Thulasi Bensalem Review
Thulasi Bensalem - Not a Bad Deal
Thulasi in Bensalem is the newest addition to the Indian restaurants scene in the greater Philadelphia region.
When we visited the place for lunch the other day, this South Indian Vegetarian restaurant was just a few weeks old.
Indian food aficionados will, of course, quickly recognize that Thulasi occupies the same spot on Galloway Rd that the late
Uduppi Dosa House did.
When we walked into Thulasi around 1:00 pm on a week-day recently, the spacious restaurant wore a deserted look. Just one table was occupied with five or six people.
We were quickly shown a table by our friendly Tamil waiter (the only one at the restaurant).
True to their positioning, Thulasi's lunch buffet included a range of South Indian items like Alu Bonda, Medhu Vada, Spinach Kootu, Avial, Semiya Bath, Lemon rice, Rava Kesari and a few North Indian vegetarian dishes like Channa Bathura.
Lazy Swines - Cold Chutneys
Thulasi's chutney section included Dal Chutney, Tomato Chutney, Coconut Chutney, Coriander Chutney, all cold.
It was irritating that the Thulasi management does not care enough about its diners to offer fresh Chutneys.
Dal Chutney and Tomato Chutney were medium thick and flavorful with right amount of red chillies, salt etc. But the cold state of Dal and Tomato Chutneys suggested they were not fresh and robbed us the pleasure of enjoying them as a side dish with Alu Bonda, Masala Dosa, Medhu Vada and Utappam.
Coconut Chutney, that eternal fixture of South Indian meals, also turned out to be watery and cold
as was the spicier Coriander Chutney.
Tasty Alu Bonda, OK Medhu Vada, Awful Dahi Vada
Alu Bonda was tasty, reasonably spicy and relished with gusto.
Medhu Vada was small, evenly cooked and tasted ok. But what got our goat among the appetizers was the Dahi Vada.
Thulasi's Dahi Vada was a tasteless, round fried black gram cake soaked in plain yogurt. There was absolutely no green chilly, curry leaves or mustard seeds seasoning, things that make the Dahi Vada flavorful. All they added was finely chopped raw coriander leaves.
Mini Utappam turned out to be disappointing as it was a little rubbery in texture.
Sour Rasam and Watery Sambar
Rasam was hot but low on salt, way too low on pepper/dhania rasam powder that provides the pungent flavor and way too sour with a surfeit of tamarind.
But Thulasi's Sambar was a complete travesty of the real thing. Tears welled in our eyes when we tasted the watery Sambar. There was little evidence any Toor Dal was added to it. The sole saving grace was that it came with vegetables like carrot and onion.
Thulasi's weekday lunch comes with a choice of Masala Dosa or Plain Dosa. Thulasi's Masala Dosa came to the table hot and crisp. While we have no complaints about the potato filling inside we would have liked it a tad spicier.
Tasty Semiya Bath and Yellow Color Lemon Rice
Thulasi's Semiya Bath with onion and cauliflower was easily one of the most flavorful Semiya we have tasted on the East Coast. With the right texture, the Semiya Bath was neither pasty nor dry and very tasty with the ginger and curry leaves flavor seeping well into both vegetables and Semiya.
The yellow-colored Lemon Rice was tasty but we were more than a little disappointed at the lack of peanuts, mustard seeds and curry leaves seasoning in it.
Tasty Avial, Crispy Fried Vegetables, Flavorful Spinach Kootu, Sweetish Vegetable Kurma and Mushroom Masala
Avial was medium thick with right amount of gravy, neither too watery nor dry. Coconut sauce seeped well into the cut drumstick, green plantain, carrot and Potato pieces. It was tasty both with hot plain Basmati rice as well as with naan bread.
Deep fried Bhindi and Potato came in with the label of Fried Vegetables. Thulasi's fried Bhindi and Potato was crispy with right amount of salt and chilli powder.
Spinach Kootu is not a common fixture at Indian restaurants in U.S. The normal Spinach item that scores of Indian restaurants serve is the bland green mass called Palak Paneer or Sag Channa.
While Thulasi's Spinach Kootu was flavorful we found it a little irritating to eat the curly long spinach leaves. Thulasi's version of Spinach Kootu seemed to have been prepared with whole Spinach leaves rather than chopped spinach.
Vegetable Kurma and Mushroom Masala were the most visually attractive items of Thulasi's weekday lunch. Set in a half white thick gravy, Thulasi's Vegetable Kurma with Potato, Beans, Carrots and Onion was flavorful but bordering on sweetish rather than spicy.
Ditto with Mushroom Maslaa. With its light brown color medium thick gravy, Thulasi's Mushroom Masala with green peas was sweetish rather than spicy. But don't get us wrong folks. Though both Vegetable Kurma and Mushroom Masala were a little sweetish they were still flavorful and we enjoyed them with both plain Naan and Garlic Naan.
Crispy Plain and Garlic Naan and Hard Bathura
Bread at Thulasi Indian restaurant came in the form of plain Naan and Bathura. Though Garlic Naan was not part of the weekday lunch, we ordered it as it is one of our favorites. In retrospect, it was a mistake ($2.50 down the drain). Although the Garlic Naan had tiny pieces of Garlic, the Garlic flavor did not seep into the dough sufficiently. To make matters worse, both Garlic Naan and plain Naan were too crispy like rusk.
Thulasi's Bathura came in the form of cut pieces rather than a whole poori and was hard. The accompanying Channa Masala was low on spices and came in a thick sour gravy giving us little chance to relish it.
Tasty Rice Kheer, Yummy Kesari, Soft Mutka Kulfi without Mutka
Prepared with thick milk, Rice Kheer turned out a tasty delight. The slightly chilled temperature of Thulasi's Rice Kheer added to the overall joy of eating this common dessert, often treated with contempt at most Indian restaurants.
Rava Kesari was another yummy dessert. With right amount of ghee, sugar, cardamom powder, cashew nuts and raisins, Thulasi's Kesari was a delicious treat.
Being aficionados of Indian Kulfi Ice Cream, Thulasi's Special Mutka Kulfi on the menu grabbed our attention and we ordered it pronto. The Kulfi came with a strong mango flavor and pistachio toppings but without the Mutka (earthen Pot). Instead, it came in a regular plate and although a little soft was still pleasing enough.
Horrible Madras Coffee
In several decades of drinking Coffee, we've rarely had Coffee so atrociously bad as Thulasi's Coffee.
Guys, every thing was wrong with the Madras Coffee described as Special South Indian Coffee on Thulasi's Menu. First, the so called Madras Coffee ($2.50) had no flavor of Coffee. It had too much of milk and came lukewarm to the table. The villain was the weak Coffee decoction. It was so weak as if the coffee powder was recycled two or three times to make the decoction. We had to request our waiter to heat it up. Folks, the 79-cents McDonalds coffee or the $1.15 Wawa Coffee is a better bargain.
Decent Service, Sticky Plates, Good Table Practices
Our Tamil speaking dark waiter from Namakkal-Trichy area was polite, promptly removed the used plates, filled our water glasses and checked with us about our choice of Dosa.
Unlike most Indian restaurants in the U.S. Thulasi follows some good table practices. For instance spoon, fork and knife were neatly wrapped in a napkin and placed on the paper placemat on the table. Most Indian restaurants spray some chemical to clean the table and leave the fork and knives directly on the table.
But the dining plates at Thulasi were a little sticky suggesting they were not sufficiently rinsed.
All in all, the $8.99 lunch buffet at Thulasi, while dumbed down on spices to suit American palates, is not a bad deal. - © PhillyIndia.us
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