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Thulasi
Galloway Rd, Bensalem
(Scroll down to read the review)
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Philadelphia Indian Restaurants
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Address:
Thulasi
2163 Galloway Rd
Bensalem, PA 19020
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Mostly Nice Food
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Reviewer's Summary: Good Food, Dirty Dessert Cups
Ever since our miserable experience at Arusuvai Chettinad in North Brunswick, we've been desperate to go through the Hindu ritual of cleansing our body and soul by eating real Chettinad food.
The other day as we were playing with our iPhone we stumbled upon Chettinad offerings from Thulasi South Indian restaurant in Bensalem.
Thulasi - Limited Chettinad Curries
We quickly turned on our GPS and went to Thulasi to explore its Chettinad Offerings.
We are no strangers to Thulasi in Bensalem having dined there during its pure vegetarian avatar.
Apparently, the vegetarian-only offering was not a good move business-wise and the restaurant started offering meat dishes as well.
When we walked into Thulasi around 12:15 p.m. the restaurant had about 10 diners digging into their idly, dosa and chicken.
Greeted by a bald middle-aged Indian guy (owner??), we were quickly shown a table. A Hispanic waitress filled water glasses. We proceeded to the buffet ($12.00 on weekends) table to check out the items.
During our visit, Thulasi's Buffet included a variety of items including Rasam, Sambar, Vegetable Pakora, Idli, Vada, Pongal, Coconut Chutney, Tomato Chutney, Kadai Bhindi, Egg Plant Kara Kuzhambu, Chilli Chicken, Mutton Curry, Egg Masala to Paneer Butter Masala, Spinach Dal, Vegetable Biryani, Plain Rice, Naan bread, Mango Rava Kesari, Gajar Halwa, Semiya Kheer and Masala Dosa.
Since only two Chettinad curries were part of buffet we ordered a takeout of Chettinad Chicken Masala to satisfy our Chettinad craving.
Disgustingly Dirty Dessert Cups
While much of the food we tasted at Thulasi fell in the good category, what irritated us tremendously was the disgustingly dirty dessert cups.
Many of steel dessert bowls/cups were sticky with oil and sugar syrup stains and dirty with leftovers of previous diners.
The Thulasi fellas need a new dishwasher or they need to replace their whole set of dessert cups pronto.
They were that dirty, folks.
We had to check multiple dessert cups before finding a clean one.
Thulasi - Tasty Appetizers, Cold Chutneys
Appetizers were tasty be they the soft Idli, crisp Vada or spicy Vegetable Pakora.
Increasingly, appetizers are inedible at most Indian restaurant buffets and how nice to see a restaurant like Thulasi that takes its appetizers seriously.
 Cold Chutneys
Rasam had a nice pungent flavor and the Carrot-Capsicum-Onion Sambar with nice aroma of Sambar Spices quickly found its way into our stomach.
But what irked us was the freezing temperature of Coconut and Tomato Chutneys.
To add insult to injury, the Coconut Chutney was hopelessly bland.
An Indian restaurant that can't serve decent Coconut Chutney is a disgrace.
 Crisp Masala Dosa
Masala Dosa with a tiny portion of tasteless Potato filling came hot to the table. It was golden brown in color as it should be and was crisp.
Thulasi - Yummy Pongal, Flavorful Biryani
Pongal with a medium-thick texture and generous seasoning of Curry Leaves, Black Pepper seeds and Jeera was tasty. But we'd have liked more ghee in the Pongal.
 Fine Egg Masala (top), Horrid Naan(bottom left),
Good Chicken Biryani(bottom middle), Crisp Vada (bottom right)
Chicken and Vegetable Biryani were both flavorful with all the spices seeping well into the rice, vegetables and Chicken. What added allure to the Chicken Biryani was the tender, juicy texture of the Chicken pieces.
Hey even Plain Rice was piping hot and had a fresh texture.
But finding Plain Rice was like playing peekaboo as it was hiding in a corner without a label.
Horrible Naan Bread
As in most South Indian restaurants in the U.S., Naan bread was horrible even at Thulasi.
It was rubbery and we did not enjoy it one bit. But the flavorful Vegetable Biryani and fresh plain rice amply compensated for the horrid Naan.
Thulasi - Fine Vegetarian Curries
Kadai Bhindi - a melange of onion, capsicum, Okra, tomato was very flavorful.
Ditto with Paneer Butter Masala and Spinach in Lentils. While we thoroughly enjoyed Paneer Butter Masala, we would have liked it better if the gravy was thicker.
Chettinad Kara Kuzhambu - Bitter Disappointment
But the sole Chettinad vegetarian item Egg Plant Kara Kuzhambu turned out to be a bitter disappointment.
 Bitter Egg Plant Kara Kuzhambu
There were multiple issues with Thulasi's Egg Plant Kara Kuzhambu.
First, Egg Plant was not tender.
Second, the gravy was slightly bitter making it a little difficult to enjoy it.
Third, the Kara Kuzhambu spices had not seeped well into the Egg Plant.
Decent Chicken and Mutton Curries
Chilli Chicken, Mutton Curry and Egg Masala amply compensated for the bitter Chettinad Egg Plant curry.
Chilli Chicken with tender chicken pieces was spicy. It was so tasty we quickly took a second helping.
Set in a brown color medium thick gravy Thulasi's Mutton Curry also found favor with our Indian palate.
Ditto with Egg Masala with all the spices seeped well into the boiled egg.
Thulasi - Yummy Desserts
Thulasi's buffet included three desserts - Mango Ravva Kesari, Gajar Halwa and Semiya Payasam.
 Fine Desserts
With a strong flavor of Mango, Thulasi's Mango Ravva Kesari was easily one of the most delicious desserts we have had recently.
Gajar Halwa and Semiya Payasam were equally delicious with generous amount of cashew and other toppings. What made Thulasi's Gajar Halwa enjoyable was the absence of raw flavor. Sadly, Gajar Halwa at a lot of Indian restaurants here is not well cooked in ghee and comes with a raw flavor.
Awful South Indian Filter Coffee and Masala Chai
We wanted to top off our good meal at Thulasi with South Indian Filter Coffee and Masala Chai. Though our previous South Indian filter Coffee experience at Thulasi was bad we still ordered it hoping there may have been some course correction.
 Horrible Filter Coffee
Unfortunately Thulasi's South Indian Filter Coffee was as bad as during our previous visit. Coffee decoction was weak and not fresh.
Ditto with Masala Chai which lacked the flavor of masala spices and tasted merely like strong Tea.
And to charge $2.50 each for the shitty South Indian Filter Coffee and below average Masala Chai in our opinion is a ripoff.
 Bad Masala Chai
Buyer's remorse set in seconds after tasting these two staple Indian beverages.
Delicious Chettinad Chicken Masala
Out Chettinad Chicken Masala takeout order was spicy as requested. Chicken was tender and tasty with all the Chettinad spices.
Chettinad Chicken Masala came with a decent serving size of Plain Rice. Plain Rice was packed neatly in a separate box with a plastic wrapper around it.
While we were impressed with the care taken in packing the Rice, we were unhappy at not finding napkins, plates or spoons with our takeout order.
Thulasi ' Go for it But Carry Your Own...
While we enjoyed the food at Thulasi we strongly recommend that you avoid Thulasi's hot beverages like South Indian Coffee and Masala Chai.
For they are disgustingly bad and not worth the price.
Also, if you plan on having a meal at Thulasi, carry some disposable dessert cups with you so that you do not have to feast on the leftovers of previous diners.
There was no bathroom roll in the restroom during our visit and the door was dysfunctional and we had difficulty in closing it. © PhillyIndia.us
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