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Lovash Indian Cuisine
South St, Philadelphia
(Scroll down to read the review)
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Indian Restaurants in Philadelphia
Address & Telephone No:
Lovash Indian Cuisine
236 South St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Ph: 215-925-3881
Hours:
Lunch: 11:30 AM -3:00 PM
Dinner: 3:00 PM -10:00 PM
Open Seven Days
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Lovash Indian Cuisine
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Reviewer's Summary: Horrible Food; OK Service
Gosh, we haven't had such bad Indian food on the East Coast in a long while.
Virtually every dish that we tasted at Lovash restaurant on South Street in Philadelphia was a travesty of real Indian cuisine.
In a meal that was a complete disaster, it's hard to pick the worst dish. But our vote for the most horrid item on our table goes to the vegetarian entree Avial ($8.95).
A fine South Indian dish, Avial is prepared with green banana, carrot, drumstick, elephant yam (known as suvarna gadda in Kannada; Jameenkhand in Hindi; and Kanda in Telugu) cooked in yogurt and coconut sauce.
The Avial that Lovash served us had no resemblance to the real Avial that we've had scores of times - it tasted more like Mixed Vegetable Korma. You can get far tastier Avial from a heat-and-eat MTR Avial curry packet for $1.69-$2.50 in any Indian grocery store.
If Avial was horrible, Chicken Manchurian ($10.95) was not far behind. Being ardent lovers of Indian-Chinese cuisine, we were delighted to see Chicken Manchurian on the menu and ordered it pronto. To describe the Chicken Manchurian at Lovash as bad would be too charitable.
After tasting Chicken Manchurian at Lovash, our first thought was "Has this chef ever cooked Chicken Manchurian before?" It lacked the tangy flavor of Chicken Manchurian and tasted as if some tomato and tamarind sauce had been mindlessly poured over Chicken Curry and rushed out of the kitchen.
If you want to taste real Chicken Manchurian, visit Tangra Masala (New Hyde Park, NY) or Chinese Mirch (Lexington Ave, NYC). It's worth the drive to New York.
Hailing as we do from South India and nostalgic for a dish from our region, we ordered Chicken Coondapur Curry ($11.95). God, were we lucky? This was the only dish at Lovash that was palatable but not great. Hey, in the country of the blind the one-eyed man is the King, Right?
All three dishes, Chicken Coondapur Curry, Avial and Chicken Manchurian, came with a small mound of Saffron Rice and Salad.
As for the Onion Kulcha ($2.50) and Garlic Naan ($2.95) at Lovash, the less said the better. The best Onion Kulcha we've had lately has been at Copper Chimney (E.28th St, NYC).
Besides the Chicken Coondapur Curry, the only other palatable item that we had were Vegetable Pakoras ($3.25).
Lovash has a fairly extensive menu that includes an array of Vegetarian, Chicken, Fish, Beef, Lamb, Scallop and Shrimp dishes. The restaurant also serves Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian Thalis (Combination Platters) for $15.95 and $17.95 respectively.
Like most Indian restaurants in Philadelphia, Lovash serves a Lunch Buffet - it's $7.95 weekdays and $9.95 over the weekend.
After a disappointing main course, we eagerly sought solace in Pistachio Kulfi ($3.25) for Dessert.
Pistachio Kulfi is a staple of Indian restaurants in the U.S. and we believe shouldn't be difficult for most chefs to master.
Oh, how we were wrong! Pistachio Kulfi at Lovash tasted like plain Vanilla ice cream. Although not as good as it once was, Cafe Spice on S.2nd St in Philadelphia still makes a far superior Kulfi.
Our waiter at Lovash looked harried (as he also had to attend to calls for take-out orders) but did a OK job on the service front. Our main grouse with Lovash is with the poor quality of food coming out of its kitchen.
Lovash boasts about its "Award Winning Chef/Owner Mohan Parmar" and indulges in extravagant hyperbole about itself. The owner's business card goes one step further proclaiming Lovash to be the "Only Indian Restaurant."
Never has such boastful claims been so far divorced from reality. Hey, our dining misadventure at Lovash is adequate testimony.
If only Lovash would focus less on bragging and put its energies into the kitchen, perhaps we'd get to taste authentic Indian cuisine. - © Rekha Inc.
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