Devi

Why haven’t I found an Indian restaurant in the city of Philadelphia that I like? I don’t even have to love it, just like it. I prefer Southern Indian cooking, with its fresh, light, hotter dishes that are more vegetarian friendly, to Northern Indian cooking, which tends to incorporate a lot of cream sauces and paneer. I want dosas, dahi puri, and bhel puri, but I can’t seem to find these foods any where around here because, unfortunately, most Indian restaurants serve Northern Indian cuisine.

One Southern Indian restaurant I do know of and have visited a few times is Devi out in Exton, PA. I have no reason to drive the 30-45 minutes it takes to get to Exton, except to dine at Devi, which serves vegetarian Southern Indian food. A few years back I had a client that lived in those parts of the woods, and was always excited to wrap up work in time to hit the lunch buffet. I have not visited in probably two years, so took a detour from King of Prussia to see what Devi was up to.

Starting at 9 o'clock: raita, sambar, pakora, naan, biryani, channa masala, vegetable khorma.

Starting at 9 o'clock: moor kalumbi? (not sure), channa masala, rice, naan, vada, and pakora.

Dosa.

Gulab jamun, and kheer.

The Saturday buffet was much busier that the weekday buffet, and most of the diners were of Indian origin – a good sign. Everything on the buffet is vegetarian, so dig in without trepidation. On the main hot buffet I found idly (rice and lentil patties), vada (lentil donuts), naan, sambar (soup), pakora, rice, biryani, about four or five curries, and some odds and ends I cannot remember at this moment. The salad buffet had raita (yogurt sauce), fruit, lettuce, and vegetables. The dessert buffet had ice cream, kheer (rice pudding), and gulab jamun (fried balls soaked in rose water and syrup).

Important to know as you pile your plate is that a server will come to your table and ask if you’d like a dosa (thin, crisp crepes typically filled with spiced potatoes) that is included in the buffet price. This is a nice touch, as many buffets don’t include this quintessential Southern Indian dish because they are time consuming to make, and if left on the buffet become a soggy mess. Devi prepares the dosas to order and brings them to your table. The potato filling in the dosa is on the skimpy side, but this is a buffet, cheapo! Plus, you’ll be busting the seams of your pants half way through your first plate anyway.

I was disappointed to see channa masala, vegetable khorma, and palak panneer on the buffet, since these curries can be had at most Northern Indian restaurants, although the channa masala and vegetable khorma were the best executed curries on the buffet. The kheer was a little thin, but the gulab jamon were excellent, and this ultra sweet dessert with sometimes overpowering rose water flavor is not my favorite Indian dessert. The balls of dough were soft and rose water did not overpower.

While Devi has the best Indian food I have had in the Philadelphia area yet, I wish there was a Southern Indian restaurant closer. Devi is still not up to par with the best Indian restaurant in the world – Touch of Indian in Columbia, South Carolina – which, coincidentally, is run by a woman named Devi. I will be having the pleasure (hopefully) of dining at Touch of India in a few weeks and proving my rants to be true to my boyfriend. I can’t wait to share such food beauty with someone.

If anyone has testimonials of Southern Indian restaurants in the area, let me know – I’m dying here. In the last few weeks I found out about Uduppi Dosa House in Bensalem, and their menu looks very, very promising (I spy bhel puri!), but have not tested the waters. It’s on “the list.” I'll get at ya...next time I'm in Bensalem? I've never been to Bensalem.

Devi, 151 W. Lincoln Hwy, Exton, PA 19341
(610) 594-9250