Restaurant: Tiffin Indian Cuisine
Location: 8080 Old York Rd, Elkins Park, PA 19027. (215) 635-9205
Date: November 23, 2015
Cuisine: Indian
Rating: solid Indian
Our annual ThanksGavin trip always begins with a big Wednesday night dinner out in Philly, but this year we were out a day early so there was a Tuesday bonus.
Tiffin is a local (to Elkins Park) Indian restaurant.
The usual kind of casual decor.
From my cellar: 2004 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese. 93 points. Again, sulphur evident on the nose, although with plenty of bright and acidic fruit beneath. It is delicate, clean, minerally and has tingly acids. Then it seems softer, more gentle, not so much substance, with lots of bright character. Good potential.
Chutney and sauces are included which is nice.
Cauliflower with a coconut sauce. Very nice.
Fried fish. Like fish and chips with black pepper.
Samosas. Certainly a decent version of this classic.
A light creamy curry with potato balls (not unlike matzah balls in texture).
Saag. Creamed Indian spinach.
Chickpeas with a mild curry.
Shrimp curry. Again the slightly sweet goopy curry.
Tilapia with tomatoes and onions. One of the few without the smooth curry treatment.
2009 Bodegas Domeco de Jarauta Rioja Solar de Castro Vendimia Seleccionada. 89 points. Very healthy bright red, cherry and chocolate on the nose, great balance of concentrated but not overpowering fruit, tannins with good structure, giving it a long finish. Very yummy, great wine.
Chicken Tikka Masala. Dark meat. A credible version of this dish, but from the smooth and sweet school of Indian curries. Akbar’s is so much richer and more flavorful.
Chicken Tikka Masala. White meat.
Lamb in a coconut curry sauce. Again the sauce is very sweet with the spice blend being fairly mild and blended into the rich sauce.
Chicken Tikka. My uncle goes nuts over this “BBQ chicken.”
Bismatti rice.
Naan, plain and garlic.
Galub jamun. Perfectly nice syrup soaked cheese/dough balls.
Overall, Tiffin was a good meal, and decent Indian. All the curries have that smooth, creamy, and sweet thing going on, which is common enough at Indian restaurants. They were pretty good too, this wasn’t like the tomato sauce boring Indian. But it was also just too sweet, without the intensity of “spice” (and I don’t mean heat) that better places have. Now, I’m sure a good bit of that is catering to the Americans, but still. The smooth, sweet, creamy thing made all the curries run together, even though their colors and flavor profiles technically varied.
Still, I fully enjoyed it.
