In a Tiff

Tiffin etc.

by Trey Popp

THERE ARE NO sure things in the restaurant world, but Tiffin etc. seemed like the closest possible candidate. Fans of Tiffin — and they are legion — could be forgiven for thinking that owner Munish Narula and executive chef Hari Nayak could do no wrong. Their delivery-centric take on home-style Indian food consistently demonstrates that there is more to a good curry than clarified butter. From the counterbalanced heat and sourness of their vindaloos to the refreshingly austere (and healthful) profile of their stewed lentils, the original Tiffin simply gets a whole lot right.

With Tiffin etc., which opened in August, the pair has expanded into street food. The trim menu essentially offers dough cooked three ways — stuffed, for parathas; covered, for pizzas; and wrapped around a fried egg and sandwich fillings, for kati rolls.

It's a mixed bag, starting with the fact that street snacks do not improve with transit. The keema paratha I tried in-store struck the right balance between crispiness and pliability, but the one I had delivered had steamed in its foil packaging to a soggy mess. A similar, if less extreme, discrepancy held for the pizza crusts — but at least those can be fixed with a few minutes in the oven.

Whether they're worth fixing is another question. I tried four small pies, which were generously sized and bargain-priced at $4.95. Two sported a thin coating of tomato sauce and aromatic whiffs of tandoori spice mix — applied to paneer in one case, chicken in another — that lifted them into a class above the standard non-Italian take on pizza. But another two were case studies in the danger of stretching a formula too far. In one, ground lamb and field peas combined with a cilantro-mint pesto to yield a dull shade of green that killed my appetite before I had a chance to marvel over how bland it tasted. Lamb played a different role in the boti kebab pie, this time as dried-out slices of barbecued meat that got no assist from a stingily applied onion sauce.

The kati rolls are Tiffin etc.'s best bet. The marriage of griddle bread and fried egg gives you something substantial to bite into, and caramelized onions played a pleasantly sweet supporting role to spiced minced lamb and chicken kebabs in the two versions I tried. Yet I wished for a little more zip from the underapplied chutney in the latter — especially since pickles and chutneys are one of my favorite things about Tiffin. Both kati were also too small to be a meal on their own.

Even if I can live without the etcetera, though, Tiffin's still got my tongue for the rest.

(t_popp@citypaper.net)

Tiffin Etc. | 712 W. Girard Ave., 215-925-0770, tiffin.com. Daily, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Pizzas, $4.95-$8.95; kati rolls, $4.50-$5.50; parathas, $3-$4; beverages, $2.50-$3.50. Delivery available.