Philadelphia Chutney Company
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Address: Philadelphia Chutney Company 1628 Sansom St Philadelphia, PA 19103 Other Philadelphia Indian Restaurants |
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Philadelphia Chutney Company - Lousy Food
Being South Indians, Idlis, Dosas and Medhu Vadas have been part of our lexicon and our menu (both at home and at restaurants) for several decades now.Never, never (not in Asia and not in the U.S.) have we previously encountered an Indian restaurant where they charge you for the Sambar when you order a Dosa, Idli or Vada.
Not even the Pakistani Dosa Cart in NYC charges extra for the Sambar. It’s kinda like ordering Coffee and and paying extra for the sugar and milk.
But the greedy SOBs at Philadelphia Chutney Company in Philadelphia (where else, schmuck) charge you nearly a buck for a measly 1/2 cup of Sambar (93 cents to be precise). And, boy, was the Sambar bad.
Yuck.
Low on Tamarind, low on Sambar spices and just one forlorn piece of drumstick in our cup.
Not surprisingly, we felt like throttling the kitchen-staff.
Cold, Bad Chutneys
And the Chutneys that give the restaurant its name come in tiny containers.As if that were not bad enough, the Chutneys were icy cold (as in just lifted out of the cooler).
How lazy can you be! How greedy can you be!
When your name includes the word Chutney, shouldn’t you be serving fresh, flavorful Chutneys in reasonable quantity.
Hell, no. Not at Philadelphia Chutney Company on Sansom St in Philadelphia
Of the five Chutneys we tried at this dump, the Coconut and Cilantro Chutney were not meant for humans. Most certainly not.
The cold, cold Coconut Chutney showed no evidence any chillies had been used in its preparation while the Cilantro Chutney had a weird taste and flavor.
Tomato Chutney was no big deal either.
Mango Chutney was kinda interesting being sweet instead of spicy as Chutneys usually are while Curry Chutney was slightly flavorful.
Jaundiced Idlis?
Idlis had a weird yellow color.Yellow, yes.
Not the usual white. When we asked the cashier (remember this is a self-serve place) whether they were Kanchipuram Idlis, he mumbled about using vegetables in the Idlis.
Rubbish. Since when do people use vegetables in Idlis?
In any case, we found no trace of any vegetables in the Idli. No, they certainly were not Kanchipuram Idlis either since we found no trace of cashews, ginger and coriander.
The same fella was more interested in sampling the food in the kitchen than attending to diners. When we wanted to order extra items, we found him AWOL. The cud-chewing bozo returned from the kitchen after a while, lazily washed his hands at the sink and then deigned to attend to us.
Lousy Dosa
Classic Masala Dosa was a crappy piece of shit with with a pasty, tasteless, soggy potato filling inside.No onions were added to the mix just mashed potato, turmeric powder and mustard seasoning.
A disgrace, if you ask us since the filling inside a Masala Dosa is always a combination of onion+potato+chillies+curry leaves seasoning.
How would these buffoons at Philadelphia Chutney Company know. These are dilettantes, rank amateurs far too busy trying to rip you off.
Gobi Manchurian (10 pieces) was crisp but the Red Sauce was way too much.
Medhu Vada was hot and crisp but in the absence of a decent accompaniment like Sambar or flavorful Coconut Chutney did not give us much joy.
Samosa had the same flavorless, soggy potato filling inside as the Masala Dosa.
Horrible Madras Coffee
If we were the owners of Philadelphia Chutney Company, we’d jump off the Ben Franklin bridge for the inexpiable sin of serving such hideous Madras Coffee to paying customers.Madras Coffee was low on coffee decoction, had too much milk, was not fresh and had a strong flask-odor. Only hardened criminals inflict such trash on customers and charge $2.50 for it.
Masala Chai was basically strong Tea with a faint hint of the Masala spices.
For the most part, the food we tried at Philadelphia Chutney Company falls in the pathetic category.
During our visit, there was a dispute between a desi vegetable supplier and the staff in the kitchen and the noise carried into the dining room.
The food in this self-serve restaurant comes on plastic plates or directly off a wrapping paper on a tray (like with the Masala Dosa).
Folks, Philadelphia Chutney Company has no reason to exist except that a bunch of Indian shanis (devils) gathered together with the sordid motive of inflicting hapless diners with their version of the Dantean Inferno.
We can’t wait for this dump Philadelphia Chutney Company to shut down. Sooner the better.
Schmucks, eat at Philadelphia Chutney Company only if you are a masochist, love bad Indian food and, above all, enjoy getting ripped off. - © PhillyIndia.us