this weekend, it was time to give it a go. Chaat is an Indian street food that consists of crunchy crackerish pieces of fried dough mixed with a variety of sauces and proteins. The Chaat House has multiple bins lining their shelves, each containing a different selection of delicious crunchy bits. The bin they use is dependent on which Chaat you order. I am going to let you in on a little secret, you can't go wrong. Everything I ate was incredible. Bursting with fresh exotic flavors, and profiles my taste buds had never before experienced.


I ordered the lamb chaat, which was marinated strips of lamb, ground spices, barbecued in a clay oven served with chaat. They tailor each order to the spiciness the customer prefers. I like it really spicy, and they delivered. It wasn't "can't eat it because it is SO hot," but it actually provided a great blend of heat and spice. The yogurt really helped to cut the fire. The flavor was packed in these containers. I mean packed. I marveled at just how good it was. Some of the best Indian food I have had. The owner is really nice, and he loves to talk about his food. They have a great variety of sauces, and each one lends a VERY distinctive flavor. There are pockets of creamy yogurt that inadvertently become mixed with the tamarind, chili and other flavored sauces to create a masterpiece. Between two of us, we tried three dishes and even ordered a fourth to take home for later after we had already eaten the first three!


Below is the samosa chaat. When I saw samosa on the menu, I expected traditional samosas with dipping sauce. But THIS was samosa chaat. A samosa was stuck in the corner, and surrounded with beans, boiled potato chunks, sauces and chaat. There were so many contrasting flavors and textures that it was unlike anything I had ever eaten. It was fantastic.


The Dahi Ballay consisted of white lentil balls in yogurt, with potatoes, chick peas and chutney. A bit on the sweeter side, this dish was still both spicy and cooling thanks to the hot chutney and creamy yogurt sauce on top - it was quite delicious. Every single dish tasted completely different, which was a pleasant surprise.


Here is a shot of the menu and two of the workers.


Here is the rest of the menu. If you look below it, there are all of the Chaat containers.


Here is the Dahi Ballay.


So, while eating, I noticed someone outside had little puffy dough balls that they were cracking, and filling with a creamy mixture and pouring some kind of liquid in with it. It looked amazing. I asked the owner what that was, and he informed me it was Pani Puri. Pani Puri consists of crisp semolina puris filled with mixed sweet and sour filling served with spicy water that is flavored with date and tamarind. They are a perfect snack food, and I loved the spicy water. I may have liked these best of all (I also have a weakness for crunchy fried snack food). I was thoroughly impressed by all of the offerings at Desi Chaat House, and as I told the owner, I only had one qualm. Why isn't there one in South Philly? To my delight, he reassured me he was currently scouting a second location down this way. Amazing. I can't wait to go back, and I will consider that my go-to place for Indian in the city now. I mean, when it comes down to it, I am a street-food person above all else, so my Indian cravings just met their match.