Ben Around the Block

The refined Palace at the Ben is worth the rupees.

by Elisa Ludwig

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Published: May 22, 2007

LIKE SHANGRI-LA: The dished-up panir cashmere, just one of many traditional vegetarian dishes on Palace at the Ben's menu. Photo By: Michael T. Regan (CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

In my household, we do something very close to jumping up and down every time there's an announcement about a new Indian restaurant opening in Philly. We'd been waiting for Palace at the Ben forever, it seemed like � from the day the first zoning notice went up in the window, it took months and months for this new sibling to the Palace of Asia restaurants in Lawrenceville, N.J., and Wilmington, Del., to open its doors.

The location, on the ground floor of the Ben Franklin building on Ninth and Chestnut, had the potential to be awkward, with the neither-here-nor-thereness of a hotel restaurant. But Nick Manekshaw, owner of the Palaces, has given this one a stately grandeur � replete with chandeliers, elephant statues and reversible-fabric-upholstered Louis XIV chairs � that befits its marble-tiled surroundings. At the same time, the color scheme of crimson, saffron and white feels fresh and modern enough to ensure the restaurant can stand on its own as a dining destination. Seating spills out of the formal dining rooms into the lobby's more casual bar setting. It's a pleasant place to sip wines from a list that spans several continents or dip into a signature cocktail that evokes Indian flavors like coconut milk, tamarind and mango.

Lunch is very reasonably priced, especially if you order the thali, a feastlike combination platter in which four colorful dishes are lined up on a chic stainless steel tray like pots of paint on a palette. In the center is a mound of basmati rice woven through with saffron-tinted grains, a peppery pappadum and a puff of oven-blistered naan. All of this can be yours for only $14.95 � $2 less if you go meatless. (Either way, you'll get the lunchtime staple of daal, here a soupy stew of lentils and black beans with bright bursts of fresh ginger and chili, and a thick raita, yogurt with cucumber, carrot and garlic.)

Dinner at the Palace is a decidedly more upscale affair with most entrees in the 20s. You're paying for the ambience, with its extremely attentive service, smooth electro-lounge music and trendy white geometric dishware � you know, the kind that showcases food beautifully but is shaped too irregularly to support your knife when you want to put it down. But ultimately, the refined-yet-authentic Indian cuisine is well worth the money.

Even the simplest dishes are superbly crafted, like the tandoori mixed grill, a variety of meats cooked in a clay oven and displayed on a bed of raw onion and pepper slices with lemon wedges on a sizzling metal platter. Those proteins include whole breast of chicken on the bone, boneless chunks of yogurt-marinated malai chicken, seekh kebab (lamb sausage) and boti kebab, thick chunks of lamb rubbed in a pungent dry masala with a couple of shrimp thrown in for good measure. Tamarind and chili-mint chutneys come on the side, but with their respective marinades, the meats hardly need more embellishment.

Like any good Indian restaurant, Palace takes care of its vegetarian constituents. There are the vegetable samosas and pakoras and an eggplant appetizer in which cumin-dusted discs of the vegetable are topped like mini-pizzas with a tangy slather of chopped onion, cilantro, yogurt and tomato.

Subtle but enchanting, the navratan korma is a nine-vegetable mélange including carrots, string beans, potatoes and peas, bathing in a faintly sweet coconut cream with cashews and raisins. It's the sort of gravy you'd like to dive into headfirst, especially if you don't mind wearing a little ghee on your blouse.

Palak panir is a dish that's tasty and comforting even at its greasiest, but Palace's version is transcendent, with the sautéed spinach conveying an intensity of flavor that sautéed spinach almost never has and cubes of homemade cheese that are as white and tender as marshmallows.

I was looking for more hot panir action when, on a return visit, I ordered the panir kulcha � and it turned out to be my only disappointment from the kitchen. Though the bread itself was nicely charred, the cheese tucked inside clung to the dough in discrete, almost rubbery clumps.

There's an almost endless stream of dishes to love: stewed lamb in an oniony rogan josh gravy bursting with cardamom and cinnamon. Hariyali chicken, boneless chunks in a bright green blanket of chilies and coriander. Then there's shrimp nargisi, jumbo shrimp swirled in an egg-yolk-enriched coconut milk, a velvety seduction of a sauce.

After so much coconut milk, you might be tempted to call it a night, but Palace's desserts are not made to be afterthoughts. The list combines Indian classics like gulab jamon and kulfi with more formal European- and American-style treats. There's a passion fruit panna cotta, a delicate molded mousse with a center pool of mango sauce that spills out onto your spoon. The faintly spicy chai crème brülée can hang with the best of them. A rich, fudgy almond cake is draped in chocolate glaze and fittingly adorned with a spun sugar crown. Best of all: There's a sampler plate. It's enough to make me glad I did the jumping beforehand.

(e_ludwig@citypaper.net)

Palace at the Ben

834 Chestnut St.,267-232-5600, www.palace-of-asia.com

Sun.-Thu., 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Appetizers, $7.95-$24.95; entrees, $19.95-$27.95.

All major credit cards accepted.
Wheelchair accessible.
Reservations accepted.

 

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