Tashan
Jess’ Take:
Tashan calls itself Modern Indian and I would say that’s about right. There are plenty of traditional Indian elements in the dishes, but they all have an interesting and sometimes unexpected twist. The menu is broken up into 5 sections, and we decided to order one dish from each section, tapas style.
We were all intrigued by the description of the Gol-Gappa, so had to order it. Described as hollow durum puffs with spicy potato, injected with tangy mint-cilantro water, they were little one-two bite taste explosions. You had to add the mint-cilantro water yourself, which arrived in a separate little bowl, and it did a good job of cooling down the spice.
Next we opted for the Baby Octopus Nicobari, a Spanish rock octopus that was braised and served with a red bell pepper sauce. This octopus was excellent, very tender and went well with the sauce, although I think they went a little crazy with the amount of sauce that came with the dish. I found myself scraping some of it off to better taste the octopus.
From the Tandoori section we went for the jumbo shrimp, which were served with fenugreek, carom seed toasted yellow pea flour and coco essence and were delicious! Served on a skewer the dry rub on the shrimp complemented the creamy sauce it lay on top of perfectly. Sadly only three came with the dish.
Tashan calls itself Modern Indian and I would say that’s about right. There are plenty of traditional Indian elements in the dishes, but they all have an interesting and sometimes unexpected twist. The menu is broken up into 5 sections, and we decided to order one dish from each section, tapas style.
We were all intrigued by the description of the Gol-Gappa, so had to order it. Described as hollow durum puffs with spicy potato, injected with tangy mint-cilantro water, they were little one-two bite taste explosions. You had to add the mint-cilantro water yourself, which arrived in a separate little bowl, and it did a good job of cooling down the spice.
Next we opted for the Baby Octopus Nicobari, a Spanish rock octopus that was braised and served with a red bell pepper sauce. This octopus was excellent, very tender and went well with the sauce, although I think they went a little crazy with the amount of sauce that came with the dish. I found myself scraping some of it off to better taste the octopus.
From the Tandoori section we went for the jumbo shrimp, which were served with fenugreek, carom seed toasted yellow pea flour and coco essence and were delicious! Served on a skewer the dry rub on the shrimp complemented the creamy sauce it lay on top of perfectly. Sadly only three came with the dish.
For the last dish we went for the Chilka-Style Black Bass, which was pan-seared, served with a curry froth and apple-fennel salad. It was good, but not the highlight of the meal. There wasn’t enough curry to necessitate the amount of apple fennel salad that was served. It was a nice, light dish though.
It was an excellent meal with so many different and interesting flavors. It’s a bit pricey and the décor is a little too Atlantic City casino-esque (as Wade put it), but certainly worth a visit. I hope to find myself back there again sometime soon, possible without a toddler in tow.
3 ½ out of 4 Indian spices. Labels: Rating: 3.5 out of 4, Tashan
posted by Philly Foodies at 1:59 PM
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