I finally started dining in Cross Culture a couple of months ago for lunch. It’s a fantastic Indian restaurant in the Princeton Shopping Center. With locations first in Doylestown and Haddonfield, the restaurant group has now connected with the Princeton crowd. There are many Indian restaurants in town, but none seem to have the right combination of quality Indian cuisine that’s made to order, mixed with a nice atmosphere like Cross Culture for me.
I’ve had the pleasure to visit northern India, and had some of the best dishes there, so believe me when I say Cross Culture serves the good stuff! When I experience good food, I like to share it to assure the restaurant stays in business so I can continue to enjoy it.
I like variety, but I’m not a fan of buffets for several reasons. The food is either not hot or it’s been sitting around for a while. Even worse, people are grabbing things with their hands, or coughing in the area. Cross Culture has a great Executive Lunch Menu that comes with a main dish, daal makhani, a pakora, naan bread, and basmati rice, which is a good variety of items, so who needs a lunch buffet? FYI: there is no pakora given if you order take-out. They offer a nice selection of dishes, and they don’t nickel and dime you for naan or rice like some area Indian restaurants.
If you dine there for dinner and like variety, you’ll have to settle for the Tandori Mixed Grill that offers tandoori chicken, chicken tikka, malai kabab, shrimp tandoori and fish tikka. Some places I’ve been to, the green veggies are brownish, the meats and seafood are overcooked, the food is cut in oversized pieces, and the sauces, chutneys and drinks are watered down. Cross Culture is NOT one of these places, which is why it stands out for me.
The decor is tasteful, the staff is attentive (but at times a bit serious), and the food tastes delicious! There are a number of vegetarian appetizers and entrees, and it’s a BYOB restaurant, so bring your favorite wine with you to enhance your meal. I’ve eaten the chicken tikka masala (several times), palak paneer, and shrimp karahi, and found them all mouth-watering! My husband enjoyed the lamb rogan josh as well. I have three words to sum up Cross Culture. Fresh. Flavorful. Fabulous.
UPDATE: Cross Culture Ethnic Indian Cuisine has a new website.
Bhavana and I will check it out but … it seems it yet another Indian restaurant that server northern Indian food. Boring!
Thinks you’ll never see and enjoy:
Breads
Chapati, made with whole wheat flour, rolled thin[4]
Puri, made with whole wheat flour, deep fried
Bhakhri, made with whole wheat flour, thicker than Rotli, crispy
Parotha, Fried whole wheat flat-bread, similar to the North Indian paratha
Pulao (Rice with vegetable)
Khichdi (Rice & Dal cooked in a porridge style) accompanied with ghee, curd and pickles
Khatta-Mittha Bhaat (Sour and Sweet rice) rice, boiled with potatoes and spices, yellow in color and accompanied with lemon peels
biranj [a steam rice with flavour of kesar ,sugar and lots of dryfruits.]
Undhiyu, a combination of eggplant, tubers, slow cooked with special spices traditionally in a clay pot
Bateta nu Shaak (Potato Curry)
And many others vegetarian options from Western Indian.
Khürt, Cross Culture does have puri and paratha. I have seen chapati and pulao in some area restaurants, by my memory fails me at the moment. I guess we don’t have enough people from West India as restaurant owners in our area.
That’s actually not true. Everyone with the last name Patel is from Western India. People with really long last names (e.g. Setharamakrishnan) are usually from Southern India.
The food from these two regions are nothing like Northern India cuisine.
The problem with Indian restaurants in the area is they all use the same playbook. There are a few that go off the beaten path and you’ll find Indians packed into them on weekends. However, they are few and far (literally) between.
Bangalore Express serves southern India food (I’m the foursquare mayor): http://www.yelp.com/biz/bangalore-express-franklin-park
Supreme Kabab & Curry: http://www.yelp.com/biz/supreme-kabab-and-curry-kendall-park
Udupi South Indian: http://www.yelp.com/biz/udipi-cafe-franklin-park