Would You Like Some Naan With That?...

Bindi

105 S. 13^th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19102

http://barbuzzo.com/

I have become a fanatic about Indian food since I traveled to India and the Middle East after my junior year of college. It contains so many complex flavors that make it an incredible experience each and every time that you indulge in it. I always mess around with my cousin and try to get him to come with us when we eat Indian, but he is afraid so he never actually comes with us, but since he knows we like it, he and his wife got me a gift card to go to Bindi in Philadelphia for Christmas this past year. I was saving it for this fall,  so my girlfriend and I made a reservation on a Friday night and we set out to try it.

Bindi was owned by Valrie Safran and Chef Marcie Turney, runner up for the James Beard award in 2009 for best Mid Atlantic chef (She lost to Jose Garces so that’s some pretty stiff competition). They run businesses on nearly the entire block on 13^th street and 14^th street on Chestnut, and their business is booming. Bindi had a great reputation, so we were very excited to get some authentic Indian cuisine so close to home. As soon as we sat down we ordered a pitcher of ginger pomegranate lemonade called nimbu-pani to share since we brought a small bottle of rum with us. The lemonade was incredibly refreshing and one of the best juices I have ever tasted. You could really taste the ginger and the pomegranate in the lemonade and it paired perfectly with the rum. 

We ordered lobster purri purri to share for an appetizer, as well as the potato partha, lentils, and a coconut rice pudding for dessert. My main course was a seared lamb loin served with a traditional sauce, beets, and almonds. While we were waiting for the purri purri to come out, they brought us a basket of spiced chips with a tamarind dipping sauce. They were really good, and so different than any other kind of chip I have had. They were spiced with many traditional Indian spices, cumin, coriander, clove, etc. and the tamarind dipping sauce was nicely acidic and paired well with the saltiness of the chips.

The lobster purri purri came out next and it was ridiculously good. I had never had purri purri before so I was anxious to try it, and I am glad I did because it was phenomenal. On the bottom it was a crispy bread bowl that was filled with poached lobster and topped with a yogurt dressing and shaved apples. Each and every bite was complex and packed to the brim with flavor. 

My lamb loin was the star of the meal for me. I could not get over the flavors that it provided, and the delicacy with which it was handled. It was cooked to a perfect medium rare, (not to the liking of my girlfriend who really likes her meat dead, sorry Mel!) and it soaked up the sauce that it was served with perfectly. It was a chana masala sauce that had a taste of cream, tomato, and a bit of spice. The lamb was topped with almonds and beets, an unusual but phenomenal combination because of the crunch of the almonds and the juiciness of the beets. I devoured the meal because it was the best lamb that I have had outside of India itself.

The accompaniments of our meal were good, but not the best I have had. Its hard for me to judge lentils because I had them for the first time in one of the best restaurants in the world in India, Bukara. These lentils were white lentils, and they were a little too al dente for my taste, but the sauce that they were served in made up for it. It was packed with flavor. The potato partha was good, but the raita that it was served with was out of this world. I love raitas because of the garlic and creaminess. For those of you that don’t know what a raita is I can tell you that its an Indian dipping sauce, usually a yogurt based dipping sauce, with cucumber and any number of spices added to it.

I wasn’t really excited about dessert because I have yet to have an Indian dessert that I liked, and after eating the coconut rice pudding we ordered I can still say I haven’t had one. I ate Indian food for 9 days in India and have had it a couple times since and I just haven’t found an Indian dessert that I enjoy. It was ok, but I didn’t like the texture of the rice, and the coconut taste was overpowering.

I am sad to tell you all that Bindi closed shortly after I visited in September. It has been reconceptualized into yet another Spanish wine bar in a city that is full of Spanish tapas and Wine Bars. I am pretty upset about this because Bindi was really that good. I know that the owners will do a great job with their new restaurant Jamonera, which will be opening soon in Bindi’s place. I would have recommended Bindi too you if it was still open, but I cannot. Go try anything on 13^th street though and I guarantee you will be happy. Cheers!