Adam Erace skewers Fairmount’s new Indian King of Tandoor like it’s a dry lamb shishkebab.

In the Strawberry Quik-colored dining room, halal families and empty nesters dine beneath Italian chandeliers affixed to gilded medallions made in India. Ornate serving bowls cup the curries and water brims in beveled glass chalices. Islam aimed upscale looks-wise, so KOT is clearly not your typical tandoor house. Here’s the catch-22: Better food is often at the typical tandoor house, a dirt-cheap buffet or campus lunch truck with questionable sanitation.

King of Tandoor [Philadelphia Weekly]
King of Tandoor [Official Site]

The Daily News does a review, checking out King of Tandoor, the new Indian restaurant at 18th and Callowhill.

A tandoor is the signature clay oven of Indian cuisine, so if your name is King of Tandoor, the breads and barbecued meats had better live up to their namesake. They did.

The Grilled Meat Appetizer ($10.95) was a mix of luscious chunks of lamb, chicken, beef and sausage. The tandoor cooks at very high heat, so the risk is the meat will dry out. These retained their juices. Just don’t ask if you can substitute meats, though. Our waiter was a bit put out by that request.

The Chana Chat ($4.95) was a tangy salad blend of chick peas potatoes and onions tossed in a tamarind sauce, sprinkled with Indian herbal salt. This was so delicious we ate the chick peas as though they were peanuts. Good thing we only ordered the appetizer portion.

One of the delights of the menu was the Fresh Shrimp appetizer ($7.95). This Bengal dish offers shrimp in a spicy sauce served with a light fluffy bread that was similar to a crepe, but with many layers. There’s the slightest hint of heat in the sauce that has that addictive quality to keep you coming back for more.

Two and a half forks

King of Tandoor a pleasant experience [Philadelphia Daily News]
King of Tandoor [Official Site]

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