Palace Has Work To Do To Match Surroundings

Kirsten Henri tries the fancy Palace at the Ben for Indian food and finds the food doesn’t match up with the decor.

Some of the food is as delicious as the atmosphere suggests. Lamb pasanda was as good as it gets with tender chunks of garlic-and-yogurt-marinated meat brilliantly flavored with chilies, tomatoes and aromatic black peppercorns. Scooped up with a glorious puff of warm naan or onion kulcha (an onion-stuffed flatbread), it was excellent.

The soft, moist chunks of chicken in a rice-based biryani were fragrant with ginger and saffron, but topped with tomatoes so mealy and wan I’m amazed the chef wasn’t ashamed to let them leave his kitchen in the middle of August.

Naan Compatible [Philadelphia Weekly]
Palace at the Ben [Official Site]