Kinder Jit Singh, who has cooked at many Center City Indian restaurants (Passage to India, Taj Mahal, Minar Palace), will open his solo debut, Ashoka Palace at 38 S. 19th St., on Thursday (5/1).
Hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Phone is 215-564-6466.
Menu will run the gamut: biryani, chicken tandoori, goat, lamb and vegetables. Shrimp dishes at $10 are the priciest, and most platters, say, chicken tikka masala and chicken makhani, are $8.50.
One feature worth noting is the decor. You may recall that this place last was Bootsie's, which went through two redecorations in its short but odd existence. It started in August 2006 as a gourmet/natural hot dog/hamburger stand and by February 2007 morphed into some quirky sit-down restaurant, which soon after started offering buy-one-get-second-at-half-off specials (never a good sign), and finally closed in December amid the shouts of lawyers.
Anyway...
Ashoka Palace really has no decor. The entire front of the space has been scooped out in favor of rows of wooden tables, and the kitchen and counter (with overhead sign) are in the back. The walls are painted in an unforgettably glossy pink, which calls to mind a bottle of Pepto-Bismol or a young girl's bedroom.
Why?
Singh said he got the wrong color from the paint store. By the time he realized that the paint was going to dry this way, he explained, it was too late. He said it would do for now.
The swatch presented here is a smartphone test. Bring your device to the restaurant, call up this blog entry on the screen, and hold it next to one of the walls. If your phone is properly calibrated, the colors should match.
Comments (4)
That's a riot!
Posted by Tom | May 1, 2008 7:50 AM
Posted on May 1, 2008 07:50
As long as you don't need Pepto-Bismol after eating there, I'm just psyched to have another Indian restaurant in town!!
Posted by LibraryChick | May 1, 2008 10:52 AM
Posted on May 1, 2008 10:52
Went there today, take-out. (Did not need Pepto-Bismol, as mentioned in my previous post) Food is good. Your basic Indian fare. The interior is kind of odd, but unremarkable. The only downside was that they really seemed overwhelmed. I understand it's their first day, but they will need to get more organized to deal with the long lunch line. I heard it was a 20-minute wait for food if you ate in. I hope they can streamline their counter so they can succeed.
Posted by LibraryChick | May 1, 2008 5:23 PM
Posted on May 1, 2008 17:23
My wife and I had lunch there the other day, and from what I recall it is basically what Minar Palace was (except the unbelievable pink walls. What was he going for? A lighter pink? A darker pink? Pink is still pink, and I don't think I've ever seen it so overwhelming in a restaurant! The swatch displayed above is quite acurate.)
The menu seemed overpriced for not having table service (neither did Minar, but the prices are about $2 more per plate here - I still have a Minar menu in my desk drawer!)
For your first-timers: Just walk up to the counter, order and pay, and stand around (or find a table if staying) until they call your order. Don't stand at the door waiting to be seated.
We went about 1pm and got our orders within a few minutes, as it was not very crowded at all. I had chicken tikka saag wala (chicken in a spinach sauce). The chicken was a little chewy. I'll go for something spicy next time. My wife got the veg platter consisting of rice, channa masala, and aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower) which wasn't too bad. The chapati was fresh and very good.
We were hoping for a restaurant that we could have an occasional lunch or dinner at instead of cooking at home. But without table service and NO ambiance, it's really just okay for lunch - and on the more expensive side at that. We'll definitely go back, but probably not as much as I anticipated.
Posted by Tim | May 9, 2008 2:01 PM
Posted on May 9, 2008 14:01