In the 80’s when Sukhdev “Dev” Kabow brought his new bride, Meena, home to New Jersey from India, she began work at his first restaurant in Hamilton just a few days later.
“I didn’t even understand the money,” she recalls, laughing, “I made myself a paper that said 1 rupee is this many dollars, 2 rupees is this many dollars.” Trained as a nurse at home in India, Meena was accustomed to a different kind of taking care of people. In those early days she once burst into the kitchen exclaiming, “There are so many patients in the dining room!”
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Three decades later, Meena now moves through the restaurant with grace, checking in on patrons (not patients) and regular visitors. Now, she and Dev have raised their two sons, Amit and Sumit, in the family business. Now, they own Palace of Asia restaurant in Lawrenceville, and The Pind restaurant in Kingston.
Their latest endeavor is the newly opened Palace of Asia in Maple Shade.
For 12 years, they operated Palace of Asia on the Cooper River in the Cherry Hill Best Western, but when a Thai restaurant on Route 38 closed, they saw it as an opportunity for a fresh start.
The hotel location was never ideal, says Dev, because it felt removed from everything, but the new space, on a commercial thoroughfare, is different. “(It’s)a better place, there are so many restaurants in this community.”
The restaurant’s new home, designed by Leslie John Koeser, is a fresh, modern space. Painted in warm earth tones — emerald green, saffron orange, slate blue, and warm brown — it has soaring ceilings that accommodate enormous drum-style pendant chandeliers.
Seating is largely made up of high-backed semicircular booths arranged in groups of three, which create a feeling of intimacy for families and other groups of diners. A large tile fountain fills the room the pleasant sound of water.
The menu, which is the same as that of the Palace of Asia in Lawrenceville, is a long parade of classic North Indian dishes. There aren’t many surprises here, but there is a near exhaustive variety and the Kabow family is dedicated to offering a crowd-pleasing selection.
Waferlike papadums, crispy flatbreads made with lentil flour, arrive first, accompanied by two bowls of chutney (one sweet and nearly ketchup-like, made with tamarind, and a light green one made with fresh herbs). The papadums are crisp and aggressively spiced with black pepper. They make our mouths water.
Shortly thereafter come Pakora($5.25), planks of potato and florets of cauliflower dunked into a spiced chickpea batter and fried. They’re good enough, crisp, nicely fried, and not greasy, but but not particularly memorable either. A version made with cubes of paneer, chewy homemade cheese, are better, the batter perfumed with fresh mint.
The table next to us orders enough Vegetable Samosas ($4.50), deep fried pastries filled with spiced potato and peas, for everyone to have their own, and I can understand why. The pastry is delicate but crunchy, a pleasant contrast to the softness of the filling.
One dish that Dev and Meena recommend, especially to those eager to try a variety, is the Tandoori Mixed Grill ($21.95). The entree takes it’s name from the tandoor, a traditional clay oven, that they installed in the restaurant’s kitchen. In this dish they present a variety of meats cooked in the heat of the tandoor, a method that just barely chars the edges, leaving the interior of the kababs juicy.
These they deliver on a sizzling platter, hot to the table. Bright orange mildly spiced tandoori chicken arrives flanked by nuggets of seekh kebab, a mild mix of ground lamb, herbs and spices, packed onto skewers — not unlike Middle Eastern lamb koftas — and broiled. There is also boti kebab, cubes of lamb; malai kabab, tender chicken,and particularly nicely cooked tandoori shrimp.
Even asthey’re proud of this meat-heavy dish, the menu is absolutely filled with vegetarian-friendly dishes, too. There are curries of eggplant, cauliflower, potatoes, and peas. And there arelegume dishes like Chana Masala ($11.95), chickpeas cooked in a spiced tomato sauce or Daal Makhani ($11.00), black beans and lentils stewed with cream, butter, onion, ginger, and garlic.
Palak Paneer (14.95), cubes of that same paneer cheese cooked in a creamy spinach curry, is saucy and pleasant, very mildly spiced.
This, in particular is an important point to Dev and Meena. “Everyone thinks Indian food is spicy, but it doesn’t have to be,” Dev explains.“We only make it spicy if someone asks for it to be spicy.”
Though these dishes are perfumed with spices — cumin, coriander, turmeric, and so forth — the true level of spice is customizable to the guest, except for the vindaloo, a dish from the Goa that, by definition, has heat to it.
Besides, one must order these saucy, spiced dishes to truly appreciate the variety of breads that they’re preparing, meant for sopping up sauces. Naan, a flat wheat bread cooked on the wall of the tandoor has a pleasant chew, as does a version of the same stuffed with onions and spices called onion kulcha. Of them all, I’m partial to the puri, deep fried until they puff like balloons, a crown on the tower of the warm Bread Basket ($9.95), which I’d advise you not to skip, regardless of what main dishes you choose.
The only drawback to Palace of India might be that there are almost too many choices, and it feels difficult to whittle down the options.
Servers, largely other members of the Kabow’s family, are efficient and pleasant, but not necessarily equipped to describe dishes to those unfamiliar with what to expect from each menu item.
Fortunately, unfamiliar diners have the option of trying a little bit of everything during daytime hours and on Wednesday evenings, when the restaurant offers a fixed price buffet, a selection of vegetable and meat dishes, alike. Dev and Meena recommend this as a way to acquaint oneself with Indian flavors and preparations to determine what one’s favorites are.
The next time we visit I’ll be trying, instead, the Jodu Bhojan ($49.95) a combination dinner for two. With your choice of seafood, meator vegetarian options, these combination meals come with soup, pakoda, and papadam to begin the meal, and then the main dishes are served with bread, rice, cooked lentils called dal, and even dessert and coffee or tea.
The assortment is one that shows the confidence of the Kabow family, and the new Palace of Asia. It’s traditional for now, playing to their strengths as longtime restaurateurs, but Amit and Sumit are steadily putting the pressure on their parents to get more creative with the flavors.
Recent experiments have included chicken tikka pizza, a crabcake dishand a chocolate samosa. Though these dishes are still in the phase of research and development, I think that between this fresh inspiration and the tried and true menu, it bears a visit to this particular palace.
Emily Teel reviews Philadelphia and New Jersey restaurants for the Courier-Post. An alumna of Bryn Mawr College, she completed a Master of Arts at in Food Culture & Communications at University of Gastronomic Sciences in Parma, Italy. A former restaurant worker, she is happy to celebrate the best of what any eatery has to offer. Read more of her work atemilyteel.comand send questions and suggestions toEmily.L.Teel@gmail.com
Dining review
Palace of Asia
480 Route 38 East
Maple Shade
Call (856) 773-1200 or visitpalace-of-asia.com
Food: ★★★
Atmosphere: ★★★
Service: ★★★
Value: ★★★
Overall: ★★★
Cuisine: Northern Indian
Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11:30am-10:00pm, Friday & Saturday 11:30am-10:30pm
Recommended items: Tandoori Mixed Grill, Paneer Pakora, Naan, Puri, Saag Paneer, Samosas
Price range: $5-50
Late night: No
Brunch: Coming Soon
BYOB: Yes
Outdoor dining: No
Live entertainment: Coming Soon
Wheelchair accessible: Yes
Type of Parking: Lot
What the stars mean:Five is excellent; four is very good; three is good; two is fair, and one is poor.
